Lot's of tears have been shed over the last 5 days but today a big wave hit my while doing the dishes. The music was playing and the kids were having fun and giggling next to me on the floor. From Friday's massacre of 20 innocent children and 7 adults, to Daisy Love Merrick I just couldn't keep them back. I silently cried as the tears rolled down into the soapy water. I pleaded with the LORD asking him to heal Daisy Love and was gently reminded as I cried that he loved me and Daisy more then anyone ever could.
If you don't know Daisy's story she is an 8 year old girl who has just been diagnosed with two cancerous tumors for the 4th time in her short life. She isn't just any 8 year old girl to us though. Her dad was/is one of my husbands mentors. He discipled my husband and taught him what it meant to be a man after God's own heart. If you have met Britt you know he is a man after God's own heart and if you met my husband you can tell he is a good teacher. Because of this Daisy holds an extra special place in our hearts along with her whole family. Christmas 2011 we stood at church chatting with her mom (Kate) while Elijah Merrick played with the children. She told us how happy she was that Daisy's cancer was gone (that was after the second diagnosis) yet she knew that all these treatments had taken a toll on her sweet body. That image is burned in my mind as I held our 5 week old little boy that was born in our hearts. At that same moment we told her how Daisy's story and their faith had given us the courage to take the steps that led us to him. My heart breaks on so many different levels. For Daisy as her body aches and she starts chemo again knowing that her tumors are inoperable. For Kate and Britt as I know as a mother and father how much they just want to take the pain away. For her older brother who probably wishes he could take away the pain too.
In all of this I know that God is good and he is bigger then any tumor even when I don't have the faith to believe it. This year at Christmas we will hold our little ones a little tighter and tell them we love them a little bit more. We will remember that our children are not ours but that they belong to our Father in heaven who loves them so much more then we ever could. And he will not forsake us.
Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
John 11:35 Jesus wept.
To read more of Daisy's story and witness her families incredible faith go here www.prayfordaisy.com
I got in the car yesterday and an old Jars of Clay song was on. The second verse stood out to me as a sad state that happens in our lives.
Sitting silent wearing Sunday best
The sermon echos through the walls
A Great salvation through it calls to the people
who stare into nowhere, and can't feel the chains on their souls
It's the time when you forget what it feels like to be wrapped in our Saviors love. When you forget the feeling of what it was like when you first realized how much the LORD loves you. When the songs become just what you do instead of an overflow out of your heart. Or just that picture of being silent wearing Sunday best and the legalism that can come with that. And then there is the part that hits so hard " and can't feel the chains on their souls." I think it hits so hard because I have been in this spot and am no longer there. The chains of the yoke we weren't meant to bear. Thankfully you don't have to do anything to get rid of the chains. The LORD does it for you. We all have chains we can't feel so it is good to ask everyday for the LORD to remove the things we aren't meant to bear so we can fall more in love with him.
So Today is November 30th the last day of national adoption month. I have blogged almost everyday and today will be my final blog in the series on Adoption. Today I want to deal with the call to foster care and adoption (international, domestic, and any other way it can happen). This is a ministry I feel many are called to, yet few answer the call.
Often times we think or say "It is a broken system full of corruption, how can I make a difference?" Well you can be the one that isn't corrupt. If it is international adoption you can make sure that your child isn't a trafficked child. You can do this by making sure your agency is upstanding and does due diligence some people even hire their own personal private investigator. If you are going to adopt domestically through the foster care system you can be that safe family. You can be the one that stands up for what is right. The LORD never promised that when he called us into ministry it would be safe. In fact it is just the opposite. We are living a life devoted to the LORD. It isn't comfortable or safe when you love with your whole heart, but it is full of purpose and blessings. In Roman times unwanted children were left to die in fields and on the side of roads, Christians adopted these children and at the risk of death. I think that the risks we are taking are far smaller then some of our ancestors.
In response to fear we should turn to God's word for answers.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for i am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.
Isaiah 41:13 For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you Do Not Fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 43:1-2 But now, this is what the LORD says he who created you, O Jacob, he formed you, O Israel: "Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters , I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Do you believe these promises? If you do then the call should not bring up fear, but anticipation for what the LORD will do through you.
International or domestic you are dealing with a broken system because this is a broken world. Don't run the other way because the system is broken. The children in the system need you. They need love, they need hope, they need healing. Brokenness should draw you in because the answer to brokenness lives in you and through you.
I could put all the verses that talk about defending the fatherless and taking care of the orphan but you already know that list is endless. So I will just put one verse up that I think sums it all up.
James 1:27a Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...
I was at an adoption prayer group the other day and two ladies shared what their husbands said about adopting "Our lives are too easy, our lives are not meant to be easy." I thought this was such a neat way to look at life. Why are we always looking to make our lives easier? The LORD did not call us to an easy life. He did not call us to a life free from hurts. What He did promise was to redeem and bring beauty from ashes. He also promised to be with us as we walked through trials.
The orphan issue can be overwhelming when we look at the numbers, so don't look at the numbers anymore just resolve to make a difference in just one orphans life. I challenge you to just take in one orphan if you are feeling called. Maybe it will be through foster care, or maybe you will travel to Ethiopia or Russia. It may be a baby or a teenager. Maybe you know a teenager who may not be up for "adoption" in the legal sense but you know they are lacking a family. There are so many ways this can look.
I hope this song will encourage you to not let fear overcome. You can adopt not because you have the ability or the time but because the LORD will equip you. "The God of angel armies is always by your side."
John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Today is little man's b-day. We were ready to celebrate. We had a party planned and lots of people were coming. It was joyous to wake up with our Big 1 year old. But there was one thing I didn't expect as the day went on. I began to feel sad. I felt sad that I knew his parents probably wouldn't call or write or send a card. I tried not to get choked up but I really was sad. Even now at 8pm even with little man fast asleep I wish they would call.
I wish they knew we prayed for them every night. That what we really wish is that they would become healthy and that little man could know them. I wish they knew that we loved them too.
My feelings of sadness are mixed with so much gratefulness for the fact that so much of his bio family is in his life. That we have pictures from the day he was born. That his Aunt and I are so close and that we have all become like family. Little man will definitely always know he is loved and by ALOT of people. You should have seen the group picture. Well soon soon I will be able to post it. And it only shows a small portion of all the love he has in his life
Today is black Friday. The day when Americans go out and shop to get the best deals for the things they "need" oh how our priorities are off. When there are children without homes we call the new TV a need? Maybe just maybe if we understood the true meaning of the word need we would be able to see that we are overflowing and we have no lack of need. There are things we may want but not things we need. I am guilty of this too. In fact this year I was guilty of saying "Honey I think we need a flat screen I mean they are so cheap right now." So really what I should have said was "wow flat screens are so cheap it would be nice to get one."
My challenge today as we go into the gift buying frenzy is to remember that there are some children who will receive no gifts and have no family. A child without a place to call home is someone in need not a family without a flat screen.
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