HOST YOUR OWN EVENT IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN THE AREA: Get out your 147 gear (stuff you already have so people can feel and touch it) OR BUY A 147 KIT (https://www.147millionorphans.com/Host-a-147-Event_ep_46.html) ... Tell them why SPEAKING UP FOR ORPHANS is important to you, tell about 147, and then open your laptop and let people order online (SO SIMPLE) ... 

FREE multi-colored UGANDAN necklace for all purchases over $50 on APRIL 5TH !!! JOIN THE 147 TEAM !!! 

FOUR new spring shirts with colors that will surely draw people's eyes to the message of 147!!!  Our new athletic line, two new burlap bags (sassy sak and clutch purse) and new baseball hat are coming SOON !!! OUR GOAL IS ALWAYS A CLEAR MESSAGE ... Opening people's eyes to the orphans of the world ... Living out our love for them ... and Providing needs such as food, water, and medicine ... Thanks for always locking arms and hearts w/ us ... 147millionorphans.com 

“I, Scott Oatsvall, before God, commit myself to raise you Jeremiah Oatsvall, to be a man of God.
 I promise to love you, impart God’s wisdom to you, spend time with you, have
fun with you, and be the strategic dad you need me to be. I promise to lead you, in action and in speech so help me God. Amen".

This was a amazing day. Here is part of what our manhood ceremony looked like. I chose 8 men of faith to write a letter to Jeremiah encouraging him to be the man God has called him to be. We all met at FRA and one by one each man walked with Jeremiah and called forth in him the great potential that God has placed in him. Once the last man had finished there walk with him,we all met back up in a big room where we all gave him our personal pledge to be a mentor and friend to him . I then gave him his plaque and gave him the definition of manhood. 3H- Hungry, Humble, Holy. I then read Ephesians 6:10-18 and gave him his sword. We then called him to be a part of our group and all gave him a blessing. This was one of the most powerful and fruitful days of my life.

Any dad who may be interested in this type of ceremony for their son, I will be glad to share the details with you. One last thought...DADS DO THIS FOR YOUR SON, IT WILL CHANGE THEIR LIFE!!!

I am over the moon excited that Suzanne and I will be going to see Katie in June ... It has been too long since the 3 of us have been together ... We are going to laugh, cry, serve God's children, play w/ Katie's girls (aka ... my nieces), eat chocolate, drink warm COKE LITE, take walks, visit the Karamojong women who make the bead necklaces, and just BE TOGETHER ...

My family thinks of Katie all during our week ... It is funny how she is so far away, yet a part of our daily life ... We watch her example there and do our best to be good stewards here ... We hear her stories and do our best here to share God's heart for the orphan ... and WE PRAY FOR HER !!!

She and the girls are part of our family no matter how far away they are ...  !!!

I am not even going to try and put words on this post of exactly how I feel  ... I have been a bit weepy all day, but in a joyful way ... Jeremiah turns 13 today ... I think of all the first with him - first word "DaDa", first sentence "Det dat ball" and first step "at a basketball game" ... I remember Scott praying over me when the doctors said the cord was around his neck and we needed to do a C-section ... I was so afraid and yet I knew God was in control ... The moment I saw Jeremiah for the first time was one of the happiest moments of my life .... He was everything I had dreamed about and more !!! I remember how then and evert day now he makes me feel special as his mother  ...

He is my heart and the ONE who made me a mother first ... He is truly the best parts of both Scott and I ... His love for others and they way he loves his brothers and sisters is humbling to me ... He gives so much !!! I love this age with him ... We have great talks, laugh, and just hang out together ... We talk about dreams for his future and what it will be like when he gets a car or he loves to talk about going back to Uganda to see Katie and the girls ... He is simply the best and I want to thank him for teaching me so much and for all his sweet hugs and kisses ...

I am going to borrow this theme from my BFF Emily - You see she said something on the phone to me last night that completely described how I feel about "adoption" and how it has changed the course and legacy of our family ...

