New Perspective

By: Courtney

I truly believe that God's timing is perfect. How many of us can look back at events in our lives and see God's hand ALL over it? At the time it might have seemed so dark and lonely but looking back it was all part of His master plan.

That exact reason is why I am trusting 100% in God's timing with our adoption. I have faith that His timing is perfect. While the wait can be grueling, I know he is using it to teach me. I can already see the work He is doing in me in this short (or not so short) period of time.

He has given me a new perspective in so many areas. One area the Lord has truly opened my eyes and my heart to recently is foster care.

In the past I had such a misconception about foster care. (I believe many of us do!) What is the first thing you hear when you say "foster care"? "Oh, I could never do that. It would be too hard to give them back."

This comment now ignites a fire in me. I, too, have previously thought and said this statement. But man oh man, the Lord has changed my perspective.

First, it started with the facts. I heard a sermon about foster care in Oklahoma. The facts were staggering. The pastor's call to the church was heart wrenching. The Holy Spirit tugging at my heart was undeniable.
(City Church Tulsa - http://citychurchtulsa.com/media/page/3  111Project:Defending the Fatherless)
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18930861

Here are some facts -

Research shows that young people in foster care are far more likely to endure homelessness, poverty, compromised health, unemployment and incarceration after they leave the foster care system.

• 54 % earn a high school diploma
• 2% earn a Bachelor’s degree or higher
• 84% become parents too soon, exposing their children to a repeated cycle of neglect and abuse
• 51% are unemployed
• 30% have no health insurance
• 25% experience homelessness
• 30% receive public assistance

(angelfoster.org)

the above facts are national and not specific to Oklahoma


Forty-five percent of Americans believe that kids are in foster care because they committed a crime. The reality is that children enter foster care as victims of neglect, abandonment, or abuse. It’s not their fault they don’t have a home. The average age of a foster child is nine, but they range from infants to teens.

(parentsociety.com)

the above facts are national and not specific to Oklahoma

According to Oklahoma DHS statistics, in January of 2011 there were over 8000 children in foster care in the state of Oklahoma; of those 8000 over 40% were under the age of four. 

(http://www.annashousefoundation.org/)

A little education goes a long way. I was blown away by the statistics!


I started thinking. Ok, maybe we could foster a little baby.


Second, it continued with experience. I met foster children, foster parents, and former foster children. Once you you have a real life encounter and put a face to a specific injustice, you will never be the same. It is one thing to say "foster children" in a generic term that means some children far away somewhere. But it is different when you say "Sarah" or "Billy" and you know this person on a personal level.

I saw real families, real people I know, loving foster children and pouring into their lives for a few short months or some even for years. I saw the love of Christ displayed through these families.

I saw sweet, innocent little children living in a youth shelter because there were no foster homes.

I started thinking. Ok, maybe we could foster a young child.

Every time you allow the Lord into one small part of your heart he shows you more and more and continues to make you grow more and more. Every single time I start opening myself up to the possibility that the Lord could use me in some tiny way, the Lord blows the doors wide open and shows me so much more.

Because then I met a sweet teenage girl without a family to take care of her.

The Lord was showing me - THESE ARE MY CHILDREN.

ALL of these children are mine and I love EACH and EVERY one of them!

Then I started thinking. We could and WOULD be open to fostering or adopting any age child. Why don't I stop putting limitations on what I will do for the Lord and just say YES, LORD! Whatever it is! Whatever you are calling us to do - the answer is YES!

"Let the little children come to me, do not hinder them. For the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

"Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5


"The harvest is plenty, the workers are few." Matthew 9:37 

He says it time and time again:

Seek justice.

Love mercy.

Defend the fatherless.

Welcome a little child.

We are all fearfully and wonderfully made.

He knows the number of hairs on each child's head.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

When will I start listening?

Yes, we are still adopting. Yes, we are still adopting internationally. Yes, we are going to wait as long as it takes to bring our little Richmond home. 

But - YES I think the Lord has called us to love and protect children. I believe he has specifically called our family to be an advocate for children. 
There is such NEED. There is such need EVERYWHERE!

I strongly encourage you to consider foster care, adoption, or even just volunteering your time. Be a tutor, a mentor, a friend. Step out there for the "least of these".

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Thank You is not enough!

Words cannot express the appreciation we feel. THANK YOU is just not enough. The people of Velma Baptist Church have truly shown us what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ and what it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ! I am literally getting teary-eyed as I type this!

A friend of mine (Dana Rose -my life-long friend!) had asked me recently on one of our early morning chats (I find these calls, and her friendship, to be refreshing to my soul!) if we would be free for a dinner fundraiser. I was thinking just a simple, spaghetti dinner.

