Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I am thanking God today for the wonderful boy who made me a mommy, the amazing and supportive husband who helps me be the best mommy I can be, and for the mommy who taught me what it means to love unconditionally.

This day is a day for thanking God for the opportunity to be a mom and for all the great moms in my life, but as I thank God for all these blessings I am reminded of the women in the book I am reading (find it here). Women who were and are still affected by the tragedy in Rwanda in 1994. A genocide that lasted 100 days while the rest of the world stood back and did nothing. It has been a hard book to read, but one I will finish because these people's story deserve to be heard. As I thank God for the blessings motherhood has brought me thus far, I also pray for all the women out there (whether your American, Rwandan, Ethiopian...) who feel a tremendous amount of heartache on this day. To all the mommies out there who know the pain of losing a child, who have reliquinshed their children either by choice, coercion, or desperate circumstances, who have terminated their chance at being a mommy, I pray for you today. I pray for healing, for peace, for restoration. There is so much hurt that cannot be undone, but I pray that you will know the mercy, grace, and power of my God.

This Mother's Day will you join me in praying for these mommies, and for doing what little I know we can do to support some mommies out there who are fighting hard against poverty to keep their family together.

http://www.noondaycollection.com/our-story.html

http://www.no41.org/

Redeemed

As a Christian, this time of the year has always been one of sorrow and celebration. It is a strange emotion reflecting on the death of my Savior and weeping for the pain and suffering he endured, yet at the same time crying tears of JOY for what it means.

As I look into my son's big blue eyes full of childlike love I can't help but reflect on the fact that God not only sent His Son to die for my sins, but He sacrificed His son's life so that my son could have life eternal. I AM SO UNWORTHY!! There is nothing more that I want then to be able to worship my King and Savior forever with my family by my side. I have prayed more times than I can count that Asher would come to know Jesus as His Savior at a young age. That is heart would be molded from the very beginning for God's work on this earth. I pray I am blessed to be able to witness that this side of the veil, and I am forever grateful for the redemption Jesus offered up on this Good Friday so many years ago.

As I sit here watching Asher play in our living room I close my eyes and imagine the celebration we will have one day in Heaven when we get to join those who have gone before us and meet our Savior face to face, singing His praises for all eternity. What a JOYOUS that day will be.

Hoping you all have a safe Easter, filled with the peace and joy that only God's grace through Jesus Christ can bring.

Ni Hao!

Ni hao! God is Good! I am writing this post with my new Chinese coffee mug full of my favorite coffee and my little boy napping soundly in the next room. I have been back in the States for less than 24 hours and already my mind is starting to race trying to process all that I have witnessed this past week. I am hoping to have a few more posts for you in the coming weeks highlighting some of my time in China and the amazing things God is doing there.

The most I can say right now, before I have had time to really reflect on all that happened this week (we were so busy the whole time there, there was little time of reflection in the moment), is that God is Good, He is the Sustainer of all things, He is Love, He is Comfort, He is Truth. I have experienced so much of who God is this week and how He longs for each of us to experience Him in a personal way. Being in China for a week has opened my eyes to so much outside of my "American Dream" bubble. I witnessed a lot of brokeness, but through all of it I also witnessed the power God's love and the power of hope.

I am so excited to be home and can't wait to share more with you!

That Song...

Have you ever heard a song on the radio that instantly brings you to tears? Something about the music or the lyrics just speak to you and you think to yourself, "this is exactly where I am right now". I have that moment...ALOT. One was just the other day in the car on my way home from work. Considering my heart for orphan advocacy and my upcoming trip to China, it only took a couple of lines of this song to make those tears start flowing! I will be adding this to my itunes real soon so I can listen to it over, and over, and over again!

Oh how I pray Reagan and I will bring home our own little King(s) and Queen(s) one day!

China

Part of me still can't believe I am writing this post, while the other part of me knew this (or something like it) was right around the corner.