You see, Emily is one of my faith giants (I don't put her on a pedestal, but I do look to her for encouragement on how to follow Christ) ... I have watched her and her family take a journey that most would never take and they do it w/ a JOY that is contagious ... She said to me last night how adopting ABE rescued her marriage and her family.   Now don't go putting her on some PRAYER list, because there was nothing wrong w/ her marriage or family before ABE came into their life, except that they lived in normal, self-serving, and lukewarm life - just like the OATSVALL'S and I am sure many others out there ... I can look at our life now and think about how each of my adopted angels rescued us in a deeper way and allowed us to sink our teeth into Christ, to see Him more clearly, and to HEAR his call on our life in a loud booming way ... Emily allowed me to see the face of JESUS for the first time, Maggie showed me a small glimpse of how DEEPLY God loves us unconditionally and wants to heal us, Joseph shows me a JOY that I have never experience before, and Daisy makes me understand the true meaning of mercy and grace (EACH DAY FOR SURE) ... And because of that rescuing - we now have the honor to go and SPEAK UP for the 147 Million other orphans out there ... The privilege of being RESCUED is the ability to go out to SHARE the JOY God has given you with others that are hurting, alone, or hungry ...

Please don't get caught up in the political correctness of WORDS like rescue, save, real, or anything else that would hinder you from EXPERIENCING the fullness of the LORD ... to miss his small still whispers !!!

It hits me like a brick at least once or twice a week about the type of life Emily, Maggie, Joseph, or Daisy would have had if we had not brought them home ... I don't say that as any form of YEAH ME, but as a reminder that I was called to be there MOTHER by CHRIST, but I could have just as easily said NO, because Christ gave me free will ... I am thankful that I listened and that HARD is a place that I live these days ... I am thankful for the change in my family and the direction we are going ...

Now that I have been RESCUED, I want to be GOD'S AGENT for change of others ... And I am always up for being RESCUED again and again and again ... Because let's face it ... I am a bit hard headed and need reminding of how AMAZING MY SAVOIR is ... I need to never forget why I am here on this earth for a very short time ...

How BIG do we want 147 to grow ???  It is funny how we get asked this by business professionals, people in the adoption/orphan world or just people in general ... I really want to laugh because when they asked me that question I am usually thinking about who has the next doctor's appt. or how am I going to get the laundry done this week or praying there are NO school projects due ...

147 Million Orphans has brought so much joy to our life ... I totally get excited when a family brings home their child after fundraising with us, when TIM MCGRAW wore our shirt on the CMA's, when we write checks to ministries to help provide food, medicine, or water or when a grandmother buys one of our shirts so she can share about her NEW GRANDCHILD or seeing our MAYVALL BAG in People Magazine that sweet John Jigo makes and the list could go on and on, but on a day to day basis, I am a wife and a mom to 6 amazing children ... I am THINKER AND PLANNER and if I don't watch it, then 147 can take over my life and leave little room for the family God has blessed me with ...

Here is what I love about GOD ... He OWNS 147 and can grow it however HE wants to ... He has blessed us this year w/ Russ, Scott, and others to help us grow 147, while still allowing us to be the MOM's God has called us to be ... Jan and Michelle sit w/ Suzanne and I each week and we decide who is doing what ... We share the LOAD so that we can all still be who GOD wants us to be ...

So I guess in my mind it isn't so much where 147 is going, but WHO IS LEADING IT ...

Tonight while I am bathing the 4 littles (all of whom have different hair products and lotions) my mind may wonder to the next 147 EVENT or a family in-country bringing their child home or what I can create to sell more gear so we can FEED more children, but I will be doing that while my eyes look into the face of my CHILD ... whether they are crying, laughing, screaming, or being goofy - I DON'T WANT TO MISS IT ... Time is but a vapor and with Jeremiah turning 13 this weekend, I am realizing more and more that I want to be PRESENT in my daily life !!!


SO WHERE IS 147 GOING ... Like everything else in my life ... WHERE EVER GOD WANTS IT TO GO ...

I want to be transformed in my heart by the spirit of the Lord and not of this world ... It is so easy to feel bombarded with things of this world that sometimes I can't even see that I am being swayed one way or another ... I want to be transformed in my heart so that my eyes can tell the difference ...

I want things that seem scary or hard from the world's point of view, but are joyful to the LORD to catch my attention and my time ... I want thoughts that enter my mind as little whispers from the LORD to be acted upon and not debated ...

I just wanted to be transformed for the glory of the LORD and spread the truth of HIS word ...

Biggest questioned we get asked ... ARE YOU ADOPTING AGAIN ???

Answer ... We are open to whatever GOD wants ...

