Our God is BIG

A week and a half ago, we were having our family faith talks and I asked the kids to pick out a new country on the map to pray for. It was Geneva's turn and she had already picked a country and kept pointing to it all week anticipating her turn. The country she chose was New Zealand. Yes, that is right, the very same country that has just had a massive earthquake. When the earthquake hit, we as a family had already been praying for this country for a few days. God had impressed it on her heart for weeks that this was a country that was in need of prayer. How awesome is that?

Our God is BIG

Yesterday was a monumental kind of day with our adoption agency. There was a ton of movement. I think that a couple of referrals were given out and 8 families received court dates for when they can go and travel and meet their children and pass court. Normally, it seems that there are usually 2-3 court dates per week. We, however, are still in the waiting stage for our referral. We came to the realization a week ago or so that we are very close to getting our referral and seeing the pictures of our new baby. It can come in a week or so, or it can still be a few months away.

Our God is BIG

This week I have had one of those moments that me stop and thank God for the blessings he has given to us. For the last 3 weeks or so, all of our 3 kids have been sick. Coughs, 104 degree temps, ear infections, the runs (really bad), vomiting, etc. The kids just kind of keep passing things around the house and we can't quite seem to get over it. Heather hasn't been able to go to bible study in weeks. I realized that if we lived in another country like Ethiopia, the likelihood that one of our children would be dead by now from these illnesses is almost certain. I don't mean to sound gruesome but it is a reality. I have spent lots of time thinking about how do you gets a child's fever down from 104 when you don't have Tylenol, or ice packs, or even the ability to take a cool bath? You can't. How do you keep a child from becoming dehydrated due to diarrhea and vomiting, with no Gatorade, no pedialite, no soda crackers, no IV fluids, no clean water to be able to drink? You can't. The majority of childhood deaths age 5 and under occur due to preventable things such as diarrhea, fevers and malaria. We have been blessed to have access to clean running water whenever we want it, or to have hospitals to take our sick children to, or to always have food on our tables. Why are we the ones that have been blessed? It is so that we may in turn be a blessing to all the nations. This is how we bring glory to our God.

Our God is BIG

Dreaming

It has been a while since I have posted anything. We have been BUSY. We have started the Perspectives class and that has added about 8 hours of class or studying to our week. It is totally worth it though. I think that all Christians should go through it. I have been wanting to post something for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. I could have posted that the last 2 months things have really slowed down in the adoption world. I could have posted about how our wait time has gotten longer. I could have posted about another awesome gift that some friends have given us this week! I could post about how we are mentally planning on traveling in the fall as opposed to late spring. However, I feel led to tell you about a dream, my dream.

I (Adam) am not normally a dreamer. In fact, I rarely remember dreams, but when I do they are normally profound. I am not a dream expert, nor do I think that all dreams have significance, but sometimes they do. So here it is.

My kids were all fast asleep in their beds at home. (ages 4,3,1) Heather and I were not in the house with them though. Nobody was. We wanted to be home with them, but for some reason, something was holding us back. I don't know what. It was almost like the Christmas story with Tiny Tim. We were looking in on them from the outside. We watched them wake up, scared, crying, searching. After a while, they started to care for each other, rummaging the cabinets. I saw the fear in their eyes. It was BREAKING my heart. I don't know how long it lasted, but after pushing the snooze button a few times, it kept reoccuring. We never got the chance to comfort them, we never got the chance to calm their fears.

I was still in that dreamy state when I questioned why God was allowing me to see this? Why must I witness this dream over and over? Why am I watching my kids hurting? Why can't I do anything about it? Then the dream turned towards the orphans. The number ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SEVEN MILLION (147 million) kept flashing as I saw the faces of children around the world hurting.

I woke up in a cold sweat. My heart HURT. As their father, I could not imagine seeing my children with so much hurting. God, as our Heavenly Father is looking at 147 million that are hopeless, defending for themselves without someone to care for them, without someone to teach them about His love. His questions are aimed back at us. What are you (His church) doing about my children? How can you make me watch this? Why are you just watching my children hurting?

As a body of believers we need to ask ourselves how did we get to this point? More importantly, how are we going to change it? I implore you to seek Christ and His heart for the orphan.
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

I didn't really plan on sharing this, but it has been nagging at me all day. I have stayed up an hour later than normal, but I don't really want to go to sleep. I don't want to go back to the dream world. It is not easy getting your heart broken. Maybe I should stop praying that God would show me His heart. Just kidding. I will continue to boldly pray that God will teach me.