I hate roller coasters. Just ask my Mom or sister. They will both tell you that they "ruined" me when I was about 9 or 10 on some ride at one of the many amusements parks they use to drag me to as a kid.
The top 5 reasons I hate roller coasters are:
1. I like being in control. On a roller coaster = not being in control.
2. I'm scared of dying. Let's be real, I wanna meet Jesus but would prefer to not have to die in order for that to occur.
3. I don't like to go fast. In anything. Be it car, plane, train or roller coaster.
4. I don't like that butterfly feeling in my stomach. I think people who do are weird.
5. It's scary people.
Our adoption process is kinda a roller coaster. Ok, maybe not just kinda, maybe the full on tallest, fastest, scariest, upside down roller coaster of all. And sometimes I hate it. For the very same reasons.
1. I like being "in control". I like knowing what is going to happen and when and why and how and... you get the picture. I'm a control freak. Just ask my husband.
2. I'm scared of dying to myself. To enter into this "process" of adopting a kid from another country, who has been through unimaginable loss, doesn't speak our language, who frankly belongs to a government that could really care less about whether or not that kid makes it out of the orphanage, is to step out in faith. It's to say yes to God even when a lot of other voices are telling you no. It's dying to your plan and reaching out for His.
3. I will have to ride on a very long plane ride, multiple very long plane rides actually (thank you Ethiopia for changing those rules up just in time for the Wallace's), to get this kid home. The last time I was on a plane was on our honeymoon. And we only went to Oregon. And I cried.
4. I have that butterfly feeling in my stomach a lot. I get good news and bad news regarding our adoption daily, sometimes hourly. It is an emotional roller coaster at times. The highs are sweet but the valleys make me anxious and worried and sick to my stomach.
5. It's scary people.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
the devil lost Meadow's urine
Confession - there has been a LOT going on with our adoption that I haven't posted. The last time I did an update was in November. Nine months ago. Who knew so much and so little could happen in nine months?
In November, we were waiting for March, for William to be scanned and to get a clean bill of health. Praise God that happened.
In April, we were ready to get back on the adoption train when our home study agency alerted us to the fact that our CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) approval expired in August. The CIS has to approve American citizens to bring orphans into the US. It use to be part of the Department of Homeland Security until they got busy with other things...
When your CIS approval expires, you HAVE to re-do your home study. The one thing we had that had not expired was... our home study. Since CIS is very particular about when the paperwork they receive is dated, it didn't make sense to re-do our home study in April, because we would have had to re-do it again in June just to make them happy. Who do they think they are anyway?
So the new new plan was to begin home study paperwork in June and have our re-done home study in the mail to CIS in July.
Here's where things get really interesting. The first week of April, after we had learned all of this timingcrap stuff, Meadow fell out of her highchair and hit the back of her head on the kitchen floor. She appeared to be ok, but our pediatrician said to take her to the ER just to be safe. So we did. They did a CT scan since she has no way of telling us how she feels and because that's kinda a long way to fall.
The CT scan showed no trauma from the fall. It did show "calcifications on the basil ganglia". If you google "basil ganglia brain calcifications", which I don't recommend that you do, you will get a seemingly never ending list of conditions, diseases and disorders all of which list brain calcifications as a symptom.
If you have been following along closely, you know that just a couple weeks prior to this on our crazy-does-this-really-happen-to-people timeline, my step-mom passed away from brain cancer. SO, when the ER nurse gave me this info I must have turned white, based on the look of fear in her eyes. She asked me if I was ok, I think I nodded, and asked if we could leave.
I called William. And I cried.
Our pediatrician called me the next morning. His exact words were "I'm looking at this CT scan, and it is not normal, and I have a perfectly healthy developmentally 'normal' child and the two don't add up. Sometimes technology gives us more information than we know what to do with and this is probably one of those times. I can't tell you 100% that these are benign so let's send you to someone who can." Love him, by the way.
He referred us to a pediatric neurologist. There was an almost three month wait to get in. That was hard, and even though we had a peace that was certainly from God, I'd be lying if I said we didn't hug her a little tighter and kiss her a few more times at bed than we had before. It's pretty scary for someone to tell you that your kids brain isn't normal and then to have to wait three months to figure out what that means.
