Our Mission…written by my oldest daughter who came home from Ethiopia with a new passion and love for those who are less fortunate and she knows she can make a difference.
“If he is thirsty give him water to drink” Proverbs 25:21 and that’s what I’m doing! I’m giving clean water to kids in the world who don’t have clean water. It’s amazing, 90%of the 30,000 deaths that occur every week are because of unsafe drinking water and unsanitary living. That’s a lot of people dying of water related causes. In Africa alone, people spend forty billion hours just walking to get drinking water that could kill them. They are getting death in a forty pound yellow jug people. I don’t want to drink that. Let alone bathe in it. It’s deadly…why would I do that? Because it’s water. I need it to live. I might have to walk incredible distances to get it, but it’s water. MUD water. Death water.
“Love your neighbor as you self” Leviticus 19:18 clearly states. I DON’T want to drink that AND You don’t want to drink that, BUT they have to. It’s up to us what we’re going to do about it. I could sit on my couch and count the raindrops that fall to the muddy ground and form a mud puddle and think, whatever it’s just a puddle. Or I can think WHAT IF I had to drink out of that puddle. WHAT IF that puddle were my only water source. WHAT IF that puddle were miles away. WHAT IF the puddle dried up, what would I drink. What if someone I knew drank that puddle water and died. These “what ifs” happen every day. People drink bad water . People walk unthinkable distances for this mud water. Puddles dry up folks. People die. Wells are not available. People die.
I am a drop of water. I can change the world. I can build a well. If I built a well, I could help prevent water related deaths. It’s that simple. Now here’s the other part, I need your help, so let’s build a well….TOGETHER! A well cost money and a lot of it. I need help getting the money whether you give $5 or $1,000. EVERY PENNY COUNTS. Every penny given brings us one step closer to our goal. To give someone clean water. To let someone taste clean water. To let a person bathe for the first time in good clean water or for the first time EVER for that matter. My sisters and I have a goal to build a well this year, 2012. Will you help us? Will you join us? Will you pray for us?”
That’s my daughter’s heart…now let’s hope my husband and I don’t mess her up by raising her:) So Lord help us! She has done her research and is ready to start. Oh my goodness…what do you do as a parent when your daughter or son rises up and challenges your family to make a difference? YOU JOIN HER! She has a passion for the Lord and a fire that is contagious to those around her. As her mom, I love to see her lead out and challenge others to be world changers. So my husband and I have had to get our act in order and help her and her sisters build a well via Charity Water under “LOVE WELL” starting June 1. So stay tuned! It’s brewin’!
We will have “Love Well” t-shirt…you can see the logo on the sidebar and all proceeds will go towards the well. The are in the printing process now:) We are getting rid of our excess stuff and selling it for the well. Our close friends are also joining us on this journey. They are having a HUGE garage sale and getting their Life group involved. So excited to see this all unfolding and to see how one tween can cause a ripple to change the lives of many!
Over the last few years, God has wrecked my life in a good way. Over 15 yrs ago when I married a cute Christian guy who majored in missions, I was the girl who prayed, “Lord, never send me to Africa.” I know…the old me was well…yuck…I am so glad God did not leave me there and is always in the process of making me NEW. I grew up in a small “Christian” town or bubble for that matter, went to a wonderful Christian college, and married the most amazing Christian guy, and yet, Lord has awakened my soul in the last few years that my heart feels like it is going to burst.
This Easter I couldn’t help, but to dwell on the fact that He is making all things NEW. After almost 20 years of knowing the Lord as my Savior, He is still making me NEW. This year we did Easter differently. We. Went. Simple. And we loved it. We wore what we had in our closets…special thanks to Jen Hatmaker with “7″ and oh yeah…for God sending my lil fanny to all the way to Ethiopia and meeting me there…I will NEVER be the same. Our eggs were filled with coupons that our kiddos came up with. “Free making your bed for you!” Love, _____. “Free taking the dog out for you!” Love, _____. “Free clearing the table for you!” Love, _____. To be honest, I wish I could say this was one of my grand parenting ideas to get my kids serving and sacrificing for one another, but it wasn’t. It was my oldest daughter’s idea…brilliant…maybe I should hand the parenting baton to her! With each of our Holidays and Traditions…we are making them NEW and it has been fun to stop and think through what we are doing as parents and as a family.
