We cannot imagine...

As I was reading "Adopted for life" I wanted to write down some of my thoughts and what God showed me through reading the book so that I can hold onto it and look back from time to time and remember!

I LOVE the way he describes how when they picked up their two boys and left the orphanage, the boys kept looking back, reaching, crying for the orphanage because that was all they knew and these new people were not familiar to them yet. He then goes on to say this and this is what I LOVED...

"The trauma of leaving the orphanage was unexpected to me because I knew how much better these boys' life would soon be. I thought they knew too. But they had no idea. They couldn't conceive of anything other than the status quo. My whispering to my boys, "You won't miss that orphanage" is only a shadow of something I should have known already. Our Father tells us that we too are unable to grasp what's waiting for us-and how glorious it really is. It's hard for us to long for an inheritance to come, a harmonious Christ-ruled universe, when we've never seen anything like it. We just can't imagine "the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Roman.s 8:18). That's why it's so important to have "the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints." (Ephesians 1:18)...We don't fully believe that our new Father will feed us, so we hang on to our scraps and long for the regimented schedules of the orphanage from which we've come. And when our Father pushes us along to new tastes, we pout that He's not good to us. But He's readying us for glory, preparing us to take our place on thrones as heirs."

WOW...i loved reading that part! So true! So many times we get comfortable with this orphanage (earth) but really, its nothing, its a pit compared to the glory and the home that is waiting for us! Oh to think what God is doing in us, for us and through us! His plans, His will, Him conforming us to the image of His son more and more as we grow in Him! I think we"re just starting to barely scratch the surface of what all God has in store for Jim and I and His plans for us, but not just speaking about us, but about how He will use us for His kingdom! I still don't know what God's plans are for us after this adoption but I know He has them and I know He is laying stronger and stronger every day on my heart, a burden for Africa and Uganda and for orphans! I pray this never goes away so that the least I can do is pray for these orphans and this country and continent or whatever God would show us to do! I just want Jim and I to do what God would have us do!

I don't want to go back to the way we were before God started opening our eyes and putting these new desires in our hearts! Why is it over and over again in the bible, verse after verse talks about caring for the orphans, the widows, the poor, the hurting, the least of these...and yet we the church as a whole could be doing SO MUCH MORE! I know we are doing some things but just think if we all laid down our comfort/safety and really pursued to do exactly what God said...wow the difference we could make and the testimony we would be showing the world of love. Just think, if just 2% of us adopted ONE orphan, there would most likely not be any more orphans left in the world! I included, I know Jim and I have not done what all Christ has called us christ-followers to do. My prayer is that each and every day as He continues to grow us that we will start getting more out of our safe/comfort zone and truly living for Him, loving, and helping these orphans/least of these however God shows us to!

I'm not just speaking about the orphans in Africa, although those are the ones God has put on my heart! There are orphans all over the world, all over our country and even in our own hometowns! Sponsering, fostering, domestic adoption, international adoption, missions trips and even praying for them if right now you cannot do anything else....there are endless possibilities and ways to show Christ's love to the world!

I have just been asked recently to go on a missions trip to Uganda...they go 3-4 times a year! Oh how my heart longs to go each time and how much I would LOVE to go even on one and hold and love on those children and help wherever needed and love and serve but with saving up for our adoption to go to Uganda later in the year to bring Isabella home, every penny is going towards that! Which we are SO excited for! So for now, I just keep praying that if its something God would want me to do in the future that He would continue to lay it on my heart and open the doors in the future for it to happen!

I have failed so much in my life, I have lived way too comfortably and safe and numb/blind to what's really going on in our world! May God continue to help us see people the way He see's them, to have our hearts break for what breaks His and be His hands and feet, to show, give and be love!

Love to all,