Eyewitnesses of His Majesty

2 Peter 1:16 “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”

After an emotionally draining few weeks, I read this verse yesterday morning and asked God to make me an “eyewitness of His majesty”, to delight me with His presence, WOW me with His power, to let me know He is still near. He did! It had to do with my personal Bible study and it’s not the first time this has happened. About 6 months ago when finishing my reading through the book of Nehemiah, the book about how the Israelites rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem in 52 days while fighting off the enemy, I wondered if anything significant had happened 52 days prior in our own life, maybe something concerning the property we had recently purchased (acceptance of the offer, the closing, laying of rock, etc..). What I discovered in counting back 52 days on the calendar and looking in my journal was that it was the very day I began my daily study of the book. It took me exactly 52 days to read it. This was even more reassuring than an event related to the property. The numbers matched up with something in my spiritual journey (the beginning of a study of a book about spiritual warfare). It reminded me that God is very much alive and more concerned with my heart and with my desire to grow and know Him through the study of His word rather than the specifics concerning a visible ministry. I love how He used these details to convey that to me!

It happened again yesterday, just after I asked Him to reveal His power. His answer came immediately from His word through the following verses:

Acts 26:16-18 “…to appoint you (Paul) a minister and witness not only to the things which you have seen but also to the things which I will appear to you…”

Mark 3:14 “The sower sows the word.”

Mark 16:20 “And they (disciples) went out and preached the word everywhere, while the LORD worked with them and confirmed the word by signs that followed.”

Acts 8:4 “Therefore those (early Christians) who had been scattered went about preaching the word.”

1 Timothy 4:6 “In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.”

 It didn’t seem to make sense. When I asked Him to speak to me, His answer seemed to be, “You speak about Me.”  I knew immediately, however, what He was asking me to do. It’s a heart-breaking story, one I’d decided not to share because it has just been too hard to find words. I am trusting though that this is not one of those “cleverly devised tales” mentioned in 2 Peter 1:16 but rather a story that displays “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

So here it is … the story:

A few weeks ago we finished a process to become part of a program called Safe Families. It is a wonderful way to minister to families by temporarily caring for kids whose parents need support. Soon after we completed our application process, we got a call from the coordinator asking us to pray about a situation. “There is a mother with cancer who needs a place for her child to stay while undergoing treatment,” she shared.  We began to pray, trusting that God would work things out according to His will. A couple weeks later we were excited about getting to meet with this mother in person. It was a meeting we will not soon forget. As Tim and I sat by her hospital bed, we were amazed by her strength and bravery to speak with us about keeping her child while she fought for her life. We were touched by the love she displayed as she lit up describing her child’s personality. We were grateful to have been given the chance to meet this beautiful individual who smiled when listening to us go on and on about our own kids while she was clearly in physical pain. Tim and I left the meeting feeling such a peace about the situation, very excited about how God might use us to demonstrate His love by temporarily caring for her child.

Three days later, however, she passed away.

We were shocked, sad and confused. Why did it happen like this? Why couldn’t we have met her sooner? Why does another child now have to live apart from her mother? Why…

I’ve been reading through Job recently. I’m always amazed at how God has us in the right place of His word at the right time. Job asked those same questions. His friends had all the answers, or so they thought.  “Of course he has done something wrong,” they argued. “There must be some unconfessed sin Job is hiding... God is just, blessing those who are good and cursing those who are not.” Job knew they were putting God in a box with this “health and wealth” philosophy. He knew that for some reason, God had allowed this to happen to him, “Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this,” (Job 12:9). He argued with his friends that God's ways were higher than his, “Were He to snatch away who could restrain Him? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’” (Job 9:12)  And Job was right. God affirmed it in the last chapter. Job 42:7 says, ”the LORD said to Job’s friend, 'My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.'” Seeing all of this in the study of Job enabled peace to overrule in the shock, confusion and sadness surrounding this death of our new friend. 

