What Am I Gonna Do About It?

Ok so this is my frustration... We say we are "christians" But what are we doing about it? We say we believe in being grace filled and loving but what does that look like? This idea goes outside our church walls. Did you know that there are starving people in our country? Ok how about county? Even better our town? Yup even in Cortland!

The average is 220 per year. As of April 2002, the number of individuals for the year is 104, which includes 62 adults and 42 children.

That was 2002! So lets just say that those numbers are still legit.... 42 children have no place to sleep 42!! What are we doing about it?

We have been in ministry about 6 1/2 years and I am constantly amazed at how God works in my heart. Dave and I are serious about adopting because God is serious about adopting. We are serious about loving the unloveable because Jesus loves the unloveable.

This is my challenge pick 3 people that you know are unsaved and do something about it! It might be a little awkward but think about them in hell for eternity. How bad do you have to hate them to have them spend eternity in hell? You don't!! These are people you love..... so.... LOVE THEM!!

My other challenge is this..... Orphans.... Widows.... Homeless People.... they are real and they are out there. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! They are real people bound for a godless eternity and you have the truth they need. Be a "christian"(which literally means little christ) and share the love of God with them. I am not saying you have to adopt but you can help someone who is......I am not saying you have to bring a widow into your home but have a cup of coffee with her...... I am not saying you have to give all your money to the homeless but give them a sandwich! These are not hard things to do and its NOTHING compared to what Jesus did on the CROSS for YOU!!

Nothing back - According to John

So tonight I have just been HIT( I feel like literally) with the truth that we are in a spiritual battle for lost souls. I mean sometimes I feel like I am actually FIGHTING for the souls of people I love. This all started from youth ministry but has grown from all the adoption stuff. The honest truth is I started to doubt if adopting was right for us BUT I came to see that I am fighting a spiritual battle for the life of our baby too. WOW when you think of it that way it changes everything.... at least for me.

I shared a verse with a friend today and the words just rang so true in my own life and heart.

Isaiah 41:10 says

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

The King is still on the throne and still in control. I am just learning again how to lay everything into His hands whether its the kids in our youth ministry or our precious baby.

Where to go from here...

So God has been moving in our hearts!! We still really want to adopt but on vacation really took the time as a family to look into our hearts and decide if our motives are right. I REALLY believe they are. We have been called to adopt and so we are still moving in that direction BUT ugh!! Its seems as if finding an agency should be easy BUT umm its not~ We are still looking.

We are still waiting to see where God will take us on this journey.

We still trust HIM!!

Just a few vacation pics!!

Am I doing my part?

OK so for the last few days I have been really thinking and praying over the direction God would take us. I really would love to have another child in our home. I would LOVE to have someone for Jaxon to play with. I mostly just want to be obedient to God and follow where I believe at this point He is leading our family.

James 1:27 says to look after the orphans and widows. So my question is what am I doing for the widows. My husband explained to me that a widow in the Bible was any woman over a certain age who has NO family. I understand that BUT there are widows in my church. Older women who have lost their husband. If you sit and talk with them for any length of time you will see that they are lonely. They want to talk to someone. So am I doing my part there?

My other thought is..... at this point we really feel God is calling us to adoption. We are making steps in that direction. The last few days I have not been able to stop thinking about WHY.

I think I lost site of the ministry and realized I have EVERYTHING that I need and was making this adoption way to much about me. When that thought clicked in my mind my heart changed. So WE want to adopt but what exactly does God want? I WHOLE HUGE HEARTEDLY believe that Gods heart is with the orphans and widows BUT what if someone couldn't adopt?

The truth of James 1:27 is still very real. So how does one obey Gods Word if adoption isn't really an option for them?

These are thoughts I am still processing and I hope to post later with the results but please share your thoughts too!

Set Back #1

All I can say is UGH!!! UGH!!! UGH!!

I knew set backs would come and I even knew that this journey was not going to be easy. I still truly, completely trust the God of the Universe but we are not sure where to go from here.

So New Hope Family Services is a GREAT organization but quite a bit smaller than we originally expected. So they on average only place 6-8 babies a year. Thats not so bad but between their waiting list and New York State regulations it will be 4 YEARS before they put a baby in our arms. UGH!!! I am not giving up and I still believe that God calls us to look after the orphans so I know we are headed in the right direction but I am a little frustrated to say the least. I am not asking for a baby tomorrow and I am not even asking for one in a year but 4 years really?

Please don't get me wrong these people are amazing. God is really working at New Hope but they can only handle so much.

My heart is in the states. I KNOW that kids are starving and need love, family and a home......I am just not sure why our government makes it so difficult to give that to them.

So all that to say I am not sure where God is taking us I just know we are along for the ride.

PLEASE PRAY as we seek God for wisdom and honestly strength.

Getting Organized!

PRAY PRAY PRAY!!!! God is really moving and some awesome things are coming together. We are still praying about the LARGE (eek!! fingers crossed) Fundraising event and it seems that God is taking it in a new direction. A very exciting one but we still have A LOT of details to be worked out. So..... all that to say I am already trying to get organized for the fall. I just finished my September meal calendar and that helped a lot. Now its onto organizing meetings, appointments, parties and much much more!

give up or give all??

Oh I am not even sure where to start with my thoughts. God is so good and we trust Him. I know that everything will be fine with this meeting on thursday but I kinda feel like I am just waiting for the bomb to drop if that makes sense. Things have been going so well so far and I feel like I should expect something bad to happen. UGH where is my faith?? The God who loves me has been blessing me and blessing me and I am just waiting on Him to not bless me. Who does that? Me apparently!
I know that God is so good and I KNOW that HE will work everything out but I need to stop listening to the lies in my head and start believing the truth. The truth is I am a child of the King called by Him to pursue His purpose by influencing the lives of people for HIS glory not mine. I am only what I am and where I am because HE has brought me to this place. I can be the person who gives up or I can be the person who gives all! I am giving ALL.

Update!

Well next thursday we will head to Syracuse for our first meeting. Things are just becoming so real. Dave and I (along with a few friends and family) have been really praying over a huge fund raising activity. It would be a huge under taking but we may be able to raise almost everything that we need in just one event. God is guiding and directing and we are just along for the ride~

We opened an account just to put money in for the Baby! So now we are on a mission to get this money raised. My Mom and Older Sister are having a garage sale so we started pulling things out that we can put in the sale and get a little bit of $ that way. My sweet big brother has been collecting comic books for at least 15 years and told me this morning that he wants to sell ALL of them (3,500) and give a large portion of the proceeds to us for the adoption. I nearly cried!

This is the kicker.... last night I sat on the deck talking with my Dad. Some of you may or may not know this but my Dad was adopted. After talking for a few minutes we were both in tears and realized that God used my Dads situation to allow us to have open hearts for those in need. The God of the Universe placed my Dad into a family so that he could raise me and now I am going to do the same. It was awesome!! Lots of tears but so great to see how God works things together even 51 years ago when my Dad was placed into his Moms arms.

GOD is so good to us.

OK so I love this man!! He is so amazing and so perfect for me!

He knows what I need and listens when I just need to let off some steam!

He is passionate and loving! He is right beside me with all this adoption "stuff"!

He is willing to make some pretty huge sacrifices to bring our Baby home and that just makes me love him more!!