So the end of June FINALLY rolled around and we went to Riley Children's Hospital for our appointment. The reason that this is part of our adoption story is because before our home study agency would re-do our report, we had to know that either a.)Meadow was healthy or b.)Meadow has such and such condition and we are capable of caring for her and an additional child. I'm still unclear if they just want to know or if CIS actually requires that information...
Anyway, the appointment went well. The neurologist did a neurological exam, which for a 15 month old basically consists of squeaking a bunch of toys in her face to see how she responds. The doctor explained that it was likely an insignificant finding but since we have knowledge of it we should investigate further. They drew about 10 viles of blood and Meadow had to pee into a bag that they taped you know where. The whole experience was pretty positive considering. They told us it could take 6-8 weeks to get all of the results back because the conditions they were testing her for are super rare, so few labs have experience with them, yada, yada. The doctor also ordered an MRI to see exactly what these brain things look like.
At this point, we were still feeling good about Meadow's health. Had she not taken a fall, we would never had been concerned about her. But there was this lurking thought in the back of my mind that, what if, we would end up praising God for the fact that she did fall because we found out about some crazy rare condition and caught it early... William helped me control those thoughts though and kept me on track.
The time frame of the tests was a little too close to our CIS expiration than we would have liked, but everything would have come in in time. If. They. Hadn't. Lost. Her. Urine.
"How do you loose urine?", one might ask. Good question - I have a theory but I won't share it here. The problem, is that I didn't find out that the urine was lost until just a couple weeks ago. Meadow's blood work trickled back in and all results were negative. We tried to get out of the MRI. Twice. But the doctor insisted that it was necessary. (another story for another day)
When the blood results came in, I let the nurse know that I needed a letter, from the doctor, for our adoption, saying she's healthy, etc. (No one ever gets this, by the way. If you are going to adopt be prepared for people to look at you like you have a third eye when you request stuff like this. They actually asked me if we were adopting Meadow and had to prove that she was healthy before "they" would let us. Uh, not exactly.)
So, when I requested the letter, the nurse relayed the message that the doctor wouldn't write the letter until the genetic (aka urine) results were in and until we agreed to an MRI. This lead to a conversation that ended with the realization that the urine had been lost. At this point, I lost it on the nurse because this is the test that takes 6-8 weeks. She thought I was crazy, and loosing it over lost urine, which frankly, loosing it over lost urine would be ok in my book.
I explained, in the nicest way that I could at that moment, that we did not have 6-8 weeks because of a lot of things that she didn't understand related to our adoption (and that no we are not adopting Meadow) and that it would cost us $800 if we didn't have that letter by the beginning of August. (If you miss the CIS extension deadline you have to re-apply, and re-pay.)
The conversation ended with me offering to drive Meadow back to Indianapolis the following day to deliver more urine and her offering to contact the manager of the lab to "plead our case". I think she knew better than to put me in touch with the lab manager. I was the crazy adopting urine mom.
Meadow cooperated and delivered the urine and the lab manager sent the message that it would take a minimum of 2-3 weeks. We started praying. And asking almost everyone else to join us.
Our prayer request consisted of: A clean MRI scan. We know enough about scans and doctors to know that even if these funky brain things did turn out to be "clinically insignificant", the doctor would still want to scan Meadow annually until they did something or disappeared. So, we prayed that they would be GONE. We wanted this whole thing to be over and we wanted God to get all the glory. The only explanation would be that He answered our prayer. So we prayed like we believed that He would.
We also prayed for negative and miraculously quick genetic test results. And I prayed, in the middle of the night when no one else was listening, for signs. Signs that we are on the right path, that we didn't misinterpret His call to adopt. I prayed that he would make our adoption journey from this point on smooth and fast.
I'm so thankful that he answered my prayer for signs. It seems like a silly, unfaithful thing to pray for, but I needed them. After 2 1/2 years, a girl needs some reassurance. And he delivered. Three times, after spending time alone in prayer, requesting "signs", I got them within 24 hours. A couple times through sermons, one at our church on how we as believers are "family", one from a sermon podcast about obeying God's word and once today, when I was told that Meadow's genetic screen results are expected by the end of the week.
