my church rocks

.....and i am not talking about the building that i go to several times a week... i am talking about the people God has put in my life for this season. though i met some of these people at that building. :)

it is not that the people of my church are perfect, or we never fail. We make mistakes, sometimes we put up walls, sometimes we say dumb things, sometimes we are selfish, self centered and down right full of sin!

But the beauty of it is that we forgive each other, we give each other ample grace, we grow together. And with His help we spur each other on, we show each other love like Jesus gave us, and we sacrifice time, energy, money, ourselves for each other, we pray for each other. We study God's word together and teach each other what it look like to live out His word.

There were times i wondered why God had me here but i think in those times i was thinking sinfully: selfishly, stupidly... i was not looking at things with God's eyes... when you look with God's eyes you give yourself grace, you give each other grace, you can see the beauty in each and every person, the value of every part.

i thank Jesus for all the amazing people of my church! And i am giddy about spending time with them this saturday night sharing our lives, remembering how amazing He is together, and doing what we all were created to do.... at the RESONATE CONCERT!

Come join us!

I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3

In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy. 1 Timothy 2:8

lent 2011

i don't know how many times i am the one holding myself and others back from the good things God wants for me and others.

For years i have known in my head that i can ask God anything and talk to Him about anything. He knows everything so what i say isn't surprising to Him at all, but He still invites me to ask and talk because He wants me to realize my need for Him and His endless power.

1 John 5:14-15 - Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

John 15:7 - If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you

i know in my head this secret of talking, asking, and listening to my Maker and i have seen too numerous of miracles to count because of these conversations but yet i don't ask enough!?

why don't i pray like i know i should? i have thought before "is it laziness?" but if i knew i was meeting with someone famous or someone with great power would i stay away because of laziness... i have an audience with some much greater and more powerful the ALMIGHTY GOD.

no, i think the main thing that keeps me away... is my pride.... it is sad that i, a fly in comparison to the ALMIGHTY GOD - that can be blown away by a slightest breeze, think that i can survive with out Him in any way.

So this "Lent" (40 days before Easter) I am committing to set aside quality and quantity time to be alone with my maker to converse with Him. That is what He created me to do... i hope this disciplining myself becomes a way of life.

So far i have been a little weak.... 9 out of 14 days... i heard once that it takes 21 days to make a habit and 3 days to break it. So ask God to help me stay on track...

Matthew 7:7-11
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Ethiopia Rumored to slow down adoptions

There are an estimated 5.4 million orphans in Ethiopia. Yearly around 4,000 are internationally adopted... their are rumors that the government may be planning to decrease the adoption rate by 90%.

Please pray. Also you can join us and sign this petition.

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43714.html

mommy's perspective

conversing with some of our beautiful orphan girls in our children's home

"Since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory." Romans 5:1-2 Bible, NLT

Undeserved privilege.... That is where i stand and in that undeserved privilege i walk daily.

This trip was another example of Him giving me an undeserved privilege to share and show love to these precious people.

And since my laundry is mostly done and my last bag is unpacked i thought i would share from mommy's perspective.

When the plane landed in Bombay... i felt an overwhelming since of "we are home"... i don't know if it was because this was our first family only trip (though we have gone to Haiti as a family but with a maw maw, great maw maw, and a lot of other people) or if i would have felt the same way if we would have landed in any other country. But the feeling of home and peace stuck with me the whole time.

As some of you know i was born for this... it is like God created me to live somewhere else. Every trip i go on i don't want to go home... i want to live there....i want to open my home up to women and children and show them love... i want to rescue the hurt, the lonely, the fatherless. So coming back to the US was and is hard for me... though i know if and when God wants us there He will make it clear.

story telling at the Gonagonla Children's Home

Details:

Travel - Traveling with an almost 2 year old and a 3 1/2 year old can be challenging but my boys did so well! Jeriah was somewhat restless on the 15 hour flights but mommy chased him around the airplane for a while to get all of the energy out. Elijah slept well and played games and watched movies on the plane tv system for most of the time.

Us in the Bombay airport waiting to go to Hyderabad

Health - As i said in the other posts Jeriah did have an ear infection and they both came with colds but that healed up and they were healthy the rest of the trip. i did bring lots of clorox surface wipes, antibacterial wipes and soap. i am sure they did end up eating dirt a few times but what is a moma to do... their boys. i thank all of you who were praying for my boys health... i know God answered your prayers!

me putting ear drops in jeriah's ears

Schedule - We had a pretty busy schedule. We had alot of traveling to do to get to the places we had to be at. The first couple of days we had meetings with all of the caretakers and leaders of our Children's Homes. I also had a chance to encourage widows (being a widow means a whole different thing there) and encourage women. We had great conversations, these are some amazing women who have been through some difficult circumstances. We gave meals and gifts to them as well.

