Merry Christmas from an Undisclosed Country in Africa!

We got a picture update. An adoptive father traveled to help escort families home and was able to visit where our little guy is in foster care. I had assumed that we wouldn't be able to get this update, but was pleasantly surprised to see photos in my inbox. I won't show his face just yet, but I can say that God has answered our prayers...he looks fat and happy! Lots of growth in the last two+ months. He went from 18" to 24" and has big, beautiful feet, which lead me to believe that he may have some height in his genes. What a blessing from God that he has been healthy, safe, and well loved these past few months, and I can't wait to get him in my arms. These 8 pictures were a wonderful Christmas gift!

**Sorry for not disclosing the country or additional information about our adoption. We have been asked to keep blogs private or use minimal information until we return home with our baby/babies (hopefully in the next few months!). Then I'll add lots of pictures and videos.

Prayer for 2011

This song, which has come to mean a lot to me over the recent years, is my prayer for 2011. May it bless you as well.

"Take My Life" by: Francis Havergal

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated Lord to Thee
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them love
At the impulse of They love.
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing,
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

"May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14

Daddy...Daddy...Daddy...

My child, along with I believe all others, spends a great deal of her day saying, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." until I respond, pick her up or otherwise give her the attention she is looking for.

Over the last year, but especially the last few months, I have been praying daily for God to bless us with another baby boy. We have been approved to adopt two children at once, and we have been matched with one. We have been told that there is still a chance that we could be matched with another little boy, so I wait for the phone call.

I have had this desire to adopt two children with this adoption since the very beginning and distinctly remember on Orphan Sunday that Andy read a passage from Isaiah 58 that talks about spending yourself in behalf of the hungry and satisfying the needs of the oppressed. I want to be willing to spend myself on behalf of these kids if that is what God is calling us to...knowing that it could be totally not the right thing...too stressful...damaging to our home life and my sanity...or it might be crazy but wonderful...lucky God knows all things!

So today I started wondering...Do I sound like my child as I pray, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy..." daily for the same thing? Am I annoying Him? But then I thought of a parable in Luke 18. The Parable of the Persistent Widow. It goes like this:

"In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with a plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care much about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming.'

And the Lord said, 'Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.'"

I will continue to bother God for justice in the lives of little orphans and particularly for the lives of any that God wants in this home. I don't know if we'll get that second little boy, but I'm planning on taking a lesson from Elly until I get a No! :)

Ephrem from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

 “What first drew me to this little boy was his sweet round face.  Obviously, he has suffered a great deal from malnutrition.  When we visited the school he and the rest of the children were so focused on their meal.  It’s amazing to see how Lifesong was changing their lives.  After lunch, I found myself surrounded by children playing a name game.  He reached out and kissed my hand.  My heart melted... I think of him daily.” 

Jenny Anderson, Orphan Advocate

Sometimes it can be hard to imagine the hardships that go on around the world.  We sit in our comfortable homes, with pantries full of necessities, and it seems strange that most of the world doesn’t have a pantry, let alone food to fill it.  But for millions of children in Africa this is their reality.  Hunger is a part of their daily lives.  Then add the fact that many of these children are also orphaned, either by death or abandonment… it’s almost more than we can bear.  It’s hard to go there mentally and we protect our hearts by pretending it doesn’t exist.  But it does.  Children are suffering.

Little Ephrem is one of those children.  Born in Ethiopia, his father is now dead and his mother disappeared years ago.  He was taken into his grandmother’s care, but she has struggled to provide for him.  At 4 years old, Ephrem is extremely small for his age, and most likely suffers from a type of growth disorder, though the lack of specialized medical care keeps us from knowing for sure.  And since he has been malnourished most of his life, it is no wonder his health is affected.
Praise the Lord, Ephrem is now enrolled in Lifesong’s Adami Tulu Nursery School, where he is getting two meals a day and seems to be flourishing under the care of his teachers.  His sweet demeanor and precious smile easily capture your heart.

Bring joy and purpose this Christmas season to children like Ephrem around the world!

*Want to use your blog to advocate for the fatherless? Click here to learn more.