Of course in hindsight, we wish we had said or done more.  We wished we had asked if she knew Jesus as her personal Savior, asked her if she truly believed that He died for her just over 2000 years ago so that she could not only have peace, fulfillment and joy in this life but live eternally with Him after death. We hope and pray that although not discussed openly with her when we met, God used something or someone in those last days of her life to cause her to make the decision to believe in Him and place her trust in Him if she hadn’t already done so.

In praying for comfort for the family and friends left behind, God has given us comfort by already allowing us to see that He “causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28). Soon after hearing the horrible news, we discovered that as a result of our meeting with this mother, word had spread about the Safe Families program and there is now a new interest in participation from individuals who knew about the situation. Although we would have liked for God to answer our prayers for a complete healing of this precious mother, we are comforted in knowing that in spite of this tragedy, He is calling others to this great need of caring for orphans and widows in our area. It gives us motivation and belief to pray fervently for the child left now without a mother because we know “God’s plans are not to harm her but rather give her a hope and a future.”(Jeremiah 29:11)

I began by telling you how I asked God yesterday to make me an “eyewitness of His majesty.” He did that as I sat down to tell you this story. I began by asking God how I should start- a verse, a promise, a question? All I could think of was the book of Job. Realizing I had finished reading it the very day our sweet friend died, I became curious about when I began the study. I looked back in my journal to find something pretty amazing. Like the timing of my reading of Nehemiah, God had worked it out so that my study of Job was perfectly timed so that I would not only read about His sovereignty but experience it in my own life. My reading of this book began back in August as I sat next to my 91 year old grandmother’s hospital bed on the day she passed away. It ended on the very day our much younger friend died. My personal study of God’s sovereignty in the midst of death and suffering had been framed by two deaths of individuals close to my heart, but the lives of each of these individuals were used to make others “eyewitnesses of His majesty.”  Oh, praise Him!

My prayer is that in reading this you will be inspired to seek God daily as you look to His word for clarity and purpose in your life. I can confidently claim the promise in Matthew 7:7 “when we seek Him, we find Him.” I'm also praying that God will use this story to raise up more individuals to participate in the Safe Families program . If you would like to find out more about how you can get involved with this program please visit their website  http://orphancarealliance.org/safe-families-for-children/

or contact:

Chesson Hazlewood

Safe Family for Children Coordinator

Office - (502) 498-4765

 

Jesus Loves Me

If I had to choose the most important truth my grandmother, Amy Ruth Reeves, taught me in life, it would be that Jesus Loves Me. If you asked her why that was so important, she'd answer with full assurance, "The Bible tells me so!"

It was because Jesus loved her and sacrificed his life for her just over 2000 years ago that she gave her life to Him and in turn gave her ALL to others. She truly was the most selfless person I've ever known. She understood Luke 14:33 "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." Anyone who entered her house could testify that they would not leave without a few of her possessions.

She gave me an example of how to daily study God's word in order to find purpose, fulfillment and joy. She showed me how to, "not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world. The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." I John 2:15-17. She followed God's will daily and now gets to live forever with Him.

I was given an amazing gift last night. I got to be with Nanny, holding her hand, singing in her ear Jesus Loves Me, as she closed her eyes, took her last breath, then opened her eyes to see her Savior's face. She lived a life trusting that Jesus loved her so much that he died for her. And all of this was because the Bible told her so. Her deeds proved she believed that basic truth and I had the privilege of reminding her of that truth as she left this life and moved on to her eternal one, forever in the presence of God- the life she's looked forward to for so long!

Last night she joined with other saints who, "overcame because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death." Revelation 12:11 She was, "faithful unto death" and therefore has received, "the crown of life" Revelation 2:10. Oh, I can only imagine the celebration going on today in heaven as she gets to dance again! I have a feeling, Jesus Loves Me, is on the playlist!

"'...take courage and work; for I am with you,' declares the LORD of hosts." Haggai 2:4

In response to scripture we have been reading after asking God for clarity in how to proceed with building a home on the property we just purchased, we feel we must begin by building a tabernacle (an outdoor pavilion type structure for the purpose of prayer). We can't see what will come of it or all God has in store for this place, but we are trying to take this one step at a time beginning with getting the posts in the ground. We set our first post last Sunday and hope to get the rest in this weekend.