Jesus made NEW life possible through the cross. I love to watch each of my kiddos grow and change and be made NEW, but isn’t always easy. It takes time. It even occurs through triumphs and through failures to realize our need of God in every area of our lives. I love that He continuously works in our lives and makes what is broken whole again. That’s beautiful.
When we were going through our adoption process, I had more than a fair share of sweet friends who who give me a run down of reasons not to adopt or stories of failed adoptions and I would sit there and just listen. God bless their concerned little hearts that didn’t realize our agency actually required us to take hours upon hours of classes telling us the ins and outs of adoption and preparing us for the unknowns that may or may not happen and that we had read more books and blogs than I can count and that we continue walk this road with some of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life. At one point I thought, they should require this for all parents!
This is parenting in general. Parenting. If you want easy and guarantees…don’t become a parent because when you become a parent you daily have to take up your cross, surrender your self, and pour out your life for little people who need lots direction and lots of love, time, and attention. They need us to show them a Savior who loves them to be made NEW as do we…BUT this is the beautiful I want…
I was getting ready for Easter Service and singing “Lead me to the Cross” out loud in my out of tune way and Jada started to sing along with me with passion. At one point, she even stomped her little foot and did a little dance. Her older sister sat there stunned that she knew the words. We play it often when we are rocking her to sleep and apparently she now knows it by heart. Priceless. I stood there and thought…”Lord, thank you for making us NEW. I want more of you and a whole lot less of me. Continue to show me how to LOVE.”
I was looking through video footage from almost a year and half ago when we first came home from Ethiopia with Miss J and I came across one that completely melted my heart and made me realize how much my kids truly understand about the heart of God and adoption. Yes…I know…we are that family that breaks out into song or dance and enjoys living life together even if we can’t keep rhythm.
They couldn’t have put it any better…
God knew her name before we ever saw her sweet face and He watched over her when it seemed that the rest of the world had forgotten her. She was NOT FORGOTTEN….a concept that my kiddos understood and grasped about the beauty and depth of God’s love and they sang the truth loud and clear to her when she came home…beautiful…
Children belong in families (PERIOD) 147 Million is a hard number to fathom. I can’t even wrap my mind around that number. I got to thinking… Who is celebrating 147 million children’s birthdays? Who is teaching 147 million children to read? Who is kissing and putting a band aid on147 million children’s boo-boos? Who is helping brush 147 million children’s teeth each night? Who is tucking in 147 million children and reading them a bedtime story? Who is helping 147 million children grieve and process the loss that has occurred in their short lives? Who is teaching 147 million children about God? Who is helping them avoid prostitution as of a means to live? or taking them off the streets begging for food?
WHO WILL RISE UP? Whether through adoption or supporting a child…you can change the life of one. You can let one child know that you know their name, that you care, that you are proud of them, and that Jesus loves them with all His being. Just one…will you do it? Help one child know he or she is LOVED and NOT FORGOTTEN.
Miss J has a new song that she sings over and over. It is really easy. It goes, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy….” sang to the tune of “Jesus, Jesus. Jesus in the morning, Jesus in the evening…” As I close my eyes and listen to her sweet voice echo my name, I thank God for being a God who does NOT FORGET.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18
Dan and Christi are living lives of serving. We encourage you to not only read this post, but also respond by joining them on their journey….
I just want to start by thanking you for taking the time to read the story that God is writing with our lives… and a HUGE thank you to Aime and Joe for sharing their blog space with us – what a blessing!
