what is our part to play?

okay so i'm going to attempt to process some of what i learned at !deacamp: orphan care this past weekend.
it wasn't really what i expected.
i wondered if we would feel out of place because we haven't adopted and aren't in the adoption process right now.
that was not at all the case.
it was not an "adoption conference."
it really was a big ol' group of people, sharing their ideas and experiences....all towards the goal of orphan care.

there were differing opinions.
there were key note speakers...who really only spoke for about 20 minutes each.
there were many different guides who spoke.
there was a whole slew of workshops that you could choose from to hear more about different topics.

it was a lot of information in a 2 day time period.
several people referred to it as a fire hydrant.
i would agree.
it was pretty overwhelming.
however, i really liked it because i felt like i came away so much better informed.
these people know their stuff.
they have researched. they have traveled. they have seen first hand the need.

a big question we were asking ourselves was, what is our place in the orphan crisis?
and we all have a place, i believe.

i really liked john sowers who is president of the mentoring project and author of the book, the fatherless generation.
he talked about mentoring the fatherless in your own city.
he said, "step into a fatherless child's life with intimacy and say, 'i'm here, you are not alone.'"
i was definitely encouraged in my work with meliyah & my potter's house girls.

aj & i both loved jonathan olinger.
we listened to him speak and also went to his workshop.
he is the founder of discover the journey which is "a team of journalists and story-tellers who expose injustices facing children in-crisis and advocate for intervention until change is realized."
he spoke of giving a platform to children's voices.
he said we must look at more options than adoption and orphanages to solve the orphan crisis.
he talked about the faith community having a lot of mercy without enough cognitive thought.
that sounds harsh....and he didn't say it in a harsh way.
i totally heard what he was saying.
we all want to do something, anything to help. to do our part.
but have we really researched what is best and most helpful?

 i'm reminded of philippians 1:9-10, "and this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ."

my ideas on what is best were really challenged.
we no longer have orphanages in the united states because they don't work.
we know that a permanent family is the best option for a child.
so we work hard to keep children with their family or extended family then foster care or adoption.
orphanages are not good enough for our children so why are they acceptable for other countries?
why do we keep going into other countries, trying to build more orphanages?
it's like we're trying to put a band-aide on a gushing artery.
orphanages costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to fund...could that same money used for a better solution?
preserving the family first?
support local {global} churches in their mission to orphans?
 provide sustainable income so that they don't have to give their children up because they can't feed them? or worse, watch them die of starvation or preventable diseases.

we also went to elizabeth styffe's workshop.
she's the director of global orphan care at saddleback church.
she was also extremely knowledgeable and challenging.
she talked about preventing orphans.
obviously, this would be a long, 50 year process.
she talked about working with the local global churches to take up their place & their role in loving the orphan.
instead of us, going into another country with our western ideas to save the day.....the goal would be for us to support the local church.
get the local church involved.
the goal is a permanent home, globally.
the local church is God's plan for meeting the needs of the orphan.
the gospel through the global church is the hope of the world. not westerners.

whew, it was some good, thought-provoking stuff.
but we loved that it all centered on the church.
after all, it's the church who is supposed to be loving on the least of these, caring for the orphans & widows, etc.
she also talked about many of the children in orphanages, not actually being orphans.
we go over and build these big fancy orphanages that seem way nicer than the little hut they are living in.
in their mind, their children would be better off and taken care of in that nice orphange with clean clothes and beds.
when actually what children need is family.
they'd be better off sleeping on the floor of the hut with their mama or grandmother than in one of 30 beds in an orphanage.

okay i could go on and on. obviously i already have.
i haven't even touched on the many other areas that were raised last weekend...child trafficking, foster care, special needs children, etc., etc., etc.
again, it was a fire hydrant.
and i want to say that i am not an expert on any of this.....by a long shot.
just sharing some of what stuck with me.
there was so much information that we were praying that what God wanted us specifically to hear, would stick with us.

i welcome discussion in the comments. :) Pin It

thoughts on a thursday

today i got to have a 2 hour date with aj in the middle of the day.
that was pretty fun.
we went to jbu to hear blake mycoskie (founder of tom's shoes) speak.
it was great to hear his story. very cool.
i didn't realize i had watched him on amazing race a few years ago....never made that connection.
learn something new everyday, i say. :)

afterwards we drove through mcdonald's because we had coupons.
we broke our rule to never eat there again.....which we instituted after watching supersize me and being thoroughly grossed out.
i got the fruit & maple oatmeal.

it did not look like this.
honestly, it looked throw-up in a bowl.
but it tasted really good. i ate the whole cup/bowl.
it was yummy.
i'm sure it really wasn't that healthy, but maybe better than the other options.

it's pouring down rain today.

i am very excited because i found great bins for the shelves in the playroom.
they were on sale at target.
i got a combination of wire bins, locker looking bins, and black canvas bins.
i have no idea if they will fit. . . of course,  i didn't take the time to measure the shelves.
but i'm motivated to get those shelves painted now.

all day tomorrow & saturday we will be at the !dea camp orphan care conference.
i'm really looking forward to it.
now that we are not actively in the adoption process, i'm looking forward to learning/discussing ideas on how to help the orphan crisis.
there are so many avenues besides adoption.
i'm glad we'll get to explore those this weekend.

i really should go downstairs and clean the kitchen now.
but i think i'm just gonna take a nap. Pin It

!deacamp orphan care.

i am very excited about this.
did you notice my button on the right?