I'm thankful for those signs. But the truth is, when I peel away all of the trials and setbacks, I know we are on the right path. I know He set it for us. But I realized, a couple weeks ago, amidst all of this urine business, that the devil doesn't want us to adopt. He hates adoption. He hates it the same way that he hates marriage. He hates marriage because it is a visible symbol to the world of Jesus and his church. And he hates adoption because it is a visible symbol to the world of God's love for, and adoption of, us. Our family will be a sign of worldly adoption and heavenly adoption. The devil lost Meadow's urine.
I love it when God answers prayer. Seriously. LOVE IT. It's even better when there is no logical human explanation for things going the way that they did. It can only be a God thing. And that was the case today. This morning I got a call from the nurse. (I think she has forgiven me for loosing it over the lost urine) Meadow's MRI was clear and the calcifications are GONE. THEY. ARE. GONE!!!
I called William. I cried. I thanked God. And I danced.
If adoption were a board game, we'd still be on the same square we were on in November. So much and so little can happen in nine months.
In November, we were waiting for March, for William to be scanned and to get a clean bill of health. Praise God that happened.
In April, we were ready to get back on the adoption train when our home study agency alerted us to the fact that our CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) approval expired in August. The CIS has to approve American citizens to bring orphans into the US. It use to be part of the Department of Homeland Security until they got busy with other things...
When your CIS approval expires, you HAVE to re-do your home study. The one thing we had that had not expired was... our home study. Since CIS is very particular about when the paperwork they receive is dated, it didn't make sense to re-do our home study in April, because we would have had to re-do it again in June just to make them happy. Who do they think they are anyway?
So the new new plan was to begin home study paperwork in June and have our re-done home study in the mail to CIS in July.
Here's where things get really interesting. The first week of April, after we had learned all of this timing
The CT scan showed no trauma from the fall. It did show "calcifications on the basil ganglia". If you google "basil ganglia brain calcifications", which I don't recommend that you do, you will get a seemingly never ending list of conditions, diseases and disorders all of which list brain calcifications as a symptom.
If you have been following along closely, you know that just a couple weeks prior to this on our crazy-does-this-really-happen-to-people timeline, my step-mom passed away from brain cancer. SO, when the ER nurse gave me this info I must have turned white, based on the look of fear in her eyes. She asked me if I was ok, I think I nodded, and asked if we could leave.
I called William. And I cried.
Our pediatrician called me the next morning. His exact words were "I'm looking at this CT scan, and it is not normal, and I have a perfectly healthy developmentally 'normal' child and the two don't add up. Sometimes technology gives us more information than we know what to do with and this is probably one of those times. I can't tell you 100% that these are benign so let's send you to someone who can." Love him, by the way.
He referred us to a pediatric neurologist. There was an almost three month wait to get in. That was hard, and even though we had a peace that was certainly from God, I'd be lying if I said we didn't hug her a little tighter and kiss her a few more times at bed than we had before. It's pretty scary for someone to tell you that your kids brain isn't normal and then to have to wait three months to figure out what that means.
So the end of June FINALLY rolled around and we went to Riley Children's Hospital for our appointment. The reason that this is part of our adoption story is because before our home study agency would re-do our report, we had to know that either a.)Meadow was healthy or b.)Meadow has such and such condition and we are capable of caring for her and an additional child. I'm still unclear if they just want to know or if CIS actually requires that information...
Anyway, the appointment went well. The neurologist did a neurological exam, which for a 15 month old basically consists of squeaking a bunch of toys in her face to see how she responds. The doctor explained that it was likely an insignificant finding but since we have knowledge of it we should investigate further. They drew about 10 viles of blood and Meadow had to pee into a bag that they taped you know where. The whole experience was pretty positive considering. They told us it could take 6-8 weeks to get all of the results back because the conditions they were testing her for are super rare, so few labs have experience with them, yada, yada. The doctor also ordered an MRI to see exactly what these brain things look like.
At this point, we were still feeling good about Meadow's health. Had she not taken a fall, we would never had been concerned about her. But there was this lurking thought in the back of my mind that, what if, we would end up praising God for the fact that she did fall because we found out about some crazy rare condition and caught it early... William helped me control those thoughts though and kept me on track.
