The miracle of life

We all know by now, I am not a skilled writer, but I felt the Lord speaking to me about this today and I wanted to share.

I was greeted this morning with wonderful news! A great friend of mine was headed to the hospital where labor would be induced and the meeting of their baby boy would soon follow. It brought such joy to my heart as she (well....her husband) sent me updates as things progressed. After constantly  checking my phone, anxiously waiting, I finally got the message that he was born! I even let out a squeal right then and there! What joy new life brings! I can happily report, both mom and baby (dad and big sis, too) are all doing great! I love them to the moon and back and cannot be happier for their family!

Over the past year (and more), I have been blessed to be part of their journey of expanding their family - even if just from the sidelines. I wont share their whole story here, as it is theirs to tell. What I will say is that God has taught me a lot through their lives and he never ceases to amaze me. He is the maker of all things and the formation of life is nothing short of a miracle.

Just think about it for a moment.

It is mind-blowing, isn't it? To think, a human life can be formed, nurtured and develop inside another human! Am I the only one that just cant seem to wrap my mind around how amazing this it?! As a nurse, I understand what is happening...you know....heart develops now, ears develop then, toes and fingers sprout here, brain formation occurs, skin and nails appear, kidneys get put there.....I get it. But from 0-9months a seemingly meaningless blob is transformed (inside another person mind you!) into a kicking, screaming, breathing, eating, thinking, hearing, seeing real life person! WOW!! Seriously! It is a miracle! Praise God for this amazing blessing!

So as we celebrate with this wonderful family, I cant help but think of all the other children around the world. Some living in your neighborhood right now. Some living in mine. Some digging for water in Africa. Some wondering where their next meal will come from. Some standing next to you in the line at Walmart. Some raising their younger siblings because they were abandoned by their parents. Some cold with no hope of shelter. Some with parents...some without. Some that appear to "have it all" yet have never heard the name of Jesus. Even the sweet boy born today. Each and every one of them coming to life this same way.

A miracle from God.

Every single one.

Yet not every child knows this great news of how their life came to be. That the God who created the heavens and the earth also created them! How our great God knew them before they were even born. He knit them in their mother's womb. That they are fearfully and wonderfully made. How he knows their every thought. How much he loves them. So much so that he sent his son to die and pay the penalty for our sins so that we may have eternal life with him. I could go on and on. But they have not yet heard.

On Monday, January 20th our dossier was sent to Hungary for translation. Immigration approval arrived that day and we had sent our remaining paperwork to our social worker days before! Talk about timing! :) We are extremely excited to have taken this next step and are anxious for what comes next. So you might be wondering....what does come next? Well, we wait. We wait to be sent a referral and matched with our child. Our child, that has most likely, not yet heard. Not yet heard the great news of our God. News that we are longing to share with them.

So will you pray with us? Pray thinking God for the life he has given - here on earth and for eternity. Thanking God for his overflowing mercy and grace on our undeserving souls. Pray for God's will to be done in our lives. Pray for our lives to make much of God and little of us. Pray for those children who have not yet heard; to hear, believe and trust their lives to our Savior. Pray for their protection for physical/emotional/ spiritual harm. Pray for God to burden the hearts of many to care for orphans. Pray pleading with God to send people to share his good news! Pray for the hearts of those who will hear to be softened to his word. Pray for the transformation of lives and surrendering of hearts to his will. Would you also pray for God's protection over our child. Pray for his provision over the remaining portion of our adoption. Pray for his timing in all things. Pray for God to prepare ours and our child's heart for when we are finally together as a family. Pray for the future salvation of our child.

And lastly, will you pray asking God how he wants you to care for orphans? And then listen.

100 days

The generosity towards our adoption fund of so many friends, family members and strangers has been quite overwhelming at times. It has been such a blessing from the Lord and we thank Him for what he has provided, and what He continues to provide. 

Not only that, we thank Him for how He is providing. For instance, one of our very sweet nephews has decided to help raise funds for our adoption with his "100 days" project at school!

He is asking everyone to save their pop tabs for him. All the tabs will get taken to the recycling center and turned in for cash. Not only that, he has also offered to make a rubber-band bracelet for anyone who donates twelve or more tabs! 

To top it off, over the Christmas holiday one of our other sweet nephews brought us jars stuffed full of pop tabs!! So awesome!! He had us guessing for days as to what might be waiting under that red wrapping paper! :)

The giving and kind hearts of these two boys just warms my soul! Hopefully in the near future they will have another cousin to be sharing their creativity and kind hearts with!!