The body of Christ "visiting" orphans

We have three sets of friends, Christian families, who are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia (more than that actually, but here are three):

• Tim and Heidi Brown live nearby and are moving quickly up the waiting list...they have one young home grown child and are hoping, by God's grace, to graft a fatherless one into their family.   
  

• Joseph and Rachel Walser live in Florida. They have four homegrown kids and a heart for sharing Jesus daily with a little one from Ethiopia.  Joseph is the lead church planter of Lifebridge Church, which is where Dave and Erica Shubin go to church (for those of you who know the Shubins).  Rachel has been chronicling their adoption journey at  Walser Adoption Adventures.

• Josh and Christy Waulk also live in Florida and are highly involved at Lifebridge Church.  They have one homegrown child and would love to add to their number via adoption. They've just begun the process and you can follow their story at Waulk to Ethiopia.

We want to invite you to join us in praying for them, giving if you're able to help with the expenses, and any other way the Lord may lead you.  I know some of you have been setting some money aside with the hopes of helping us adopt again...bless you!

Here are three wonderful opportunities, among others you may know about already, to "visit orphans."

The Walsers and Waulks have PayPal Donation buttons on their blogs, and I'm confident they would heartily welcome your interaction/encouragements.  Heidi doesn't have a blog set up, but I see her regularly if you'd like me to pass funds and/or notes of encouragement through me to her.

Now you have a choice to make...
will you do something?   

Where the Lord leads, we will follow

Good morning friends in Blog-ville.  I learned a valuable lesson via the years of what I thought was a "death" of a dream...I learned it was more of a redirecting.  I'd like to move in the next number of posts from infertility to our experiences along the adoption road, but before I do, I'd like to take today to jump into the present and update you on where things are regarding my "dreams" to adopt once more, this time from Ethiopia.

About 8 months ago, I began dreaming vividly of a little fellow in Ethiopia, about 3-4 years old.  For months I wrestled with the idea of adopting again in my head.  I had all kinds of ammo against the idea.  Yes, I said against.  If you know me at all, you know that I want to do whatever I can to help the fatherless get united with Christian families.  You would also know that I believe children are blessings, gifts from the Lord. Yet, these being true, I wrestled...the present economy, our own economic situation, the size of our house (5 of us in approximately 1,000 sq. ft is different than making it 6), the adoption wouldn't be the only expense as we'd outgrow our car and need a van, our ages (me, 43 and hubby, 47), fears that would require conquering, challenges with homeschooling, and on and on.  I had made comments over the course of a few months to my husband and a few friends, but nothing denoting a seriousness on my part.

By June I found that my fears had been eased, my trust in God's ability to provide had grown, and my desire to do what it would take to pursue a little fellow in Ethiopia had increased.  Not wrestling any more, I asked Mike to pray with me daily through the summer about it.  I was hopeful, and excited to see where God would lead.  Mike defined our positions in missionary terms:  He was willing to go, should the Lord lead, but planning to stay and I was wanting to go, should the Lord lead, but willing to stay.  We were and are 100% united in wanting to follow the Lord wherever He leads.  I am SOOOOO grateful for that! 

Mike gave me freedom to talk with others, to gather information, to share with him all I came across.  I've watched hours of Ethiopian adoption related videos, talked with our social worker, and hunted down blogs through which I have made a few new friends (bless you, all who've taken the time to answer my questions about transitional issues with 3-4 year olds and all the other things I've interacted with you about).  We talked with some of our close friends to get their input.  We prayed daily and had a few lengthy discussions over the summer.  It has been a really good summer for us seeking the Lord and His direction for our family together, and I have known peace as I trust my God to lead through Mike.

I want to thank all of you who have been praying alongside us through the summer.  The reality is, God has NOT given Mike a desire to adopt again at this point.  So though I still have desires, I am realigning myself with the help of God this week to think in terms of "planning to stay." 