First, let me start by introducing ourselves… my wonderful hubby Dan, I’m Christi, our sweet boy Malakai Aweke… and there’s a bun in the oven due 3/18!
Our story goes a little something like this…
In 2003, while dating, our eyes were opened to the plight of the orphan. God used the trip that I, Christi, took to the Dominican Republic to change our hearts forever!
About six months prior, I had been introduced to Jesus Christ for the first time in my life. As I started a relationship with HIM and dug into HIS Word, I began to see that He had plans far better than anything I had imagined.
I was given an opportunity to serve overseas for about 4 weeks that summer. While I had no idea how this would happen financially, God pulled together the pieces and I left on a plane for the Dominican Republic that June. I had NEVER flown before, I had NEVER left my family for that long, I was SCARED to leave Dan, and I was serving with 30 others that I had never met!
What happened over the next 4 weeks completely rocked my world!
I knew there were orphans in the world…
I knew there were widows…
I knew there were poor…
I knew there were many injustices….
BUT I had NEVER been face to face with what I was about to experience.
I spent the next 4 weeks reaching out to a village that was filled with witchcraft…
A village where the ‘workers’ that came in to harvest the surrounding sugar cane fields raped all of the young girls…
a village where children were raising children…
a village where most of the people were walking around naked from lack of clothing…
a village where the children had bloated bellies from lack of food…
a surrounding garbage dump full of HOMES…
families searching for food each day…
children NOT in school…
children NOT being cared for…
the look of despair was on the faces of all…
and people that had NEVER heard the TRUTH of Jesus Christ…
Many faces and stories stand out in my mind, but God used this ONE child to grip my heart forever!
For months I would cry myself to sleep wondering if anyone was taking care of him, if anyone was feeding him, and what would happen to all those precious lives!
I returned not completely understanding HOW to process all that I had just experienced. Through much prayer and seeking the wisdom of my pastor, I shared my desire to serve overseas as a full-time missionary and maybe adopt one day with my amazing boyfriend, Dan. We both knew that God was calling us to a life together, but Dan did not share this desire. I remember something along the lines of,“that’s great babe, but I’m a sender, NOT a go-er”…
However, my wise (future) hubby made a commitment that he would pray for these children by name, listen to my stories, help me process all that I had been through, and be supportive of whatever God called me us to… just as long as it wasn’t full time mission work!
Upon returning, I went through a period of really wrestling with the Lord… wondering how HE could burden my heart so heavily to serve the people of the DR BUT at the same time make it so clear that now was not HIS timing! Dan was absolutely instrumental in helping me to process all that I had been through and encouraged me to continue to seek the Lord’s timing and purpose.
During this time, we were both challenged to dig deeper into God’s Word and use our gifts to further the Kingdom. While we were serving, we had grown comfortable and were more willing to serve where and when it was most convenient for us, not really being bold in the name of Jesus!
We soon both felt the Lord calling me to again serve the vulnerable overseas. We asked the Lord to show us where and He led me to a trip to Honduras which was later postponed due to political unrest. I was given the option to go to Guatemala or wait a year to go to Honduras. As we prayed, it was Dan that sensed the Lord was leading me to Guatemala. I vividly recall struggling with this decision and Dan telling me that this may be God’s plan all along, for me to serve in Guatemala…
God definitely wanted me to go on the Guatemala trip! THIS TRIP CHANGED OUR LIVES!
While many stories stand out in my mind, it was THESE two little girls in particular, God used to change our hearts, especially Dan’s heart! Just like the DR trip, HE was using a small child to greatly impact our lives.
The first photo is Milagra- a precious little girl found in a dumpster and the 2nd is Yulisa- a sweet little girl with a big heart that was attached to my hip!
