The Power of A Testimony

I find it fascinating that we have a Father in Heaven who loves His children so much that He will go to such great lengths to show each and every one His great love...even if it means taking ONE FAMILY from across the world and joining them to an ORPHAN who is lonely and desperate for a family so that they can adopt that orphan and give them a home and a family.  That is what He did for each one of us...He adopted us into His family by sending His One and Only Son so that we can follow Him as our Lord, be filled with joy and peace and have a home in Heaven eternally!!! 


Lifesong For Orphans is an adoption ministry that  seeks to equip the church so that each member can provide something for the orphan: 
"some to adopt, some to care, some to give".


Here is a video clip of one family's story... GOD IS SO GOOD!!!





Harper Adoption Story from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.





Just think...He loves each and every one of us as much as that precious baby that He chose for this family!!! All He asks is that we TRUST Him and RECEIVE His love! He amazes me and I stand in AWE of Him and His great LOVE!!!


Jesus, we praise Your Holy Name! I stand in awe of YOU and Your great love! Thank You for being a Father to the fatherless. Thank You for setting the lonely in families. Thank You for raising up so many wonderful ministries to care for the least, the last and the lost - for this is Your Heart! Bless each one of them as they go out in Your Name!


If you are wondering what part God may want you to play in an orphan's life, OR if you want to see where God is at work in the lives of orphans, 
here are some resources that may help! (as well as the links in the sidebar)


http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org/agencies-and-ministries/advocacy/


"if you SPEND yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your LIGHT will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10 (caps mine)


Jesus tells us that we are the LIGHT of the world (Matthew 5:14) 
If we want our light to shine, we must SPEND ourselves 
in behalf of the needy!!! So let's say it together, 
"Here we are Lord! Send us!!!"

Another update...

Last Wednesday we received another precious referral. She was a 10 month old girl with Clubfoot. We had her file locked for 72 hours for medical review. We sent it out to 3 different doctors and we began to pray. We really felt open to her need and excited about her and we decided that we would proceed forward, thinking that this may be the child that God has chosen for us. We asked HIM to open or close the door and give us wisdom based on HIS Will. Well, the very next day (just a few hours before we were about to submit our Letter of Intent to adopt her) we opened our email and our agency let us know that the Chinese Government had done something they had never seen them do - they pulled her file even though we had it locked and placed her with another family who had been following her for a few months. We took that as a clear "No" and we praised HIM who knows ALL THINGS! He already knows our daughter and He made it clear to us that that precious little one is not ours...
and the best part is that He gave her another family!

Friday morning I woke up and felt that Jesus wanted us to gather together and pray with others. So we sent out a few quick texts to a few friends that we thought may be available with such short notice and had them over to pray. We praised HIS Name and worshiped Him...we prayed whatever we felt Him put on our hearts, both for our adoption and for others in the room.

Mostly we just came back to praising and worshiping Him.

Our friend, Jon, shared from 2 Chronicles 20 where King Jehoshaphat was told that a vast army was coming against God's people, so he called a fast and began to praise God. He prayed, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You." (v.12)  Then the LORD raised up a prophet to speak. He said, "This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow march down against them...You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you.' " (v. 14-17)

So early in the morning they rose and Jehoshaphat "appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army saying: 'Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever.' " (v. 21)

"As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; 
no one had escaped." (v. 24)

We all agreed that this is what we felt Jesus did as we all gathered to praise Him...as we worshiped His Name, He accomplished more behind the scenes than we will probably ever know! There is  power in the Name of Jesus! And there is power in PRAISING HIS HOLY NAME!!!  I have no idea what He did on Friday night as we gathered, but I know that He moved mountains in our adoption process - we could feel His Spirit moving mightily!!! He is good all the time :-)

"Ah, Sovereign LORD, You have made the Heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You." Jeremiah 32:17

Adoption Update

We received a referral of a beautiful and precious little girl (12 months old) the other day. She had a cleft lip and cleft palate which would need to be repaired once she got home. We prayed about it and right away we felt the Lord pressing on our hearts to wait and to trust Him. So we called our agency and let them know that we did not feel that she was our daughter. We feel clearly that for right now we are to
"wait" and to "trust". So that is what we are doing  :)

Dear Jesus, please provide a family for that sweet little one.

Jesus is clearly at work...this is not looking at all like what we thought it would. But we feel a TREMENDOUS peace and excitement for what He has ahead. And in this time of waiting, He is drawing our hearts even closer to His ~ and nothing is better than that!

Dear Jesus, we praise You that You are Holy and good and that You hold all things together. You are all that we need! Your love reaches farther and deeper than we can ever imagine. Each and every orphan was knit together in their mother's womb by You and each one is precious to You. Please cover our Kaylee Grace ~ You know her intimately. You know how many hairs are on her head. You knew her before time began...and You knew that You'd bless us with her and entrust us with her precious life so that she may come to know You and feel Your love. Please let her be getting love from her caretakers. Let her be getting quality food that nourishes her body. May You knit our hearts together with hers even now by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Please help us to wait well...may we be patient to wait for Your timing and may we be drawn closer to Your Heart every day! In Jesus' Name, Amen.

"Audacious faith doesn't mean my prayers work every time. It means that God is working even when my prayers don't seem to be working at all." 
Sun Stand Still - Steven Furtick