One of the fruits of this summer has been that our desire to help others along their adoption journeys via financial gifts as we're able, via encouragements, etc., has grown...we're thankful for the connections that have been made with you, and for the new friendships that have been formed this side of glory. We will continue to pray for those of you we know who are in the process and help you where we can...we look forward to rejoicing with you as God grafts His fatherless ones into your families. 

Just wanted you all to know where things stand...we look forward to living out the good works God has prepared for us to walk in, as He leads.  God bless you as you do the same, keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus!

ALL things for good (Death of a dream, Pt 3)

Thomas Watson wrote a book titled All Things for Good, in which he wrote this:  "If it is good for us, we shall have it; if it is not good for us, then the withholding of it is good."  This quote became a guard for me in those days of battling the blues of infertility, and often afterward regarding other matters.  I recommend the whole book. 

More recently, I read a section about warfare in Ed Welch's book titled Depression: A Stubborn Darkness.  Regarding lies that attempt to focus our attention on temporal realities, and away from the God of all glory, he wrote the following:  

This popular deception is underway even before suffering begins. During the better times, Satan happily encourages us to see the goodness of God all around us.

"You have a strong marriage?  Isn't God good!"

"Your health is fine?  Isn't God good!"

"Your bills are paid and there is some money in the bank?  Isn't God good!"

"Train your eye on these earthly blessings, and gauge God's goodness by what you see, because life will not always be an accumulation of good things.  Then, when the hardships come, you will look out and have no evidence of God's goodness."

This is what Satan tried, albeit unsuccessfully, with Job.  Job had all the best things in life, and Satan assumed that once they were gone, Job would turn his back on God.  But Job trusted in God throughout, causing Satan to flee.

When sorrowing so profusely over not having something I want, I have to stop and ask myself what exactly is going on here?  Have I misplaced my affections?  Do I trust God is good, as He declares Himself to be, both in giving and withholding?  Or do I have my idea of good and project that upon God, then doubt His goodness when He doesn't deliver according to my agenda?  Ouch!  

I found myself repenting often in this season as God made it clear to me that the desire for children is a good desire, rightly placed in submission to Him, but when that desire becomes paramount it has become an idol of worship.  I wish I could say I have learned that lesson once and for all, but I find myself seeking His mercy time and time again.  I know I am not alone and hence I share this with you, so together we might grow in our love for God as He gives and withholds according to His sovereign wisdom and goodness.  

He promises us to be our God, to never leave nor forsake us...the Lord Himself is our portion and He is good.  Psalm 37:3-4 encouraged and encourages me still greatly: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."  Where is our delight supposed to be found? In the Lord.  

When we delight in Him, we are indeed satisfied more than if we were to have every earthly pleasure available.  We were made for His glory...as we glory in Him, we know the joy we were made for.  That is why I can say NOW, I am so glad God did not open my womb in those days.  He has since granted children, three beautiful, milk-spilling, laughing, demanding, smiling, knee-scraping, delightful children...good gifts from His hand.  And I love them best by loving God most. 

His appointment (Death of a dream, Pt 2)

Knowing that it is the LORD who opens and closes wombs, I went on hoping that He would open mine.  I rode the roller coaster of hopes and hopes crushed.  I made use of more pregnancy tests than I care to admit.  And cycle after cycle, this poem by Edith Lillian Young was one of the tools in God's hands to move me, little by little, to the place where I laid my wish list down and clung to Him alone for my joy.  How grateful I am for His grace which leads me into His arms of love!  He is good, all the time. 

Disappointment - His appointment, change one letter, then I see

that the thwarting of my purpose is God's better choice for me.

His appointment must be blessing, though it may come in disguise,

for the end from the beginning, open to His wisdom lies.

Disappointment - His appointment, Whose? The Lord's who loves me best,

understands and knows me fully, who my faith and love would test.

For like a loving, earthly parent, He rejoices when He knows,

that His child accepts unquestioned all that from His wisdom flows.

