.Crazy Love.

From the time God planted the little seed of adoption into my heart this past January, I have been drawn to the blogs of other families who are passionate about orphans. I have found encouragement, wisdom, love, and an unexplainable unity with these families whom I have {mostly} never met. I cannot wait until we all get to heaven and can share our faith stories audibly.

One blog that I read is here. The author is a sweet, passionate, godly woman named Linny. She and her husband live in a radical way in order to fill their home with sons and daughters whom were formerly without the love of family - alone and orphaned. Their story is inspiring, tear-jerking, and a very real picture of their Savior who they constantly give the glory back to. I am not sure if I have ever read about a husband and wife who were so sacrificial and self-less and HUMBLE. If nothing else, please go to her blog and read their amazing testimony - the fingerprints of God are all over it.

Linny, in her characteristically loving way, has created a Crazy Love Challenge on her blog here.
The purpose of this challenge is to ultimately bring glory to God while allowing adoptive families to share their needs with other families who have a heart and a desire to care for orphans and assist adoptions. So that is the point of my post - to share our need. I know several of you already know all about our journey and our needs. This is mainly written for those that do not. If you want to know our back story and how God led us to adopt, you can click here. It was and continues to be all God.

• We need prayer. That is the number one need. We need to be blanketed in prayer every single day. It has been a blessing to know that there are a few faithful people in our life who have taken this to heart. Thank you. Please pray that we would remain faithful and confident in this journey and God's desire for our family. Pray for the Ethopian woman who is carrying our child - for her salvation, for her health, for her peace. Please pray for our baby, who will experience the very real and very tragic loss of his birth family in the near future. Please pray for the orphanage where our son will live until we can get him - for the workers, for his safety, for food to be available. Please pray for Cadi and Scotty that they would see Jesus in us and truly understand what it means to love others. Please pray for family members who have yet to understand why we are doing this.

Prayer is the easier thing to ask for, and it is truly the most needed. We know that without God and without prayer this journey cannot happen.

Unfortunately, the money part of this is pretty important, too. Fundraising and asking for financial help has been the hardest thing I have ever done. It is uncomfortable and humbling. It is even demeaning as we face questions from others regarding our choices. We continue to pray over this area, and we continue to feel God leading us in this direction. We believe strongly that He is using our adoption in such a way that many, many people will be a part of bringing this baby boy into our family. It is not all about Jim and I, and what we can do on our own. Yes, we continue to do what we can. We continue to strive to live simply and sacrifice in order to pay for adoption expenses. Yet, we continue to fall short in our own strength. And we think that is of God. God wants to use people in our story. Sometimes it is really uncomfortable to allow people to be a blessing, but it is in those times we have seen God the most. We are so thankful for the donations we have received from people around us who have sacrificed on our behalf. We are amazed at the money that has been given to us from complete strangers. We have seen the hands of Jesus in very tangible ways, and it always comes exactly when we need the the encouragement to keep going.

• With that being said we continue to face financial hurdles, but they are definitely not hurdles with God. If you are reading this and feel led to pray for us in this area that is wonderful! We are still praying for the remainder of the 300 families that feel led to give $100. We are so very thankful for those that have generously given already, and we pray that they are blessed ten-fold. (I will update on the 300 for $100 this week.) If you want to do something tangible along with your prayers we are still selling t-shirts and coffee. Just look on my sidebar on the left. We also are keeping the chip-in button up. We hope to have our home study completed shortly. Then we will need to have about $8000. We are lacking about $2500 of that $8000. God has provided in amazing ways!! We know He will continue to do so. Our future expenses are great. It looks as if we still have about $20,000 in expenses in our future. It looks daunting to me, but I keep trying to see it through God's eyes. I hold on to the truth that He owns everything, wants to see this happen for His glory, and loves our little boy more than I could ever dream to!
  

So those are our needs at this time. Thank you Linny so much for caring for God's orphans and for the families that love them. I am praying how our family might be able to give sacrificially to another. I am also taking the time to pray over every family linked up and the children that are growing in their hearts. Linny, you are a blessing!!

Be sure to read about the other families that have joined Linny's challenge here.
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