"I Found Him"

I wanted to share with you some things that have been stirred in my heart. I received an email today titled "I Found Him". It's amazing what you can find in the middle of God's will when you don't even expect it. God will shed light and hope in even the darkest of situations. This email reminded me of a moment while in Ethiopia. I was stopped in my tracks as I took the above picture while in Ethiopia at one of the orphanages. We were in one of the dirtiest places we had been. We were surrounded by poverty and orphans and not much that one would consider beautiful.....yet look what I found growing in the midst of it. Two beautiful, bright orange flowers, hidden among all of it. I had not seen any other flowers growing anywhere, yet God showed me these beautiful flowers as a reflection of those little faces in the background. These flowers reflected the beauty of His love for those who are sometimes hidden and unnoticed just like these flowers.....the orphans. It reminded me that there is always beauty in every situation. The best things in life are the things that are unseen, the things you have to search for to find. Sometimes you find these hidden treasures and sometimes they find you. Either way, the rest of the story depends on us to act.

The following email is what I received today. It read as follows from someone who was scheduled to travel with us but then couldn't go at the last minute.....

"I was unable to attend the mission trip to Ethiopia this summer. I was hoping to find my son during the trip. Thanks to you and your wonderful group, I found him. I followed your trip and once you posted the pictures, I knew it was him! We accepted the referral of Rodas and are busy getting all the paperwork ready. I had all but given up on adopting from Ethiopia. We had lost a referral that we had for 18 months and I had zero hope left. Thank you for restoring my hope and giving Rodas the hope for a forever family with us!!!"

This is one example of how God stirred the heart of this family and connected them with this precious boy, and what most would consider an "older child", at that.

Here is another email.....

"Hi wanted to let you know through you and sue and Tracy we are adopting tigist 6 yrs old we are in love, she was one of the waiting girls at celebrate children, thanks for all the hard work you do, it all matters:)"

I can't help but just be amazed as I watch God move as a result of people stepping out in faith. The first step for anything great requires US to take a giant leap of faith. The first step is always the scariest because it usually requires BLIND faith.....STEPPING OUT INTO AN AREA OF THE UNKNOWN. For many, doing something crazy like going on a trip across the world is just too much to even think about. I mean, seriously.....Flying that far, for that many hours, across an ocean, are you crazy?? That's too scary! For many, doing something crazy like adopting a child from halfway across the world is just too far out of reach. It is a nice thought. It may be something that we even thought we heard whispered in our spirit, but it is something we look at from afar and most of the time just leave it there......afar.

I feel I have been called to bring that which is AFAR.......NEAR to all of us. Why? Because it is near to God's heart. None of us will ever know unless we see. I know the reality for some is that they can't travel across the world so I will bring what is across the world to you and pray that we can all do something, rather than close our eyes to a world of need. I want to show you the lives that are out there and the lives that are being changed because people said "Yes". And along with their yes they said "Yes, it's scary, but YES, anyway". And then look at what can happen with their Yes. Let me remind you that NONE of these people on our mission team had ever traveled to Ethiopia before.

Gina, pictured above, and her son, Robby, traveled with us and found one adorable little guy who God decided would fit into their family just perfectly. God guided their steps miraculously as we ended up at an orphanage last minute that we never had scheduled and there waiting on us was Gina's son, much to her surprise. Well....they said "YES".......

As I look at all the lives that have been touched from our trip, there are none more touched than the orphans who find their forever families. Their world is changed forever.
I can't help but think and wonder as I stare into their eyes...."Who is waiting for you?" What family does God have picked out for you and how will He guide them here to get you?"
As we hold them and love on them......we pray for them.
We pray that God brings them their family so that they have to wait no more, and we pray that we can be the hands and feet to show them they are loved in the meantime.
I can't help but wonder, "Who's child am I holding? My God, what lucky family will end up with this precious child? God, hurry up and open their eyes. "
Could we be holding your child?
Is it possible that you have a lifetime of love from this precious child that knocks our socks off in just one day?
We mustn't forget the beautiful reflection of God's love that is there the whole time and we don't even realize it. IT COULD BE SO EASILY MISSED. We must discover it for ourselves.
We must QUIT looking at these children from afar. It is so easy to do. We are safe when it is afar because then we really don't know. We have an idea that there are children in need but we don't REALLY know UNTIL............
We get closer, we hear that whisper that tells us to act, yet we are scared. We move in closer but we are still looking from afar. We convince ourselves that they don't know that we know. But look, even through our veil......they see us! They wave, they regain hope. They know that we know.....and then what?
Then.... we remove the veil to find precious little ones standing right in front of us. They have been there the whole time. How could we not have known? Little children that wait for an answer and yet we might be HOLDING their destiny in our hand.
Then.... When we are this close we are compelled to go closer. We actually reach out a helping hand. Then there is no denying them. Then they are real. I have seen and I have touched. And then..... when I am this close.........OUR EYES ARE OPENED.
We actually SEE them for who they are. We notice things we never saw from afar.....things that shock us......things we can only see when we are close enough to stand in the mud with them......
Then.....when we are THAT close, we have removed the veil, we have removed the excuses, we have stepped into their world....Then.....we see the beauty wrapped with incredible need that cannot be denied.
They are no longer something viewed from afar that we can quickly turn away from. They are REAL, they are CHILDREN, and they reflect GOD'S BEAUTY and LOVE. Then what??
Then we act. We step in. We step up. We give to their outstretched hands. We wrap our arms around their dirty faces. We brush the flies away and give them a great big kiss. For some, we take them from this world of need and bring them into our world of plenty. We basically listen to the whisper from God and we act accordingly. Bottom line.....we do it scared!
We get our feet dirty.....and after a few hours of stomping through the mud, we don't even care anymore. We are over all the silly things that used to bother us.
We have stepped into their world for a brief moment in time.
And we will forever be blessed and better for it.
MAY GOD REFLECT HIS BEAUTY IN YOUR WORLD :-)