Disappointment - His appointment...Lord I take it then as such,

like the clay in hands of a Potter, yielding wholly to Thy touch.

All my life's plan is Thy molding; not one single choice is mine.

Let me answer unrepining, Father not my will but Thine.

Death of a dream, Pt. 1

Mike and I were married in 1993.  I grew up wanting and planning and preparing for children so after 3 years of marriage and "trying", we began to walk more formally the path that I recorded in my journal as "the death of a dream."  I have to admit, I have a different perspective with hindsight than I did at the time...now I can see how God was directing our path to delights in Him and in life that I had never imagined.  BUT, at the time, I felt broken and disheartened, to put it mildly.  We both went through an infertility workup and were given options to consider, most of which were either discounted ethically or financially, some of which we tried.  That took one sentence to write, but it took about two years to live.  King David had a different scenario than me when he wrote Psalm 38 (obviously), but I borrowed some of his words as I cried out to the Lord in that season:  "I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long...I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.  Lord, my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You.  My heart pants, my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.  My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off" (Psalm 38:6-11).

There were wrestlings unlike any I had known to that point in my life...What now?  If not children, what do we do, where do we go from here?  My life seemed shattered.  I felt very alone as people all around me multiplied like rabbits. I fought anger over teenage girls getting pregnant in backseats of cars who kill their babies when I couldn't get pregnant and wanted to so badly...I wrongly charged God of injustice. Confusion and weightiness of heart was the fog I walked in for awhile, but God in His mercy began to lift the fog and help me begin to see more clearly His hand of love in this.  As horrible as they were in many ways, I wouldn't trade those days.  When God takes you through refining fires, He knows exactly what He is doing...He is worthy to be trusted at all times.  Quotes and thoughts from that season will be the focus of the next few posts.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Chariots of Fire

In the movie “Chariots of Fire,” the runner says he runs because when he does “he feels God’s pleasure.”   That is how I feel about helping my husband raise the three children God has brought into our family...with all the joys and challenges and responsibilities and tears and laughter, I know without a doubt God has knit these three precious children into our lives and as I welcome them to each new day I feel His pleasure.    

The comment has been made to me more than once while in the process of adoption that "you're getting your children the easy way."  I don't want to get into a bunch of comparisons, but I will say this:  Every child joins its family with a labor all his/her own.  For the next couple of weeks, I'd like to share blips from our story and how God brought us to where we are today.  I'll be using notes from my journals and hopefully you will be encouraged along the way to trust God more deeply in your own life, which I'm sure has its own sets of labor.  I also hope that as you take hold of whatever God has put into your hand to do for His glory, that you will "feel His pleasure" as you fix your eyes on Him.  I would love your feedback along the way. 

One at a time

Just how big of a number is 143,000,000?

"One" at a time is doable.

What can WE do to make a difference?

What CAN we do?

What can we DO?

I'd love to hear your ideas and hear your stories!

A part of God's redemptive plan for humanity

The following is a portion of a post I read this morning on my new friend Christy's site:  Waulk to Ethiopia

I want to share it for a couple of reasons.  I want to help those who think adoption is just about getting a baby to think more broadly than that.  I think Christy expressed that well.  I know from experience that it can be limited to that.  My first daughter fits that category, but with her came much grace to see the adoptive love of my Father in a whole new way.  I was missing SOOO much, and if you are too I want to help you see the goodness of the Lord here.  Adoption is much bigger than parents getting a child and a child getting parents, as true as those things are and as beautiful as those things are, it is even better.  Read on...

Throughout Scripture, and in particular the Old Testament, the Hebrew word translated into English as “heritage” is often used to refer to God’s land promise made to the people of Israel. On a number of occasions, it is used to describe the blessing of children, the “fruit of the womb”.... 

...Ultimately, the decision to adopt from Ethiopia was a matter of obedience to God, the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19), and other portions of Scripture (Acts 1:8; James 1:27; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:4-7). We recognize of course that these passages in and of themselves do not necessarily command us to physically and legally adopt children from the U.S.A., or any other nation, for that matter.

