Today....

..is a very special day. I'll tell you all about it later, but for now, I'll just give you a hint:

Advocating!

My lovely friend from school, Megan is preparing to leave for a mission trip to China. She didn't know that she was going until very recently and her trip is coming up soon! One of those situations where God throws something unexpected in your lap, but she has handled it so well and I am so happy for her!

Soooooo, if you live in the area, she is having a movie night tonight! Come on out!

If you don't live in the area, she is also making these adorable headbands! Um, cute! I LOVE headbands, but always feel awful about buying them because the cute ones are usually so expensive and it just doesn't make sense to spend money that way, but now! Boom! We have a brilliant opportunity for missions and cute headbands!

In other news, I had my oral defense Wednesday. It went really well, I am so proud of all of my classmates and I'm delighted that its over! God gave me the opportunity to speak vehemently about the importance of adoption and even during the questioning to share about what we can personally do. I was so exited, I got to slip a little spiel in there about special needs orphans. Hurrah! That was just for you, Avery, Heidi, Sergei, Alex, Melissa, Shaun, and so, so many others. I love you cute kids. Hold on.

Julia and I right before it started

Encouragement

Go read my friend (blog friend and real life friend. whoa) Tori's first impression of Reece's Rainbow!

Don't give up hope! Keep talking! Keep shouting! Keep sharing! The word is getting out there. And the Word is getting out there. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

He is risen!

He is risen indeed! I am overflowing with the Lord's blessings on this day.

Photo Credit by the lovely and talented Tori Woods.

Michael jumping/being a chimpanzee

A little friend unleashing all the terrors of 3 year old swordsmanship on my brother Joseph

Me handing a little friend rocks

Lela Grace

Me helping little friend M blow bubbles


...not attractive. But just so funny.

I'm in love with this picture.

A lovely Easter to you and yours.

Mercy

Hungry.
I am the bread and wine that fill your every vein.

Stressed.
I have so much in store for you.

Insufficient.
My grace is sufficient for you.

Broken.
Hope is coming.

So, so, so sinful.
Father, forgive her.


Mercy.

Holy Saturday

Oh hallelujiah, how I love my Savior, Oh, hallelujah, that I do;

Oh, hallelujah, how I love my Savior, Mourners, you may love Him too.

Jordan's streams shall not o'er flow me with my Savior by my side.

Canaan, Canaan! Lies before me, soon I'll cross the swelling tide.

Oh hallelujah, how I love my Savior, Oh, hallelujah, that I do;

Oh, hallelujah, how I love my Savior, Mourners, you may love Him too.

Far More Abundantly

Diana has a family. Meet them at Listening With Our Hearts.

The Lord IS good. He is who He says He is. HE SETS THE LONELY IN FAMILIES.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly more than all we can ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

~Ephesians 3:20-21~

Diana Update

Guyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyys!!!! We got new information on Diana! A family that visited with her has pictures and information! She is absolutely adorable. Hop over to Dreams For Diana to see!

Prayer Request

Guys! If you don't already read this blog, head over to No Greater Joy Mom. They have an urgent prayer request for a little boy named Vanya onn Reece's Rainbow. Click on the link to read about it and lets get praying for this boy!

Imperishable

Sorry, this is going to be a long one. I am not sleeping. I love sleep and it is rather late, but about 100 things are keeping me awake. First of all, the Gould family adoption fundraiser was a smashing success! I can't even describe how wonderful it all was and how faithful the Lord has been through the whole process. Originally my mom and I were heading it up, but I have a tendency to get really excited about and idea and rally and go crazy and then fall off the band wagon when things get tough. Its a sin and its wrong and God is really revealing that to me lately. Anyway, my mom was really the lady of the day, along with several other amazing women who have more perseverence than me. We held the event at Sodium, which is really a pretty amazing ministry in itself.

Michael and Julia enjoying some lunch.

My mom working the silent auction in her one less orphan shirt from the Elliots. She is my hero and my best friend. I love her. :)

The soon to be big sister of a beautiful Ethiopian sibling! Me working the silent auction. Lela Grace and the Gould's youngest son Ian (affectionately known as Sho on the blog:)

My brother Joseph (in the Titans shirt) and the oldest son of the family that lived with us last summer. Love them.

