Christmas Wish List...

I know this may shock some of you... but the number two thing on Rob and Hope's Christmas Wish List is a Piano! We've both always just wanted one in our home and I would love to learn to play it!! If you have a used Piano you would like to get rid of... please let us know and we would love to work something out with you!! Caleb would love it too some day!

There is no new news on the kids yet, but please continue to pray! God is big enough!!!

May HIS will be done!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

SO THANKFUL!

We have to admit, it was the hardest Thanksgiving EVER for the both of us. Not to form a pity party, but just to voice. We were SO SO SO humbled yesterday. We sat down TWICE to tables that were so full of food... it couldn't all fit on the tables actually. And desserts to boot. I mean sometimes I hate being a spoiled American... I know that sounds weird, but when you step off the front porch of America and onto the doormat of the rest of the World you realize what we take for granted! It was a nice day, to get together with family, and God did remind us to be thankful, not irritable. But we sat at those tables and all either of us wanted to do was cry and FedEx our food to Haiti. It is amazing how simply three hours away there are people only dreaming about food, we don't even know if our own kids ate yesterday, and we sat there surrounded by abundance. It makes us want to start a new tradition of eating hot dogs on Thanksgiving and sending all the money spent on preparing a huge meal, to those who DO need it. And yet, God does not want us to sit around being grumpy because of all we have, He really wants us to appreciate it. Do we really live out Thanksgiving the way God would intend it though. I mean I caught myself thinking about the years I sat around at thanksgiving , thinking of SHALLOW things that I was thankful for and thinking it was just a day to be with family. From now I on I want it to be a day that anyone would FIRST find our family on our faces before GOD in thankfulness... and I mean that... not just going around the table and trying to think of something we are thankful for, but truly MOVED to worship the Lord for what we have. We have been humbled. Thank you God! Forgive us for taking your gifts for granted!! Thank you everyone for your prayers! WE ARE SO SO THANKFUL for each and everyone one of you!!! Please continue to pray for our kids and their family.

Real Inner Champion

"Do you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air."

- 1 Corinthians 9:24-26

Yep... these are pictures of me believe it or not. Funny huh!? Well, I'm not sure why it's on my heart this morning to write this but it is... so I will. I was a runner in high school. I LOVED IT! And I loved running over hurdles especially. I mean... I can't imagine doing it anymore... but just talking about it... that passion is still there... running over hurdles... what an awesome challenge. Often my left knee was swollen and black and blue from hitting the hurdles on the way over... at times (just a couple) my back or shoulder was scraped up from flipping over the hurdles... but that is what made it fun!!! That was the challenge... to better myself. Well I was decent... not GREAT... but decent and my senior year I finally made it to regionals to compete to go to states... and well... I missed states by a 10th of a second. What a heartbreak that was... but if I would have listened to my coach and avoided fear... I would have gone on.

You see in hurdling you can take 4 or 3 steps between hurdles. Of coarse 3 is much quicker... but it requires switching which leg you go over the hurdle with. To me that was "too hard" but in my coaches eyes... it was certainly obtainable. He felt I had enough in me to do it... I thought I was too short. He saw reality and I saw lack.

SO... it's all about where we keep our eyes right!!?? Keeping our eyes on the prize and what we certainly could be capable of if we tried, or settling for what SEEMS to be true without even trying.

So... this adoption... well we are going to three step through it.

Transparent VS Translucent

Transparent: "transmitting light rays so that objects on the other side may be distinctly seen; capable of being seen through; neither opaque or translucent" - Webster

Translucent: " letting light pass but diffusing it so that objects on the other side cannot be clearly distinguished" - Webster

So if God is The Light... which one would He have us be!?

Don't get me wrong... there is a time and a place and even an asking from God for us to be translucent about times in our lives from time to time. (Remember all the times He would do miracles and ask people to say nothing about them) However... in the grand scheme of things, how will a hurting world see the light of Christ if we never let them see into OUR world, if we never let them see out realness. I think the unbelieving world NEEDS to see that Christians walk through CRUD in their lives too... the differences isn't an oh so holy and great life, it's HOW we handle the crud... does that make sense? Even other believers need to be encouraged by seeing into each other's lives. Too often we DON'T let this happen because we keep our eyes on those who will be negative rather than the multitude who will be blessed by seeing in.

I know that not everyone feels it's ok to be transparent... I have been hearing even that we might want to be less transparent about our situation. And I would totally agree that it would be easier, and some people are called to do that so that the disbelief of others doesn't interfere with what God is trying to do... but God is asking us to be transparent.

It is hard in a sense... people think we are a little nutty to continue believing. BUT it is in our transparency God will get the glory He deserves one way or another. So for us, we felt God asking us to be transparent right from the beginning. HE KNEW, it would help others in their walk, but He also knew it would help US in OUR walk. Being transparent... we needed to lay it all out there... what do we believe... and are we going to stick to it. It has been awesome, even though it has been very raw at times. We feel like our transparency has been God's way of pulling us out of mundane quick sand religion, into raw belief... and we love it!

Thanks For Your Continued Prayers!