Psalm 27:5 "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock."

The Rock

Matthew 7:24-25 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”

We had some rock delivered a couple days ago. It wasn’t for the foundation of a house, but rather for a driveway/parking spot so we can get onto our new property without getting stuck. (Twice now we’ve had to ask a neighbor for his chain and help in pulling our big van out of the mud there.) It was exciting to sit under the gazebo watching the dump truck pour out rock. It was a cool visual reminder that everything we build on this property must be founded on the rock of Christ. The kids were also excited watching it pour neatly out the back of the truck, creating an instant driveway. But then something happened, the truck stopped and the instant driveway turned to an instant rock pile. I knew something was wrong when the two workers got out and walked to the back of the truck and stood there for a minute, staring at the ground. They were stuck! One of the kids said, “We can help push.” (obviously experienced with being stuck in the mud!). The driver called his dispatcher and then walked over with his head down preparing to inform me that we would need to pay for a wrecker to come and pull them out OR pay for another load of rock so another truck from their company could come and pull them out. Fearing I might be being taken advantage of, I called Tim. He calmly reminded me that it was just money and that we probably needed more rock anyway. I think the truck driver was a bit surprised when I said with a smile, “It is fine. Go ahead and send for another truck of rock.” It was one of those times when I felt the Holy Spirit’s presence because I’m normally not as cordial when circumstances seem unfair, and something about us having to pay to fix this problem didn’t seem right. Through God’s power, however, I was totally okay with it.

This gravel company was about 30 minutes away so we had nothing to do but wait for the truck to get there. I invited the 2 men to sit in the chairs we had under the gazebo. The kids and I chatted with them while waiting, talking mostly about the dark rain clouds rolling in that would make it nearly impossible to pull the truck out. At one point I looked out at the huge tires sunk in the mud and wondered, “Why has this happened?” Even the driver didn’t understand because he surveyed the area before beginning and didn’t think it would be a problem. He admitted that he couldn’t remember the last time they got a truck stuck like this. I wondered if it might have been an attempt from the enemy to try and stop us from doing God’s work here. That thought made the situation a little more exciting knowing that we are on the winning side of any spiritual battle going on (Romans 8:31- “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”) Somewhere in the middle of the small talk, I thought maybe I should ask if they knew Jesus. As I was going back and forth in my mind trying to decide how to insert that question, one of the men asked, “Where do you go to church?” I had to laugh, a little relieved that he opened the door for a discussion about God first!  Our conversation immediately turned to a deeper discussion of church and God. He went on to share how this was his 1st day on the job with the rock company after a recent  accident that almost took his leg. It happened while riding a 4-wheeler and he crossed a railroad track without hearing the train coming.  Doctors told him he’d never walk again. He explained how he realized when he didn’t die from the accident that it was God who saved him, and he knew he needed to give his life to Him. He spoke of the true joy that only comes from knowing Jesus Christ as Lord. I was so encouraged!

Just before the 2^nd truck arrived, I asked him what his name was so Tim and I could pray for him. He told me his name was Brent and that he desperately needed prayers. He went on to explain that he still has pins in his leg from the accident that needed to come out a year ago, but he hasn’t had enough money for the surgery- thus the new job. I told him we would pray. About that time the rain began to pour so the kids and I hurried into the van where we could watch the truck pull. I picked up my checkbook to write out a check for the rock and had a strong sense that I needed to give a little something to Brent as well. I immediately knew why the truck got stuck. God was going to use us to bless someone else in much the same way we have been blessed by others’ generosity. Or maybe it was an attempt from the enemy to discourage us in this first project on the property, but God was using it for good.  (Romans 8:28 – And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”) Either way, God got the glory! Hallelujah!!!

Later that evening, we got a call from Brent’s pastor. He said Brent was so full of joy after receiving the gift that he went straight to the nursing home where this pastor was preaching so that he could share with him. The call was a tremendous gift to us and a reminder that if we want to receive other blessings God has in store, then every single project we pursue on this property must be founded on The Rock, Christ Jesus.  Oh, praise Him!!!