The time frame of the tests was a little too close to our CIS expiration than we would have liked, but everything would have come in in time. If. They. Hadn't. Lost. Her. Urine.
"How do you loose urine?", one might ask. Good question - I have a theory but I won't share it here. The problem, is that I didn't find out that the urine was lost until just a couple weeks ago. Meadow's blood work trickled back in and all results were negative. We tried to get out of the MRI. Twice. But the doctor insisted that it was necessary. (another story for another day)
When the blood results came in, I let the nurse know that I needed a letter, from the doctor, for our adoption, saying she's healthy, etc. (No one ever gets this, by the way. If you are going to adopt be prepared for people to look at you like you have a third eye when you request stuff like this. They actually asked me if we were adopting Meadow and had to prove that she was healthy before "they" would let us. Uh, not exactly.)
So, when I requested the letter, the nurse relayed the message that the doctor wouldn't write the letter until the genetic (aka urine) results were in and until we agreed to an MRI. This lead to a conversation that ended with the realization that the urine had been lost. At this point, I lost it on the nurse because this is the test that takes 6-8 weeks. She thought I was crazy, and loosing it over lost urine, which frankly, loosing it over lost urine would be ok in my book.
I explained, in the nicest way that I could at that moment, that we did not have 6-8 weeks because of a lot of things that she didn't understand related to our adoption (and that no we are not adopting Meadow) and that it would cost us $800 if we didn't have that letter by the beginning of August. (If you miss the CIS extension deadline you have to re-apply, and re-pay.)
The conversation ended with me offering to drive Meadow back to Indianapolis the following day to deliver more urine and her offering to contact the manager of the lab to "plead our case". I think she knew better than to put me in touch with the lab manager. I was the crazy adopting urine mom.
Meadow cooperated and delivered the urine and the lab manager sent the message that it would take a minimum of 2-3 weeks. We started praying. And asking almost everyone else to join us.
Our prayer request consisted of: A clean MRI scan. We know enough about scans and doctors to know that even if these funky brain things did turn out to be "clinically insignificant", the doctor would still want to scan Meadow annually until they did something or disappeared. So, we prayed that they would be GONE. We wanted this whole thing to be over and we wanted God to get all the glory. The only explanation would be that He answered our prayer. So we prayed like we believed that He would.
We also prayed for negative and miraculously quick genetic test results. And I prayed, in the middle of the night when no one else was listening, for signs. Signs that we are on the right path, that we didn't misinterpret His call to adopt. I prayed that he would make our adoption journey from this point on smooth and fast.
I'm so thankful that he answered my prayer for signs. It seems like a silly, unfaithful thing to pray for, but I needed them. After 2 1/2 years, a girl needs some reassurance. And he delivered. Three times, after spending time alone in prayer, requesting "signs", I got them within 24 hours. A couple times through sermons, one at our church on how we as believers are "family", one from a sermon podcast about obeying God's word and once today, when I was told that Meadow's genetic screen results are expected by the end of the week.
I'm thankful for those signs. But the truth is, when I peel away all of the trials and setbacks, I know we are on the right path. I know He set it for us. But I realized, a couple weeks ago, amidst all of this urine business, that the devil doesn't want us to adopt. He hates adoption. He hates it the same way that he hates marriage. He hates marriage because it is a visible symbol to the world of Jesus and his church. And he hates adoption because it is a visible symbol to the world of God's love for, and adoption of, us. Our family will be a sign of worldly adoption and heavenly adoption. The devil lost Meadow's urine.
I love it when God answers prayer. Seriously. LOVE IT. It's even better when there is no logical human explanation for things going the way that they did. It can only be a God thing. And that was the case today. This morning I got a call from the nurse. (I think she has forgiven me for loosing it over the lost urine) Meadow's MRI was clear and the calcifications are GONE. THEY. ARE. GONE!!!
I called William. I cried. I thanked God. And I danced.
If adoption were a board game, we'd still be on the same square we were on in November. So much and so little can happen in nine months.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
July Martini
A few of the bloggers I follow post an end of the month "here's what my family did this month" type post. I thought it might be a nice way for me to recap and remember all of the blessings of the month. (and show off my cute kids!)