I am completely overjoyed to share with you all that in just a few short weeks I will be travelling to CHINA! If you have been following my posts, you know that God has placed an overwhelming burden on my heart for the plight of the orphan in the past months and years. I have been praying that an opportunity would arise for me to GO and DO something, and a few weeks ago God answered that prayer in a BIG way!

Thanks to a dear friend, I was introduced to an orphan-care ministry called (un)adopted. I will be traveling with a handful of others with this ministry to conduct special needs assessments on children in 3 orphanages in south China. It is our goal through these assessments to provide valuable information to future forever-families as well as equip the nannies in the orphanage on how to better care for these children while they reside there.

I am sooo excited to be given this opportunity to "visit the fatherless...in their affliction" (James 1:27). I know it will be hard at times: travelling to a new country, leaving my family for a week, and seeing the brokenness that I know I will encounter there. But, I also know that this is my calling in life, and I pray so many others will be blessed by the work we do in China.

One thing I will ask of all of you is to please PRAY for our team and the children/nannies that we will be working with. Without prayer, our trip will be in vain. Here are some things you can specifically pray for:

-team unity-I do not know anyone personally on my team, but I hear they are all AWESOME! And I am super excited to meet everyone and learn from them.
-safe travel- for our international flights as well as while we are in country
-the children- that they will feel special and loved, and that they will be matched with forever families SOON!
-the nannies- that they will be open to our suggestions and that they will encounter Christ.

Thank you all in advance for your prayers. I cannot wait to return and share about all God is doing in China with you!

MUCH LOVE!! :)

10 months!

My handsome little red-head is 10 months old! He isn't much of a mover, but man does he talk! His new words this month are "hi", "bye bye", "momma" (sometimes!), and my favorite..."uh-oh". I sure do love this little guy...

test shot...can you tell his favorite veggie is carrots? :)

He was more interested in loving on giraffe than posing for the camera!

Radical

RADICAL...one word to sum up my hope for 2013.

I have never heard of the whole "one word resolution" thing until this year. I heard it first from my mom who was looking into getting a necklace based on the theme of "one word for 2013" as a gift, and ever since then I have heard or seen it at least 4 other times. Let me tell you, I LOVE this idea.

Reagan was my most recent encounter with this "new" (to me!) idea. He had come up with his word for 2013 (I can't remember his...I know I am a terrible wife for that!!) and asked what mine was. I told him I needed to think about it. I wanted this to be a heart-felt and honest choice. I wanted to actually try to live by this word for 2013.

2 1/2 weeks later...RADICAL.

It's challenging, it's courageous, it's scary, it's trusting, it takes faith. It's the perfect word for where I am right now. RADICAL is what I want to be in 2013.

I am so EXCITED about this. I hope throughout the year I am able to share with all of you my RADICAL moments. And I am happy to say I have already experienced one. It is only fitting that my first one comes from my heart for orphan advocacy.

Let me start with this...after looking at our spending over the past year, I have NO idea how Reagan and I made it through 2012 (especially with the birth of Asher + missed work by me) with our bank account in the green! It makes no sense. All I can say is,we serve an AWESOME God who provides. With that said Reagan and I have decided to sponsor a little boy in Rwanda attend a real school for the first time in his life. He is about 12 or 13 and had been living at the Noel Orphanage. As of early January, he is a well loved and well cared for student at a local boarding school. We are so excited to be partnering with an organization called  His Chase to help this little boy gain an education, learn about the God who loves him beyond measure, and gain hope for a future. We pray for him each night as we pray for our family, and as we do we hope that he knows someone here on Earth loves him and is praying for him. We are so excited to get updates and hear about his progress throughout the year!

To some, this may not seem so radical, but to us and our bank account...it is! We are stepping out in faith that God will continue to provide for us, even through all the changes and unknowns coming up in 2013. If you feel like you are being called to do the same, there are plenty of organizations out there doing amazing work. To mention a few, Charity:water, His Chase, Compassion, Give1Save1, and WorldVision. Go ahead, check them out, and maybe be a little RADICAL in your giving!

Here is to a RADICAL 2013...I can't wait to share with you what may be coming up next!!!!!