It's Overwhelming, Really!

         Have you ever had a day or a week when it was so obvious the Lord was working and that His hand was moving and shaping your family, your life, or who you are?  I know He is always doing those things, but I am talking about a time when He is doing things that are crazy and because they are so crazy it could only be Him.  His presence and motion in your life is so evident that you are almost prepared to see Him walk around the corner in human form and hug you?  I have had that week.  It has been filled with moments of overwhelming gratitude, as I sit amazed and humbled that I get to be apart of the Lord's story.  That's what my life is;  a tiny insignificant letter in this script that He has been writing.  It is all about Him and it always has been.  God in His abundant mercy allows us to be somewhere in the pages.  My hope is that when my fleeting life comes to its ever approaching end, I will have spent the vapor of time I had making Jesus known.
         We found a house and it has ample space for our new addition/s.  Not only has the paper chase begun, we will  be able to complete everything right on schedule.  Lifeline was prepared to juggle the home study a bit until we found a bigger place.  Now we can just proceed as normal.  We have begun to receive random envelopes with donations to purchase puzzle pieces, it is going to be incredible to see it in the end.  I am so excited.  All those names!!
          We are also going to begin having "Parties with a Purpose".  These will be hosted parties in homes or at churches with a group of people the host invites to take part in a special time of sharing about orphans and our response to them.  The guest will have the opportunity to then purchase different items and all the proceeds will go towards our adoption and the 147 million orphans world wide.  I am over the top excited about these parties.  Who doesn't love a party where you get to spend time sharing God's heart and then take part in actively doing something about it, but not as an individual, as a unified body of Christ followers who love one another in a way that they want to share it with those who are considered the least of these in other parts of the world.  That is exciting!!  There will be a special gift to everyone who host a party.  Our goal is to host at least 30 parties.  If you are interested in gathering together a group of your closest friends, family, or others who you would love to share this time with, just let me know and we can set up your party.  Though the subject matter might seem heavy, we will have a wonderful time basking in the reality that the Almighty-Maker of Heaven and Earth-Creator of the Entire Universe-well,  He knows my name and your name, and He knows the hurt of a child in Uganda who is about to be wrapped up in the many arms of a forever family in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  That is amazing! 

Scribble Scrabbles

The "Paper Chase" begins.  We are now in the process of getting all our paperwork together.  We are using an agency called "Life Line Adoption" and they have agreed to go ahead and start our home study even though we haven't moved.  They will save the house inspection for the very end.  So, we have a few short months to find a 3 bedroom place.  Our goal is for our rent to stay reasonably close to what we pay now.  So, this will need prayer. :} However, the Lord never ceases to amaze me and I am confident it will be yet another amazing testimony of His incredible provision.  So, if you want specifics....  We are looking for a 3 bedroom house, with at least a little yard (I want a few chickens and maybe a goat) -might I add a very quiet goat.  We want the rent to be $700 or less.
An update on our puzzle, we have sold 550 pieces so far.  I am so excited to see the back when we get it all finished.  All those names.  The Lord has really been speaking to me lately through this whole idea of a puzzle and the individual pieces.  A piece by itself seems so insignificant, in fact if I were to find just one piece of a puzzle I would discard it into my trash can perhaps.  However, when all those individual, insignificant pieces form together, then their purpose is revealed.  Only when they are all connected and joined together can the intended image be seen.  Wow, what an example of the church!  Only when we as individual, insignificant parts join together can the image of Christ be seen.  World hunger, orphans, widows, child slavery, poverty, disease, complacent religion and the list goes on and on.... well it is overwhelming.  Completely overwhelming when I look at it as an individual.  My best contribution will seem like nothing in comparison to the hurt that I will not personally be able to touch.  When the community of believers, a living, breathing, body of Christ followers work together....the world will be changed.  The hopeless will be given a hope.  And in our story an orphan will be given a home. 
It is also so beautiful to see the Lord working in the hearts of our children.  They are daily thinking of ways that they can personally raise money to bring home their sibling.  Gabriella wants to have a concert and sell the tickets.  Ysa well she told me yesterday that she thinks she has a gift.  She is really good at making scribble scrabbles and she wants to scribble her art and sell it to people for our adoption.  That is just a few of their ideas.  I know it makes the Lord smile to hear them just want to do and give.  They have volunteered to sell their stuff, oh they have a plethora of ideas. :}  They already love this child.