Quote for Today

A challenging/encouraging quote from Sally Clarkson (www.itakejoy.com):

"We have a choice to say, 'I don't like this cup' and we can throw it away - but when we do that, we throw away our opportunity to glorify God and to show what it looks like to walk through life with contentedness and peace...You are limited in your understanding of your circumstances, but God is providential in providing his grace and wisdom in your life. So when we come to this area of celebrating life, we have to choose to be thankful and learn to be content. Enjoy life, celebrate the reality of God's love...in every season." 

First Steps

"It is a safe thing to trust Him to fulfill the desires which he creates." ~Amy Carmichael

Amy Carmichael said well the thoughts which have been going through my heart and head in recent weeks. If God has placed a desire in our hearts, will he not fulfill the desires he creates? Will he not satisfy the longings he builds within us? I must believe so. Does ever he call and then fail to equip? Has ever he failed in faithfulness to those who take a step of obedient faith? I think not. 


So with that in mind, Nathan and I are praying and moving toward the fulfillment of a call that the Lord has placed in our hearts and on our lives. 

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

"But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted...you are the helper of the fatherless." Psalm 10:14 

The heart of God toward orphans is clear. The command to believers is just as clear. We cannot but believe that we MUST obey this command. Answer this call. Does this mean we believe that all are called to adopt? No, of course not. We do, however, believe that all are called to care for the fatherless. Obviously not every Christian is in a position to adopt, and there are many ways to care for orphans. But still, this leads us to believe that those of us who are able to adopt ought to be willing. 


Therefore, we are making ourselves available to our Father to do with us as he pleases. By accepting the sacrifice and salvation of Christ Jesus, we surrendered our lives to him - and to his service. He is our Lord. Where he leads, we follow. And he has been building in our hearts the desire to love His children as our own.


All that to say, we are praying and working towards adoption - hopefully in the near future, though we do not know what God's timing will be. Whatever the timing, we do believe this is the direction we are to go. So we are doing what we can to prepare and to walk in that direction now, believing that he will open the doors when the time is right. 


That said, there are plenty of obstacles. This is pretty much an impossible venture at this point. However, all things are possible through Christ. And, again, we can surely trust him with the dreams he gives us, no? The up side is that there is no feasible way we can jump ahead of God on this. Though it is hard not knowing the future, it is actually rather nice knowing that we can't force a door open before its time! 


We are starting this blog for several reasons...
First of all, we would like to include our family and friends in this journey. 
Secondly, and more importantly, we are asking for your prayer and support.
Thirdly, and fairly unrelated to the topic, I just need to start writing again! (Which means I'll probably be blogging other thoughts along the way...)


Some may think us crazy (or naive) for jumping into this so quickly after getting married. Perhaps they are right. But I am okay with being crazy if it means allowing God to do as he pleases in and through our lives. I honestly don't know how soon things will start moving. It may be awhile yet anyway; but for now we are praying and preparing. 


We began looking into adoption options while we were still engaged and, though we don't know what God's time frame looks like, we are currently working towards adopting before having children ourselves (though we would be plenty happy the other way around too. I just know that it will be harder to adopt after we have small children and I am no longer working). I have already been asked if this has anything to do with my health issues, and I expect the question to come up again, so allow me to answer it for everyone - nope, that has nothing to do with it whatsoever! Our desire to adopt is simply because there are children who need homes and we are willing to allow God to give one/some a home with us, if he so chooses. 


If you have made it through to the end of my chattering, I applaud you ;) Thank you for joining us on this journey. We covet your prayers! Only God can make this dream a reality!


Current prayer needs:
Before we can even bother applying, we need to rearrange some things financially.
- We need to sell a car as soon as possible (2010 Mini Cooper - know anyone interested??)
- We currently have renters in Nathan's house back in South Carolina (it was rented out the DAY Nathan moved to MO! God is good!), but the contract is up in March. We are looking at various options, but ideally we would prefer to be able to sell it out right as soon as the rental contract is up.


Otherwise, we just ask for general prayer for guidance and that God would open whatever doors need to be opened. Thank you all!