Monday, November 21, 2011
What Are You Waiting For ???
I spent so much of my life just BEING, so I get that I can be over passionate about helping orphans, talking about adoption, or just desiring so much for people to see THE GREAT NEED in this world ... I just want you to join me (if you haven't already) and find your place of service (the place of true JOY) ... I will be honest, there are many times I am talking with some one and I have a smile on my face, but really on the inside I am screaming DON'T JUST BE ... I have heard every excuse under the moon about WHY people don't (>>>>>>>) ... It is like people see my crazy beautiful family coming and they start talking immediately in an uncomfortable nervous way about how they aren't called TO MY KIND OF LIFE ... Scott will be the first one to tell you he never felt CALLED to our kind of life, but he does know what the bible says and he knew that if I felt CALLED to adopt then our family would be OBEDIENT ...
I know people who have dedicated their lives to serving homeless people, or to building homes for impoverished families, or travel the world to perform life saving surgeries ... There are endless places to love on hurting people ... THE NEED is huge and there has never been a better time for families to say I WILL WELCOME A LITTLE CHILD INTO MY FAMILY IN YOUR NAME JESUS ...
Has it ever occurred to you that it is okay to not have all the WARM AND FUZZYS about adopting, but that giving a child a home, love, and safety is biblical ... That making sure they have food, water, shelter, and safety is a great way to honor the LORD with the gifts he has given you ...
Has it ever occurred to you that horrific things are happening daily to children where their innocence and their hope are being robbed from them and if you were standing there most everyone would stand up and stand in to make sure that didn't happen !!! The problem is that we pretend we don't know and since we can't see it daily we just ignore it ... This is SO WRONG on many levels ... People say, "How does God let these things happen" and my answer would be that he asks us the same question ... He has given us every tool needed to take the epidemics of orphaned children, homeless people, lonely widows, and impoverished families and help change their future ... Show them grace, show them the LOVE of Christ, and make them disciples that will go and share their story of HOPE. Can we cure all the hurts and wrongs of the world ??? Well that is a discussion for another day ...
I feel so redundant at times on my blog because I seem to say the same thing over and over just in different words, but my desire is for people not to waste so much time BEING (like I did) and start DOING ... I had a family member recently tell my they FELT SORRY FOR ME and that sadden my heart more than I can say ... They obviously don't get that my life is FULL OF JOY ... chaotic, stressful, tiresome, and crazy, but OH SO BLESSED ...
How empty my life would have been had Scott and I not understood and obeyed scripture ... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? my life is one big ole THANKSGIVING FEAST !!! I still have those AHA moments when I share about all I have seen or experienced over the past 7 years that I can't believe it actually happened and is still happening to me ... A girl from the projects in Smyrna, TN ... A girl who had never left the country except for a couple of trips to Mexico ... A girl who had never dreamed of having 6 kids ... A girl who never knew her GOD STORY would inspire others ... A girl who married her high school sweet heart and dreamed of being PR executive in some big firm in California ... YEP, God took little ole me and took my life from just BEING to extraordinary and all because I said yes, to his plan !!!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ???? Just open your bible and do what it says !!! and if you have, then do it again and again and again ... It is never over, but a great adventure !!! I think sometimes that through 147 Million Orphans I have been able to help build water wells for people to have clean water, I have helped provided funds for children to get food and medicine, and I have helped hundreds of families fundraise for their adoption so that they could bring home their child !!! This blows me away everyday because on my husband's teacher's salary we would have never been able to help do all those things, but because GOD took a t-shirt and two moms (Suz and myself) and SAID THIS IS GOOD, I have been blessed to be a part of a bigger picture ... I get to use the resources God has provided and daily show HIS love !!!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ??? don't say after the NEW YEAR ... don't say after the kids get in college or out of diapers ... don't say after this or that debt is paid off ... don't say that is not for me ...
WIDOWS, ORPHANS, HOMELESS PEOPLE, HUNGRY PEOPLE, AND DYING PEOPLE are worth our resources, our time, our love, and open arms !!!
I know people who have dedicated their lives to serving homeless people, or to building homes for impoverished families, or travel the world to perform life saving surgeries ... There are endless places to love on hurting people ... THE NEED is huge and there has never been a better time for families to say I WILL WELCOME A LITTLE CHILD INTO MY FAMILY IN YOUR NAME JESUS ...
Has it ever occurred to you that it is okay to not have all the WARM AND FUZZYS about adopting, but that giving a child a home, love, and safety is biblical ... That making sure they have food, water, shelter, and safety is a great way to honor the LORD with the gifts he has given you ...
Has it ever occurred to you that horrific things are happening daily to children where their innocence and their hope are being robbed from them and if you were standing there most everyone would stand up and stand in to make sure that didn't happen !!! The problem is that we pretend we don't know and since we can't see it daily we just ignore it ... This is SO WRONG on many levels ... People say, "How does God let these things happen" and my answer would be that he asks us the same question ... He has given us every tool needed to take the epidemics of orphaned children, homeless people, lonely widows, and impoverished families and help change their future ... Show them grace, show them the LOVE of Christ, and make them disciples that will go and share their story of HOPE. Can we cure all the hurts and wrongs of the world ??? Well that is a discussion for another day ...