Glory to God

"May the LORD grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your counsel! We will sing for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the LORD fulfill all your petitions... Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God." Psalm 20: 4,5,7

After going back and forth with a bank, who owns a piece of property in Waddy, KY which we've been praying over for months, they accepted our offer yesterday to buy it. We are so excited and can't wait to see how God will use us here! The banners we are holding up in the pictures were made before we moved from our house in LaGrange, in anticipation of how God was going to answer our prayers about this specific piece of property. Glory to Him!!! "God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us that Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations." Psalm 67:1

Happy at Home

It's official. We have moved........to a farm!!! This picture shows what we woke up to the first morning in our new place. Well, "new" is a stretch, but after a weeks of cleaning, fixing, and moving things in, we are really liking it! As expected, God has blessed us with many wonderful surprises for doing something that was hard for us. Not only has it been physically hard, but mentally and emotionally as well.There have been many nights during this move when after sitting down at the end of an exhausting day, Tim and I have looked at each other and said, "Why are we doing this again? How did we get here?" Now that we are all moved in, however, and have closed on our house, we are so grateful that God led us here and we are confident that this is where He wants us right now. The kids are in heaven. Victor's dream of having cows has come true. The neighbor's beef cattle come VERY close to our fenced yard. Vanya has a pond where he can fish (although he's learning a pond full of turtles means there probably are no fish!). Chernet and Tommy have a HUGE field they can shoot their bows and arrows into. And the girls, I don't know which they like more, their new bedrooms or the outdoor sights and sounds of a farm.

God has been so faithful in answering our doubts not only through the tangible blessings we've already received (so much support from family and friends with moving, cleaning, and providing meals), but also through Scripture. It's no surprise that Matthew 19:29 just happened to show up in my Bible reading every day the week of our move. It says, "And everyone who has left HOUSES or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life." We are so excited to be here not only because of all we will learn by living on a farm (never thought I'd be a farm girl!), but also because we know God will continue to bless us as we seek His direction in our life. Again (and probably forever), we are learning how to seek God and not worry;

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34

Trusting, Praising, Cleaning and MOVING!!!

Psalm 36:5-11 “Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O LORD, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.”

Praise God, we have found a house we will soon call our home. After weeks of praying, “Show us where to go”, God has answered. It is not what we would have chosen on our own, but it is clearly where God wants us to hang our hats for a while.

This process has reminded us so much of when we adopted Victor 8 ½ years ago. Because of the Ukrainian regulations for adopting (no pre-selection/referral process), we knew from the start that we had to trust God to lead us to the child He had chosen for us. Before traveling to the country to find Victor, we asked God to lead us to him rather than us having to choose. Many of you know that He did just that. Out of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian orphans needing a family that 17^th day of October 2004, Victor Vitaleyvich Sova was the only one available for us to consider. After what seemed more like a process of elimination rather than choosing a child to adopt, we waited three days before we could meet him. Of course we anticipated a magical, “love at first sight” kind of moment when laying eyes on him for the first time. Tim and I will never forget what happened (neither will Victor who has heard this story hundreds of times since then). Rather than any writing on the wall or a supernatural vision come true, we saw an awkward little boy who, at 2 ½ years old, stumbled across the room to us in a confused sort of daze. It matched our own confusion as we watched him struggle but smile when rolling a ball back and forth to us. All the while the caretakers were repeating over and over in broken English how loving and sweet he was. Added to the stress of the moment was the pressure from our facilitator who was saying, “If you say yes and we start the process right now, we will save a few days because the courts close in 30 minutes.”  God knew we needed a little heat. He knew if we had more time to consider, we may have said no and missed out on a life full of blessings that would come from adopting Victor. Oh praise God He knows what we are capable of. Through this crucial selection period, I kept hearing my grandmother’s favorite verse, “Proverbs 3: 5-6- Trust in the LORD with all your heart. LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” In our understanding, it didn’t make sense. Victor was obviously delayed. He didn’t look like the child we pictured when beginning our adoption journey. We couldn’t see what the future would hold for him, or for us with him. We remembered however, that our prayer was that God would lead us straight to our child and here was one right in front of us who desperately needed a family. Oh thank goodness we said yes! Anyone who knows our precious little V will agree how much richer our lives are because of him. If it weren’t for Victor, we wouldn’t have adopted Chernet, Mulu, Ruby, Pavlina or Vanya. Our hearts wouldn’t have been opened to orphans. And we certainly wouldn’t be renting this old farm house.