Instead, what we find so utterly amazing is how the adoption of children so dramatically reflects what God, through his son, Jesus, did for us on the cross. Where all of God’s children were once rebellious orphans and “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) deserving nothing less than his judgment, in His grace, mercy, and love for us Jesus died for us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). It is by this great love that we who were once spiritual orphans are able to cry out “Abba, Father!” (Romans 8:15).

With these thoughts we welcome you to our blog, Waulk to Ethiopia, and invite you to join with us, partner with us, and experience the excitement of this journey, the end of which will be that “heritage” from the Lord that we will call our child, and the extension of God’s Kingdom. There will certainly be trials along the way; we are confident that the redemption of the fatherless is not on the enemy’s agenda. Fortunately, we rest assured that the cause of children without homes finding a place in families who will point them to the King is part of God’s redemptive plan for humanity.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” – Jesus (John 14:18)

To read the entire post or to follow the Waulk's story, go to their blog  Waulk to Ethiopia

The other reason I wanted to share this post is to help get real people with real adoptions in the works in front of your eyes so you grow in your awareness, have real people to pray for, real people to encourage, real people to support.  I "met" Christy through my friend Erica Shubin...they love Jesus so if you do too, let me introduce you to your sister in Christ.  Her husband's name is Josh...by all means, meet him too. 

Starfish

Do stories and word-pictures help you remember things worth remembering?  They do me.  Here is one that has had a profound influence upon me for many years.  I do not know who authored it, but I remain grateful to the friend who wrote it out and framed it for me back in 1987:

As the young man walked along the beach at dawn, he noticed an old man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea.  Finally catching up with the old man, he asked him why he was doing this. The answer was that the stranded fish would die if left in the morning sun.  “But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish,” countered the young man.  “How can your effort make any difference?”  The old man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves.  “It makes a difference to this one,” he said. 

The time in my life when this began to work itself most deeply into my soul was in 2003 when my husband and I desired to adopt for a third time, but we did not have enough money to do so.  By the grace of God, we were able to cover the costs of our first two adoptions without asking for help.  It had not even occurred to us to ask as we saved and waited and prayed.  That's how we had been raised.  BUT it was also by the grace of God that we needed to ask for help if a third adoption was to happen.  As difficult as it was on many levels to fund-raise, it was REALLY good for us to see the body of Christ work TOGETHER to "make a difference to this one."   It was also good for our local church, our families, our neighbors...everyone who began to catch the vision of our Father's heart for the fatherless.  This was transformational for me, not primarily on the money-front, though money was needed and gratefully received, but in regards to seeing how God wants His people to work together.  We saw "young men" and "old men" pictured, and learned lessons from both.  We're not just a bunch of mavericks with individual goals toughing it out for Jesus on our own. 

Not everyone is called to personally adopt, but as God's children, we should have a heart for what He cares about...preaching the gospel, setting captives free, ministering to widows and orphans, healing the sick, declaring His glory via our vocations, etc.  Jesus tells us in John 13:35  "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." There should be mutual encouragement going around, and help offered when needed so that as a body, working together, the love of Christ can be poured out in all our spheres of influence.  

Jumping back to the starfish story, one of the things that became very apparent to me when adopting our son Paul is that none of us can meet the whole need in any sphere entirely by ourselves.  But we can do what we CAN do.  The young man in the story questioned what difference it would make because there were millions of starfish...the old man wisely answered that his efforts were not in vain "to this one."  In the adoption arena, there are well over a million orphans in the world. The need is overwhelming. Will we be rendered useless like the young man who does nothing or will we be like the older man who became a part of the solution by doing what he could?  That part may be:

• to consider taking steps to adopt if the Lord gives that desire to your family
  
• to encourage those who you know who are wanting to adopt
  
• to remember to pray for the orphans of the world (you may want to subscribe to an adoption newsletter like HOLT's so you can pray for some of these children by name...it helps keep you from falling prey to the "out of sight, out of mind" syndrome)
  
• to sponsor a child in an orphanage
• to give financially to someone you know who is adopting or support an organization (like Show Hope  at http://www.showhope.org/) that is committed to helping Christians overcome the obstacle of funds.  We were personally helped by Show Hope in our third adoption and now are able to contribute there to help others. 

