No, we aren't pregnant!
I received the long-awaited phone call on Friday from our adoption agency that the family "before" us (in the intangible cue) was able to receive their adoption decree by power of attorney. What does this mean for us? This means that we can go to court in Ghana, without actually having to go to court in Ghana! So, no 10 day trip for us in September! I am so excited about this for 2 reasons...1) it saves us $3000 on plane tickets and 2) I was really not looking forward to spending a week with Akwasi, only to have to leave him and come home for 6-8 weeks.
Now our tentative schedule, hopefully to happen in November, looks like this:
Saturday- fly in and gain custody of our little boy!!!!! =) !!!!!
Monday- visa interview
Thursday- hopefully receive visa
Saturday or Sunday- get back home with our precious Akwasi in arms =)
What's amazing about all this is that God is doing a miracle! I prayed several months ago for God to miraculously make this a one-trip adoption, even though it's never really been done that way. I didn't want to leave the kids twice, pay airfare twice, all those things. God is so good to answer a prayer of mine that I almost thought was impossible, but remembered Jesus' words
Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "move from here to there", and it will move. Nothing is impossible for you. (Matthew 17:19-21)
Monday, August 29, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
What is the point of praying?
Gotta share this amazing story! I found a prayer journal of mine from 2004. We were living in Iceland, had no children yet, and I was praying for God's will for Jeremey & I's life together to start happening! We had no plans of getting out of the military, or of moving to South Dakota. I prayed in March 2004 that God would open the door one day for Jeremey and I to have a ministry together (in my mind, I was asking for 18 years down the road, when I "knew" Jeremey would be retiring from the Air Force). When I prayed that, I wrote down that God was showing me a picture of a youth group and I didn't understand what that meant.
4 months later, the base we were stationed at closed down. We were given two choices on where we could move. Clovis, New Mexico or Rapid City, South Dakota. Jeremey had to decide on the spot, there was no time to think it over- so he went with his gut feeling and chose South Dakota. Little did we know the Lord's plans for us here. Not 5 years later we are out of the military, and serving God in full time ministry which we STINKIN LOVE! Before you go thinking, aw how cute their life is perfect....there are frustrations! Like the constant attacks from Satan, dude is that getting old! And I kind of feel like Moses when He was telling God, "but I am not a good speaker, why would you send me to talk to Pharoah. Please send someone else!" Except I have said... God, I don't really like people sometimes! They frustrate me! I can hardly deal with myself! Why would you put me in ministry when people drive me nuts?! lol probably to teach me a lesson on how to love people more. That's God for ya.
Even more so, I can feel that God is preparing me for something. I am praying huge prayers of faith, like I did in 2004 and I know I will see them come to fruition. I can't handle 3 kids, or 4 kids, not on my own anyway. But God is with me and He is stretching me, preparing me, working my heart everyday like a piece of clay in his hand until He gets it ready for use. Not that I'm not being used now, but boy do I have a ways to go before I am ready for a new purpose.
When we moved here, I read about Pine Ridge Reservation. My heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest as I read. I told Jeremey, " one day I want to go there, do something for God." He wasn't so excited because of the level of danger and kind of discouraged the idea. I of course, with my stubborn nature, prayed anyway. Fast forward 5 years, and God has ordered our steps and for the first time, my feet landed on the ground in Pine Ridge just a couple weeks ago. The Dream Center has been built. God is doing something, and has been doing something HUGE on Pine Ridge for the last decade, but something new is happening. Prayers are being answered, lives are going to be changed. Jeremey and I are soooo very excited to be forming a coalition of youth pastors who will help make this happen. God is so good.
Another prayer answered- I am going back to college to finish my bachelor's in elementary education. I got Pell Grants (thank you Jesus!) and FAFSA loans to cover the rest- but we were looking at $19,000 of loans. Which didn't thrill me, but I was moving forward. My prayer has been that I will get to teach at a low income school, well come to find out the government has a program where if I work at a low income school for 5 years they will forgive $17,500 of my student loans. WHOA! So for $1500 I am going to finish my degree! Did I mention GOD IS GOOD!? Every single one of the schools on my list (General Beadle, Pine Ridge Elementary, and Black Hills Children's Home) are on the government list for this program.
THAT IS THE POINT OF PRAYING!
