.To Worship.

I’ll tell you what it really means to worship the LORD.  Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused! Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don’t turn away your relatives. Then your light will shine like the dawning sun, and you will quickly be healed. Your honesty will protect you as you advance, and the glory of the LORD will defend you from behind. When you beg the LORD for help, he will answer, “Here I am!” (Isaiah 58: 6-8)


If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the poor, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places - firm muscles, strong bones. You'll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.
(Isaiah 58:10-12)

I am hoping that these verses are true. Oh, I know they are. I believe the Bible is true and infallible. I just want it to be true the way I want it to be true. That probably makes no sense. There is a little precious, hungry, poor boy in Ethiopia that my family is currently fighting and giving ourselves for. Although, I am not at liberty to give all of the details publicly, I will say that the situation has been a roller coaster of emotions for all of us during the past several months. We know that this is a spiritual battle that we are fighting. Some moments we are so confident and strong in our faith - believing that God is at work for His glory. And other moments we are weak, and it seems as if God has abandoned this fight. But then all of the truths that were poured into my heart during our adoption of Jamesy come flooding back. Like this one.

The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. Exodus 14:14

True, this was Moses speaking to the Israelites, but this same God is my God. I believe He fights for me now, just as much as He fought for them years ago.

Then I remember the passage that God took me through over a year ago in Joshua. In Joshua 10:1-15, God actually defied the laws of science and caused the sun to stand still giving Joshua and his armies more daylight to defeat their enemies. That same God that performed the impossible for Joshua is alive and working today.

I want to boldly and audaciously ask God to do the impossible in our situation. The reality that it is even a possibility for us at all is only because He opened the door for it. The opening of the door itself, we were told was impossible. And He did that! He did it without any prodding from us or us seeking it out. Perhaps He did this just to grow our faith, but right now, today, I want to believe it is for even more, I want to believe that we are getting ready to witness a move of God this very week - something that we have been told is probably hopeless and even close to impossible - I want to believe that He is going to do immeasurably more than we can we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

Will you go to the throne with me, even not knowing all of the details? The Author and Finisher of this knows, but I believe He still wants me to fall before Him and fight for this child. I believe God is honored, and my heart beats closer to His heart when I seek justice for the fatherless. It is then that my heart begins to align with His. Will you join me? Isaiah 58 says that when we fight for justice for the least of these, it is then that we are really worshipping the Lord.

Will you join me in this fight in order to join our hearts to worship?

This is a pivotal week in the life of our family and a precious soul in Ethiopia.

.Tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning we go into the hospital, bright and early, to have Cadi's blood tested again. She is anxious. Her little arms are bruised and sore, and she seems to have inherited Mommy's "love" for needles. If you would, please pray for peace for her.


This morning - a little tummy ache but doing well.

I have been asking God to bring her platelet count up to 10,000. I also have been praying that her count would stay up, that her spleen would stop attacking her platelets, and that we can put this all behind us. A tall order, but I have a big, big God. Mostly I am praying for peace and acceptance in whatever cup God has for our family and our little Cadi. I want her whole and healthy and running around our home again. I want that so, so much. But above all I want to want whatever it is that God has planned out for us. I am not quite there, but it will come.


Grandma brought Cadi a "Prayer Blanket" to remind her of all of the people praying for her. (the photo is poor because she was in bright light and I did not want her to have to move, but it is so special to me.)

Cadi's spirit has been so sweet. Today it sunk in a bit about how much she is unable to do and what she is missing out on. However, she only has moments of sadness and pity, and then she moves on. Her attitude is humbling me. For such a little girl, she sure is teaching me a lot. Cadi spent all morning in her room. We tried to make it a special place - even moving a tv and dvd player in there. We have to keep her away from the boys until her count comes up more. They are a little too young to understand, and I would hate for them to carry the burden of hurting her. (Scotty is at my parents tonight through Friday. He is having a blast with all of the special one-on-one time with Grandpa and Grandma!) Cadi did a little school in between watching Charlie and Lola, putting a puzzle together, and snoozing. This afternoon Jim's mom came and did some painting projects with Cadi. She was so happy.



Tonight she was exhausted and looked it. She is developing a few more bruises that we are watching carefully, but no more nose bleeds or bleeding from her mouth. I pray this indicates good things.



Thank you for your encouragement and for lifting us up. It has been our life-line. Today the adrenaline has worn off from the last few days, and I have reached a pit of exhaustion. It was your prayers that carried me through this day. I could never thank you enough.


Isaiah 43:2 When you go through deep waters,I will be with you.When you go through rivers of difficulty,you will not drown.When you walk through the fire of oppression,you will not be burned up;the flames will not consume you.

.Prayer Request.

After noticing what seem to be absence seizures in our Jamesy (He has had them since bringing him home, but we have just recently realized what they probably are and his doctor agrees.), he is scheduled to undergo an EEG tomorrow afternoon. Would you please pray for my boy? Going to see a doctor, in general, is very traumatizing for Jamesy. He has just gone through so very much. My mommy heart is fearful for him tomorrow. I am not so fearful of the diagnosis. We were very aware that seizures were a probable complication with SOD (of course we were hopeful that Jamesy would not have them), and we just want to be as informed as much as possible so that we can give him the best care. His disorder is such a mystery, and we still have so much to learn and so much to diagnose with Jamesy. We chose a special needs child, but I often think about the fact that Jamesy did not choose to be special needs (and I hate that term all children have special needs). My heart is sad for him sometimes, but he is such a joy and a delight and I know that God has perfect plans for his life and that God sovereignly created Jamesy. I just hate knowing that there will be hurt and hard times in his future.

And because a post just isn't a post without photos, here is my littlest man hamming it up for my camera while Mommy worked on adjusting the white balance on said camera. {grin}















Doesn't get much cuter than that, in my book.

Thanks in advance for your prayers. I will update when I can - perhaps from A Moment Cherished facebook page. We are hoping for results as early as this Friday.

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.Please Pray.

EDIT:
Here is the blog button. Please post it on your sidebar (link it to Becca's site here) and pass Audrey's story around.

When I hopped on facebook this morning to read a message in my in box, I discovered that a friend of mine from college had delivered her sweet baby girl. While pregnant, my friend Becca and her husband found out that their baby, Audrey, had some severe complications. From what I understand doctors had found cysts on Audrey's brain, the doctors believed her to have Trisonomy 18, as well as some other medical problems, including some heart issues. Becca was not due until July, but she had sweet Audrey early Thursday morning. I know that when Becca posted last Audrey was on a ventilator, but she was stable. She had a lot of tests done yesterday and the family is waiting for the results.

Becca and her husband also have a sweet little three year old daughter. Can I ask you to please pray for this family? As a mommy my heart just breaks for Becca. She is a believer and is trusting God for the life of her Audrey, but I am also sure this is a very painful and scary time for her. I would love it if you, my sweet blog friends, would go to Becca's blog here and overflow her comment box letting her know that we are surrounding her family in our prayers. I also encourage you to click here and join the facebook page "Praying for Baby Audrey". Thank you dear friends, and if you feel led would you post about this on your blog? Let us spread Audrey's story and bathe this precious baby in prayers. The body of Christ is powerful.

Later today, if I get Becca's permission, I am going to design a button for my blog reminding us to pray. I will let you know when/if that is up, so you can grab it for your sidebar. I appreciate all of you lovely ladies. Thank you for helping me to rally around this dear family.