These end of the month posts will be named the "martini". Since William and I both have film backgrounds (I guess he has a film foreground also...), we throw around some film slang from time to time. It's kinda like a secret code that no one else understands unless you are on a film set.
The "martini" is the name of the last shot of the day. To most people, that doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you have been on your feet for 14 or 16 or 22 hours, are sweatier than you have ever been in your life and only get 5 hours of sleep a night, the last shot of the day is something to get excited about. According to wikipedia it is called the martini because "the next shot is out of a glass", referring to a post-wrap drink, which is appropriate because I just might be having a drink myself right now;-)
So these martini posts will also likely include lots of pictures because, if it weren't for my camera, I would have no idea what happened in the last month.
Blueberries! - we went blueberry picking with our good friend and old nanny Stephanie. It was actually a lot of fun and we stopped for ice cream afterwards. I think the kids ate 2 pounds of blueberries in two days. The bucket on the table is a tradition my step-mom starting that I am keeping up. Blueberries on the table meant summertime in our house.
William and I are helping to head up an Orphan Care Ministry at our church, Antioch. We had our first meeting in July and it was so encouraging. We are really looking forward to seeing how God will use this ministry. No pictures of the meeting but it was very exciting!
Moses slept through our entire Costco trip. The trip does happen once a month but is not usually newsworthy, I just really wanted to share this picture.
Puddle jumping in the rain AND sunshine.
Our praying mantis' finally hatched! This was a super exciting day!
My mom gave Moses a nest for his birthday and he had been checking those things daily and... nothing. Until, all of the sudden, there were hundreds. My mom told me this would happen but it was pretty wild to see. She also gave me a handout on how to care for said mantis' but since they weren't here yet, I hadn't read it. So when they hatched I pulled out the handout and read something along the lines of "if you don't feed them tiny insects THEY WILL EAT EACH OTHER". Holy crap. This sent me into a panic. The thought of a.) having to feed hundreds of tiny living creatures (and plan another trip to the store, and spend more money on food, and prepare their food... Meal planning for hundreds? I don't think so!) or b.) them eating each other alive in front of my children really freaked me out. So we marched them right outside and let them all go in the garden. Which seemed like a good solution until William came home from work and wasn't too happy that he hadn't gotten to experience the mantis fun. Oops.
These are a few of our friends that we hadn't seen in awhile. They really liked pushing around the stroller (and other than knocking over a speaker, did a good job of maneuvering it) but as soon as I pull out the camera - the smiles disappear. Every. Time.
Meadow has somehow interpreted "smile" to mean "say ahhh". It's funny. And cute.
These end of the month posts will be named the "martini". Since William and I both have film backgrounds (I guess he has a film foreground also...), we throw around some film slang from time to time. It's kinda like a secret code that no one else understands unless you are on a film set.
The "martini" is the name of the last shot of the day. To most people, that doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you have been on your feet for 14 or 16 or 22 hours, are sweatier than you have ever been in your life and only get 5 hours of sleep a night, the last shot of the day is something to get excited about. According to wikipedia it is called the martini because "the next shot is out of a glass", referring to a post-wrap drink, which is appropriate because I just might be having a drink myself right now;-)
So these martini posts will also likely include lots of pictures because, if it weren't for my camera, I would have no idea what happened in the last month.
William and I are helping to head up an Orphan Care Ministry at our church, Antioch. We had our first meeting in July and it was so encouraging. We are really looking forward to seeing how God will use this ministry. No pictures of the meeting but it was very exciting!
Moses slept through our entire Costco trip. The trip does happen once a month but is not usually newsworthy, I just really wanted to share this picture.
Puddle jumping in the rain AND sunshine.
My mom gave Moses a nest for his birthday and he had been checking those things daily and... nothing. Until, all of the sudden, there were hundreds. My mom told me this would happen but it was pretty wild to see. She also gave me a handout on how to care for said mantis' but since they weren't here yet, I hadn't read it. So when they hatched I pulled out the handout and read something along the lines of "if you don't feed them tiny insects THEY WILL EAT EACH OTHER". Holy crap. This sent me into a panic. The thought of a.) having to feed hundreds of tiny living creatures (and plan another trip to the store, and spend more money on food, and prepare their food... Meal planning for hundreds? I don't think so!) or b.) them eating each other alive in front of my children really freaked me out. So we marched them right outside and let them all go in the garden. Which seemed like a good solution until William came home from work and wasn't too happy that he hadn't gotten to experience the mantis fun. Oops.
