Friends and family, near and far, we have big news. I mean BIG. God is continuing to grow our family! We have 4 beautiful children and we are expecting another! In about a year! No, I am not pregnant. My womb is not full, but my heart is! Josh and I have prayerfully decided to move forward and adopt! Until we are further along in the process, we cannot publicly reveal who this child is, or specifically where this child lives. All we can say for now is that he is a little boy in Eastern Europe and we cannot wait to rush to him! Only, the entire adoption process for this country takes about a year, and we have only just begun this journey. And it's going to be quite the journey indeed. Not only will it take approximately a year to bring him home, but it will also cost a lot of money. Around $24,000. Did your jaw just hit the floor? I know how you feel. It's a very large amount of money, and we don't have it just sitting in the bank. We are going to be working very hard to raise the funds needed to bring our son out of an orphanage halfway across the world and into our home, where he can thrive and receive the love that he needs and we so desperately want to give him! But we are going to need your help! We are pinching pennies, Josh is working overtime, I've been collecting soda cans to return, I am planning online auctions, and garage sales and other fund raisers in the near future... Lots of things! How can you help? Well, I'm glad you asked! :) We are gratefully accepting donations of garage sale items, new and handmade items for auctioning off, soda cans, spare change and online monetary donations. See the nifty donation widget in my right sidebar? You can easily send electronic donations through this PayPal button. I would also love to babysit your kids for donations to our PayPal button! Another really meaningful way that you can help is by praying for us and for our sweet boy.
As soon as I am able to share more about who our sweetie is, I will gladly do so! I cannot wait to share him with you! Please follow this blog for more info. Until then, please prayerfully consider if there is any way that you can help us in this endeavor? Every dollar makes a huge difference. Every garage sale item is greatly appreciated and every prayer is coveted. Thank you! More soon!! :)
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Eternal
Sometimes when I'm driving around doing errands, or bustling about the house doing chores, I will get this strange feeling. An, "All is meaningless" sort of feeling. Not in a depressed sort of way, but in a way that recognizes that this life we are living on Earth, is not our forever. It's just a blip on the radar screen of Eternity.
New International Version (NIV)
1 The words of the Teacher,[a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
I was driving home from the grocery store the other day and suddenly one of those feelings hit me. It's almost like in my mind I am removed a bit from this life I'm living, and I can see outside of myself a bit. I saw people rushing to and fro trying to accomplish their daily tasks as quickly as possible without regard for anyone around them, or for their creator watching over them. Obviously we all have things that just have to be done. Like grocery shopping. And chores. But in the grand scheme of things what difference does it make? In the grand scheme of things, what does matter?
New International Version (NIV)
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
and also...
New International Version (NIV)
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
So although we all have temporal needs and personal responsibilities that we must take care of on a daily basis, I've been thinking a lot about how I can live more eternally. Thinking of what really matters in the long run. What matters most? God, and God's people. God loves ALL of His children. He created us ALL in His image. No matter where we come from, our ability or disability, our race, education level, economic level... He sees US, and longs for us to see Him. He loves us and longs for us to love Him and to love each other. And that is all that really matters. I'm trying to live everyday focusing on how I can better love God and His people. How can I better love and serve my family? How can I reach out to the fatherless? How can I make a difference that matters beyond today or tomorrow or next year? How can you?
Remember, this Earth is not our home.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-14
New International Version (NIV)
Everything Is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher,[a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
I was driving home from the grocery store the other day and suddenly one of those feelings hit me. It's almost like in my mind I am removed a bit from this life I'm living, and I can see outside of myself a bit. I saw people rushing to and fro trying to accomplish their daily tasks as quickly as possible without regard for anyone around them, or for their creator watching over them. Obviously we all have things that just have to be done. Like grocery shopping. And chores. But in the grand scheme of things what difference does it make? In the grand scheme of things, what does matter?
Matthew 22:36-40
New International Version (NIV)
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
and also...
James 1:27
New International Version (NIV)
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
So although we all have temporal needs and personal responsibilities that we must take care of on a daily basis, I've been thinking a lot about how I can live more eternally. Thinking of what really matters in the long run. What matters most? God, and God's people. God loves ALL of His children. He created us ALL in His image. No matter where we come from, our ability or disability, our race, education level, economic level... He sees US, and longs for us to see Him. He loves us and longs for us to love Him and to love each other. And that is all that really matters. I'm trying to live everyday focusing on how I can better love God and His people. How can I better love and serve my family? How can I reach out to the fatherless? How can I make a difference that matters beyond today or tomorrow or next year? How can you?
Remember, this Earth is not our home.
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