!deacamp in northwest arkansas in february.

conversations about orphan care and the church.

"Join us for a meaningful conversation about a collaborative movement to bring hope to the orphan."

i love how the church is seeing the oprhan.

and by church, i don't mean a specefic religion.

i mean the body of Christ as a whole.  

have you noticed it?

it seems as though we're finally getting it that we can do something.

we can open our eyes to those sweet hurting babies all over the world and do something.

 i believe that God has a specefic way for each of us to love the orphans and widows. 

have you asked Jesus what He wants you to do?

it's probably more than you think.

and it very well may not be what your friend next to you is doing. 

so looking forward to learning and allowing God to open my eyes even more. 

won't you join us?

!ideacamp * february 25-26 * 2011* northwest arkansas.

 

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adoption.

Galatians 4:4-7
But when the completion of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of HIs Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
 
God is the author of adoption.
He adopted us into His family.
made us His children.
He says that i am His daughter.
He bought me back from the snake and gave me a new life.

Jesus' redemption work on the cross was/is adoption....
giving us a new bloodline.

and it is our joy to give a child a new bloodline.
a new name and a new identity.
as our child.
our beloved.
a child who was intended, before time began, to be a part of this family.
just as Jesus has done for us.

she is our daughter.
she always has been.

God is weaving this story together in His timing.

and i can't wait to tell it. Pin It

the yard sale.....

it was wonderful.
we didn't know what to expect for having a yard sale in the middle of november.
on a pretty chilly morning.

but it went so great.
we had many many friends bless us in so many ways.
we had friends donate items to our sale,  help us price, pray for us, etc.
it was so encouraging to see how many emails & texts i had on saturday with friends saying they were praying.
i'm so blessed with great friends.

we had tons of shoppers.
we advertized for the sale to start at 8.
we opened our garage at 7:15 and there were no cars.
about 5 minutes later a swarm of cars just seemed to rush up and all these people were pouring into our yard.
i wish i had gotten a picture of it.
but mostly i was in a mad dash to get everything out on our driveway.

i got to talk to several people about adoption, so that was fun.

i kind of thought that since we advertized that all of the proceeds were going towards our adoption, people wouldn't be bargaining.
i thought wrong.
it seemed almost every person asked to pay less for items.
and i'm bad at saying no.
but a few people paid over because of the adoption, so that was sweet.

it was a long day but so worth it.
later that afternoon, after we'd packed everything up, aj had the idea to take the boys bowling.
we wanted to do something fun with them since we hadn't been able to pay much attention to them the past couple of days.
there was a tad too much screen time going on around here.

the boys were so excited.
and it was nice to have some time to just focus on the boys and do something fun as a family.

that night after the boys went to bed, we excitedly counted up our earnings.
we were pleasantly surprised & beaming and just so thankful for the Lord's provision.

AJ opened a special savings account today, the adoption account.
just one more step in our exciting journey. . .






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don't forget, if you're local, sign up for the nwa boutique show girl's night giveway below! Pin It

you saw this coming, didn't you?

at the beginning of October, we officially began the adoption process. (!!!!!!!!!!)
we have known for a few years that adoption would be a part of our lives at some point.
we have been waiting on God's timing & direction.

then one day, it was just time.
we both knew it. we both felt peace.

we started prayerfully exploring options.
we have asked God to open the right doors and lead us down His best path for us.
we've asked Him to lead us to our girl. :)

a few days after we made the decision, a couple came to look at our house.
they made an offer.
we signed a contract.
2 days after we were going to take the sign down from the yard.
in an unfavorable selling market.
with no mls number.
no agent.
a sign in the yard and a random craig's list ad.
i tell you all of this to tell you that this was all God. 

a few days after that, we found out that we had a house to rent . . . available now, plenty of room for a family of 6, right down the road, with a pool, on an acre, etc.
amazing.
only God. 

our life went from feeling like we were on hold, not sure what direction God was leading us, to everything changing but falling into place at the same time.
God knew He was going to turn everything topsy-turvy and He prepared our steps ahead of time.
He has been so faithful (as always) to lead us every step of the way.

the night we got the contract on our house, aj & i got down on our knees for a very long time and asked Jesus what He wanted us to do.
we wanted to make sure sure sure that we were hearing from Him and not jumping ahead of His plan.
by the end, God had told us each, separately that yes, were supposed to sell.
it was time to move on.

there have been even more daily confirmations from God that He is the one running this ship and He's got it all taken care of.
He knows where are daughter is and we trust Him fully to bring us together, in His perfect timing.

we are working on getting everything in order.
which includes getting rid of a TON of stuff.

this weekend we're going to have a yard sale to free ourselves from said stuff and to raise money for our adoption.
all the proceeds from our yard sale will go towards our adoption expenses. :)
if you're local, send me a message and i'll give you info.

the last month has been amazing.
God is paving the way for us.
and we're just hanging on for the ride.

we'd love your prayers as we begin this journey.

we know that God has the cattle on a thousand hills (psalm 50:10).
He can provide every cent for this adoption.
we would love for you to join us in praying that God would open the doors for us and give us the money we need at the right time.
and that we would not give a moment to worry.
please also pray that God would protect us and that we would stay so close to Jesus through this whole process.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,  but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father!"                                                                                                        ~Romans 8:15

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