We also visited 5 of our 15 children's homes and had other meetings throughout Andra Pradesh. Which included a lot of travel via train, jeep, and a rickshaw drive. The boys did so well sleeping on the jeeps and trains or looking out the windows: there is always something interesting to see out the window in India.

elijah watching sheep and picking his nose

(he seemed to do that more in India than usual - i guess because all the dirt in the air - poor thing - eats them too... any mom suggestions on how to stop that habit let me know)

At the children's homes we delivered gifts and translated their sponsor letters. Many of the older ones can read English now and helped translate the younger one's letters to them. We also played and they had prepared songs and dances to show us. At one point all of us joined in the dancing. Elijah enjoyed his new "friends" and has prayed for them throughout this week. He says he misses them.

the Hard day - It was the middle of the trip and we didn't know till we were on our way but 2 of the children's homes we were to visit had chickenpox spreading through... so the boys couldn't play with the kids. Elijah was tired of not playing and being couped up in the car. He also didn't have a nap that day. We had walked a lot but wherever we went we drew a crowd. At the end of the day i ended up on an Indian roof holding my 3 1/2 year old who was having a total temper tantrum. Not that temper tantrums are rare for a 3 year old, he probably would have had the same reaction if we would have done the same thing to him in the U.S. Good thing the next day was a train ride... he throughly enjoyed those.... plus it gave him time rest and play.

Help - I was sooo thankful to Jessie who came along to help us with the boys. She is the daughter of our main partner and like a sister to us. I was also thankful for her new hubby who so graciously let us borrow her from him. I know they missed each other greatly! She was such a huge help and allowed me to really spend time with others.

Friends - Jonathan and i have accumulated a wealth of friends that pray for us as we pray for them. It was so good to see so many of them. Many of them traveled a long distance to see us. Steeven and his wife are very dear to us and like family to us. Here we are with Gabriel (Steeven's brother) and Beulah on their 13th wedding anniversary!

i had been praying for a friend, Timothy, and his wife to have babies.. she had not been able to have children and they had been married for a long time.. many teams that had come had prayed for them as well. on this trip i had the privilege of seeing their little miracle baby boy. My God is soooo BIG ...nothing is impossible for HIM.

my boys and i in our Indian clothes :)

my sweet girls and their hina

Thank you to all who prayed for us! Thank you to all who sponsor these precious children too. It is heartbreaking to think of where they would be without your generosity. There are over 200 children that we need sponsors for in order to adequately care for them. It is just $30 a month - think if you fast 6 grande lattes a month you can change a child's life forever. %100 of the money goes to the child.

God keeps teaching me this = we only have one life to live. live every moment for things that really matter.

Jeriah's perspecitve

Now Jeriah is my little man.... he will be 2 years old in May. Though any trip for this age can be a challenge, he did so well. He has traveled throughout the US and when he was a month old went with us to Haiti, though trips are different for a toddler who is not content with being held all the time.

The 15 hour flights to and from were a little restless for Jeriah and therefore mommy. Throughout the trip he did finally get the hang of sleeping anywhere when he got tired enough which helped us all out.

He had a cold when we left which due to the flying turned into an ear infection so the first day we were there we took him to a doctor. The complete doctor visit, ear drops, and amoxicillin cost us $5. I could definitely get use to that! His infection and cold cleared up toward the end of the trip.

Jeriah is naturally a pretty laid back little man though a little grumpy in the mornings. He has always been a moma's boy, but on the trip he really took to daddy... great bonding time for them both.

We also noticed his preference to men. He didn't like any of the ladies but loved the men and would even reach out to total strangers. Which moma kept a close eye on.

He really grew fond of our main partner, Steeven.

He started to be more conversational which concluded a really cute "nooooooo" which usually was a reply to the cheek pinching and smothering. He also learned to say body, bucket, bike, and a few other words.

"Bucket" came about because of the bucket baths that we got use to.

"Bike" started the first day when he discovered the motorcycles, scooters, and bicycles. He was fascinated by them. Every house we went in you could see his eyes searching for the helmet and then he would point and proclaim "bike, bike, bike" and recruit whoever was willing to take him out to the house owners bike to have a ride (sit).

Children instantly bond you with strangers no matter where you are at in the world and helps us really get to know and share love with people that may not have connected with us otherwise. Jeriah was a people magnet.