Biggest question we should all asked ourselves ... ARE YOU HEARING HIS VOICE and not the world's CHATTER 


THIS IS A CHALLENGE FOR MYSELF ... be IN the world not OF the world ... such a small word, but makes a big difference ... 


have a blessed week ... 

THANKS FOR SPEAKING UP GUYS !!!!  Your families are beautiful !!!

147 Million Orphans with Barbara Collins/Madre Minutes from Barbara Collins on Vimeo.

I just left hearing Denver Moore and Ron Hall share about God at an event to benefit the NASHVILLE RESCUE MISSION ...They are the authors of SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME ...  I met Denver and Ron ... Shaking Denver's hand and looking into his beautiful old brown eyes,  I heard the LORD whisper to me, "DON'T MISS ME (LORD) RIGHT HERE."  ...  Ron shared their story which I remembered from reading the book and then Denver got up and began speaking ... I was paralyzed by his words ...  The way he presents his message is unmistakably prophetic ... IT WAS GOD'S MESSAGE TO ME and all that were in the room ... I had a tissue wiping away the tears as I was taking NOTES (not something I typically do at a fundraiser) ... I had to soak it up and was fearful I would miss something ...

I was in desperate need to have my cup filled and now I feel drenched ... NO LONGER PARCHED from a long week or should I say a long few months ...

Ron shared so many things that God has showed him through Denver ... The story of the Samaritan - It  isn't just about how it will effect US if we don't stop and help -love someone in need, but IT IS ALSO ABOUT WHAT WILL HAVE TO THEM IF WE DON'T ... What will happen to the orphan, the widow, the homeless man/woman/child, or the person in prison IF WE DON'T STOP!!! WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THEM !!!

Denver quickly points out that if there are 6000 homeless people in FORTH WORTH and 6501 churches that the answer is simple - each church takes one and the others just won't get one ... I MEAN HOW SIMPLE !!! We don't need a governmental program, committee, or years of planning to solve the problem of the LEAST, the LOST, or the LAST - We are the body of Christ and have HIS POWER in us ...

I laughed at this comment - BECAUSE IT IS SO TRUE ... He talked about how we sure do have a lot of BIBLE STUDIES, but not much BIBLE DOIN !!! I mean how honest and perceptive is that !!!

Here was another IN MY FACE analogy  ... He talks about how we worship a homeless man (Jesus) on Sunday and then ignore them on Monday - walk past them, don't look at them, are disgusted by them, judge them and so much more !!!

It really is all about RESETTING our compass ... Denver ended his talk by singing a song to us ... It was so rich, soulful, and piercing to my heart ... HE ASKED US TO ALL PRAY FOR HIM ... He talked about how being important to God means Satan is going to attack and would love our prayers ...

I hope I got my thoughts clear enough because I am so overwhelm with excitement at feeling that I was refreshed with some really strong TRUTH tonight ...

THANK YOU LORD FOR ALLOWING ME TO SEE YOU TONIGHT !!!

READ ... SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME, Radical, CRAZY LOVE, Dream Giver, THE HELP, Fields of the Fatherless, Sacred, JESUS CALLING, The whole in the gospel, THE FORGOTTEN GOD, Choosing to See by my friend Mary Beth Chapman, and that is just to name a few of my favorites ...

I am reading ONE THOUSAND GIFTS right now ... I am not going to recommend it quite yet ... It is a hard read for me because of all the flowery technique she uses to write with, but her MESSAGE is incredible ... GIVING THANKS ALL DAY LONG and being JOYFUL right where you are - IT IS A MESSAGE WE ALL NEED ... This analogy was strong and hit me square in the heart - if you want to remove the nails in your life that bring sadness, bitterness, regret, discontentment, etc ... then flip the board over and start pounding in NAILS of thanksgiving in ... This will root out the nails from the other side ...

I haven't starting writing out my 1000 list of THANKSGIVING yet, but I am mentally being more aware right now ... FRONT PARKING SPACE at the YMCA, the SUNSHINE, my PICTURES that decorate my desk from my children, the prayers of my HUSBAND for me, THE ACHE THAT SITS IN MY HEART FOR ORPHANS, birthday cake, basketball games, Rose getting a family, and my list goes on and on !!!

I will let ya know when I finish ... If you are reading a MUST READ ... please share it w/ me !!!

HAPPY FRIDAY !!!