As God would have it, right after I applied to go to Honduras, we were sensing that the Lord was prompting me to serve in a ministry full-time… and I was THRILLED to leave corporate America! We prayed, researched ministries where I could serve, specifically in orphan care or adoption, and surrender this to the Lord and HIS timing! God then called us to my Lifesong for Orphans! God was on the move and we couldn’t have been more excited to be involved in all that HE was doing in and through the Lifesong ministry!
In the same month I start working at Lifesong for Orphans AND serve the orphan and the widow in Guatemala… God is doing a MAJOR work in our hearts…
We set out on this trip knowing that God had plans for it… to spread the gospel, to love on some children without parents to call their own, to serve the widow, to encourage some teens from desperate situations, and to make an impact for the Kingdom.
As I returned home and TRIED to process all I had experienced, I quickly noticed that not only was I lying awake at night crying myself to sleep thinking about the brokenness I had witnessed….. but Dan was too! He could not get enough of the stories and the photos… something was different this time!
God gave Dan this BEAUTIFUL song that he put to the video below which allowed us many opportunities to share and advocate for these precious lives -
She’s got no one to tuck her in at night… does anyone care? Father, please, stir in me, OPEN my eyes to see…. GOD wasopening Dan’s eyes to the plight of the orphan… and it was INCREDIBLE!
We were BOTH so broken… people would ask us to share about the trip and we’d both break down… it was ALL we talked about…. we were physically ill thinking of doing anything but going back!
As we left Guatemala, our team gathered around in the airport and asked the Lord to show BOTH Dan and I how HE would have us respond and how we could serve TOGETHER defending the cause of the fatherless. That spot in the airport is so overwhelming to me!
Over the next months, we sensed the Lord calling us to adopt. We contacted everyone we could get our hands on to try to pursue these 2 sweet girls… and door after door was closed. We made a covenant with the Lord that we WOULD adopt these 2 sweet girls… whenever He called us to. We eventually received the news that ALL adoptions from Guatemala to the U.S. were closed… that we could do nothing, but pray. And pray we did. Fervently!
As we continued to call these girls our own and share them with everyone we knew… God made it clear that He was still calling us to adopt, even though these girls were unavailable right now.
WHAT? You break us with this trip…. we FALL in love with these girls… we call them our own… we are BROKEN that we can’t get on a plane right now and bring them home… you want us to put ourselves out there again, knowing the same thing could happen again? Really God?!?!
Trust in ME, I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE!
So, we took steps in obedience. We started talking with agencies and began praying over every country on the map… we eventually read about the Ethiopia program through All God’s Children International and their transition home, Hannah’s Hope. We prayed that God would make it clear…. and He did!
The feelings of a piece of us missing started immediately!
The thoughts of whether or not our child was being taken care of were intense!
The guilt of doing anything BUT paperwork every second of every day took over!
Dan constantly wondered if our child(ren) were safe!
I constantly wondered if they were being loved!
We moved forward in faith! January 2010 the paperwork began and we tackled it with great joy knowing that God was in control of EVERYTHING… that HIS timing was perfect! By April we were ready to be matched with a child, which we thought would be quick.
Quick it was not! Easy to smile and look back on now, but HARD in the midst of it. Side note – if you know someone going through the adoption journey, their emotions are REAL, RAW, and need to be validated! Do not discount that they are expecting, whether you can see it in their not-so-growing belly or not! This journey is HARD… people do NOT understand… you get STRANGE comments… and everyone somehow thinks they all of a sudden are open to ask any personal question regarding your sex life and your uterus that pops in their head! Assumptions should NOT be made… just because someone is adopting does NOT mean that it was plan B for their family… adoption is OFTEN Plan A, just like it was for OUR family!
We waited… we prayed… we shared our hearts… we advocated… we served… we told everyone we knew… we fundraised… we asked our friends to fundraise for us… to ask their friends to support us… it was humbling, it was overwhelming, and it puts you under a microscope. However, it is truly a MIRACLE to see the Lord work IN and THROUGH so many to bring HIS plans to completion!
