I am not naive. I know there are alot of people out there- some very close to me- who hear or read that we are considering adoption and think, " they have no business doing that!" or "they have so many struggles they are FINALLY getting through, they shouldn't think about doing that." or "they are irresponsible for even talking about it." and on and on it goes. They are thinking of the time, energy, and of course MONEY it takes to bring a child home and then raise him or her. I'd be lying if I said it doesn't bother me. I'd be dishonest if I said it doesn't make me angry. But not because of what they are saying about me...it's what they are saying about our God that gets me so fired up.
So here's my response:

"they have so many struggles they are FINALLY getting through, they shouldn't think about doing that." - the only way we have gotten through those struggles is being led by God through our faith in him. God never promised us we'd be "comfortable and without struggles." In fact, as a Christian, I am basically guaranteed to face spiritual war... and comfort is relative. I guarantee my life is unimaginably comfortably compared to a crowded orphanage in Africa.

"they are irresponsible for even talking about it." - we're ignoring our Father's commandment if we ignore it. I'm not suggesting that EVERY believer should bring a child home. But I am stating that EVERY believer should help the widows and the orphans.

Obviously, I have gotten pretty emotional about this subject. I think about it all the time. And because I imagine some might be asking how that affects my life with the family I ALREADY have, I will tell you. I have never been so intentional in my interactions with my husband and my children as I have been the last month. I grieve deeply when I wrong them, I pray constantly for them- and nightly with them. I have been given a HUGE gift in my family and the opportunity to show them Christ's light in their day- I want to give everything I can to that end. There are too many kids in the world that will never get to see that light. How can I not take it seriously? It is an easy choice for me. But I also know that God has called me to give that love, to shine that light for another child who would otherwise only know darkness.

I won't even go into the money issue here. read my previous posts if you need proof on how God has worked in that area of our lives.

I follow alot of blogs- and one of them highlighted a family recently that is a huge inspiration to me. They are younger than Joe and I and have 3 kids biologically, and have adopted 6 more, AND just found out they are expecting a child. First, relax. I am not saying I want 10 kids (yet)... but I love their motto, and while I can't say that I envy her laundry situation, I do aspire to her trust in God...and pray that I can raise as many children as God deems mine to love him and serve him and go out into the world with that same understanding.

Here's what she wrote to those who asked the question "WHY???"

I pray that with each day, I can live her answers.

"We are often asked WHY? Why would we adopt THREE kids, more-less SIX kids? Why would we do this? Why devote our lives to this “cause” (if you can truly even call it that).
Here’s why:

-Because we believe that this life is not our own.

-Because we believe that in the end, it won’t matter what career ladders we climbed or financial investments we made or what gadgets we could afford. It will matter that six lives were saved.

-Because we have seen hopelessness firsthand in Ethiopia and elsewhere, but believe in all hope that each child is a child of God.

-Because we believe that the orphaned street child who plays street soccer on the rough pavement of the streets of Addis Ababa is no less valuable to the Creator than the polished child on a suburban soccer team here in America.

-Because we see nothing more worthy of our focus, time, resources, and lives.

-Because injustice is a wrong worth righting.

-Because the poor child is still a child.

-Because we know that, while adoption is not the solution in and of itself to the orphan crisis 143 million times over, we have seen with our own lives how it rescues the lives of those who can be adopted.

-Because we believe that Jesus died for redemption, not just for eternity, but for our lives on this planet and we believe we can be vessels of that redemption for children’s lives here.

-Because we know that, if it were our own flesh and blood, we would want someone to love them and call them family, too.

-Because, really, these kids are no different from your own. Not at all.

-Because it’s just not okay with us to say no to a child who needs a home when we have one.

-Because it’s just not okay with us to say no to a child who needs a family when we have one.

-Because it’s just not okay with us to say no to a child who needs room to thrive when we have room and can make room.

-Because it’s just not okay with us to do nothing.

