Moving Mountains

GUYS. I have some really, really, really incredible news. Reece's Rainbow has started a new project called Moving Mountains. Basically, combining the children's individual grants and other donations Reece's Rainbow has received, the financial barrier of adopting these children has been eliminated.

DID YOU HEAR ME? ELIMINATED. The entire process has been covered. NOTHING stands in the way of these children coming home except the right families finding them and committing to them.

I know that not everyone is in the position to adopt right now, but more than likely you know someone who is. Many families would love to have the blessing of adoption but have been inhibited by finances. If you want, share this news on your facebook, your twitter, your blog, word of mouth, wherever. And of course you can always pray for them when you think of it!

Do it for Sunny

Do it for Tim.

Do it for my precious Sergei-boy, who you all helped raise money for a year and a half ago and whose picture(s) have been on my fridge all this time. God is doing a mighty work in Sergei. The healing of his body from his baby pictures to this is absolutely astonishing.

Do it for Mark.

Do it for handsome little Morgan, with his giant brown eyes.


Do it for suffering little Owen who can't go much longer without medical attention but would blossom inconceivably from the benefits and corrective surgery and the unconditional love of a family.

Do it for Evie.

Do it for Brigita.

God is faithful for the orphan. He is faithful to the last dollar. Faithful to the last tear. Faithful to the last lonely one. Blessed be His name in all the earth.

Again

This is my friend Chelsea's little warrior girl, Maya. She's been working so diligently to raise funds and awareness for Maya and yesterday got the news that this sweet girl has a family committed to her! We're all pretty excited. Check out Chelsea's blog to read more about advocating for Maya. Can't wait to find out more about her family.

As I've been launching myself back into bloggy and orphan-advocating, I've been reminded by Maya's story again of God's faithfulness to be who He says He is, to be a Father to the fatherfless. He has shown Himself mighty to save. Again. Praising His faithfulness and mercy today.

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. :)

Overcoming

"I have said these things to you that you, that in Me you may have peace.

In the world, you will have tribulation.

But take heart;

I have overcome the world."

~John 16:33~

I would like you introduce you to the Gould family. The Gould's have five children, Molly, Max, Tanner, Tate, and Ian--- who you may remember as Sho. Now that this family has blog, I think I can call their children by their actual names. :)

Molly and I at B* camp last summer.

The Gould's have decided to open their home to one, possibly two, little girls from Ethiopia. My family and I are absolutely ecstatic to get to walk this journey with them as the third Ethiopian adoption family in our church (actually, one more family who I don't know very well is starting the process as well, hopefully we'll have four families with ET babies soon!) We have already started busily preparing an fundraiser! I can't wait.

Anyway, hop on over to the Gould's blog and read how the Lord is overcoming the world through them. I am so amazed by this family. They have such a beautiful faith. They have FIVE young children already, the youngest of whom with special needs. Does this sound crazy to you? It is crazy. It is so so so crazy. When Christ said that HE had overcome the world--- He wasn't kidding! Despite distance, despite finances, despite already full-to-the-bursting homes, Jesus is overcoming the world one family at a time.

All I can do is thank Him.

Our God

GUYS!!!!! You HAVE to go read this post! This is the most amazing adoption story I have ever heard. I have been following this precious family since they left to adopt their two little RR girls and now the Lord has worked their story even further, its amazing!


Blessed, Blessed, Blessed be the name of the LORD!

May I?

May I rant for a minute? I promise to be concise and logical.

Yeah. Right.

Today, some friends of mine and I were talking at school. Our conversation got cut short or else I would have told them some of the things that I'm about to tell you. We started by talking about motherhood and how much we couldn't wait to have babies and be moms. That morphed to talking about giving birth and about how some people were afraid of the pain and discomfort involved with pregnancy and I, of course, said "Well they can adopt!" Surprisingly, even amongst my dear, dear friends, this proposal met with some hesitation.

"But, most people really want to have their own kids. You know, they really want their own. They don't want to just adopt them and not get to have their own."


Their own?

Friends, may we examine this phrase? (I know that I'm preaching to the choir here, and I of course wasn't surprised to meet this kind of doubt about adoption, but I was surprised to hear it from my very close friends, who, you know, come to my house, and, you know, hang about with Mez and TeeGee, and, you know, know what I'm passionate about.)

My own.

"Is Ephraim My dear son?

Is he My darling child?

For as often as I speak against him,

I do remember him still.

Therefore My heart yearns for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,

declares the Lord."

~Jeremiah 31:20~

In the old testament, Ephraim was often a foreshadowing of the church. A symbol of God's people of the New Covenant. These questions? They're rhetorical questions. "Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he My darling child?" Rhetorical questions drive the hearer to want to scream "Yes! Yes, of course!"

