I am so in awe at how God works. I feel really honored to be apart of this movement. This isn't something that I set out to pursue it is something that just landed in my lap. The way God works to make himself famous is incredible. He is really creative. Go figure... Our creator, creative?! Well of course he is. This whole fundraiser that we are doing with Give1Save1, to cover the remaining expenses of our adoption, is so much more then just trying to raise a little bit of money. Hundreds of people are getting to hear/see/read the gospel through the story of a sweet little 4 yr old girl who lives in an orphanage in Ethiopia.
She has no idea the impact she is making on people for The Kingdom. When we made the final decision to adopt from Ethiopia and we took that giant leap of faith back in 2010 I had no idea what God was doing. All I knew was that we were following a simple command found in the scripture. Many of you are familiar with this verse.
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. - James 1:27
It is that simple. Christ tells us to care for them. So we decided, for our family, that meant adopting. Little did I know that this process is so much more then just redemption of an orphans life. Not only is God redeeming a life that is broken in an orphanage with no mother to tuck her in at night, no father to say bed time prayers with her, no one to cuddle her when her feelings are hurt or give her kisses out of pure delight, he is redeeming my life, my husbands life and the lives of my sons. He has taken me out of a life of death and self destruction. The Word says "For whoever wants to save his life will loose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." (Matthew 16:25) During this season I (and my husband) have been sifted, shaken, broken, beat down but not destroyed, and yes of course at times hopeful. There have been things buried deep in my heart that have had a hold on me that I didn't know where there until we began this process. We are still in this process of being sifted of the things that pollute our hearts. I am not sure this sifting ever stops, but I am thankful for this process. My prayers have been to be more like Jesus, to be his hands and his feet and in order for that to happen you must go through this process of dying to the things of this world that you "flesh" desires, you must "loose your life".
I thought I knew exactly what the adoption process would look like when we jumped on board. I had read a lot of beautiful blogs about it and about this process. It seemed fairly easy, a short 6-9 month process from beginning to homecoming with few hurdles and just peace and joy along the way. I had my mind set that since this call was from the Lord it would be easy.... It is not easy. I have learned that just because it is from the Lord and you are being obedient does not mean it is easy. In fact, I believe it makes what you are being obedient in harder. Living the gospel hurts and it makes you cry. But it is also rewarding. Through the hurt and the tears. I have never been more intimate with the Lord. I have never known him the way I know him now.
With all of that being said, God has had more patience with me then I understand and his grace and mercy have flowed out immensely despite my lack of faith. He has been so gracious I don't know how he tolerated me at times. And He is still pouring out. I said earlier in this post that the way God works to make himself famous is incredible. It really is. Since beginning the Give1Save1 fundraiser on Monday people have given generously to us. We are sitting at about $500 in donations!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. What excites me even more then the money is the fact that so many people from all over the United States has seen Emme's story and are rallying together in prayer that she is home with us soon. Prayer is worth far more then money. Through Emme's story God is making him self known. He is revealing who He is to some and showing others his heart and giving them hope of their own. This is what excites me. The point of our existence is to make Christ known and to be his hands and feet here. This is what God is doing.
Check out what God did this week. Please click this link and see how cool and Big and Great God is. And how he can make himself known through a little thing called Twitter and a movement called Operation Random Christmas Blessing......
Baron is an amazing person. He loves the Lord and is an inspiration to many. To God be ALL the Glory!!!
To learn more about Baron Batch please view this video.
She has no idea the impact she is making on people for The Kingdom. When we made the final decision to adopt from Ethiopia and we took that giant leap of faith back in 2010 I had no idea what God was doing. All I knew was that we were following a simple command found in the scripture. Many of you are familiar with this verse.
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. - James 1:27
It is that simple. Christ tells us to care for them. So we decided, for our family, that meant adopting. Little did I know that this process is so much more then just redemption of an orphans life. Not only is God redeeming a life that is broken in an orphanage with no mother to tuck her in at night, no father to say bed time prayers with her, no one to cuddle her when her feelings are hurt or give her kisses out of pure delight, he is redeeming my life, my husbands life and the lives of my sons. He has taken me out of a life of death and self destruction. The Word says "For whoever wants to save his life will loose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." (Matthew 16:25) During this season I (and my husband) have been sifted, shaken, broken, beat down but not destroyed, and yes of course at times hopeful. There have been things buried deep in my heart that have had a hold on me that I didn't know where there until we began this process. We are still in this process of being sifted of the things that pollute our hearts. I am not sure this sifting ever stops, but I am thankful for this process. My prayers have been to be more like Jesus, to be his hands and his feet and in order for that to happen you must go through this process of dying to the things of this world that you "flesh" desires, you must "loose your life".
I thought I knew exactly what the adoption process would look like when we jumped on board. I had read a lot of beautiful blogs about it and about this process. It seemed fairly easy, a short 6-9 month process from beginning to homecoming with few hurdles and just peace and joy along the way. I had my mind set that since this call was from the Lord it would be easy.... It is not easy. I have learned that just because it is from the Lord and you are being obedient does not mean it is easy. In fact, I believe it makes what you are being obedient in harder. Living the gospel hurts and it makes you cry. But it is also rewarding. Through the hurt and the tears. I have never been more intimate with the Lord. I have never known him the way I know him now.
With all of that being said, God has had more patience with me then I understand and his grace and mercy have flowed out immensely despite my lack of faith. He has been so gracious I don't know how he tolerated me at times. And He is still pouring out. I said earlier in this post that the way God works to make himself famous is incredible. It really is. Since beginning the Give1Save1 fundraiser on Monday people have given generously to us. We are sitting at about $500 in donations!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. What excites me even more then the money is the fact that so many people from all over the United States has seen Emme's story and are rallying together in prayer that she is home with us soon. Prayer is worth far more then money. Through Emme's story God is making him self known. He is revealing who He is to some and showing others his heart and giving them hope of their own. This is what excites me. The point of our existence is to make Christ known and to be his hands and feet here. This is what God is doing.
Check out what God did this week. Please click this link and see how cool and Big and Great God is. And how he can make himself known through a little thing called Twitter and a movement called Operation Random Christmas Blessing......
http://baronbatch.com/2011/12/14/operation-random-christmas-blessing/
Baron is an amazing person. He loves the Lord and is an inspiration to many. To God be ALL the Glory!!!
To learn more about Baron Batch please view this video.
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