Pioneer

I wanted to share this video/song as many of you are pioneers. Some of you are "pioneering" adoption in your families...taking a path that no one has traveled. Some of you are pioneering adoption and orphan care ministries in your churches. Whatever the Lord is calling you in the area of stepping out in faith and blazing a trail for him...he will provide. We were asked by our agency to "pioneer" the India program. AND LOOK AT OUR BLESSING>>>ABBY!!! Having said that, when you are in the midst of blazing the trails, it can be hard. Listen to this song and let it soak in and encourage your soul! :)

Catching up in pictures!

Did I blog about this already?! We all got sick with colds, but Abby got the flu at the beg. of March (even tho we did the shot this year) and it turned into pneumonia. :( So, we are the proud owners of a cute little penguin nebulizer! As you can see, she got quite good at it and even to the point where we could do it in the car while running her brothers to BB! VERY thankful for that our car has a plug-in!

Basketball season is DONE! We started in October, so it is quite a long season. Two weeks off and now we roll into baseball. Very excited for my boys...they just found out tonight that they each made the AAA teams. They have been taking baseball lessons since January, so their off-season work paid off. We love baseball season at our house! Will be interesting to see what it is like with Abby and no way to contain her! Hopefully we'll play at some fields that have a park close by so I can watch the game and play with Abby.

 Josiah was awarded "Mr. Reliable" by his coach. Very nice. 

 Cutest little cheerleader! :)

 Both were exhausted after a long w/end of hoops!

 FINALLY getting OUTSIDE!!! Abby LOVES being outside and wants to EAT the snow! The snow was almost gone yesterday and then we just got 3++inches today! :(

 Josiah was "Jackie Robinson" in their wax museum at school. So fun to see all the kids dressed up and hear their speeches.

 Our 9 month post-placement report is DONE!!!! We are suppose to send 10-15 pictures to India as a part of the report and at least one family picture. Well, I didn't have one from the last 3 months so I had to have our social worker take a picture that night! I can't believe everyone was looking and smiling cuz we just took 2. WOW!

 Abby and I took a "Sign and Sing" Kindermusik class! It was lots of fun. As you can see, Abby was the oldest and only mobile one. She has quite a few signs she can use now. She also has a speech teacher coming to our house 1 time per week through our school district who works on signs too. She is picking it up quickly and says the word while she signs, which is great.

 I was chasing her a lot! :) She thought it was pretty funny!

 "Guard your babies!" Abby is on the loose. Throwing toys was an issue and the last day she threw one that hit a boy in the head. Fortunately, the baby had a helmet on to shape his skull. WHEW! 

 "Aren't I cool?"

Back to basketball, I guess (pictures out of order on this post...sorry). Sam's funny award from his coaches, "Wardrobe malfunction of the season". Guess he needed a mom who could sew his practice jersey...oops!

And look what I cooked tonight...my first Indian dish that wasn't out of a jar, "Buttered Chicken"! Thanks to April Pfieffer! Unfortunately, my boys didn't even give it a chance. They are usually such good eaters, that it was weird having them not eat what was in front of them. Scott and I both LOVED it! Abby, who only eats mac&cheese and cheerios, didn't eat much either. I was bummed cuz she has liked the 2 other Indian dishes I bought. Maybe it was just the night. She is going to get evaluated for private speech therapy next week and they will check to see if she needs some OT work for texture-related food eating issues. Interesting! 

Lastly, poor Josiah had surgery yesterday (guy stuff <wink>)so this momma has been busy being a nurse! They told us to expect today to be the worst for pain and by later tomorrow he should start feeling better! Staying on top of the prescription pain meds for now. So glad it's done!!! My brother and his family are coming on Sunday and we hope he'll be ready to play with cousins! :)

Tom Davis

I am a huge Tom Davis fan and just got done reading Priceless...which I highly recommend!!! So, when I saw this video I knew I had to make the time to watch it and then share it with you all! You won't want to miss it....let me know what you think!