The Lord brought in SO much more money than any of us were expecting, which was such a huge blessing. I was so blown away and the thought I was carrying around in my head all day was "Lord, you really are good!" I think its something I know in my head all the time, but yesterday literally everywhere I turned all I could see was the goodness of the Lord. He is who He says He is. He is faithful. He is good.

The second reason I can't sleep is because of this girl.

Meet Diana.

Isn't she beautiful? Her precious little pixie cut and missing tooth, ah. Diana is an orphan on Reece's Rainbow. She has Cystic Fibrosis, a lung condition that is terminal if untreated. Diana needs a family badly so that she can get vital medical attention, her time is short and every breath is a struggle for her. Several people are working hard to get her story out there so if you have a blog or a facebook page be sure to share about Diana. You can see her information on the Reece's Rainbow website and visit Dreams For Diana which is a blog all about her! Her eighth birthday is approaching in April the 24th, wouldn't it be amazing if her forever family could commit to her by then? Please help spread the word where ever you can!

Finally, just lately I've been convicted about advocating for the orphan, sure, its easy to do on a blog or with people who already know about and love orphan care, but what about in everyday life? How can we get loud about orphans on a daily basis? I have several ideas that will probably each get a post in themselves in the next week but I do want to mention one thing.

At my school, the seniors final project is an oral defense of a thesis they have written. I've written about the thesis process before, but this year its a little different. We give a 3-5 minute speech in front of more than just the school and then answer three questions defending our thesis. My paper is about adoption and I am excited for the opportunity to get to share in a way and to a group that I wouldn't normally get to. While was at my teacher's house the other night practicing, she threw me a practice question about practical ways for people to get involved. I was surprised. I was expecting something a little more scholarly or historical perhaps. I listed off a few things, but now I am going to make a list and have several really doable ways for people to get involved in orphan care after hearing my speech. I am so excited and nervous, I really need the Lord to just use me and have it actually be all Him.

My pastor preached recently about Sodom and Gomorrah and about how God didn't destroy those cities because their was too much sin, but because their weren't any guardians. Not even 10 were to be found in the city, Abraham asked. We as Christians are called to be guardians and preists in this world, interceding and covering. We are called to be preservers. We are called to be salt.

This evening I was praying for Diana and asking the Lord for a specific verse for her.

"For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality."

~1 Corinthians 15:53~

What does salt do? Salt is a preservative. Salt makes that which is perishable, imperishable. God is swallowing up death in victory and we are a part of the story. We are the salt. He is making all things new.

So we do not loose heart.

Fellow heirs with Christ

I felt the full force (well, I guess it probably isn't the full force) of that blessing today. Nothing really extraordinary or bizarre in the way that we usually think about things, just a beautiful day. Beautiful worship. Beautiful weather. Beautiful picnic. Beautiful friends and family. Beautiful opportunity. Beautiful hope. I hope you enjoyed your Sabbath celebration as dearly as I did. To add to the list of beautiful things in my day, I got this beautiful t-shirt! (I feel stupid for not being able to flip the pictures. I even googled it. Don't judge me. :) The front is an orange-yellow Africa with a white heart of Ethiopia and it says "one less orphan." The back says "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. Jn. 14-18"

These shirts support the Elliot family's adoption from ET. I am just beginning to know them but they are so sweet and I can't wait to get better acquainted and get this baby (babies?) home!! Anyway, if you want a cute shirt, here ya go! Check out their blog for the details. Its basically super comfy and breezy and cute. You want one. :)

I also really appreciate the delicate balance of speaking out boldly on behalf of the orphan and not being abrasive or unapproachable with a really in-your-face message, which I feel like the Elliots did very well.

"The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children with God, and if children, then heirs--- heir of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."

~Roman 8:16-17~

So much mystery in this passage. Seriously, the Spirit bears witness with our spirit? What does that even mean? We can't conceive what that looks like spiritually. Suffering with Christ. Glorified with Christ. Images we can't even imagine were captured for me today in a pancake breakfast. In a worship service. In a child's giggle. In a picnic. In an adoption journey. The mystery is in the ordinary. It really is amazing.

Happy, happy Sunday. :)