Memorial Day Weekend Perks

--Got out of the house for three whole days!!

--Got to do a little bit of shopping!

--Lots of good food, of course! But my mama fixed my all time favorite meal--fried deer loin, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans...its amazing!!

--Got to see lots of family while celebrating my sister's graduation from high school

--Got to play with and love on my niece and nephew!

--Best of all, I was never alone!!

Boldness

The past few weeks I have been studying the book of Habakkuk. Its a pretty short book, only three chapters, but it is packed full of amazing stuff. There are a few reasons why this book has intrigued me for the past few weeks.

First, Habakkuk was a man of God, a faithful servant and prophet. Unlike the other prophets of the day, Habakkuk didn't just deliver God's message to his people, but he took the people's complaints to God. Habakkuk is perplexed and confused at what is happening in the world around him. He doesn't understand why God is doing what he is doing. He especially doesn't understand how God could punish his own people-the chosen nation, even though they had sinned, by a nation even more wicked than they? I admire Habakkuk, who was an honest seeker of truth, because he didn't try to figure it out on his own, he went directly to God with his question or complaint, seeking to know the truth. Yet even though Habakkuk doesn't understand God's plan, his faith and trust in him is unwavering.

Secondly, I love the boldness of Habakkuk. He is honest with God and not afraid to doubt his plan, to ask tough questions, and admit his inability to comprehend. I feel like oftentimes Christians are timid. We are scared to ask the hard questions, to doubt God's plan for our life. To proud to admit we don't understand. We are too afraid to pray bold prayers, I mean, its not going to happen anyways, so why pray about it. But Habakkuk, in all things was honest, he sought the truth, and he was not afraid to question God.

Here are few of my favorite parts of Habakkuk although I encourage you to spend some time studying Habakkuk yourself.

Habakkuk's first complaint:

How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

The first part of God's answer:
Look at the nations and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.

Part of God's answer to Habakkuk's second complaint, which is similar to his first:

...but the righteous will live by his faith...

I think chapter three in its entirety is my favorite part. After wrestling with God, trying to understand what is going on in the world around him, trying to understand God's hand in it all, this is Habakkuk's prayer.

Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

Then Habakkuk continues to give an amazing description of God's power.

His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand. where his power was hidden. Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.

Habakkuk's description of God continues, and he concludes with the following.

...yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Whether or not Habakkuk understood what God was doing, he realized it was his job to trust in him, and to live by faith.

Studying Habakkuk has been so encouraging to me, as I also do not understand what God is doing in my life, and the world around me. I question his plans for me. I am asking why? I am encouraged to ask God the hard questions, to seek out his truth, yet to continue to live by faith and trust in his plan. In the meantime, I am encouraged to pray boldly, for God to do great things in my life and the world around me.

Blessings

I have been really homesick lately, for Vienna, for our ministry there, the families we served and the family of friends made up of the staff. It has been a really hard transition for me to move back to the States, especially after losing the babies. I have done a lot of questioning why God brought us back, and what my purpose is here. As I have spent so much time alone the past three weeks on bed rest, it has been hard not to slide into a slump of depressing thoughts. Although I am yet to learn why God has us here, I am thankful for the blessings of being close to home once again.

One of my greatest joys of being close to family is my niece and nephew.

As you can see, they are cute as buttons! Grace is 4 and too smart for her own good. Recently we were taking them home to their house from my parents house and we were trying to pick a place to stop and grab some food. With some convincing, we stopped at Sonic. Here's how the conversation went after ordering our food.....

Grace: "Matt, can we sit outside and eat?"

Matt: "Not today sweetie, its getting late and we still have a long ways to go."

Grace: "Please? Pretty please"

Matt: "Sorry Grace, not today, maybe next time."

Grace: "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Matt: "No Grace, we don't have time."

Grace: "But Matt, if we eat in the car I will make a big mess."

Matt: "It's okay Grace, I can clean it up."

Grace: "But I make a really big mess."

Matt: "Its okay, I can clean it up."

Grace: "But I make such a huge mess, it will take you a really really long time to clean it up."

Matt: "Its okay Grace, I can clean it up. We're eating in the car."

Thankfully our food came at this point in time because I was dying with laughter and Matt was barely able to contain his and keep a straight face in saying no! Samuel, 2, is an ornery little guy. He will walk into the room with this grin on his face, and you know trouble is coming! He is so much fun and always on the go. He's never too far behind big sis, always having to keep up! Of course it is good to see my brother and sister-in-law, but you know how it is once you have kids...they're all that matters!