4 months later, the base we were stationed at closed down. We were given two choices on where we could move. Clovis, New Mexico or Rapid City, South Dakota. Jeremey had to decide on the spot, there was no time to think it over- so he went with his gut feeling and chose South Dakota. Little did we know the Lord's plans for us here. Not 5 years later we are out of the military, and serving God in full time ministry which we STINKIN LOVE! Before you go thinking, aw how cute their life is perfect....there are frustrations! Like the constant attacks from Satan, dude is that getting old! And I kind of feel like Moses when He was telling God, "but I am not a good speaker, why would you send me to talk to Pharoah. Please send someone else!" Except I have said... God, I don't really like people sometimes! They frustrate me! I can hardly deal with myself! Why would you put me in ministry when people drive me nuts?! lol probably to teach me a lesson on how to love people more. That's God for ya.
Even more so, I can feel that God is preparing me for something. I am praying huge prayers of faith, like I did in 2004 and I know I will see them come to fruition. I can't handle 3 kids, or 4 kids, not on my own anyway. But God is with me and He is stretching me, preparing me, working my heart everyday like a piece of clay in his hand until He gets it ready for use. Not that I'm not being used now, but boy do I have a ways to go before I am ready for a new purpose.
When we moved here, I read about Pine Ridge Reservation. My heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest as I read. I told Jeremey, " one day I want to go there, do something for God." He wasn't so excited because of the level of danger and kind of discouraged the idea. I of course, with my stubborn nature, prayed anyway. Fast forward 5 years, and God has ordered our steps and for the first time, my feet landed on the ground in Pine Ridge just a couple weeks ago. The Dream Center has been built. God is doing something, and has been doing something HUGE on Pine Ridge for the last decade, but something new is happening. Prayers are being answered, lives are going to be changed. Jeremey and I are soooo very excited to be forming a coalition of youth pastors who will help make this happen. God is so good.
Another prayer answered- I am going back to college to finish my bachelor's in elementary education. I got Pell Grants (thank you Jesus!) and FAFSA loans to cover the rest- but we were looking at $19,000 of loans. Which didn't thrill me, but I was moving forward. My prayer has been that I will get to teach at a low income school, well come to find out the government has a program where if I work at a low income school for 5 years they will forgive $17,500 of my student loans. WHOA! So for $1500 I am going to finish my degree! Did I mention GOD IS GOOD!? Every single one of the schools on my list (General Beadle, Pine Ridge Elementary, and Black Hills Children's Home) are on the government list for this program.
THAT IS THE POINT OF PRAYING!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Daring to be Extravagant
So I'm reading this book called "Extravagant" here is what it says on the back,
"When we realize just how extravagant and outrageous His love is for us, it unleashes in our hearts and minds an extravagance of devotion that transforms life into an experience previously inconceivable. But that's not all. Our extravagance of devotion prompts further expressions of extravagance from God......All throughout the scriptures, we see that lives of extravagant devotion and surrender to Him captured the heart of God. And they still do."
Here is the challenge:
"Recognize how much He loves you. Offer Him your devotion and whatever resources of time, talents, and treasure you have, so He can bless and multiply them. It may be all you have, that's what makes your gift extravagant." (like the widow who gave her two pennies, all she had to live on.)
Here is what is awesome!!!!
"When you do the simple deed of giving it all to Him, He'll work miracles and touch others through you in a way that will make you eager to see where the cycle takes you next."
~ This has just blown me away because my prayer lately has been this crying out to God, " I don't want to be a mediocre Christian!" I don't want to be luke-warm! I don't want to be held back by any fear, any anxiety, any worry, any worldly distraction from what job God has for me while I am here on earth. What could God do through me if I were totally 100% sold out to doing what He asks, no matter the sacrifice, no matter the cost? With a God as powerful, and omniscient as ours, there is no limit to what He can do! Psalm 14:2 says "the Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God." I want that to be me!
It is chilling to think that many Christians, who think that they are saved, will indeed find out that they never knew the Lord. The Lord is clear about this in His word, and I had to ask myself the last week or so, how do I know that isn't me?! In Matthew 25 God separates the sheep from the goats, and for those "christians" who even did miracles in his name, they will not have an eternal reward because they turned a blind eye to those who were poor, thirsty, hungry, naked and had no shelter. Is God really saying what I think he is saying here? If so, the world is in trouble, and so are christians.
