Carry Your Name

It was just me and my four year old Caleb in the sanctuary on this day

The shoes needed to be counted and tied together

They had been in their boxes on a table in the hallway outside of the sanctuary

I knew that there were so many items that needed to be counted and at that moment I had a choice 

I began taking them out of their packaging and felt so unsettled

My heart continued urging me to take each pair of shoes, shoe laces and socks

and lay them on the altar.

Over the next few hours, we took each of those items, held them in our hands and

placed them and their Kingdom  purpose at the foot of our Father. In the quiet of the 

building He met us there. 

This song continued spilling from my lips as the overwhelming reality of this took hold of me

These are not simply shoes

They are the Gospel

I realize that my role in this is small but even in the minor things

I want to be faithful to carry His name!

The mission behind Shoes for Orphan Souls has always been something that my heart has connected with. However, with each year that we participate in this shoe drive my passion and understanding increases. This year has been no different. 

Knowing that children around the world need shoes, socks and shoe laces is enough to get most people motivated to give. However, when we as Christ followers understand that this is an opportunity for the Gospel to be taken to these little ones...how can we say no?

Perhaps it is our ability to disconnect ourselves from things that do not directly affect us. It isn't that we don't care! No, it is simply that we see an image and in two seconds we have already moved on to the next topic at hand. As a matter of fact, we assume that someone else will care for these needs.

I know this because I have been the one to hand responsibility over to someone else. I have placed the problem in someone else's hands. 

The Lord set my passion for this ministry and my reality on a collision course. Oddly enough they have met the month of our Shoes For Orphan Souls shoe drive. 

We received word that Chloe and Eli's orphanage had been infested with jiggers. We had been uncertain as to whether or not both of our children actually had them. Last night, our agency called an emergency meeting for all of the parents with children at their orphanage. Our director went on to explain that most all of the children have them. She also confirmed that both Chloe and Eli have them fairly badly. 

MIGHT I JUST SAY...our internet stopped working at 8:56. The chat online began at 9. so I had to speed down the street to McDonalds to use their internet while attempting to not sob while sitting and chatting.

She went on to say that the children each are suffering greatly. She shared the they will each need surgery to relieve the pain. It will cost $1500 per child but the biggest concern is that the children will be exposed to reinfestation once they have the surgery. There are so many concerns for us as parents. 

Our director sent photos of our children and their feet last night. 

These are no longer someone else's children

These are no longer 

"just an orphan's feet"

THESE ARE MY SON AND DAUGHTER'S FEET

They are infected with jiggers

The ONE thing that could have prevented this is

SHOES

I am still a little overwhelmed at this reality

but I see the Father's hand in this already

I may not understand it all but I do trust the heart of the Father

I see that he is using these precious little one's feet to open people's eyes and hearts to the need

For that...this mommy is thankful

God has great plans for these children

HIS WAYS ARE HIGHER

Shoes For Orphan Souls

The night before our Shoes For Orphan Souls collection was to begin

I sat on the couch searching through video after video

My prayer was that I would pick just the right one that would awaken people

to this great need. That perhaps this video would ignite a passion in someone's

heart that would be life changing. I know...a lot of pressure on a VIDEO :)

As the video played during the service on Sunday I quickly realized that I

had forgotten my paper with a nice bullet point message

As quickly as that reality hit , the Lord  reminded me it was NOT about human efforts 

OR A VIDEO :)

After I said..whatever it was that I said

the shoe collection officially began :)

I had no idea what was in store for me this year.

I know that every year the Father uses this ministry to speak to my heart

This year has been amazing and extremely personal.

The lessons have been deeper than ever and the love for this amazing

ministry and their mission has grown exponentially

Shortly after the kick off to our shoe drive all of the families with little ones in

Chloe and Eli's orphanage were informed that their orphanage was dealing with an

infestation of jiggers. There were three families that were with their children

in DRC picking them up. Two of the families had to take their little ones

to the doctor to have these removed. The doctors were unable to remove them in their office ( from what I gather ) and the children

were sent to the hospital to have surgery.

The families were each charged $1000 and waited for an entire day

to have the surgery. After the surgery their children's feet and hands were bandaged and they

were sent back to the guest home with their new family.

Here is a picture of one little boy's foot

Please don't take the easy way out and simply scroll through this picture

I would ask you to LOOK at it

This little boy simply ran around an orphanage playing

What could have prevented this from happening

SHOES

This reality hit me like a ton of bricks

I had just gone out and bought my kids shoes for school and didn't really think twice about it

we walked in the store, picked the ones they wanted and bought them.

It was that easy

SHOES would have prevented this little boy from getting jiggers so badly in his feet that a doctor couldn't get to them without surgery. Shoes that I had just strolled in and selected based on color and comfort. 

NOT NECESSITY

As soon as I heard the news that their orphanage had been affected by these bugs,

I immediately went to each photo that we had been given. I sat there just crying over

every picture that did not reveal anything. I wanted to know if they had them

Our director said most likely yes. She said that most all children would be affected.