We need to get past the idea that if we can't do it all ourselves, we shouldn't do anything...it's good to ask for help when we need it, and it is good to give help wherever we can.  We may not be able to help all the orphans, but we can work together to help the next one within our reach and make a difference "to this one", one child at a time.  

God is able to make all grace abound...read 2 Corinthians chapter 9 and be encouraged along with me by God, who gives to us freely all things, to be a cheerful giver for Him.  Freely we have received [be it money, time, ability to pray and speak words of encouragement, etc.], let us freely give (Matt. 10:8).  Everybody wins!  The givers get the joy of giving, the receivers get the joy of being loved, God's glory shines.

Why good works?

 Good morning,
        I woke up early this morning and curled up under a blanket to read the book of Ephesians, while enjoying a cup of delicious Good Hope Vanilla Tea...I LOVE mornings like this!  Quiet, reflective times, sitting at the feet of Jesus to listen to what He has to say to me in His Word.  Afterwards, I came into the office to check my email...one of my brothers had sent me this link which I pass on for your encouragement.

Simple Truths
[I'm three days into the blogging world and haven't figured out how to imbed the actual video yet...that's next]

     We're told in Ephesians 2:10 that we are the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them...over and over again in Ephesians, as you read it, you'll see the phrase "to the praise of His glory"...God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing (1:3); He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world and predestined us to be His adopted kids by what Christ accomplished on our behalf (1:4,5), in Him we have redemption and forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of Hs grace (1:7), and on and on "to the praise of His glory"...oh that we would be eager to walk in all the good works He has prepared for us for His glory.  The young man in this story may or may not have been motivated by a love for God, but he does show us plainly that as we do simple deeds of kindness we touch lives...and as true as that is, we must also ask to what end?  Is kindness a marketing scheme to increase your clientele?  Are good deeds done because they feed our pride? Humanitarians serve like crazy, often very sacrificially...and people are fed and clothed and taken into clinics, etc., but if these things are done without looking for ways in the process to offer hope in Christ, their deepest need isn't met.  Let's aim to make Jesus known in all the simple moments of our lives as He gives us opportunity...may we seek to bless others in the name of Jesus and for the glory of His great name.
     How many of you have watched a little kid walk around in his Daddy's huge-to-him shoes?  Kids want to be like their Dad's.  My husband is a route salesman for Oroweat.  Our son always wants to know the code for the bread we're eating...Oatnut, isn't that a 832 Dad?  Kids identify with their Dads and after Paul, the apostle (that is also my son's name),  tells us gobs of things our Father has been and is doing for us, lavishing us with His love and mercy, forgiving our sins, blessing us beyond our comprehension...after telling us about our Father, he tells us in 5:1 "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children."  That is what I want to do today and everyday...become more and more like my Father.  I hope you do too.  God bless you as you seek Him.

Eyes and more eyes, fixed on Jesus

I have been struck by the description in the book of Revelations of the four living creatures that are said to never rest in their praise of God before His throne. As marvelous as these creatures are, what really strikes me is the One they cannot get enough of.  Rev 4:6 tells us these creatures are “full of eyes in front and in back” and verse 8 tells us they’re “full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!" God is so glorious that these creatures, though full of eyes, gates through which they can experience their joy in God, do not rest from taking in the beauty of the Living God or in their praise of Him! It does me good to simply pause and think about that... my finite mind cannot come anywhere near to fathoming fully the manifold perfections of the Infinite One, but with every blip of time He gives me I want to dive deeper into the pools of His grace and experience more fully His relentless love. Perhaps, from our earthly vantage point, the people we know and the many hats we’re called upon to wear, the things we taste and hear and see and feel, can be looked at as eyes in front and in back, around and within...different windows or gates through which we’re given opportunity to behold the glorious perfection of our God as we fix our eyes upon Jesus. Someday we’ll see Him more clearly, but even now as we gaze upon Him through His Word and the windows He gives us in our lives, we know He’s our Treasure.