 

This house is not one we would have ever considered on our own. As with our adoption of Victor, however, God knew we needed to feel a little heat in order to say yes. We looked at this very house a few weeks ago but it just seemed too broken and dirty for us to live there (I wrote about it in a previous blog post- the rental house with LOTS of cow patties).  With just over three weeks before closing on our current home, and with no other options (God turned the heat up pretty high), we decided to reconsider. We “threw out a fleece” and asked God to make it work if this were the place for us to go. We emailed the owner asking if we could negotiate on the rent (offering an outrageously low amount of rent for a house that size). It was an amount we knew God would have to work out for us because we couldn’t even find an apartment for that rate. We waited a few days wondering if he were laughing or offended and choosing not to respond to such a ridiculous request. But then, one week later, the owner responded and said YES, we could have it for that price!!! We could hardly believe it! What we dismissed just a few weeks ago, we were now excited about renting, mainly because we knew it had to be of God.  It needs a LOT of TLC, but after weeks of seeking and praying, it is the only place we have found available that will house all ten of us for a price that will allow us to purchase a piece of property where we can build another place where we feel God will use us to better serve Him. It’s not a place that would show up on a search where we enter our criteria, but we are confident that the blessings He has in store for us there will be even better than anything we could imagine.

 

Just after we signed the lease yesterday, claiming the house as our dwelling place for this next year, our dear friend, Ms. Bev, stopped by to help us do a spiritual cleansing of the house. It was one of the most amazing things we’ve ever done as a family. By the time we were finished praying through each room, this dirty and broken old house felt like a beautiful place of peace where we now know the Holy Spirit will dwell and bless us, protect us, and use us to point to God. As usual, we can’t see exactly what lies ahead but we have been given enough confirmation to keep putting one step in front of the other as we move forward in this direction. My aunt, Carolyn Sue, gave me a book recently that articulates so clearly what we feel God has been teaching us lately. It’s called Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren. In it she says;

“When we sense God leading us on a new journey, we want all of the information up front. We want God to fill out the travel forms in triplicate, give us the detailed road map before we start the journey, and guarantee our safe arrival at the destination. We want the rewards of living lives of faith without actually having to demonstrate faith. For you to become a seriously disturbed, surrendered person of faith, you will have to be willing to say yes in advance – to give God your answer before you’ve heard the question.”

Many of you who know how Tim and I like to plan for things and can understand how hard it has been for us to wait and trust that God has been quietly working on where we were to move.  Although a little tired, (we’ve had a few sleepless nights lately J), we are THRILLED God has finally revealed to us where He wants us to go, and we look forward to settling in there soon.

For those of you who have asked to help. We would LOVE it! Our plans right now are to go back this Tuesday (3/26), Thursday(3/28) and Friday(Good Friday- 3/29) to clean. Then our official moving truck date will be Wednesday, April 10^th. Thank you all for your prayers and your constant words of encouragement/support while we move into this next stage of our journey. We love you all!!!

p.s. I have to show you this picture of a precious note Vanessa wrote on the bottom of our list of things to do/get for the house. She and all of the kids are thrilled to be moving into this old farmhouse!

 

"Have the people sit down."

I share this for my own accountability and hopefully to encourage someone else who is waiting for God to answer a prayer. I guess you could call this an update to the update posted a few days ago on our family’s moving status.

After getting excited about pieces seeming to fit together in our search for God’s will in a place to move, we went to look at a rental property yesterday. It sounded perfect, a farm house for rent just minutes away from a piece of property that also looked promising. We knew it needed some work but after looking around, we left feeling more overwhelmed than at peace about moving in (quite a bit of hazards including more cow patties between the car and the front door than we were expecting). What started as a day full of excitement ended as one of discouragement as we felt even more up in the air about this decision of where to move.  