Last night on the news I saw that $136 million dollars was spent throughout the world on the box office premier of the smurf movie. Will we not be called into account for the fact that in one single night of spending we could have ENDED world hunger!?! This is the world we live in and it makes me sick! As long as I have breathe, I will do what I can to change things for someone. To change their circumstances and give them hope. To put water in the hand of someone who is thirsty. God strip me of all that makes me selfish! I dare you to pray that for yourself! What would God ask us to give up? Would we give it up? I know He is showing me TONS that I can give up, and MORE I can give, even though in my feeble mind I have little. To the world, I am wealthy.
A missionary to China for decades said that when he first became a Christian in his 20's, he asked his pastor what to do next. Since he had been a struggling alcoholic, along with lots of other problems, his pastor didn't know where to start so he sent him home with his Bible and said "read it and do what it says." This brand new christian turned to the story of the rich young ruler, who Jesus told to sell everything he had to come follow him. So that is exactly what this brand new christian did. He sold everything he had, except for a couple pairs of clothes, a backpack, his Bible, and a flashlight. Hearing his story, decades later, he said, "the best thing for me was the fact that there were no mature christians around when I read that story in the Bible. They would have talked me out of it."
"When we realize just how extravagant and outrageous His love is for us, it unleashes in our hearts and minds an extravagance of devotion that transforms life into an experience previously inconceivable. But that's not all. Our extravagance of devotion prompts further expressions of extravagance from God......All throughout the scriptures, we see that lives of extravagant devotion and surrender to Him captured the heart of God. And they still do."
Here is the challenge:
"Recognize how much He loves you. Offer Him your devotion and whatever resources of time, talents, and treasure you have, so He can bless and multiply them. It may be all you have, that's what makes your gift extravagant." (like the widow who gave her two pennies, all she had to live on.)
Here is what is awesome!!!!
"When you do the simple deed of giving it all to Him, He'll work miracles and touch others through you in a way that will make you eager to see where the cycle takes you next."
~ This has just blown me away because my prayer lately has been this crying out to God, " I don't want to be a mediocre Christian!" I don't want to be luke-warm! I don't want to be held back by any fear, any anxiety, any worry, any worldly distraction from what job God has for me while I am here on earth. What could God do through me if I were totally 100% sold out to doing what He asks, no matter the sacrifice, no matter the cost? With a God as powerful, and omniscient as ours, there is no limit to what He can do! Psalm 14:2 says "the Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God." I want that to be me!
It is chilling to think that many Christians, who think that they are saved, will indeed find out that they never knew the Lord. The Lord is clear about this in His word, and I had to ask myself the last week or so, how do I know that isn't me?! In Matthew 25 God separates the sheep from the goats, and for those "christians" who even did miracles in his name, they will not have an eternal reward because they turned a blind eye to those who were poor, thirsty, hungry, naked and had no shelter. Is God really saying what I think he is saying here? If so, the world is in trouble, and so are christians.
Last night on the news I saw that $136 million dollars was spent throughout the world on the box office premier of the smurf movie. Will we not be called into account for the fact that in one single night of spending we could have ENDED world hunger!?! This is the world we live in and it makes me sick! As long as I have breathe, I will do what I can to change things for someone. To change their circumstances and give them hope. To put water in the hand of someone who is thirsty. God strip me of all that makes me selfish! I dare you to pray that for yourself! What would God ask us to give up? Would we give it up? I know He is showing me TONS that I can give up, and MORE I can give, even though in my feeble mind I have little. To the world, I am wealthy.
A missionary to China for decades said that when he first became a Christian in his 20's, he asked his pastor what to do next. Since he had been a struggling alcoholic, along with lots of other problems, his pastor didn't know where to start so he sent him home with his Bible and said "read it and do what it says." This brand new christian turned to the story of the rich young ruler, who Jesus told to sell everything he had to come follow him. So that is exactly what this brand new christian did. He sold everything he had, except for a couple pairs of clothes, a backpack, his Bible, and a flashlight. Hearing his story, decades later, he said, "the best thing for me was the fact that there were no mature christians around when I read that story in the Bible. They would have talked me out of it."