Wheelie bug fun! This is the closest to in focus I could get of the two of them. This is something to be thankful for. If I were still working full time I wouldn't have gotten to capture this one.
Our church sponsored an awesome week of kids fun in the evenings for the neighborhood. It was a great way to meet some of the families living in our neighborhood. Check out homeboy on the tarp - he is loving it.
Meadow has somehow interpreted "smile" to mean "say ahhh". It's funny. And cute.
Our garden is in full swing and we are enjoying it. It's a total experiment this year. The pesto pizza was yummy!
Random. Cuteness.
On the adoption front, we spent a lot of time working on our home study update and new dossier in July. I know this is not the "right" way to feel about it, but I am almost afraid to blog anything adoption related because I don't want to have to come back later and say something about how it didn't go the way we thought or the way it should have.
I'd rather wait until we move off the dime and can say "look, now we are waiting on something we've never waited on before!" So, all that to say, other than our updated home study and CIS extension, our dossier is ready. For the third time. I'm becoming a pro at the paper chase.
The clock is ticking on our CIS deadline and I will do an adoption update in the next couple weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to say something new!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Raising Children with a Heart for Orphans
I'm super excited about tonight's post! (but my computer is being super slow and funky so there are some weird font issues and not everything is linked. Oh well.) I'll be sharing with you some amazing ideas I gleaned from a session at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit in April.
The entire conference was amazing, and helped me launch the new focus of our blog, in addition to our family mission. By far, my favorite sessions were about being a mama and advocating for orphans at the same time. For some reason I couldn't figure out the two being one on my own...
BUT, thankfully I got to hear Lisa Kjeldgaard speak on the topic of Raising Children with a Heart for Orphans. And I was inspired.
Lisa's story is one that I think a lot of us mama's can relate to. Since the age of 16, she wanted to be a missionary in Africa. She also assumed that one day she would adopt babes from Africa. She got sidetracked from her dreams after college (ahem, husband) and now has Eight. Very. White. Kiddos. (ok - so maybe we can't all relate to that 8 kids part!)
Her husband tells the story on their blog: "In 2007 we decided that our comfy life in suburbia needed re-prioritizing. Lisa and I purposed to find a way to take our children overseas and until we found that way, we would work to help children and more specifically orphans and the impoverished, while we stayed in little old Oakdale waiting for our turn."
And man have they worked. Eric again:
"God blessed us with a family verse, James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” From this verse we created the first Riverbend Ranch Charity Carnival and with the help of our family and friends raised over $8,000 for Acres of Hope, an orphanage based in Liberia. Since 2007 we have raised over $65,000 that has been given to worthy ministries serving orphans and widows."
Wow.
It gets better. In December they will be leaving for Kenya. With their kids. All eight of them. For 11 months.
Now I know that some of you out there just breathed a sigh of relief. It can be done! With kids! I can be a missionary and a mama at the same time! I don't have to wait 25 years! It nearly makes me cry. (Thanks Lisa for setting this example for all of us who have felt as though we have gotten a little sidetracked.)
So that part of Lisa's story is awesome and inspiring but, let's face it, most of us will not become missionaries. What really challenged me from Lisa's session is that she is raising her children to have a heart for orphans. And the ripple effect of that is so huge.
Below are my notes from Lisa's sessions. I know this is a long post but I promise you will be blessed by what she has to say. Please also follow Lisa's blog as they prepare for their move to Kenya at http://ten2kenya.wordpress.com/
Deut. 6:7 – “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
It is our responsibility to pass God’s heart onto our children. We have to be intentional.
We pass our vision onto our children in two ways:
1. Vision casting
2. Practical training
VISION CASTING
Begin with scripture – there are 5 things God’s word tells us about caring for the poor. Even young children can count to five on their fingers and memorize these 5 things!
