Dear Orphans

I saw you photo today. You are so adorable!

Your eyes are so deep and full of hope.

I love your little smile,

I know it must be hard some days to

find the strength to smile,

I have heard how little food you have,

but you are still willing to share

with your friends.

What a sweet little person you are!

But I am writing you this letter to tell you

that I will not be able to help you.

You see, my family is happy with the life we

are living.

I know that we could get bunk beds and you could

share a room with one of our bio kids,

but really that is no life for either of you.

We have so much going on around here

and life would just be too chaotic.

Our neighbors jsut got a new TV and

game system, we really think we

need to have one too.

I have 'ladies night out' next week and

I have nothing to wear.

I really need to purchase a new outfit.

I guess I could sponsor you...

but, it will have to wait until next month,

I really need my new outfit

and my kids are dying for some fast

food tonight.

Good luck to you!

(Thank you Connie for the post)

Sweat shops

I have started sewing after taking a break for at least 8 years.  I have really been enjoying it and hope that my sewing products may help fund a third adoption.  I have been really busy with the preschoolers, work, Women and Children in Crisis and life in general so I haven't gotten a lot done (that's why my other site is sitting empty right now).  On New Years Day I decided to purchase a serger to make life easier, have to say I do love it and it was worth it.  A few days later M used her Christmas gift card from Aunt CC to buy a My little S!nger, it is so cute and really works.  It warmed my heart that she wanted to be like me, I know in a few years that is the last thing in the world she will probable want to be like.  Our kitchen table is now officially the sewing room with the sewing machine on one end, the serger on the other, a cutting mat in the middle and M's little S!nger on the other side of the mat.

We were both sewing away one night and as I looked at her it hit me, somewhere in the world there is a little girl just like her sewing away not because she wants to be like her momma but because she has no choice.  It really broke my heart and I went to talk to my husband about it and he had the exact same thought watching her sew.  She is four years old and her life is full of fun times making memories but somewhere out there children are working for pennies to help support their family or are working for no wage because they are slaves.  They are being robbed of their childhoods to increase someone else's wealth, to help support their family or to support their family when it is a child headed household. 

I don't know if WCIC has changed my heart or if it was already there but I do know that I feel my heart being broken every day by the injustice of our world.  As Christian's, we need to be doing all that we can to fight the injustices to women and children around the world.  I am so grateful to all the individuals and organizations out there, right now, putting their own safety at risk to be he the voice for the oppressed.  Please pray for my class mates as they continue to seek answers to when they should be traveling, who will be going on the mission, and how will we raise the needed funds for their mission.  If you would like to contribute to their mission please contact me for further information.  I also would like to encourage everyone to step out of their comfort zone and do some research on what is happening around the world and right in our communities to women and children.

Adoption Ministry

When I applied for the WCIC class I went into not knowing why exactly I was feeling called to the class.  Our family life is fairly busy and complicated with two preschoolers and work.  I knew taking off on a mission trip for three weeks wasn't something I could do at this stage of life.  I knew in my heart my children are my current mission, E had only been with us six months and an interuption to the bonding was not something I could put him through.  But I went with the feeling that I was suppose to be in this class and signed up.

Now four months later I think I know why I am in this class.  We have been reading Just Courage and I can say I am a restless Christian.  I knew there was something I was suppose to be doing but couldn't see what it was.  The last month has been hard for me, I enjoy what we are reading but had found my words were gone.  No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't put words down on paper or blog.  I feel the Lord was telling me to be quiet and listen.   I now have a feeling that my part of the WCIC triangle is in adoption/orphan ministry.  I feel that Christ is calling Christians to stand up and take the children out of the supply equation by bringing them into loving, Christian homes.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  - James 1:27

In my Bible reading I have been jumping around a lot, I was struggling reading from beginning to end.  After a prayer class I took with Pastor Kevin he really convinced me it's ok to jump around.  It has made it easier for me to keep up with my reading.  One night I decided to read the book of James before going to sleep.  Immediately after reading I felt that I needed to get going on educating myself in the area of adoption ministry.  I had been looking at websites and had saved some books to my list on Amazon.  I got out of bed and ordered the books and now I can't wait for them to arrive so I can add them to my daily reading. 

Last weekend I was at the church bazzar and ran into a mom that had traveled to China right after I got home with E to get her little girl.  We had both used the same agencies but neither of us knew the other at church, it is a very large church so that is understandable.  As we talked we found out we both wanted an adoption ministry in our church and had been looking into how to get one started.  I had asked our ministry leader at WCIC the week before if the church had an orphan ministry and she said that someone had attempted before but couldn't get it to take off.  Over the week I had been thinking and researching more and everything I found said you can't do it alone, it is too big for one person.  After running into C at the bazzar I knew I was heading down the path he had planned for me.  My heart is very much into Chinese children however I need to network with others that had hearts for other programs.  C has been on mission trips to other developing countries and now she is looking into adopting from Ethiopia.  I felt that God was putting us together for a reason.

