the other side of the same coin

A couple of years ago, I was reading a post by a woman whose husband was not open to adopting. We've all heard of this story before, haven't we? The wife wants to adopt, but the husband is concerned about finances, time, etc. and is therefore not ready to adopt.

But even though this is a common story, and I had heard it many times before, at that moment, I felt as if my heart would break in two. I was literally undone. This is what I wrote in my journal:

"Where are the men who would love to love God by taking care of the fatherless? Who would love to do it?! Not, who had to be talked into it and then are willing, but who would love to do it. Lord, I ask for You to raise up this sort of man among your people--as an icon of Your care for Your children. May there be many of these men. May it not only be women who care for the fatherless. Men must care. Lord, I ask You with boldness and assurity that you desire this and will do it."

Less than one month later, my precious husband approached me, saying that he thought that we should adopt again! Friends, I was not praying this prayer with my husband in mind. But God saw fit to answer my prayer in a way that only He could do. He answered it (and continues to answer it) above and beyond my expectations!

So, why do I share this story with you?

In my post below, I wrote about something that I totally believe in. I believe that God gave the gifts to the Church and we are to use these gifts and appreciate and support each person as he/she is called in different ways to love God and one another. Together, we glorify God as we serve one another and the world.

But, that does not mean that we are to sit silently and wait for the gifts to be manifest in the Church. If you believe that you have the gift of mercy, I entreat you to continutally storm the gates of heaven on behalf of the suffering people of this world. If you think that you are the only one in your local church body who feels this burden, ask the Father to send others...ask the Father to send MEN who would love to love the Fatherless and care for the needy. God would LOVE to do it! He would LOVE to see this kind of love manifest on the earth.

I know that my son, Adam, has a gift of mercy. His compassionate heart is a treasure to me and to the Lord! I continually pray for Adam--that God would further His purposes in Adam's life and raise him up to be a man of mercy. I tell Adam that there are many merciful women, but not so many merciful men. I tell Adam that he is called of God to be compassionate and filled with love for God and for His people. Adam knows that this is true. And I know that Adam will serve God with a fiery love and compassion that will ignite others. In fact, he already does!!

Friends, so many of you have spurred me on with your love for the needy people of this world. Thank you for this! You are precious to me and certainly to the Lord, also!! May we continue to fight the fight of faith together. There are no orphans in heaven! May it be so on the earth!!

precious gifts

I LOVE orphans. I love them because God loves. I love them because His heart is for them and because they are made in the image and likeness of God and are therefore of inestimable value.

I LOVE adopting orphans. I love giving these precious children a home where they can know the love and security of the Father. I love seeing their smiles and hearing their laughter. I love teaching them things. I love learning from them.

I used to get frustrated when other Christians did not see the needs of the world in the same way that I did. I thought that they had cold hearts. Sometimes people are cold, but I realize now that it is not always coldness that causes people to see things differently. Many times, people see things differently, because the Father is revealing Himself to them in a different way.

I know that I have been given a gift from my wonderful Father. He has shown His mercy to me in a radical way. I see His heart of love for the downtrodden and especially for the orphan, and I can't live in any other way. In showing mercy, I am given the most merciful gift of all--a deeper glimpse into the heart of the Father. I want to use this gift in a way that will glorify God and that will serve the body of Christ. I want to use this gift in a way that will show the heart of the Father more, and will cause others to glorify Him more.

Every Christian is given a beautiful gift or gifts. These gifts are glimpses into the heart of God. They reveal things that are precious to our Lord and are intended to build up the body in love. I am so very grateful that God did not only give the gift of mercy. Where would the Church be, if this were the case? He gives different gifts to accentuate different aspects of who He is. Isn't that incredible?! He gives us different gifts, and because of that, any individual person (no matter how godly he/she is) cannot reflect all of who God is. We need each other. Together, we reflect the body of Christ.