Object lessons from a temper tantrum

My sweet daughter, Elly, who usually looks like this......has much more often been looking like this lately...The other night, she was set on shutting the door to our tv cabinet, though Andy was watching it. Elly knew that she was doing something that she wasn't supposed to, so Andy calmly placed his foot in such a way that she could not shut the door. She grunted, yelled, cried, pushed...it didn't matter what she did because her dad, who was calmly and lovingly looking at her, is much stronger than she is. I watched this scene play out and saw how red and angry my daughter's face became, and I began to wonder if that is what I look like to my Father sometimes. He calmly and lovingly puts a stop to my plans because His are better. I sometimes grunt, complain, yell, and get red in the face wanting my way rather than trusting in the Giver of all good gifts. I want MY timing, MY way, MY dreams...believing that I know best...forgetting that God works all things together for His glory and my good. If the waiting in this adoption has taught me anything, it is that I am forced to wait on God's time and not mine....on His plans and not mine. I have no control over when our son comes home, whether we receive a referral for a second boy, when we pass court, when we travel, what our adjustment looks like, and on, and on, and on. I may kick and scream and turn red in the face, but He is the one actually in control...and I really hope that my face (and Elly's) look a lot more like that first picture than the second!

Jehovah Jireh

One of the many names of the LORD is Jehovah Jireh, which means "The Lord who Provides." Andy and I had the privilege of teaching at a Christian school for several years and were able to see first hand how God is Jehovah Jireh. Every year by March or April, the school would be out of money, and the staff would start praying for paychecks. Praise God that we never missed one and that He showed us that when we trust Him in prayer, He can meet all our needs. In one particular instance, the school had a need for over $60,000 by Friday. Two of the administrative staff took that Monday afternoon off to pray. There was no possible way that the expenses could be met if God didn't provide. Wednesday morning, there was a check in one of their mailboxes, postmarked for that Monday morning for over $75,000. The Lord answered their prayers before they had even begun to pray that day.

Cognitively I know that God can and does provide; however, when I was the one in need, having to trust God's provision, it became a little more difficult. With our adoption, we have needed to raise funds. And though I believe that God can provide, the thoughts of doubt have repeatedly crept into my mind...What if He doesn't? How will we come up with the remaining funds? What if it costs more than we anticipate? etc...and yet, ever-faithfully, the Lord provides.

Last night, we received a call from a good friend Matt whose job is to work with wealthy people and help them to give more of their money away. Needless to say, Matt is not only generous himself, but he takes great delight in seeing others give. He called last night to tell us what his boss had given him for Christmas. This boss had been wracking his brain along with his family, trying to come up with a great gift for Matt. Through Matt, this man and his family knew of us and of our adoption. So as his gift, they decided that they would donate $1,000 to our adoption on Matt's behalf, knowing that Matt would love to see them bless us for Christmas. Oh how the Lord provides! A virtual stranger is meeting our needs because of the generous prompting of our Jehovah Jireh.

Psalm 50: 10 says "For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." The Lord owns it all and is able and willing to meet your needs and mine. Our Jehovah Jireh is gracious and faithful...to Him be the glory!

Why?

1. Why blog? There are a million and one blogs out there. And there certainly doesn't need to be another one. Yet the idea of starting a blog has been stirring in me recently. Maybe by sharing what God is teaching me, others will be encouraged. So, here it goes.

2. Why Oaks and Arrows? This title came from my creative husband, and it refers to two verses, which refer to specific prayers for our children. Isaiah 61: 3 "They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." This particular verse has been my prayer for our son, who isn't home yet. I have prayed since we started the adoption process that he would be an oak of righteousness...a mature, deeply rooted, fruitful follower of Christ. For Elly, I have prayed that she would be like Francis Havergal, the author of the hymn "Take My Life." My prayer has been that she will able to say like Francis: Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee...that all of Elly's talents, gifts, and abilities will be used for God's glory and not her own. Psalm 127 talks about the blessing of children and describes godly children as being like arrows in the hands of warriors...in other words useful/fruitful, just as I pray that Elly is.