Do you hear the tender, fatherly affection?

Secondly:

"...and Mattan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations."

~Matthew 1:15b-16~

This is the genealogy of Jesus. The Lion of Judah. The root of Jesse. The one to sit on David's Throne. This is the child of Rahab and Salmon, and of Ruth and Boaz. This is the promised Messiah born in Bethlehem. This is the Christ.

"When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus."

~Matthew 1:24~

Jesus was not the biological son of Joseph. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. This we know.

SO. If Jesus was not really Joseph's own son, if his earthly adoption was not, in fact, a real or effectual thing, then we've been wrong all these years. It wasn't Jesus, it was his younger brother James who is the Messiah! James carried the blood line of Jesse and David.

But adoption is of the Lord. Established and exemplified by Him. Evident in the life and heritage of His own son. Jesus, was adopted.

To doubt that adoption makes a child YOUR OWN, is to doubt the promise of the Lord and your sonship (daughtership) to Him. We are adopted children of God, made heirs with Christ, who is the eldest of many brethren. Shall we doubt that we are God's dear sons and daughters, shall we doubt that we are His own darling children?

I have decided what my thesis for next year will be. I had already thought it out and had come up with eveything but the 3rd proof. Today, I've chosen a third proof. My thesis statement:

Adoption is the surest way to counteract abortion in a culture because it upholds the sanctity of life, speaks to the needs of the mother and the child, and is an effective way of grafting a new member of the family into the covenant family.

"But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of His own inheritance, as you are to this day."

~Deuteronomy 4:20~

Watch this video!!!

The Welcome home of Nate, Mercy, Isaiah, and James Mihnovich! This video was made by my beautiful friend Elle--- check it out!

http://ourunveiledfaces.blogspot.com

We have no idea...

...the way that God is going to use and bridge relationships in our lives.

Uganda:

was pretty much amazing.

But one of the most amazing things about it I didn't expect in the least. During our week there we visited a little baby cottage called Amani. I had the great priviledge of meeting a sweet little girl there named Josephine. My friend Elle told me that little Josie Love, as she was to be called, was being adopted by another family that lives right in our town! Josie's adoption story is amazing, and I followed her family's blog during the process because I couldn't believe how awesome it was that even though I had never met the family, (and still haven't) God had introduced me to Josie Love half way around the world! Anyway, Josie's big sister, Grace, just wrote an amazing guest post on her mom's blog about what life has been like for her family since Josie has been home. I encourage everyone to go read it at: http://joiningthejourney.blogspot.com/ , and remember that God's plan is so infinetly much bigger and more beautiful than the little peice that we can fit inside our brains.

PRAISING!!!!!!!

I'm am so unbelievably happy for my wonderful friends, the Mihnoviches! They have been faithfully praying for and pursuing four beautiful children, Nate, Mercy, Isaiah, and James from Ethiopia for adoption for a year now and passed court today! Their oldest daughter Elle goes to school with me and went to Ethiopia and Uganda this past summer with me as well. I love them so much and couldn't be happier--- I can't wait to meet the newest members fo their family! For some reason my little link thing won't work, but if you type in http://ourunveiledfaces.blogspot.com it will take you right there! Happy Happy Tuesday!

Waiting Children

You hear these stories and you see the families, thinking that they are really stepping out there. Bringing kids home despite finances, racial difference, fear, special needs, time, distance, prejudice, persecution, and misunderstandings. You think: "They are so brave, wise, good--- they deserve to be praised for handing out such a blessing."

You look at the waiting children-- their faces on the internet-- and you cower at the need, the numbers, the despair. And you applaud those who are braver, holier, than yourself. And you cower.

But then something changes.

You start not just looking, but listening too. Is that laughter? Is that singing? Is that joy pouring out of those very houses where some of those scary, overwhelming, despairing faces now live? It sounds like a home over there. And you start to wonder why those sounds stir you.

Eventually, curiosity gets the better of you, and you jump. You start the paper work, maybe a blog too. You look around, now a part of "that" group, expecting to be patted on the back. You notice something strange: they aren't looking at you or even each other--- they're looking up. Its not the club of really good people that you thought it was. Someone passes you a note saying: "you are about to be blessed".

Confused but undeterred, you complete your dossier. Looking around, not up, because the sun is too bright. You get on a plane to bring her home. The waiting child with the little face in the picture that still makes you nervous.

You arrive. Someone opens the door, tugging a little pink bundle by the hand. The nanny leaves.