Another blessing....my two younger sisters.

I moved out of the house while they were just starting middle school, so we've never really been close as in friendship close. But now that we're starting to enter the same area of life, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know both sisters and spending more time with them. Catherine is finishing up her freshman year at Lincoln Christian College where she is studying to be an elementary teacher. She has the biggest heart of anyone I know, is quiet, and always puts others first. Rebecca is finishing up her senior year of high school. Her graduation is next weekend. She is well, a lot like me, only worse!! HA! Seriously though, we are a lot alike, although I think shes a bit more opinionated, and way more prissy! She's got a full ride scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University where she will study to become an upper level math teacher.

Last but not least, is my mom. Like me, she hates pictures so I'd have to really hunt to find one, so we'll have to do without! My mom has always been my best friend. Although my husband calls her crazy, she has always been there on for me. She has a servants heart and will do anything for anyone. She is one of the best cooks I have ever met, and has a super fun personality! I don't know what I'd do without her daily phone calls while on bed rest. Although we chat about nothing most times, its good to just chat with another human being!

I am also thankful for my daddy who is at this moment in our basement hanging drywall. We can't fix our nursery until the basement is finished and we can move things around. He stayed up way to late working on it last night, and is working still. Love you dad!

So these are a few of my blessings. I will definitely share more as I fight my loneliness and need to be reminded of all the blessings God has given me.

Why?

--Officially, there are 730,000 orphans living in Russia alone. There are more orphans in Russia now than after World War II.

--Out of the 730,000 only 200,000 live in orphanages and internats. The rest live on the streets or in the underground sewers.

--Statistics show that only one out of ten Russian orphans becomes a functional member of society.

--The others are lost to drugs, prostitution, crime and suicide. Millions of Russian children are on the run living on the streets or in underground sewers desparately needing basic food, medicine and clothes.

--In Ukraine and Russia 10-15% of children who age out of an orphanage commit suicide before age 18.

--Worldwide, there are offically 144 million orphans. If .06% of the Christian population would adopt one child into their family, the orphanages would be empty.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

James 1:27

Not every Christian is called to adopt, but each of us are called to look after the orphans. The Greek verb used for the phrase "look after" is the word episkeptomai. This compound verb with the prepositional prefix epi- places an emphasis on the act of looking. In the context of James' instruction, the verb would carry the connotation of giving active care or help.

According to James, we need to have these two things in our portfolio of faith in order for God to consider our faith pure, faultless and undefiled. First we must actively look out for the orphans and widows. Secondly, we must keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. I find it very interesting that James connects these two ideas together. I believe it is because we have been polluted by the world that we are no longer actively looking after the orphans and widows, which is why there are over 144 million orphans today.

Many people have assumed we were adopting only because of losing the triplets. Therefore many people assumed we would not adopt when they heard we were expecting again. But we are still adopting. Our decision to adopt was never based on if we could or could not have children of our own. For us, it wasn't a last resort option to have a child.

Yes, we realize the adoption process is expensive. We have no money or savings for it, but we completely trust God will provide. Yes, we realize the child we adopt could have physical or behavior problems. We believe God didn't call us to love only perfect children, but to love all children. We believe God will be our rock, that he will guide us, and continue to fill us with His perfect love so it may overflow into the life of our child. Yes, this process is overwhelming, we are scared, we know we will be hurt, and we sometimes selfishly don't want to adopt. We realize the journey we are embarking on will be one with many valleys and few mountain peaks, but God has called us and we cannot turn our backs on his call.

Next week we will offically embark on our adoption journey. We are adopting from Russia, which is why I focused my statistcs there. We are planning to adopt a little boy, as young as possible (12 months) and no older than four. We will begin raising money in earnest, I will be filling out grant and scholarship applications.

Please join us in praying for the following:

--Pray for God to reveal to you how you might actively look after the orphans and widows.

--Pray for God to work in the hearts of his people, that they will be moved to care for His children, the orphans and the widows.

--Our biggest and most obvious need is finances. Please pray for God to provide the finances we need. $7,000 in the first month for agency fees, homestudy fees, legal paperwork fees. We need to raise $30,000 total.

--Pray for Matt and I. That we continue to trust God and lean on him to be our strength.

--Pray for our precious baby that is out there somewhere, that God will provide for his needs and keep him safe until we can bring him home.