How do you pack a Samaritan's purse?

Yay! It's one of our favorite times of the year - Operation Christmas Child Box time! It is always our first project of the Christmas season - and it's a good one! 

WHAT?? You don't know what I'm talking about??? Well, glad you asked ;) 

I am happy to tell you all about one of the easiest, simplest, most meaningful ways to jump start Christmas! And it's going on this week. Hurry... you will want to head over to Samaritan's Purse (see the button in the right hand side of the blog and at the end of this post). Many churches take part in this project, but you can also participate on your own.

Samaritan's purse, you might have guessed, is a ministry who draws its name from the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told this story to stress the need to show compassion and assistance to desperate need wherever we find it. After telling this story of how a Samaritan helped the man that everyone else ignored, Jesus told his listeners "Go and do likewise."

Samaritan's Purse has been around for 40 years, seeking the lost and hurt and desperate to provide food, shelter, medical care, assistance, relief during disasters, Gospel teaching,  and even giving children Christmas presents!

Here's where you come in! Operation Christmas Child delivers boxes of lovingly packaged presents to children all over the world living in poverty. After you pack your box, and drop it off by the end of this week at a local drop off location (and they are everywhere - check the website), your gift will be on its way to a child who will likely receive his/her only gifts from you. The child will also be offered written Gospel materials in their native language, and in many places, be able to attend a Bible program through a local church.

Grab a shoe box and start shopping (actually the plastic shoe boxes work well and are a bit larger). Decide if you are shopping for a girl or boy, and what age group (2-4, 5-9, or 10-14). Be creative and don't stress out your bank account. Take your kids with you - we have done it every year and my teens still love it. It is a great way to teach the skill of giving to others first (before getting your own gifts). Wonderful toys that children love can be found at dollar and discount stores. Children who receive these gifts love toys but also need and love to get toiletries, clothing items, eating utensils, and candy. They are grateful. Hard for us to think of getting excited about getting socks or a new toothbrush...but I guess we would, if we didn't have any.

Click on the Operation Christmas Child button at the right or below and read all the directions about what to pack and what not to pack and how to send. You will need to send your $7 postage with your box, or you can pay online - if you do it online, you have the added bonus of being able to track your box to see what country it lands in!

What an easy way to share the love of Christ, the childlike wonder of Christmas, and teach your children to "Go and do likewise."

Tee's for T

GOOD MORNING~!!

I am so excited to announce the addition of another fundraiser - just in time to help you out with your Christmas shopping. I have spent quite a bit of time looking into possible t-shirts to help us with our fundraising and have finally decided on Adoption Bug's shirts. 

Adoption Bug is part of the Show Hope Ministry which is Christian, singer-songwriter Stephen Curtis Chapman's ministry. This ministry exists to help families with the cost of adoption, and to care for orphans - particularly those who need medical care while still living in orphanages. 

You will now see a button to the right that will link you directly to our t-shirt store. We have chosen six very different designs - most come in regular t-shirt style, women's cut, and children's tees. 

We will receive a portion of each shirt you purchase and for each "Show Hope" shirt you choose (the bottom three choices), a dollar will also be donated to the Show Hope Ministry.

November is Adoption Awareness month. Wear a tee (they are bound to raise a few questions) and let others know there is an orphan crisis that we should all be caring and praying about.  "Show hope" to children all around the world who wish to be chosen and to have a family to call their own. Happy shopping! I'm off to pick out ours!

Some blog reflections...

HI peeps...I have been reflecting a bit on this blog lately. Why am I writing it? Well, I can't seem to even begin to get into scrapbooking again (oops, wait - I sold most of my stuff), and it is a fun way to keep up with the busy and sometimes ridiculous hilarious interesting happenings with our gang. 

I have been so surprised that many of you are reading and even sharing our blog. Thanks for stopping back again and again. I am excited that you care to follow our adoption and that you have enjoyed reading about our wacky family (and my random thoughts!).

I remember reading a while back that if you want to have a large blog "following," you need to have a niche - something that people can take away - something they can learn or a specific hobby, craft, style, etc.  Since I never set out to have a "following," I haven't really cared about that.

But I am finding that I really want to branch out from just family/adoption news and happenings. Although I could write about some of my interests and current lifestyle things like homeschooling, budgeting for a large family, knitting, crafting, Weight Watchers....I sorta don't want to have to have that be my blog's niche. While I probably will, from time to time, write about these things, it just seems like too much work to have to "choose" one or two of those topics to always focus on and have to keep up with new ideas/patterns/recipes etc.  

So instead, what is my heart passionate about?? 

I have found that lately I have wanted to share my faith - what I believe, why, and why I so much want you all to know Jesus like I do - to know that He loves you and died for you and promises to be with you in all your joys and trials.

 As you must know by now, I have become passionate about orphans - I want people to be aware of the enormity of the issue and want people to know about how others are helping and how they can help. I want to challenge YOU to help in some way.

Over the years as I researched adoption, I have gotten to "know," thru the internet and our Ethiopian adoption, a number of truly amazing families who have done some pretty awesome things in the world of adoption - one family who has adopted 20+ children, another adoptive family who sold everything to go run an orphanage in a country no longer open to international adoption, another woman who was so impacted from her adoption experience that she now single-handedly runs a very popular blog where she fundraises for families and shouts advocates for special needs orphans.

