Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:3-10).

Imagine for a moment that you’re adopting a child. As you meet with the social worker in the last stage of the process, you’re told that this 12-year-old has been in and out of psychotherapy since he was three. He persists in burning things, and attempting repeatedly to skin animals alive. He “acts out sexually,” the social worker says, although she doesn’t really fill you in on what that means. She continues with a little family history. This boy’s father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather all had histories of violence, ranging from spousal abuse to serial murder. Each of them ended their own lives. Think for a minute. Would you want this child? If you did adopt him, wouldn’t you watch nervously as he played with your other children? Would you watch him nervously as he looks at the knife on the kitchen table? Would you leave the room as he watched a movie on TV with your daughter, with the lights out?

Well he’s you. And he’s me. That’s what the Gospel is telling us.

I have had the privilege of meeting many foster moms over the past two years as I travel around w/ 147 and the look in their eyes is something I wish I could bottle ... They have a strength and a love that is unmeasurable ...

I had a very short, yet special season as an interim care mom for my adoption agency and got to love on 3 sweet angels until their forever families were found ... Here is a phrase I heard over and over again from people as they  would OOOOHHHHH AND AAAAAAAAHHHHHH over these little babies I was holding and it was, "Oh, I could never do that because I wouldn't be able to give them up."  ... I can only imagine how often full time foster moms here this and it struck me as odd that people would infer that they LOVE so much greater than a foster mom, so therefore they couldn't do that job ... When in reality it takes the act of SELFLESSNESS to give your life away to a child.  To put their need for safety, love, food, and home over the pain that will come when they leave ... And foster parents do this over and over and over again ...

 FOSTER MOMS (and Dads) are among the most selfless and loving people on this earth ... They sacrifice their hearts everyday to give a child the love of family.  They bridge the gap for a time in a child's life when they have NO ONE to look out for them ... They include them in their lives as if they will be there forever (knowing many times that is impossible according to our court systems) ... They pray and dedicate so much of their life to just GIVING IT AWAY to children and many times will never receive anything in return ...

They are Gods walking angels here on earth ...  I applaud all foster families that STEP UP and STEP IN when needed ... Your hearts are truly a testament to the way CHRIST loves !!!

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 could write a really long post, but the point is to BE AVAILABLE to the LORD and say YES to whatever he is asking of you, say YES to what scripture says for you to do, and know that JOY like you have never experienced is waiting ...

I have a lot of areas to work on, but I try my best to always BE AVAILABLE ... I don't want to miss the BLESSINGS that God has for me by being afraid, unprepared, or just plain ole selfish !!!

simple message for a very important season of THANKSGIVING ...

We are always working for ways to spread the 147 mission ... grab our new button (to right on the sidebar)  and check out the COOL NEW way for Adoptive Families to fundraise  ... You will get your own 147 link to share and we will do all the work for you and send your agency a check every quarter ...

We don't really celebrate Gotcha Days around here because we celebrate each persons birthday ... It is just our tradition, but on this day every year I thank GOD for blinding me to all that was to come w/ our sweet Maggie ... If her file had said all the TRUTHS about her condition, I don't think I would have felt strong enough to handle it ... God knew I would use all that HE had to offer me as a mother and that I would be the perfect tool to heal her little heart and body ... AND I WAS !!!  WE WERE THE PERFECT FAMILY TO LOVE HER and heal her ... What a journey we have been on and I wouldn't trade one moment of it for anything ... She is my precious precious princess ... Every night before she goes to bed I say and she repeats after me ... I AM PRECIOUS, I AM SMART, I AM BEAUTIFUL, I AM A DANCING BALLERINA,  I AM A STINKER, AND JESUS MADE ME !!!

Enjoy this look into our little Maggie

Today many will be focused on the ORPHAN and my biggest prayer is that it will resonate so heavy on people's hearts that they will make everyday about CARING FOR THE LEAST OF THESE ... It doesn't matter whether you are a stay home mother, teacher, doctor, trash collector, or sales clerk - you can do something for THE LEAST OF THESE ... Whatever It Takes should be our theme when it comes to orphans ...

If an Orphan is hunger then we would say ... WHATEVER IT TAKES to get them food

If an Orphan is sick then we would say ... WHATEVER IT TAKES to get them meds

If an Orphan is thirsty then we would say ... WHATEVER IT TAKES to get them water

If an Orphan is needs a family then we would say ... WHATEVER IT TAKES to get them a family

If an Orphans needs a roof over their heads to be safe at night then we would say ... WHATEVER IT TAKES to get them a home

If an Orphan needs love then we would say ... WHATEVER IT TAKES to get them love


As my sweet friend Katie said ... ISN'T EVERY DAY ABOUT CARING FOR ORPHANS !!!

PRAY DOWN THE NUMBER W/ ME AT 1:47 (every day)