On February 17th, 2011 we received the call that would change our lives forever!To read the details of the call, see this post! Here’s the video we put together to capture this sweet moment -
“Jesus we praise You and thank You for allowing us this opportunity… thank you for breaking our hearts for the fatherless… and for allowing us the opportunity to say that as of February 17th, 2011, there’s ONE LESS orphan in this world!”
We walk through the rest of the process, fly to Ethiopia twice, and return home on Father’s Day 2011 with this bundle of joy!
This little sweetie turned our lives inside out and showed us Christ’s love in a whole new way!
You see, God tells us to love each other unconditionally… those that may get on our nerves, co-workers that we don’t work easily with, etc…. BUT we’ve never before been challenged with loving someone that pushed us away, rejected us, and did NOT want to be in our home. This sweet boy has taught us more in the 9 months that he’s been in our home about Christ’s love for EACH OF US than anything else in our lives! He has blessed us more than we will EVER be able to bless him!
After our first trip to Ethiopia, we both knew the Lord was calling us to overseas mission work. Our hearts were once again broken by the plight of the orphan, the vulnerable, and the outcast…
As we returned home… we were broken-hearted. Not only had we left our son on the other side of the globe, but we also left a country and people that we had grown to love dearly in one short week.
We again prayed…. we KNEW God was calling us to serve overseas and we made a commitment that we would take steps of faith as He opened doors!
Four LONG weeks after our first trip we returned to be re-united with our son and bring him HOME forever. Our hearts and minds were consumed for many weeks with helping him transition, being the consistent in this life, and making sure we were doing all we could to bond and attach with this sweet boy. We still prayed for the Lord to reveal HIS plan. We could NOT return unchanged!
As the Lord does in HIS time, He started to open some doors and slam others shut… we soon knew that He was calling us to Guatemala to serve full time! We felt particularly drawn to Eagle’s Nest International and the work that they are doing. You see, our hearts are to serve the orphan, show them what a family is, to reach out to a lost community, to bring hope to the hurting, and love like we’ve never loved before. We took a trip this past December asking the Lord to give us clarity as we served together and HE made it abundantly clear that we are to serve at Eagle’s Nest.
For many of the children living at Eagle’s Nest, it is the ONLY home they have ever known… it is where they will form their idea of a ‘family’ even though we all wish they could be in a family rather than an orphanage. For others, Eagle’s Nest will be a refuge and a safe haven where they can learn about Jesus and His great plans for their lives!
We plan to move to Guatemala, Lord willing, this coming June to serve at Eagle’s Nest International. Some of the ways we will be serving include providing holistic orphan care to the children living at the home and will continue to bring in more children as we are able. We have a fantastic opportunity to reach out to the community through the Manna feeding program, a sports ministry, and a new music ministry that Dan will be launching! In addition, we’ll serve the Sololá community through outreach and evangelism, a Christian school, and New Birth Church. We’re incredibly humbled that God has provided so many opportunities to minister to those in need!
Along with this step of faith comes a lot of uneasiness if we are really honest! We’re doing all we can to sell our belongings, sell our home, and prepare our hearts! We’ve asked many to consider reaching out to pastors, small groups, or Sunday school classed to allow us the opportunity to share this story… knowing that God can use it to plant many seeds!
We need you! It’s as simple as that! We can’t go until we have 75% of our need in monthly commitments so that we can effectively minister to the Sololá community and care for our family! That’s where YOU come in!
Would you consider giving $10 and telling 10 of your friends? It’s that simple!
We need your partnership…. through prayer, through giving, and through telling others!
Even if you can’t give… do you have 10 friends that you could share our story with?
To continue watching this journey unfold, follow us here.
I just got done reading “7” by Jen Hatmaker. I. LOVED. IT! I highly recommend it…you will laugh, you will cry, you will be challenged, you will be inspired to live simply so others can simply live. I wish I could make her become my new BFF. She’s a hoot! I feel like she has been listening in on my conversations over the last two years and wrote all my thoughts into a cute, niffy, lil book She made me feel normal…or maybe not so normal!