As one raised in a self-esteem culture, it also does me good to chew on quotes like this, taken from pages 15-16 of the book God is the Gospel by John Piper [which I also recently posted on Facebook with the preface “may we all become more delighted in Christ, and then enjoy His good gifts in His presence with grateful hearts rather than being enamored with His gifts in a fashion that ignores, belittles or exludes Him."]:

The critical question for our generation - and for every generation - is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauty you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

And the question for Christian leaders is: Do we preach and teach and lead in such a way that people are prepared to hear that question and answer with a resounding NO? How do we understand the gospel and the love of God? Have we shifted with the world from God's love as the gift of Himself to God's love as the gift of a mirror in which we like what we see? Have we presented the gospel in such a way that the gift of the glory of God in the face of Christ is marginal rather than central and ultimate? ...Can we really say that our people are being prepared for heaven where Christ himself, not his gifts, will be the supreme pleasure? And if our people are unfit for that, will they even go there? Is not the faith that takes us to heaven the foretaste of the feast of Christ? J.C. Ryle once preached a sermon called "Christ is All" based on Colossians 3:11. In it he said: "But alas, how little fit for heaven are many who talk of 'going to heaven' when they die, while they manifestly have no saving faith, and no real acquaintance with Christ. You give Christ no honor here. You have no communion with Him. You do not love Him. Alas! what could you do in heaven? It would be no place for you. Its joys would be no joys for you. Its happiness would be a happiness into which you could not enter. Its employments would be a weariness and burden to your heart. Oh, repent and change before it be too late!"

Nothing fits a person to be more useful on earth than to be more ready for heaven. This is true because readiness for heaven means taking pleasure in beholding the Lord Jesus, and beholding the glory of the Lord means being changed into His likeness (2 Cor 3:18). Nothing would bless this world more than more people who are more like Christ...When we celebrate the gospel of Christ and the love of God, and when we lift up the gift of salvation, let us do it in such a way that people will see through it to God Himself. May those who hear the gospel from our lips know that salvation is the blood-bought gift of seeing and savoring the glory of Christ. May they believe and say, "Christ is all!" Or, to use the words of the psalmist, "May those who love your salvation say evermore, 'God is great!'" (Ps. 70:4). Not mainly, "salvation is great," but "God is great!"

May the church of Jesus Christ say with increasing intensity, "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup" (Ps. 16:5). "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Ps. 42:1).

Why the name?

Romans 8:12-18 (NKJV) reads: "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors — not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,"Abba, Father."  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

                            Dying to Live...
                                        as a child of God
                                                  by the Spirit of adoption.

These verses are the basis of the name I picked for my blog. I am and shall be eternally thankful to God for adopting me. My Father has asked me to put to death the deeds of my ole sin-loving, God-belittling, self-absorbed body and to wear His name, to REALLY be His child and live in relationship to Him in a manner pleasing to Him...I am dying to do so more faithfully for the glory of His great name. I want to be conformed into His image. I want to be led by the Spirit of God.  He is my Delight, my Treasure, my Rock upon which I stand...He is my Ever Present Help, my Savior, my King...and by His Spirit I have been given the unspeakable privilege of crying out to Him and being heard. What a gift! What a life GOD GIVES!

I'm new to this blogging thing, but I hope to learn along the way how things work in the blogging world as I attempt to lay my thoughts out and encourage anybody who cares to read them to live for Christ, the only Mediator between God and man. Die to yourself that you may live unto Him...there is no greater pleasure offered to man.