We Cannot Ignore their cries

A few nights ago, my husband showed me a video that I cannot get out of my mind. Two missionaries went out into a very remote village in Uganda and what they found is beyond words. They found two children, literally left in the dirt, face down, starving to death. They could not walk, but would scoot around in circles in the dirt, grasping for hope. Their older sister, who we found out was 8 years old, returned from who knows where with a tub of water. She dragged the kids to the tub of water and cleaned them up. There were no adults around. The children were left to starve to death, except for an eight year old who cared enough to try to clean them up. The good news of the story is that the missionaries were able to raise money to get hospital care and food for the two younger children and find a private home with a guardian for the 8 year old. The children will live. They have been given hope and shown the love of Christ through someone who cared enough to be moved with compassion for their plight.

The church cannot ignore the cries of children any longer. There are so many children starving, beaten, abused, sold into prostitution and they are crying out for hope. God did not intend for children to be treated this way and His heart is breaking. He is compelling many of us to do something NOW. Did you know that if you want to adopt a healthy infant, there is often a waiting list, sometimes of several years? However, there are countless numbers of older children and special needs children that have been waiting and waiting for a family to adopt them. There are 14 and 15 year olds who are aging out of orphanages and being turned back onto the streets to fend for themselves. Many of those end up as prostittues because they are forced to find a way to live.

Don't ignore the cries of children around the world today. God's heart is moved with compassion and our hearts should be too. God is compelling us to do something...give up your Starbucks for a week, give up your lunch for a day, sponsor a child through latin american child care. You say, how can that little bit help? If you start with a little and you allow God to use you in a "little" way, He will begin to move on your heart with compassion and soon you will be allowing God to use you in a "mighty" way! Darren and I, along with some of our friends from our church have started a ministry called Mission 1:27. Right now, we don't have much by way of funding, but we are beleiving that God is going to move on people's hearts to give. Our passion is for children around the world to be reached with the Gospel through love. If you want to start by donating and helping us with our passion, go to http://www.mission127.com/ and find out some of the projects we have waiting to be funded. We cannot ignore the cries of the hurting children any longer.

Pray for us also as we are in the process of adopting. We really feel God has a "waiting" child for us. Please pray that God gives the wisdom and compassion to know how to care for our new son or daughter because we can only imagine the things which have happened in that little child's life. Our God is a God of restoration and I believe that He will restore our child and begin a healing process in his or her heart even now!

The Desires of my Heart

It's been a long time since my last blog post. We've had a sad twist in our road of life. My mother-in-law went to be with the Lord on March 2nd. She was diagnosed with cancer a year ago and went through chemo and radiation treatments. She seemed to be doing well at Christmas time, but shortly after the first of the year she developed a fever. The doctors searched and did all sorts of tests, but couldn't find any infection. Instead, they found that cancer had spread all throughout her body. So the past couple months have been an exhausting journey, and though it has been rough, our God has been faithful to us. Needless to say, we have had little time to focus on our adoption. Now, as we are getting back into a "new normal" routine, I find myself thinking about the desires that are still deep within my heart and wondering when God is going to answer my hidden longings.

I've got to be honest, for the last several months, I've been feeling a stirring and a longing to do something more for God. I've been feeling discontent with my life the way it is. The routine of getting up and going to work and coming home, working around the house and falling into bed exhausted. I want to do more to reach the lost, but I feel stuck. There are so many unfullfilled desires in my heart and I keep asking God to change my desires to match His plan for my life; the desires keep intensifying. I want our adoption to go more quickly. I'm frustrated with the time it is taking to get our home study approved. I desire to work with Mission 1:27, and help orphans and raise awareness around the world for adoption, but the funding just isn't there. I want to write and share with others God's passion for children around the world, but I just don't have the time. Where do I go from here? I have to keep working full-time and I am so very grateful for my job, but I feel like I am trapped, doing what I am really not called to do. I have a vision, a dream, but no way to get to the fullfillment of that dream. God, I desperately want to follow your plan for my life. If these desires are not from you, please change them and make my heart desire what you have for me. If they are from you, please open up the doors to the fullfillment of these desires. These desires are becoming a desperation and I am having difficulty doing my day to day routine as it is right now. Please, Lord, show me and I will follow you through whatever door You open. I will do WHATEVER you call me to do, HOWEVER you call me to do it. Please, Lord, show me clearly; speak directly and give me the faith to walk where you lead. I need Your clear guidance, Your peace and joy. I need Your wisdom, Your heart for the lost, and Your creativity. Part the Red Sea and let me walk on dry ground; Show me Your way when there seems to be no way. In my desperation let me cling more closely to the cross and find a faith to see beyond the everyday routine. Lord, let my passions become Your passions and continue to break my heart for what breaks Yours. Compell me to action, to give like I've never given before, to go where I've never gone before; Use my weaknesses (there are many!) and let Your strength take over. Lord, let Your plan for my life prevail and let everything I do bring glory to Your name.