I feel so redundant at times on my blog because I seem to say the same thing over and over just in different words, but my desire is for people not to waste so much time BEING (like I did) and start DOING ... I had a family member recently tell my they FELT SORRY FOR ME and that sadden my heart more than I can say ... They obviously don't get that my life is FULL OF JOY ... chaotic, stressful, tiresome, and crazy, but OH SO BLESSED ...
How empty my life would have been had Scott and I not understood and obeyed scripture ... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? my life is one big ole THANKSGIVING FEAST !!! I still have those AHA moments when I share about all I have seen or experienced over the past 7 years that I can't believe it actually happened and is still happening to me ... A girl from the projects in Smyrna, TN ... A girl who had never left the country except for a couple of trips to Mexico ... A girl who had never dreamed of having 6 kids ... A girl who never knew her GOD STORY would inspire others ... A girl who married her high school sweet heart and dreamed of being PR executive in some big firm in California ... YEP, God took little ole me and took my life from just BEING to extraordinary and all because I said yes, to his plan !!!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ???? Just open your bible and do what it says !!! and if you have, then do it again and again and again ... It is never over, but a great adventure !!! I think sometimes that through 147 Million Orphans I have been able to help build water wells for people to have clean water, I have helped provided funds for children to get food and medicine, and I have helped hundreds of families fundraise for their adoption so that they could bring home their child !!! This blows me away everyday because on my husband's teacher's salary we would have never been able to help do all those things, but because GOD took a t-shirt and two moms (Suz and myself) and SAID THIS IS GOOD, I have been blessed to be a part of a bigger picture ... I get to use the resources God has provided and daily show HIS love !!!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ??? don't say after the NEW YEAR ... don't say after the kids get in college or out of diapers ... don't say after this or that debt is paid off ... don't say that is not for me ...
WIDOWS, ORPHANS, HOMELESS PEOPLE, HUNGRY PEOPLE, AND DYING PEOPLE are worth our resources, our time, our love, and open arms !!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!! Be a blessing to someone today !!!
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17 kind words.:
Thankful for your words and the ways you share your passion "over and over." God led me to your blog in 2010and used these words (and all the 147 million gear I saw in the Franklin area) to open my eyes and heart to the orphan crisis and adoption. How I did not know this as a Christian??? At that time, I had many excuses and did not think God was calling us to "that kind of life." God had other plans and we are almost through our homestudy to adopt an older/waiting child (or 2) from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Keep sharing your passion--it may be the first blog post about adoption and orhphans someone reads!
AMEN!!!!
I totally feel the same all the time!!!!!!
Hey, we are on our way to the the next child/children right now!!! SOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see who God puts in our family next!!!
Thank you 147 million times. Your words. Awesome. What we. Needed. To. Hear. Love it.
Beautiful!
Amen!
Keep preachin' sister!
AMEN AMEN AMEN!
"Has it ever occurred to you that it is okay to not have all the WARM AND FUZZYS about adopting, but that giving a child a home, love, and safety is biblical ... That making sure they have food, water, shelter, and safety is a great way to honor the LORD with the gifts he has given you ..."
You wrote that just for me. We have 2 sons adopted from Ethiopia (at age 6). I love them dearly...but some days (yesterday and today being 2 of them) I just don't have those "ooey gooey, lovey dovey" feelings about them. I get tired of correcting English and teaching gratitude and combating greediness. So thank you for reminding me that on some days I'm still honoring God just by being faithful and DOING the necessary things for them.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Amen and I'm ALL IN sister! Keep shoutin' the TRUTH!
:) You make me smile Gwen. You are spunky and passionate and REAL and funny and honest and sometimes vulnerable and human. You make people all over the world feel like they can know you and be your friend. I haven't been keeping up with blogs much, but just read Katie's book and OH MY! God prints all over every page! He is using that book to open eyes and ears and hearts to surrender to HIS will! Annointed...the book! I am no longer blogging publicly...long story. Thanks for being Gwen..and for sharing that with the world.
Don't grow weary in your journey friend..for you will reap a huge reward...and the enemy would love to snatch it from you.
Hugs,
Holly (Hope+)
So thankful for people like you who aren't afraid to just SAY IT LIKE IT IS!!
amazing words, so how i feel :)
I have just discovered your blog and 147 million. we have just started the process to adopt from Uganda. And you are so right, what are we waiting for. My husband and I have been married for 8 years, we have 4 biological children and adoption has always been in the plan. Finally we said those exact words to ourselves after hearing Katie Davis speak about a month ago-"what are we waiting for!" It encourages me to see your family, I may be an odd ball in my circle but there are others who are cultural oddballs to and how wonderful to be able to connect! :}
you are RIGHT ON...preach it!!!! I am reposting...:) love and hugs, keep it up!!
Jennifer Morrison
www.oursweetleap.blogspot.com
www.fulltummyproject.org
Amen, sister! Keep sayin' it in your beautiful southern way :) :)
:-)
You were a blessing to me, today!
Giving thanks for you.
Pray for those of us who are part of a union where only one half is passionate and the other half doesn't want to hear.
You are so right!! LOVE your insight on lack of "warm fuzzies."
I have never commented on your blog but have followed you for awhile. Just thought that the song "Walk on the water" by Britt Nicole, goes with your post! :) If you haven't heard it, you should listen to it! God Bless!