However, I wanted to KNOW. I went to each photo and zoomed in on their feet.

 Then I saw this photo of Chloe

I had come across it earlier and we thought she must have hurt her foot

She is crying and holding her foot in a few of the photos

Now with this news we assumed that she too had the same issues going on with her little feet

Talk about irrational! The mommy in me was checking into savings accounts and seeing what it would cost to GET TO HER!

I was sitting here crying and feeling as though I could do nothing!

I just began asking friends and family to pray

That is ALL that I knew to do

 I was able to call my sister and share with her. She was  sad but had enough

sanity in her to remind me that the first 2 years of these children's lives, I wasn't there.

She spoke TRUTH IN LOVE! Who was I to think that my presence was greater than HIS?

She gently brought me back from the edge of heading to Congo with not a sane bone in my body 

The next wave of news was equally sad 

One of the families shared that the other children may not be treated because they are 

"just orphans"

While Chloe and Eli have a mommy that is sitting and praying for their safety, health and care each night...they are currently 2 out of 147 million orphans. Children that are not seen, Children that are not heard, children that are not even able to have infected feet cared for. That is the realistic life of an orphaned child.... MY CHILD.

I have no doubt that this all happened when it did for a purpose. 

Two of the children had their parents there to take them to the hospital and care for them

For me it has grown my faith and once again tested my ability to trust in God's mighty power. 

One of the larger understandings is that there are children EVERYWHERE that are dealing with 

these issues. There is such an easy solution to this problem.

SHOES

It seems so simple. 

All you have to do is purchase a pair of shoes, shoe laces or socks. They are then distributed all over the globe to children that have NO other way of receiving such a gift. 

We are the body of Christ here on earth. If WE are not showing Christ to these children...

WHO IS

Give a pair of shoes so that ONE child would hear the name of Jesus

What am I doing?

Well, I have done it again everyone!

 

I have signed up for another race. WHY you may be asking?!?!

Well, to be honest I have no idea.

All I can think is that I bought some new running shoes which apparently gave me an extreme

false sense of courage and ability!

 

I will, once again, take you back in time to another race that was run and lived through

sort of

You can read about that Here

 

So, we shall see what tomorrow holds

but for now, this lady is off to bed

WOOHOO

We are so excited that we have passed Court 1

This is consent court

Now we will be waiting to hear about Court 2

This happens to be Adoption Court and we will have a 30 day wait period

after we pass this. They children will then legally be ours!

We can NOT WAIT to hear that we have passed

COURT 2

Please just keep praying that we will rest in God's timing

Also pray for our children as they are in DRC

NOW..SOME EXCITING NEWS!!

We are so excited to say that three families from our agency will be traveling to

Democratic Republic of Congo

to go and pick their children up! We are so thrilled for each of these families

and little ones that are finally getting to come home and have a FAMILY!

We are also very excited because one family going has been so kind and they are

going to take Eli and Chloe their care packages.

As their mommy and daddy we are most excited about them seeing our faces for the first time

They will most likely not understand who we are AT ALL but it is just such a special time for us here on this side of the ocean!

We stuffed a few extra goodies but just love the idea that they will finally be seeing their FAMILY!!



Shoes for Orphan Souls

One of my favorite things happens to take place this month

We begin our collection for

SHOES FOR ORPHAN SOULS!

It is always such an amazing time for me personally

My eyes are so often opened to a new and deeper reality of who God is

I remember last year I found myself each day heading up to church to see if any more

shoes, socks or shoe laces had been turned in. I was somewhat a crazy woman about it all!

I think that somewhere between receiving the promo packet and setting up the tables for the collection God got a hold of my heart.

This shoe drive was no longer about patting ourselves on the back because we let a few bucks go to buy a pair of shoes. No, it was FAR beyond that! The Lord opened my heart to the reality of this amazing ministry! The reality of their mission that we had been granted permission to be a part of!

Our Shoes for Orphan Souls collection was a life changing moment for me and my walk with Christ last year!

With every item that came in, it was so clear to me that God wanted me to SEE the bigger picture.

It is easy to be caught up in the idea of "we need to buy some shoes for the collection at church"

HOWEVER, when the Lord grips your heart and allows you to see that this is not all about shoes...

that is when the change begins!

Each shoe, shoe lace and pair of socks donated last year represented a child that would not only receive a pair of shoes but MOST important of all,

they would HEAR THE GOSPEL!

I remember laying each pair of shoes out to prepare to box them up. It seemed that they went on for days..which I LOVED! As I crawled around on the floor making sure each was tied together, I just poured over each pair in prayer. We had collected 316 pairs of shoes last year and I couldn't pull myself away from prayer. I knew that with each pair of shoes, the Lords name would be lifted up. I knew that all of this was for HIS glory! 236 pairs of sock! 119 shoe laces!

HAHA...I stand in AWE again tonight as tomorrow is our kick off date. I know that God is going to amaze me again this year.

So, I am not setting a goal again this year! His ways are not my ways...His ways are HIGHER!

Looking forward to another great collection!

Lets see how many children will hear the Gospel