Monday, July 25, 2011
New Pictures of Akwasi
It's funny how God knows what we need, and when we need a pick me up. I woke up this morning feeling rather "blah" and just thought today was gonna be one of those days I gotta get through. Well, not an hour later and I received the email I have been waiting on for a couple of weeks, with new pictures of our baby boy. Proverbs 13:12 Says this: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
Please pray that we find favor with the Ghanaian court system and that our paperwork is expedited. Please pray for us as we continue to seek God's provision for the remaining $18k+ that we have to come up with in the next 60 days. Please pray for my health- satan has been trying his best to attack my health, I have been struggling with motion sickness, travel anxiety, blood sugar issues, and the list goes on. I am normally so healthy and I know this is just a distraction, I am a conqueror though Christ who gives me strength! We need your prayers! Please pray that Akwasi stays healthy in the orphanage, and safe.
Thank you friends& family for all your support, and your prayers. We have been blown away by God's provision through some of you, and are so humbled to be a part of his AMAZING plans for Akwasi's life and ours.
Please pray that we find favor with the Ghanaian court system and that our paperwork is expedited. Please pray for us as we continue to seek God's provision for the remaining $18k+ that we have to come up with in the next 60 days. Please pray for my health- satan has been trying his best to attack my health, I have been struggling with motion sickness, travel anxiety, blood sugar issues, and the list goes on. I am normally so healthy and I know this is just a distraction, I am a conqueror though Christ who gives me strength! We need your prayers! Please pray that Akwasi stays healthy in the orphanage, and safe.
Thank you friends& family for all your support, and your prayers. We have been blown away by God's provision through some of you, and are so humbled to be a part of his AMAZING plans for Akwasi's life and ours.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
The Miracle just got sweeter =)
Here's an amazing update for you! The urologist called back last night @ 5:30 and said, "We have cancelled your surgery date because there is nothing to fix." They are stumped by the enlarged kidney, which shows chronic blockage, yet there is no blockage. I told her that I was certain that I knew what happened- and I told her about the prayer that Jeremey prayed for me the night before the test last week. Rather akwardly and hurriedly, she said, "ok, maam...good luck to you...there is nothing else we can do for you." !!!!
This is an indisputable miracle of God, because in 2007, the CT scan showed a major blockage that needed to be operated on. This isn't the kind of blockage like a kidney stone that just dissolves, it is literally a blockage that has to be surgically fixed, and a stent put in to reopen the closed area. So God healed me without question!
I told the Lord in my journal 2 weeks ago in relation to God's provision for our adoption, and all of life really... " I have tasted and seen, I KNOW what you can do. God, I know you are my father, and even as a father will not give his son a snake when he asks for a fish ( from Matthew 7:10), surely you will answer my prayer. Keep giving me opportunities to trust you so that one day I can tell these stories to the world. You give me life, let me use my life for your glory. I am not afraid!"......."God please answer us! Don't forsake us, Lord! You know our needs, I trust in You and You alone! Plant beautiful trees in this desert, that they may grow and flourish, and all who know us will see that YOU are God! (Isaiah 44) Your hand is what will provide for us and people will put their faith in you. I count our sufferings as gain, even more through these trials will our faith be grown in you, and in turn the faith of those around us.( I will not lose hope! I will not give up! I will keep asking you Lord. Surely God you will look down on us with mercy and move your hand in our circumstances. If you do not, our faith will still grow as we trust in your sovereignty. You know what we need and your very breath has enough power to change our lives forever in a moment. God I present to you my case, I leave it at your feet ( Philippians 4:6) Hear me, Abba Father! You are my Daddy! Some ask for riches, success, for things of this world- God take those things from us but provide for us a way to reach the world for you! To go to Africa. To bring Akwasi home. To teach him about you. Hear my prayer of faith God!"
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (James 1:2-7)
This is an indisputable miracle of God, because in 2007, the CT scan showed a major blockage that needed to be operated on. This isn't the kind of blockage like a kidney stone that just dissolves, it is literally a blockage that has to be surgically fixed, and a stent put in to reopen the closed area. So God healed me without question!