My plan is to highlight some of these amazing people, link their blogs, share their stories. I hope to do a little advocating too of some of the beautiful children that are waiting...just waiting and wishing and hoping that they will be "picked." So be looking for some posts with info about adoption, photos of the beautiful children, and what others are doing to serve in the area of adoption and orphans.  WE are GOD'S solution to the orphan problem. Yes!

The other thing I am passionate about is child sponsorship. For exactly half of my life (exactly), I have - and now my family has - sponsored children. We have, over the course of the years, sponsored 9 children through various organizations. As the years have gone by, we have found that aside from feeding and clothing and educating our sponsored kiddos, we have wanted to make sure that our money was providing the most important gift to our sponsored children - the gift of the Bible and knowledge and teaching of Jesus. That is what led us to Compassion International. 

Sponsor a Child

Among Compassion's several initiatives to address the needs of the poor in third world countries, their sponsorships (and actually all of their programs) are carried out by local churches. The food, education, aid, etc. is given in the name of Jesus (not the government or some social group). This is important to us. The children (and by association, their families) get plugged into a church where they receive programs, Bible instruction, aid, and the love of Christ.

A few years ago, I signed up to be a child advocate (not anything too big mind you - just enables me to set up sponsorship tables at concerts, events). I have done it a few times and it has been exciting to me when a new person takes on a sponsorship - I know how this one decision and commitment will impact this child forever.

So, from time to time, whenever you see this icon, I will be "blogging for Compassion." That post will be highlighting something about Compassion International, child sponsorship, our sponsored kids (we currently have 5), or the needs we can fill to serve and minister to those children living in poverty around the world.


If you are local, you will get a chance to hear a bit more about Compassion and the wonderful sponsorship program - in 2 weeks our church is sponsoring a "Compassion Sunday" - I will be sharing a video, some of my experience as a sponsor, and will have a display table with info/photos of children just waiting for you to say "Yes- I will sponsor you!!"

Well...this was a wordy post...ya still with me??? Off to bed now - it's been a long and busy day and tomorrow promises to be the same.

   

Aslan is on the move...

As a college student taking a children's literature class, I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for the first time. At that time, I missed the parallels to Biblical truth that this story so beautifully demonstrates. Now, years later as a Christian mom who has read the book aloud several times, heard my husband reading the book several times, seen the play and the beautiful movie, I have grown to love the series. 

I love Aslan the lion, who like our God, is there for us - behind the scenes, loving and self-sacrificing, scary and yet comforting in a world of uncertainty and sometimes, tragedy. I love His strong voice and fair justice. I love that He brings Spring and life and excitement as his followers whisper "Aslan is on the move."

Well, Aslan is on the move here. He is moving in my church, in my home, and in my heart. I can feel the Lord gently waiting and watching with his strength, truth, and power. HE is moving and I am waiting to hear how He wants us to move.

Years ago...ah, maybe about 8 or so, my husband and I had an overwhelming feeling that the Lord was  calling us to do something big for Him. We would sit at night after exhausting days of work and homeschooling our four kids, carpooling, church meetings and busy-ness and talk about how we both just had this feeling as tho' we were meant to do more yet didn't know what.

We never knew beyond that until 3+ years ago when it became increasingly clear that adoption was what we were to do. We knew we needed to be giving of ourselves so much more, sacrificing so much more, and furthering the kingdom of God in a much bigger way than just raising our four children and attending church dutifully. 

I do remember thinking, as we lived through these last three years -  during the adoption process (those of you who have adopted know what a trying time that is as you jump through endless hoops, pay huge amounts of money without guarantees, and love and pray for the little faces of children only known to your heart), and the last two years of losing the "old" family and embracing and figuring out the "new" family -  that even this process might actually be what God wanted for us to do to impact His kingdom. (Did I really just write that long run-on sentence??? Yikes...sorry, but not going to change it!). As we struggled along in our home, was God getting any glory? Was the kingdom affected in any positive way when so many days I was grumpy or wiped out from trying, or sad that we had destroyed the beautiful family "thing" we already had going?  Had our jumping-off-the-cliff-in-faith move (the adoption), been the gift to God that we had wanted it to be when we were not being the parents we wished were were, not always loving unconditionally, complaining and sad?

I realize now as I look back on the struggles of the last two years since the girls have been home, that adoption doesn't just impact the children who have finally found their forever families and the families that take them in. My girls' adoption has inspired others to adopt, to turn their hearts to the orphan, to become aware of the needs of Africa, to accept and love a child of color (sad, I know, but this is still something that many haven't mastered), and perhaps most importantly - to consider that Aslan is on the move. To consider that God is real and moving and life changing. That He can do miraculous things through His people  (even the average and broken ones like us!) when we are listening, watching for Him to "be on the move" and obedient to His stirrings in our hearts.

The last two years have changed me in ways that are too many to count. I have been broken by my need for a savior on a moment by moment basis sometimes.  I have tried to share my struggles and be transparent with my burdens and difficulties, as well as our joys and triumphs of the last two years. It has certainly not been easy. It is hard to be a family who is so "noticeable" and "on display" at times. However, I realize that I have daily been offered an opportunity to share about what the Lord is able to do - How I lean on Him and need Him and how it is ONLY through Him that we are making it. He gets the credit and He has given me a huge way to affect His kingdom through our "ministry" of adoption.

Our hearts are being stirred again.  He is calling for something big again. John and I are feeling it. We are getting comfortable and God is asking us again to step out in some big way. We are praying for His leading and guidance and we know He will give it. Just haven't heard it yet. But when we do we will obey.

Is He stirring in your heart?  

Aslan is on the move....