Oh, praise God that His mercies are new every morning. Tim’s readings this morning were in Psalms where David describes how God comforted him in uncertain times. It was exactly what he needed to hear today!  My message from God came from the gospels and the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. I noticed something I had never seen before in this story. Just before the miracle, Jesus asked Phillip what they were to do, “Where are we going to buy bread, so that these may eat?” He asked. The passage goes on to read, “This He was saying to test him (Phillip), for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.” Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

Because I believe what Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perserverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”, I applied the lessons learned by the disciples in the feeding of the 5000 to our own life. Our discouragement last night came in our attempt to answer a question similar to the one posed by Christ to Phillip, “How in the world are you going to do this?” The details just don’t fit together yet as we contemplate options in front of us. This morning, however, we are reminded again that we can’t figure out all the details for this assignment God has planned for us.  Then Jesus said, “just sit down and watch”.

We still have no idea of where we will be going when we close on our house in just over a month but today we will sit down and watch God work out and reveal to us those details. I can’t help but wonder if when he told them all to sit down he added, “just watch out for the cow poo”.

 

Matthew 25:40

Matthew 18:5 "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me."

Just over a year ago our family asked God to give us clarity on whether or not we should sell our house and move to a place where we could use our resources to better serve Him. He answered in a way we were not expecting by giving us two more children. Our adoption of Vanya and Pavlina was finalized six months later. Through all of our adjusting, our house has remained for sale and about 3 weeks ago, we accepted an offer and have officially begun packing.

This morning, God used Scripture that seems to sum up what He has been revealing to us this past year as we have been seeking His specific will for our family. We feel it is now time to put it into writing on our blog:

Luke 9:48 "and (Jesus) said to them, 'Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.'" 

Matthew 19:26 "...Jesus said to them, 'With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" (This is in answer to the disciples question of 'Who can get into heaven', after Jesus explains how hard this is for a rich man.)

Matthew 17:20-21 "And He said to them, 'Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. (But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.)"

Luke 17:5-6 "The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!' And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea; and it would obey you'"

Ezekiel 17:24 "...I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will perform it."

We believe it is God's will for us to grow our faith by moving us to a place (He hasn't shown us yet)where we can receive more children in His name (or "love the least of these" as the song above says.) We have been looking at pieces of property within a 45 minute radius of Tim's work and even made an offer last week on one of them. The offer was countered and we felt like this was a "no" from God who had given us the original amount to offer. Our faith is being stretched and tested as we pack up our house not knowing where we are going, but we are certain it will be a place where God will use us to minister to children in need. 

When we try to picture this or even plan out details, it seems impossible (as Matthew 19:26 describes). It confirms something we have read a lot about lately in a book about Rees Howells (a man of great prayer) whose life displayed again and again that "man's extremity is God's opportunity". Not only are we having to trust that God has a place already prepared for us and will reveal it to us in His timing, but we must also be obedient in "receiving the children" He has already given us by being patient and loving with them as we wait.

This was tested last night as we returned from a seemingly unfruitful afternoon of looking for a place to move and had our evening of packing interrupted by a clogged toilet. After the initial panic of (not so clean) water backing up onto the bathroom floor and then pouring into the basement and onto some school books, we cleaned it up and borrowed a drain snake from the neighbor to try and reach the culprit (most likely a very large wad of toilet paper Ruby attempted to flush at some point that day). My impatient attitude with the kids in this messy circumstance was not very loving. Then when working together to empty one of the pipes so he could use the neighbor's tool, a cap popped off and Tim and I both got sprayed (mostly in the face) with a LOT of the (not so clean) water. I didn't know whether to cry or laugh. We decided on the latter. Thankfully, because I have such a handy husband, he was able to fix the clog and we had everything cleaned by bedtime (including ourselves).

Praise God that "His mercies are new every morning". After a good night's sleep, we awoke to the above messages in His word that continue to confirm that although messy at times, we are to continue patiently loving the eight children He has already given us while preparing for what else is to come.

We appreciate all of the prayers being offered for us and will keep you updated on any further developments (hopefully soon to come:)).