!C//ORPHAN Tom Davis on Call of Every Christian (Part 2) from The Idea Camp on Vimeo.

Love this Story

It was just over 3 years ago that I had the privilege of going to India and having my eyes open to the world. One of the places we were able to visit was an orphanage where the kids are actually saved from the Red Light District. The statistic is something like if you don't get the girls out by the age of 8, it is too late...they are already being used as s*x slaves. An experience I will never forget is seeing three beautiful girls walking into the orphanage and one of them, about 7 or 8...my son's age at the time, going back to the Red Light District with her mom. The good news is that two of these children were saved that day, but the image of the "oldest" girl has never left my mind.

I just read this blog post and learned about this song tonight and had to share. This singer/songwriter, Donna Stuart, visited the same orphanage in India and is a part of the ministry As Our Own that I have had the privilege of working with as well. Here is the story of how the Lord gave her the song, She Has a Name:

2. Part of the Solution

JAMES 1:27

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.’”

PSALM 34: 17-19
“The righteous cry, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their trouble. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of the all.”

I travel with my husband Ben in the summers to various camps around the nation. During the summer of 2009 I went with him to a special place, Glorietta, New Mexico. For decades God has done amazing things in Glorietta & in the lives of many who have heard and experienced the gospel there. It was my first time to visit, and I was curious what Jesus was going to do in my heart that week. I had no idea His plan was to change my life forever.

Ben is a Bible teacher. In order to best serve Jesus and His Word for these camps, he has to spend ample time studying and preparing for each talk he will give. One of my roles at camp during the day is to lovingly make space for him to devote the right amount of attention to his calling, teaching the Word. Often this in turn creates space for me to spend time in my calling as a songwriter. Little did I know, God was about to show me the miracle side of Him.

After waking from a dream about India I felt this need to flesh out a line that had been rolling in my head for weeks, “She has a name… She is somebody’s daughter”. I found an empty stairwell in the back of the sanctuary and started singing around that concept. In an instant God broke my heart for an epidemic that is ravaging the country of India: sex trafficking. I wept. I didn’t know much, but I knew that there were people in the world who are enslaved to the most horrifying things. Little girls who are forced to slave labor… sexual slave labor. How terrible. I felt helpless when all I wanted to do in that moment was “Help”… but how?

Words poured through my pen as melody found its way to my heart & voice. “Part of the Solution” came quickly. I wanted to write a song that could be sung by a congregation of people for two reasons:

1. To open their eyes to a reality that is awful, but not too big for God’s Power to destroy.
2. My hope is that we as the church will be part of what God is doing to end slavery.

Jesus is the “Solution”. If we are IN Christ, then we are “PART” of the Solution. My prayer is that we will not turn a blind eye to this problem. The sad truth is… it’s in our back yard. The porn industry makes more money than Starbucks, and Pro Baseball, Basketball & Football combined. This is terrible, but not incurable. Jesus is the Remedy… He’s the Cure… He’s the Solution to any problem, this one included.

That evening Ben and I were tucking into bed after I put my guitar away & he gave the evening talk, when I received a text message from a church in Houston asking me if I wanted to go work with girls in India in the “Red Light District”. I was stunned. God broke my heart hours earlier for the Red Light Districts in India. This was a test… an invitation… to be “Part of The Solution”.

My answer was YES.
What’s Yours?

PART OF THE SOLUTION
Donna Stuart

She has a name, she is somebody’s daughter
she was made in the image of our King
But she’s a slave held captive in chains
In Jesus Name, we have got to do something

LORD devastate- our hearts for the sins in- our own lives
Then shine Your light- through us as You reach out

We want to touch eternity
We want to be Your hands Your feet
Jesus give us eyes to see
Make us part of the solution
To fight in hope with love for peace
Jesus use us as You please
Only You can set them free
But make us part of the solution

We cry out Lord have mercy
Send us out to the poor and hurting
Break walls down so Your Spirit can rush in

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She Has a Name