Once things settle down a little with the holidays C and I will be getting together and putting some ideas in place to present to the ministry pastors at church.  Neither of us are sure where this is going but we are both ready to find out.  Adoption has been the biggest blessing in our lives and I know it will change other families if they are supported through the process.

Women and Children in Crisis update

It has been quite some time since I last posted about my WCIC class.  We have read many books, listened to many speakers, watched many videos and have become a family.  I am enjoying getting to know my classmates, the staff and most importantly the heart of Jesus. 

There has been a great deal of fundraising going over the past couple of month, four of the ladies have spent a many hours together sewing up a storm for a bazzar that was held last weekend at church.  A house has been painted, a couple of yardsales have been done and coffee is sold on Sundays during service.  The mission trip had been planned for the end of December or early January but plans have changed due to lack of funds.  It is a really hard time right now to fundraise and the group has hit a snag or maybe we were pushing something that wasn't in the Lords timimg.  His timing is so much more important than ours, he knows so much that we can only begin to imagine.  When it is his time he will tell them to order those tickets, pack their bags and hang onto their hearts. 

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to the mission team please let me know.  They appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers as they continue on the journey.  Although the trip has been delayed the preparation has not been.  As Alice or maybe it was Bill said, "petal to the metal" on the fundraising.  No time to take a break, we have to keep pushing ahead.

Blessings to all!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your request to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

I, like so many others have a hard time having patience.  Sometimes it seems like I am a microwave Christian, I want instant answers.  It is so hard to wait on the Lord and understand that his time is not always in our time.

Prayer Request

If you pray, please keep me in your prayers.  God has placed something really big on my heart and I would really appreciate your prayers.  I will be seeking soaking prayer on this one as I try to listen to the Lord and what he has planned.

Women and Children in Crisis

...Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.  Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.  Isaiah 1:17

I am participating in a class at church that is a mission preparation class called Women and Children in Crisis.  We are learning about human trafficking, sex trafficking, children in orphanges, children of war, poverty, and so on.  It is one of the most intense subjects I have ever learned about but I feel so very drawn toward the cause.  Although I won't be participating the mission trip this year I plan to go in the future.  In the mean time this class is helping me open my eyes to the injustice in the world and prepare for trials my children may experience.

Parts of my class I have been able to share with my husband.  We were able to sit together and watch the mini-series "Human Trafficking" one night.  We started to watch the movie with the intent to watch for a while and then finish it the next night.  We ended up watching straight through until 1 am.  It was very eye opening for both of us of what is happening in our world.  And unfortunately it is much worse in the realy world than it was on the movie, real stories very seldomly end with a rescue.

Another part of the class that has been very beneficial to me is what we have been learning about poverty.  So many times people are in human trafficking due to poverty; looking for a job to earn more for their family, being sold because their family can't afford another mouth to feed, being stolen and sold and the list goes on.  I am also learning a lot about the people in my life based on our background and those of the people that raised us.  I now understand a little about why people do the things they do with their money, why some people want so many possessions and then there is me who wants to spend all of our money adopting children.  There is so much poverty in the world, in the United States we have our share and in developing countries I think they have more than their share.  It is so hard for me to believe how little people have to live on in many countries.  With what we have learned I am looking for ways to reduce my family spending, reduce our possessions (all of my family is not in agreement yet but M is ready to sell some of her toys in sale because she has "lots", such a sweet girl) and do more for those in need.

My prayer life was very private and personal to me in the past.  I have been learning more about prayer and have participated in Soaking Prayer and Theophostic Prayer.  I have already been feeling the blessings of prayer from others in my life and know that I will be seeking more of both.  I also feel that in the future when my children are processing their life before joining our family they will need prayer and support.  I hope that I can share Theophostic Prayer and all the healing it can do with them when the time comes.

And the most important thing that I am doing with this class is reading the Bible from Genesis through Revelation.  I have memorized many verses and read passages but never in my life have I started at the beginning heading to the end.  I have to say that I feel this is the most life changing part of the class so far for me.  I am getting to know God in a new way and it feels so good to know Him.  Through my study I feel that I am being a better teacher to my children and can help them grow in their relationship with Christ.

Please keep my class and myself in your prayers in the coming months.  They have begun to fundraise for the mission trip starting with a HUGE Garage sale and baked good sale, they will also be painting a house, selling meals after church service, baked sales, bizarres and anything else that comes up all the while learning all they can to minister to hurt people in a developing country.  God has big plans for them on this trip and I am so happy to help them as much as I can.  We all appreciate your prayers and support. 

Blessings to all!