I told the Lord in my journal 2 weeks ago in relation to God's provision for our adoption, and all of life really... " I have tasted and seen, I KNOW what you can do. God, I know you are my father, and even as a father will not give his son a snake when he asks for a fish ( from Matthew 7:10), surely you will answer my prayer. Keep giving me opportunities to trust you so that one day I can tell these stories to the world. You give me life, let me use my life for your glory. I am not afraid!"......."God please answer us! Don't forsake us, Lord! You know our needs, I trust in You and You alone! Plant beautiful trees in this desert, that they may grow and flourish, and all who know us will see that YOU are God! (Isaiah 44) Your hand is what will provide for us and people will put their faith in you. I count our sufferings as gain, even more through these trials will our faith be grown in you, and in turn the faith of those around us.( I will not lose hope! I will not give up! I will keep asking you Lord. Surely God you will look down on us with mercy and move your hand in our circumstances. If you do not, our faith will still grow as we trust in your sovereignty. You know what we need and your very breath has enough power to change our lives forever in a moment. God I present to you my case, I leave it at your feet ( Philippians 4:6) Hear me, Abba Father! You are my Daddy! Some ask for riches, success, for things of this world- God take those things from us but provide for us a way to reach the world for you! To go to Africa. To bring Akwasi home. To teach him about you. Hear my prayer of faith God!"
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (James 1:2-7)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
My miracle...
After my last update, I received a call from the urologist's nurse after she had reviewed my scan results. Interestingly, my left kidney is only functioning 2% slower than the right! Even more interesting- there is no sign of a major blockage- only enlargement of the kidney which is due to chronic blockage. She said normally this would not merit surgery, because they aren't seeing a major blockage that needs to be removed and opened up with a stent. You mean to tell me that there are signs that it wasn't working, and now it is?! Praise God!
If you don't believe that God does miracles, well....He obviously does! Jeremey prayed for me the night before testing that the blockage would dissolve, that they would do the test and find nothing. I have not had one day of kidney pain since then.
Since it is swollen, the urologist may suggest surgery anyway. He is going to review the test and call me this week with his decision. Either way, I serve a God who Heals!!!! And in case you are thinking, wow God must really love her to heal her like that....let me tell you a secret. I did absolutely NOTHING to deserve His healing. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sinful. I screw up on a regular basis. I frustrate myself with struggling with sin when I know I am free in Christ. But it's because of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in my life that through prayer, and FAITH in God's power to breathe life into all things, that He heals me. His amazing healing power is available to all believers. Sometimes we just don't ask Him. Ask Him!
If you don't believe that God does miracles, well....He obviously does! Jeremey prayed for me the night before testing that the blockage would dissolve, that they would do the test and find nothing. I have not had one day of kidney pain since then.
Since it is swollen, the urologist may suggest surgery anyway. He is going to review the test and call me this week with his decision. Either way, I serve a God who Heals!!!! And in case you are thinking, wow God must really love her to heal her like that....let me tell you a secret. I did absolutely NOTHING to deserve His healing. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sinful. I screw up on a regular basis. I frustrate myself with struggling with sin when I know I am free in Christ. But it's because of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in my life that through prayer, and FAITH in God's power to breathe life into all things, that He heals me. His amazing healing power is available to all believers. Sometimes we just don't ask Him. Ask Him!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Kidney Surgery Update
After some rather not fun testing last week in Sioux Falls, I am schedule for surgery on August 12th. We were hoping that they would be able to fit me in while we were there, but we didn't know there is a 3 to 4 week timeframe afterwards where I can't travel so we had to bump the surgery out until August. Thankfully, it's laparoscopic, only about 2 hours long, and I should only have to stay in the hospital one night.
Please pray for the surgery to go smoothly, for them to find what is blocking my kidney from draining and be able to open it up easily, for the stent that will stay in place for 4-6 weeks to miraculously not bother me! My urologist warned me that the stent is very uncomfortable- with 3 kiddos to take care of, I need to feel good! We will have to go back to Sioux Falls in September for the stent to be removed, but this only takes about a minute apparently. Don't know if I have to go under for that one....kinda hope so! lol
I discovered that I am not the best patient. I pass out at nearly every opportunity. The Lord is my strength! I am thankful He has given us the wisdom of doctors for times we need it, and praying that the surgery is a success. I'm ready to feel better =) God has been good to make it so that while our children were babies, my kidney didn't bother me as much so I was able to put off the surgery for 4 years! After having a radioactive nuclear medicine scan- I was able to see that my kidney is now functioning at what I would guess is between 10-20% of what it should be. Time to do something about it!
Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep praying for us on the adoption topic! I am so thankful for these trials and circumstances that are stretching my faith! I will go through anything difficult for the glory of God! I don't want to be comfortable, I pray that I never sit it a comfy boat- I always want be walking on water!
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