She chose 7 areas of her life and took one month to solely focus on that area and make changes to live for a greater cause. She is down right honest with her thoughts, her failures, and her triumphs. I bought the book for one of my besties, I told my MIL to read it, and my hubbie is actually reading it now. I’ve told all my friends on FB that they all should read it. Seriously, I think I’ve become “7” promoter and advertiser. My kids have heard all about and we are about to start our own little journey of 7!
Over the last year, we have changed how we buy gifts for each other. This year we did this for our spiritual Christmas gifts and the kids LOVED it! My hubbie and I now prefer to get each other gifts for Christmas, birthdays, Valentines Day or whatever that are for a cause and I love it. When I wear cause, it strikes up a conversation when I am out and about. It brings awareness to others in such a simple way. If I am going to wear jewelry, why not buy jewelry from women in Uganda, Ethiopia, or Nicaragua! This helps these women earn an income so they do have to turn to prostitution, digging through trash, or selling alcohol as a means to survive. I love to pray for them as I wear it for the day. Here are a few that we have gotten one another…
My newest t-shirt is from Visiting Orphans. This is a great organization and some of my friends have gone on mission trips with them.
My V-Day necklace is from Amazima and was handmade by precious women in Uganda. We have followed Katie’s as a family since she first started, have read her book, and love her heart and what God is doing through her!
My mom actually gave me these earrings for Christmas. They were made by a woman who was rescued out of sex slavery and by purchasing these it helps her sustain her life by making and selling jewelry instead of her body…love it!
These are just a few. Honestly, I don’t like to shop and I seriously don’t need new clothes or jewelry, but I love these knowing that they are serving a greater purpose than just fashion. Just one more way to change how we live in addition to supporting a child via Compassion Intl, Children’s Hopechest, or another organization:)
*On a side note, our girls have wanted to help build a well in Ethiopia. So it required this momma to get her act in order and help them get started. We have had the t-shirt designed and we are so excited about it! You can see our logo for it on the sidebar! Aren’t they fun! LOVE WELL…coming soon! So stay tuned! My girls have BIG hearts and BIG dreams to do this…will you help them and LOVE Well?
The last few weeks I have been trying to get life somewhat back in order after the fun craziness of the holidays and New Year. I don’t know about your house, but my house was completely turned upside down…laundry was falling out of the hampers and calling my name, the bathrooms had more toothpaste on the counters and in the sink and it was grossing me out, our Christmas Tree was now looking very sad and needed to be taken down, and even my kiddos were a little outta sorts!
We usually take our tree down as a family before the New Year, but this year we had company were enjoying our time with them instead…to be honest, I don’t even think our tree got watered after Christmas and boy, it showed. The kids were now back in school, my hubbie was at work, and here I was taking down the Christmas tree and decorations all by myself. One of my FAVORITE traditions is as we are putting away our Christmas decorations, we think about our goals for the next year and write them on 2 note cards and keep one and pack other away with the decorations. Obviously this tradition had to change up a little bit, so I decided I would finish packing things away and complete our tradition at dinner that night. I pulled out the note cards and read the previous year’s goals that each of us had written. It is moments like these that as a mom, I just take a moment and sit and reflect on all that God has done in our lives in the last year.
That night at dinner we all shared our 2011 goals. I love this time! We gave high fives and let out a few screams of excitement (yeah…there is a lot of girls in our household and we tend to be loud at times) for the things we accomplished and we encouraged each other to try again on the goals that we didn’t meet. I love this time because #1 It gives me a glimpse into my kiddo’s hearts and what is important to them at that moment/year #2 It helps us to encourage one another as a family and to know that we are all on a journey #3 It gives the kids another opportunity to see us…their dad and mom succeed, fail, and try again #4 I have years of goals that document where we’ve been and how God has worked in and through our lives. We ended our evening by writing our 2012 goals and packing them away with the Christmas decorations. I went to bed that night thanking God for all He had done in the last year and was so proud of each of my children as unique and different each of them are in their own ways. I know their goals and pray that God will help them accomplish them for His glory and that He will complete the good work that He has began in them.