Suddenly, something starts to happen. The little face looks up at you, her eyes are sparkling and her legs are running forwards. You realize yours are too. As you embrace and she whispers "I love you, Mama", you break. Weeping, you begin to understand. All this time, you have been the waiting child.

The Blind Side

This past Friday evening, my dad took me on a date and we saw one of the most incredible movies ever made. I mentioned it in my last post, its the true adoption and football story of Michael Oher called The Blind Side.

It holds very true to the actual story of a high class Christian Memphis family who took in an orphan boy of the street and eventually adopted him.

This movie was BEAUTIFULLY done, incredible music, cinematography, intriguing, fabulous acting, everything. It makes the audience cheer and laugh out loud half of the time and cry the other half. The story is redeeming and uplifting and really, as all adoption stories are, a beautiful picture of the Gospel. The marriage relationship is healthy, the family isn't perfect but they have true love for one another, the story is real, believable, convicting and close to home.

As I said before, adoption advocates--- do not miss the chance to see this AMAZING movie in theatres this week.

And have a blessed Sunday!

Many Updates

First and foremost, I would like to announce that my beautiful brother and sister are officially FOUR YEARS OLD!

Could I possibly love these kids more? I could gush about them all day, and since this is a (late) post celebrating their birthday-- why not?

Michael,

Oh Meza my wonderful brother, when we began the adoption process I was only expecting to get one little brother and I can not tell you the countless hours I spent dreaming of you, imagining what you'd look like, pretending that I was showing you off to all my friends, praying for you future, blessing the the Lord for your life, and waiting, waiting, WAITING for you to come home! You bring me laughter everyday. You are so smart, funny, strong, athletic, an AMAZING dancer, an engineer and such a silly head. I love you brother, and I'm eager to see where the Lord carries you as you continue to embrace life to the fullest. Your sister,

Audrey.

Julia,

TeeGee, my beauty baby girl, could you be any more sweet, hilarious, adorable, loving and joyful? Eyes are the window to the soul, Julie Love, you must have the brightest, most gleaming, hopeful, overflowing spirit in the whole world. Your eyes are so incredibly sparkling and bright. Your loving spirit overflows in your contagious laughter and helpful attitude. You are always making sure that everyone is ok, telling them that you love them, singing praise songs, playing "house guys", asking us to read you stories out of your little Bible, and talking about the babies in "Epiopia" who don't have mommies and daddies. You are so caring and compassionate and I can already see what a wonderful mother and housewife you are going to be. You bring me endless joy and I am cannot express how proud, honored, and overjoyed I am to be your sister. Happy four years baby girl,

Audrey

PS. For those of you who are wondering, Meza is Michael's Ethiopian name that we kept as his middle name. Julia's Ethiopian name/middle name is Tigist, which in Ethiopia people use interchangeably with the nickname for Tigist, TeeGee. In our house, we refer to the twins as Michael, Mez, and Meza, Julia, Tigist, and TeeGee- but Michael and Julia most.

..................... On to other things:

"King Arthur" went WONDERFULLY! I wish I had pictures to post but I don't have any yet, hopefully eventually. It was definitely hectic, but it was really a ton of fun and I learned so so so much about the art of Theatre, and the art of Relationship. God really took this opportunity to teach me what it means to do something for HIS GLORY, I guess because working back stage doesn't get quite the same attention as the actors do but also in many other little details. Preforming on stage enables and calls you to display the glory of the Lord to the audience, working backstage calls you to display this same glory and love to your friends, to the people that might be frustrating you right at that moment, while you are running around crazily, in the midst of tight spaces and complicated and precise work--- not only during the entire show but also ALL OF PRODUCTION WEEK------ every minute of it. You are called to a role of encouragement and management and leadership. Anyway, all that to say, this show really stretched me, but I am so glad I did it and I can't wait to find out what we'll be doing next semester.

Finally, I want to introduce you all to a family that I sort of know but got more connected with through the blog world. Meet the Hollis family who are try to raise all $20,000 to adopt a sweet little girl named Darya before Thanksgiving. Yes, this Thanksgiving. I've have been so inspired and encouraged by hearing their walk of faith and I can't wait to see what God will do through their daughter Lydia as the Lord uses her to and she chases after Him. If any of you are interested in supporting them in this their blog is: the30dayjourneyforhope.blogspot.com. (If you can't get this link to work, just type the address in).

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

PS. The movie THE BLIND SIDE comes out today--- its the true and recent adoption story of Michael Oher, and it looks fabulous. My family is seeing it today and I ABOLUTELY encourage every adoption advocate to bring a big crew to go see this movie to ensure it does well in box office.