Oh, my little dreams.... wow.... were BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER!!!

First, at church Sunday morning they surprised us with “Change an Orphan’s World” change buckets that families had taken home months ago and filled with their change. It is amazing how far loose change can go!

Sunday evening Matt and I came into the Fellowship Center where the dinner was going to be held. I could not believe my eyes! (or ears!) The decorations were all in the colors of the Ghana flag.

There was a huge Ghana flag! (thank you to the Sanner family for this amazing flag! I actually want to hang it in our house!) There was even a children’s choir from Ghana playing over the sound system.

I could not hold back the tears!

In the kitchen were the young (selfless) ladies working away! Some of the ladies I have known their entire life and some I did not even know. It made me so proud to see these young ladies being the women of the church! They cooked. They cleaned. They decorated. They served.

There’s more….
There was a dessert auction set up. Several members of the church had made desserts for the dessert auction. (Even a college boy made a dessert! Thank you Cord Gothard! That just blows my mind! AND his dessert was amazing!)

And the people….
It was so great to get to talk with all the people there. They are all like family! Each and every person was genuinely concerned about our adoption, about our son. They all hugged us, loved on us, and encouraged us.

Velma Baptist Church is not the largest church out there. They don’t have thousands of members. (shoot, Velma doesn’t have thousands of people!) But they do have LOVING and GENEROUS people! They do have families that have a heart for orphans, families that are willing to give to help out others, families that choose to live out what the Bible says.

I am so blessed to have EVER been part of such a wonderful church and a loving community. I am so blessed to have life-long friends that love me and care about my needs. I am so blessed that others in my life are faithful to live out the Gospel.

Acts 20:35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

1 John 3:17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.

TO ALL OF YOU THAT HELPED OUT IN ANY WAY –

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!  MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU TENFOLD! YOU HAVE GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND! YOU ARE CHANGING THE LIFE OF AN ORPHAN. YOUR SELFLESS GIVING IS HAVING AN ETERNAL IMPACT! YOUR ACTS OF LOVE MEAN MORE TO US THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!

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Lord, take this hurt away. On second thought...

By Matt:

I want to start out by saying that this is my first blog. EVER!

There is a lot I want to say but don’t want to make it too long.

The Lord rocked my world this weekend as well as many others in this community when he brought us “His Little Feet.” It is an orphan choir that travels around the country promoting orphan awareness. There are four things you can do to help and I want to do all of them! 

Give. Sponsor. Go. Adopt.

Hopefully soon we can be four for four. 

We had the pleasure of hosting two of the most precious little boys I have ever met.

Javier was 11 years old from Honduras. He was loving, kind, & funny. Yabsira was 11 years old from Ethiopia. He was a boy’s boy. He liked wrestling, laughing, and scaring Courtney. Their sponsor who stayed with us was Uncle Aaron (more on him later).

This weekend was an emotional roller-coaster for all of us. When we first agreed to let them stay in our home, I thought we would cater to them and do “our good deed”.  Boy was I wrong. These boys touched our hearts and souls and we will never be the same. The words I type from here on out do not do justice to how I feel about these three who stayed with us and the organization as a whole. 

All of the children in the choir were amazing. They all had their own unique personalities and were so polite. They just wanted someone to love them. Let me say that differently. They just need someone to love them. It is amazing how close you can grow to someone in five days. I felt like when they got on the bus to leave, I was losing a part of me. The fire that burns within me now is solely consumed with helping orphans, giving to the needy, and being the hands and feet of Christ. I don’t have any other cares in the world at the moment and I hope it never goes away. I do not want to “move on” in a couple of weeks and go back to the status quo. This pain I feel inside of me makes me know that I am called to do something about this cause and I pray that it does not stop. In fact, I have been praying for this pain to remain so that I know a fraction of what these children must feel. There are kids out there who have no voice and have to survive on their own when they shouldn’t have to. We cannot solve the problem by ourselves but we can each do ONE thing! Or several things like I, and many others in this city that were affected by His Little Feet this weekend, plan to do. I don’t know what yet, but I now have a life mission. Something bigger than myself. 

During the His Little Feet performance, the choir sings and there is also a video shown. It is below. Please watch this video.

This hit very close to home. How can you watch that and not be moved??? That is my son that we are adopting! There were not very many dry eyes in the audience when they showed this. In fact, my eyes have not been dry ever since. I have cried while driving the past two days just thinking of the experience and how much love I felt for these two kids. These were only two kids out of 147 million in the world. They are no longer out of sight and out of mind. They are all I think about. These children were a representation of the millions of orphans in the world - and ALL of these orphans are God’s children!