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He was a good little eater even trying a new juice. Here he is with his first coconut juice right out of the coconut. :) Talk about organic! :)

If he could tell me what he enjoyed the most i am sure it was us all being together as a family... he is quite lovable. Next would be the bikes and people he met.

Today i asked him if he wanted to go back to India and he replied with an emphatic yes... "yea yea yea yea" (while flaping arms wildly).

We will see what God has in store for us, little Jeriah!

from Elijah's perspective

Since 3:30am i've been up with my munchkins so i thought this was as good as time as any to share a little glimpse of our India memories. We will start with Elijah's perspective.

Elijah is 3 and 1/2 years old now. He has been to a few places around the US, to Haiti, and to Slovakia but all before he was at an age where he really could remember it. All he knew about India was that is was a place we prayed for and daddy went on trips there a lot and it took an airplane to get there.

Often Elijah asked us if he could go on an airplane...probably because we visit the airport so much. We always tell him you have to have a ticket. So he was elated when we told him we were going to India and we got him a "ticket" (thanks to Aunt Lynda's buddy passes!).

In the middle of the night we left. We had to fly out of Richmond and on the way there Elijah sang "I'm going to the airport, I'm going to the airport, I'm going to the airport, where are WE going?, We're going to the airport!" over and over again till finally we had to remind him that it was the middle of the night and we needed to rest. :) I know ....we're party poopers, but if you were in the car i think you would have agreed.

Elijah made us see flying with a new excitement after 3 planes we ended up in Andra Pradesh, India. He slept for 9 hours of the 15 hour flight...like a natural flyer. We were so proud of him.

We took our time getting there. We had a pretty tight schedule but there was time to relax and get ourselves some what acclimated to the time change. Though the boys kept waking up at 4 am throughout the trip

He was so at home in India. The first day with meeting the children in one of our homes didn't go so well because both of them were very sleepy therefore grumpy. Also they weren't use to being greeted by 25 kids singing, beating drums, and extremely excited to see them. But on the way home Elijah warmed up to all their love and enjoyed the boys.

The rest of the trip he played well with the children. He had his own fan club! By the last children's home He was playing kabaddi (an Indian game) and teaching the kids "the larry boy game" which he made up as he went along.

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The worst part of the trip would have to be all the cheek pinching.. in India it is a common thing for anyone to come up and pinch the tar out of your cheeks and my boys got there fair share. Elijah learned to start wailing arms at them to keep them away.. though i am sure it was culturally impolite... we let him defend himself. :)

One the best parts of his trip was all the transportation. Like most boys, he is fascinated with transportation. He experienced 6 planes, 3 choo choo trains, jeep rides down bumpy roads, buses, air trains, taxi rides, an auto rickshaw, and 2 motorcycle rides.

Elijah on a Rickshaw

Elijah and Jeriah on the train ride after a good night sleep.

Our friend and main driver, Wilson, took Elijah for his first motorcycle ride...which i thought was suppose to be around in a little circle... but instead i found my self fervently praying as i saw Wilson, Elijah and Vijah go down a main Indian road with rickshaws, bikes, people, cars, and probably a cow or two. Though most Indians ride there entire families on their motorcycles to get from place to place, i wasn't quite ready to see mine on an Indian road. But of course Elijah throughly enjoyed it.

His closest friend on the trip was Jessie. I think he vaguely remembered her from when she came and stayed with us when he was around Jeriah's age. She is our main partner's daughter and she has become one of our dear sisters that Jonathan and i both love and pray for.

He also was excited to see his "big sister" who we pray for and sponsor. He recognized her and stuck with her throughout the day.

Thank you for all you who prayed for the boys. I know God answered your prayers! They both had a cold before we left but healed up nicely from that while we were there. They ate japatis, pooris, and egg omelets, as well as snacks and pediasures i brought. They weren't too interested in the rice and curries. The Lord protected there health and gave me peace about it all which i am so thankful for.

Elijah eating japatis and an omelet off of a banana leaf.

i asked Elijah what he missed about India and what was his favorite part of the trip. So from His words...

"Dat was a fuwn trip. I like Inia mommy. I like my Inia house. I miss Jessie. I am so sad about dat. I liked going to hanawapaplem (a children's home where he played). I liked chasing frogs, rackshack and benny with bjay (Vijah), going at de airport and going on an airplane, and going to my house. I liked the the choo choo rides, i went on frwee choo choos. I wuv all the children of the werld mommy. God wuvs all the children of the werld. we want to go der all all day mommy and sleep der and wake up der"

Elijah did really well...it was just like home for him. This last picture is of Elijah getting a hair cut. For $2 the barber comes to your house and cuts your hair. I could easily get use to this!

and this last video is after about 30 hours of traveling on the way home...