With that being said, 2 of my girls have a goal to build a well in Africa. We took our oldest with us when we went to Ethiopia to adopt our youngest daughter and she cannot forget what she saw. Now after knowing what she now knows, she has a passion to do something, so they have a goal this year to build a well. So we are helping them get started. I hope you will join them on this journey of making a difference!
I went to the store the other night ALL BY MYSELF. A rare treat. Usually I have at least 1 or 2 tagging along with me. I was just picking up a few groceries and enjoying a little quiet time and then I realized Christmas music was playing! I dug through my purse and found my phone to txt my hubbie and tell him…because once Halloween is over is we are all about Thanksgiving and Christmas in our house:) We’ve got lots of little traditions that make Christmas unique for our family and we LOVE celebrating them! Some we have continued from both sides of our families and some we have started on our own.
Last year, our Embassy date was delayed and we were heartbroken that we would not have Miss J in our arms on Christmas. So this year is her FIRST Christmas home…extra special and all the more fun!
On Christmas Eve, we serve one service/worship one as a family. LOVE! There is nothing more sweet than worshiping our Savior together as a family the night before His birth. I love to watch the faces of my precious kiddos as they sing, “Silent Night” in the candlelit auditorium…beautiful.
Afterward, we head home, turn on our Christmas lights on our tree and mantle, light candles throughout the house, and get the fire going in the fireplace. Cozy, cozy! Then we have a “Birthday party for Jesus”. Our tradition is read velvet cake and ice cream…yum! I love singing “Happy Birthday” to our Savior and blowing out His candles together.
Our kids open 2 presents on Christmas Eve. The first one is a new pair of pajamas. (Bought on clearance last year for $1-$3…score!) I love cuddling by the fireplace with my kiddos in there new pjs on Christmas Eve:)
Then the second gift is a “spiritual gift”. Usually it is a new devotional or something to help them grow spiritually throughout the year. Last year, everyone got a leather Bible. After 5 kiddos, we have enough devotionals to share or to do again, so this year we got orphan advocacy apparel. Half the proceeds go to help bring another orphan home or help feed another child in poverty. Plus, my kids wear the shirt all year to bring awareness to the worldwide orphan crisis and continue to pray for the one that proceeds went to help. Here are two of my favorite non profits that we ordered gifts from:
Miss J’s first Halloween came and went and boy, did she have FUN! She was so excited to wear her pink princess dress and even more excited to wear her snazzy princess boots that light up and was all smiles for pictures. She wiggled down outta of our arms at each house we stopped at and ran up as fast as she could grabbing fist full of candy. Then her sisters and brother would pry it out, saying, “Just one. Just one.” Too cute! The neighbors loved it and my kiddos had a ball trick or treating with her for the first time.
As with every holiday, right before Halloween the stats started rolling across FB and Twitter about how much the U.S. spends on candy, costumes, Christmas presents, and right next to it is a picture of a starving child. It is heartbreaking and they are good reminders IF we choose to change our value system, change our budget, and give in some way or another.