-Because it won’t be okay with them if we do nothing.

-Because it’s just not going to be okay to do nothing."

Heidi Weimer

things I have learned about/because of my faith in 2009


1. God is bigger than ANYTHING I can throw at him. He blesses us directly and through others- who we wouldn't expect. More on this later.
2. God's timing is ALWAYS perfect. I'll admit it- I was FREAKING out when our house hadn't sold and we were getting calls every other day from the mortgage company, and again when the offer was with the mortgage company and they took what seemed like FOREVER and came up with the LAMEST requirements for us. But guess what? I had no reason to worry. It all worked out perfectly. Because of the timing, we found the PERFECT rent house for the PERFECT amount of money. We got back deposits from the utilities at the old house (that we had forgotten we had paid!) that were the perfect amount to take care of the bills generated the few months we were having to pay some bills for both houses.
3. Giving God our first fruits is the ONLY way to give. We decided it was time to finally "put our money where our mouths are" and live our faith out loud. It has been AMAZING! What a feeling it is to say, and experience the words, "God, I trust you with my finances." And what a testimony to God's faithfulness when we are making less than we have in many years, giving more than we EVER have, and in a better financial position than we could have ever imagined! We are so excited at the possibilities this will bring- a family vacation even-something we have never been able to even consider! But so much more important is the opportunity to save and be able to give MORE! We recently committed to supporting monthly a missionary we had the blessing to get to know and who is doing amazing things in spreading the story of Jesus to all corners of the globe. And, as I spoke of in my last post, we are prayerfully considering adoption to expand our family.
4. Joy is far better than happiness. In all the events of the last year, happiness was far to often absent. I cried, and cried, and cried. But I REFUSED to let go of my joy in the Lord. In the worst of moments, I could cry out and thank God that these circumstances are only temporary and I felt so much JOY from that acknowledgement! It was such a relief! Joe would laugh when I would say, "Bring it, Satan!" (mostly because he was worried he would!) but I loved being able to laugh through the tears- something I could only do because I understood what joy really is.
5. God almost never works how I think he will. I will now admit something that I haven't even shared with Joe: When our dryer went out right after moving into the rent house, I was bummed. Major bummed. But after a week or so of hanging laundry out to dry, I was actually more bummed when my dad and Bob surprised us with a new dryer. Don't get me wrong- it was an UNBELIEVABLE gift I was so thankful for, but... I actually liked line drying our clothes. I may actually do it all summer to save money! (for giving, or vacation, or adoption) I didn't expect to LIKE losing the convenience of a dryer and I most certainly didn't expect to receive a brand new one! God gave my 2 gifts in that process- he taught me something I could do without, and provided the dryer as well. (He had to have know that line drying in 20 degree temps just isn't the same.) ;) Another gift came when Joe's dad shared a budget spreadsheet with us he had been using. I expected it to make Joe and I more frustrated at our financial situation, but instead, it has been instrumental in helping us to make the changes in giving I described above. Talk about a stress reliever! While they may not share our convictions or beliefs, their love for us and desire to help us in our finances are a huge blessing from God.
6. Tomorrow doesn't scare me anymore. This goes without saying, really, as a believer in an eternal sense. But here I am speaking more of the day to day things. I was recently told by a close friend, that of all the people she knew, by far, I had the most RANDOM things happen to me. And she is SO right. RANDOM... and often hilarious. I am a drama magnet people. I think it boils down to this: where Satan sees faith growing strongest is where he fights the hardest. If someone doesn't believe in spiritual warfare, they need to read through my last year of Facebook posts...seriously! He does not want God to get the glory, and he likes nothing more than to see us give up and resign ourselves in sorrow and pity. I can tell you that isn't gonna happen to me. I may stumble along the way, but the awesome thing is that God is right there next to me every time- reaching out to help me back up.. and almost always to a step closer to him than I was before.

so what have you learned about or from your faith this last year?