(Lisa makes the point that anywhere in scripture God talks about the poor, the orphans are included in that general description)
1. God is concerned. (Psalm 140:12)
2. God identifies Himself with the poor (Proverbs 14:31)
3. God commands us to act. (Isaiah 1:17)
4. Go blesses those who serve. (Proverbs 19:17)
5. God punishes those who ignore orphans. (Jeremiah 5:28)
Ways to cast vision:
Reading aloud – Lisa does circle time every day with ALL of her kids. It's her time to share with them. Examples of books/publishers listed below
Speakers/conferences – well behaved children would be welcome at many
Blogs – follow blogs with your children that show waiting children, children in orphanages, etc.
Hospitality – have missionaries to your home and ask them to share with your family their stories
Live a life of prayer:
card box with pics of missionaries, waiting children photos, family, friends
Binder with pics of missionaries, waiting children photos, family, friends
Maps – world map on wall with pins where missionaries we know are serving or where our sponsored kids are living
Clocks – set to times where missionaries or sponsored kids are living
Speakers/conferences – well behaved children would be welcome at many
Blogs – follow blogs with your children that show waiting children, children in orphanages, etc.
Hospitality – have missionaries to your home and ask them to share with your family their stories
Live a life of prayer:
card box with pics of missionaries, waiting children photos, family, friends
Binder with pics of missionaries, waiting children photos, family, friends
Maps – world map on wall with pins where missionaries we know are serving or where our sponsored kids are living
Clocks – set to times where missionaries or sponsored kids are living
Live a service oriented life – make meals for others, bags for the homeless to keep in car, foster children, sponsor a child, volunteer in a soup kitchen, etc.
What you spend your time doing will characterize your family – your children will pick up on this.
PRACTICAL TRAINING
1. Public speaking – teach your children to become comfortable with public speaking so that they can be a voice for those who are not heard – memorize scripture, have them stand up in front of the family and ask them questions, let them interview each other, etc.
2.
3. Ministry Experience – There are places you can serve with kids – you just have to look hard enough. Food banks, pregnancy centers, compassion international, family mission trips (more info below), etc.
RESOURCES:
Read Alouds: YWAM publishing, Winter’s Promise – Children Around the World book list – www.winterpromise.com
Encouragement: www.onemillionarrows.com
Family Mission Trips: www.agapechildren.org
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sponsorships 101
Perhaps the easiest and quickest way to make a difference in the life of an orphan is to sponsor one. Sponsorships provide life-saving financial support to children and families in need. It works like this: You are matched with a child and given a picture and a brief bit of info on them. Here's what we received on our guy:
You make a monthly contribution towards the care of that child. Most sponsorships range from $30 - $45 per month. The sponsorship funds cover basic needs - food, clothing, shelter, schooling, etc. Without sponsorships, most organizations would not be able to care for the number of children that they do. A couple of our favorite orgs that offer sponsorships are Harvester's Reaching the Nations (HRTN) and Compassion International.
HRTN has two orphanages in the Republic of South Sudan (shout out to the world's newest nation!!). One in Yei and the other in Terekeka. They have over 180 children in their care and few of them are fully sponsored. Check them out here!
Compassion has children in need of sponsorships all over the world. They have a really cool search feature on their website. You can search for kids by country, gender, birth date and more. I know many families who sponsor kids that are the same gender and age as their own kids. This is a really great way to teach your kids about orphan care!
Moses "sponsors" a 6 year old boy named Kenyi. We pray for Kenyi, write letters and color pictures for him. We talk about his life. Moses knows that Kenyi doesn't have a mommy or a papa and that we help take care of him. He knows that Kenyi doesn't have lots of toys. (Since this has been explained Moses has also been praying for his toys at night. I think he might be a little nervous.) I don't want our family to appear holier than thou so I must admit that we have also pulled the "What do you think Kenyi is eating for dinner?" card when Moses has balked at his dinner plate. Just keepin' it real with you folks.
I really want to challenge you; if you are not sponsoring a child to pray about what is standing in your way. You really don't need to pray about whether or not you should be caring for orphans. Gods word is clear on that one. You should. (and maybe you are in some other way)
What are you clinging to that He is calling you to give up for the one of the "least of these"?
A couple latte's each week?
Your data package?
Another pair of shoes?
Pray for God to reveal what is standing in your way and to help you respond in faithful obedience. You will be blessed beyond belief. And so will an orphan.
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