I am not a BIG candy buyer/spender or even Halloween costume spender for that matter (The clearance rack is my best friend!), but we do buy some candy to hand out to our neighbors. I wanna be a light for God right where we are and protesting buying a one bag of candy to share with my neighborhood probably isn’t gonna the best route to go, BUT as a family we do wanna GIVE more and LOVE more and make MEMORIES in the midst of doing so. So this year we did something DIFFERENT! We made a small change that I think we will make a TRADITION. Our church does service projects in our community and through this we heard that the local nursing home always has a Halloween party for friends and family, but no one comes. HEARTBREAKING. So after we went to some houses on our street and talked with neighbors, we piled in the van and headed over to the nursing home. BEST decision we made. The kids LOVED it and realized how lonely Holidays can be for some. Sometimes that knock on the door on Halloween is a blessing for someone else. Sometimes the joy of giving candy and hearing a “Thank You” is a blessing to the person who wanted to give. Sometimes seeing little people dress up and enjoy the one night they get to wear a crazy costume out in public is a blessing to someone else. This year, we changed our focus to how we could bless those that are right here among us…especially the lonely in our midst. Little changes. I have heard of other families cutting back on candy/costume spending donating it to a non-profit that helps relieve poverty. There are so many little changes we can make, but if we just post the facts and sit and do nothing or worse the same thing, then it is of little value. I have much to learn. Everyday is a new day to surrender to God and ask Him, “How do you want to use me today, Lord?”
and this… The card is from one of my besties who lives on the other side of the country. Every time I look at it, I die laughing. She knows me well. We’ve lived life together for the last decade…we’ve vacationed together, we’ve played cards till the late hours of night, we’ve done ministry together, we’ve helped each other move, we’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together, we’ve seen each other in our pjs, we’ve watched each other’s kiddos have stinky attitudes…friends like these are gold…
Well…we’ve moved, in the middle of transition in ministry and life, this card made my day, my week, my month. Honestly, I thought this transition would be in the direction of Africa, as did my oldest daughter, which brings me to the second thing on my counter…the book. It was a birthday gift to her from her BFF back in Indiana. What tween gives her friend a book on Africa??? Seriously??? She knows my daughter well:) Yep…friends like this are gold. When we took our daughter to Ethiopia with us, God opened her eyes and now her heart longs for Africa, too. She wants to make a difference. She wants to help. She sees life a little differently now. She actually sat my husband down and told him we should be Africa…how do you argue that one with your kiddo?!?! PASSION for something you have a heart for…LOVE IT! Well, God took us all over kingdom come to lead us to where we are…family ministry…my hubbie is loving his new role and I love to see him in his sweet spot, yet all of our hearts still long for Africa…in a good way.
TRANSITION. CHANGE. That’s where we’ve been the last few months. I’ve been busy as a momma getting all acclimated here and everyone is adjusting well…some are taking longer than others. There are things we love, things we miss, and things that will just take time to get used to:) There’s been laughter, there’s been tears, but all in all its been good. AND Miss J is doing great…the new news is I just scheduled our last post adoption visit with our social worker. Can’t you believe it? Last year this time, I posted this. Crazy what God has done!
In a new place, I find myself alone a little more than usual. Alone is sometimes a good thing. Especially when it draws you to Christ and you spend more time talking and thinking out loud to Him. Thinking through what He wants you to do in this new town, new place, new community, new church. Much of these thoughts have been tied to Africa. To the orphan and the widow. Lord, what do you want me to do here and now? I’ve been brainstorming, researching, praying, thinking…I am excited to see where He leads…we’ll see…
Transition in ministry is a hard, funny thing and yet, I’ve come to realize that we are nomads here in this place. When I was little I pictured myself living in the same house for 50 yrs and I think sometimes that is what we want in life…the security that things will stay the same with no TRANSITION, NO CHANGE, but I think in TRANSITION and in CHANGE is where we meet God. As I glanced at my old lady card today, I realized that one blessing of being open to where He is leads is all the friends we make along way…even if they are spread across the nation…yet they know your heart and know your passions and will encourage you to live them out where you are…yes…where ever you are, be all there…
The card is from one of my besties who lives on the other side of the country. Every time I look at it, I die laughing. She knows me well. We’ve lived life together for the last decade…we’ve vacationed together, we’ve played cards till the late hours of night, we’ve done ministry together, we’ve helped each other move, we’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together, we’ve seen each other in our pjs, we’ve watched each other’s kiddos have stinky attitudes…friends like these are gold…