We had some great talks with Aaron, the sponsor who stayed with us, and he is amazing beyond words, as well. We became really close to him, also. He is 20 years old and feels called to be a part of this phenomenal ministry. I have never met someone who had a stronger will to follow and live for the Lord than him. He motivated me to constantly pray. About everything!! I pray that he will continue to do what he is called to do because he was amazing. 

It was completely our pleasure to have them in our home this past weekend. Please take a look at their website (His Little Feet) and find out more about this ministry. I don’t really know how to close this and not sound like a crazy person. My life changed completely just from this weekend. I don’t quite know what I am supposed to do about it yet, but I do know I am going to do something. If not, I am ignoring them and I am ignoring God. I am ignoring the passion God has given me to help this cause. I will not stay in my comfortable bubble and expect the world to change. It starts with me. 

His Little Feet - Reaching Children One Step at a Time

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day

By: Courtney

Most Americans probably went through their day today just like any other day. (besides perhaps the slight annoyance that the bank or post office was closed)

This year this holiday has taken on a new meaning for me. I soon will be the parent of a child whose skin is different than mine. Our family won't be just like every other family on the block. I am sure we will face some if not lots of opposition.

I obviously studied Martin Luther King, Jr. in school but now, as an adult, everything this man did and stood for means so much more to me.

Today while looking online for a specific Martin Luther King, Jr. quote, I found several that just blew my mind. He spoke not only against racism but ALL social injustice. I couldn't stop reading. Quote after quote after quote.  WOW. I would love to say just ONE thing in my lifetime that is a fraction as profound as one of these quotes and he has MULTIPLE profoud quotes!

One theme that really stood out for me in several of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s quotes was this:
Silence
Allowing the bad is just as harmful as the actual act.

Here are some quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. that really spoke to me today:

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

I hope even just ONE of these quotes will stir your heart like they did mine.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitue. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Proverbs 31:8-9

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Don't miss it

By: Khylee 

 

January of this year was a big month in my life. I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back I see it was a time of learning, growth, and challenge.

To say that I am obsessed with reading other people’s blogs would be an understatement- fashion , home improvement and, food blogs…I had to get google reader just to keep up with them all.  In January, I stumbled upon ADOPTION blogs and I was like kid in a candy store.  I saw families that looked like the family I had always envisioned (one with multiple different skin tones, hair textures, and eye shapes) with parents that looked completely different. Rusty, the pastor at my church, brought up James 1:27 one Sunday that month and for the FIRST time I saw in the bible “Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans.”  I had grown up in church my entire life and missed this verse!  How could have I missed this verse?  There it was, not only was my heart crying, ADOPT, but now I was reading God’s word and it was saying just that.

Later that same day I found a new adoption blog (Waiting on a Word) and the scripture at the top was Isaiah 1:17 “…take up the cause of the fatherless”.   There it was again, in the scripture, the call to take care of the orphan.  I excitedly showed Adam these verses…and he looked at me like I was crazy woman.  “Did you know these were in there”… I said. ” “Well, yeah, didn’t you?”  “No, I had no idea the word specifically said that we are to take care of the orphan.”  HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED IT?

That is one my fears that the adoption process has made me stop and begin to recognize in my life…that I will somehow miss it.  That I will get so wrapped up in myself, my desires, my middle-class privileged life style, my possessions, my religion, my traditions, on being comfortable---that I will miss out on hurting people, that I will miss out on something better than “stuff”, that I will miss out on watching God perform miracles, that I will miss out on getting to be a part of something bigger, that I will miss the life-changing power of the gospel.

But isn’t that what the enemy wants? In John 10:10 it says he has come “only to steal, kill and destroy.”  And so he goes about making sure that children in our state, our country, around the world don’t have a family that can bring about love, healing, safety and protection, that children are trafficked and forced to become labor or sex slaves, that some children in foster care are prescribed 10+ medications because “they are acting out” [goodness, if anyone of us had been ripped out of our home and everything we knew we might just have a few behavior problems ourselves. 20/20 aired a special on this very issue: click here for the video], and the list goes on, and on.   He goes about causing Christian people who have the ability to care for the orphan to stay so wrapped up in their life, to become apathetic to the meaning of the word orphan, to become comfortable with the status quo, to make excuse after excuse and believe lie after lie that.we.miss.it. 

So this Christmas season, lets remember the birth of Jesus- our savior who makes us right again before God, who made it so that WE can be adopted into the family of God, who came so that we can have life---LET US NOT MISS IT.   

(For a challenging and inspiring read on how to make Christmas more meaningful and Christ-Focused read this blog post from Jen Hatmaker entitled “The Christmas Conundrum”)

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