Thank you, Father, that you give yourself to your people! May I always strive to love You and to reflect You in the way that you have gifted me. May I always support and appreciate others whom you have gifted differently. You are coming back for Your Bride someday soon! May we all together, be a reflection of Your heart of love!!

In the kitchen with Yana!

I'll admit, I haven't done the best job of including my children in cooking. The kids do almost all of the clean-up, but sometimes I have used my time cooking as a little quiet moment with no teaching involved! lol

The big girls, however, have been inspired by their homeschool cooking class and by their friends, Caleb and Elijah (honestly, Caleb is on his way to becoming a real chef!). So, yesterday morning, Yana and Lily presented me with a grocery list that they had made that was three pages long! Lily went shopping with me and the check-out lady asked if we were buying food for the month!! No, er...just for the week!

Last night, we were going to a potluck, and Yana helped me make my favorite salad. Aaahhh...somebody else washing the lettuce. So nice! (This is not my favorite job!)

Dad has to give the cook a little hug. Here's Yana melting butter for the croutons.

Grinding pepper for the salad dressing.

And here's the finished product (minus the croutons--we couldn't put those on until we arrived at the potluck).

This morning, Yana made breakfast--southwestern style eggs, applesauce with cinamon and raisins and cinamon toast. Tonight, Lily is going to make quiche, fruit salad and a frozen fruit dessert. Hmmm...I guess that I could get used to this!

little worshippers--touching the heart of God

I walked in on Lily and Grace, having a time of snuggly worship together. What precious love these two have for one another. Lily does such a great job trying to keep focused on our precious Lord, and show kindness and love to her little sister at the same time. Makes this momma's heart smile--makes the Lord's heart smile too, I think.

Please visit Jenn's blog at http://karleighmei.blogspot.com . She has posted a video from an orphanage in Haiti. There are so many Haitian orphans (children who were orphans BEFORE the earthquake) who still do not have adequate food and water. These children need to be flown out of Haiti now. They do not have much time left. And please pray, pray, pray. Our merciful Father is ready to work miracles on these children's behalf. May His will be done on the earth as it is in heaven!!

okay...I think that she's a little obsessed!!

This morning, during our homeschooling, Grace and I were talking about the number 64. In the curriuclum that we're using, it asked the question, "What would you do with $64,000?"

Grace's response?

"Buy gum!!"

She also pointed out later that "Grace" and "gum" both start with "G".

And here's a little blast from the past--Grace on the plane ride home from China. Her two favorite things to do on the plane were putting barettes in her hair and...you guessed it--chewing, handing out, shaking the bottle of, and plain-old enjoying her gum!!

Oh, how I love this silly little, gum-lovin' girl!!

on my mind...

Last night, I went back and forth between nightmares of Haiti, and nightmares of having my teeth cleaned. I in no way mean to belittle the events in Haiti by comparing them to a teeth-cleaning, but I'll admit that I'm a big baby when it comes to the dentist. And even after meticulously flossing every single day for the past year, I ended up having lots of tartar again and a very painful cleaning. Then today, I had to get novocaine and a filling repaired. It's 4:30 and I'm ready to crawl into bed. (okay, I'm going to stop whining about my silly teeth now, and be grateful for dentists who have fixed a lot of things in my mouth!)

Before I go to sleep (which, of course, will not actually happen anytime soon), I'd like to put in a plea for everyone to email their senators regarding the situation in Haiti. It's really very easy. Go to www.senate.gov/ and scroll down to "senators". Find your two senators and send them an email asking that they support every measure to get all orphans who had been living in orphanages at the time of the earthquake, to get out of Haiti and be flown to the U.S. It really does make a difference. Then, find an organization that you trust, and donate whatever you can to relief work in Haiti. Many people are without water and food. They need every person to help.

On a much, much brighter note, some of the Haitian orphans are already in the U.S. Their new families have come for them and they are together forever, at last. Praise our wonderful God!!