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

In HIS hands

 

 O LORD, you are our Father. 

We are the clay, you are the Potter;

 we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

I spent a little time ( and I do mean a LITTLE time) researching some information

on pottery clay. I found it interesting that the Lord chose to use this in Isaiah and wanted

to see for myself why I am so drawn to this verse lately.

You see, while my year has been filled with amazing highlights

there have also been several things that I would have preferred to not go through.

I know that the Bible tells us that God is working all things together for good to those who love Him. I trust that with all of my heart. As believers we are NOT kept from the heartaches and pains of the world.  We live in a fallen world and we are a fallen people. I stand in amazement of God's grace that He consistently shows me.

I believe that is why I was so taken by this photo. The idea that we are all a work of HIS hand is overwhelming to my frail mind. I can not fathom a love so great and a creator that would desire to continue molding and shaping me. 

Back to my 'research' on pottery clay.
I was so drawn in by the explanation of what clay is and how it is made. Basically we are told that clay is made of  fine grained minerals and is formed over time due to chemical weathering and hydrothermal activity. They ( whoever THEY are) said that clay is plastic when wet and firm when it dries. This is not for a science report so back off :)

This description gripped my heart. The scripture came to life for me in that moment

I see that I am a composition of many things

SELFISHNESS

PRIDE

ANGER

( the list could go on but I will let those few things soak in and spare you the rest)

The Father is soaking me with grace, drenching me with mercy and

gently shaping me with HIS HANDS

The times that have caused such hurt and heartache are those times when I can simply collapse into His grace. There He holds me close and continues spinning the Potter's wheel. The times when I turn from Him and choose to reject His love...

He never leaves me nor forsakes me...

He continues spinning the Potter's wheel. 

 I choose today to stand in awe of WHO HE IS

He is the Potter that is taking my weaknesses and using them for His glory

He is using the hurts in my life to shape a heart that understands grace

The end result of clay is that it becomes firm. It is SET and ready to be put on display

That is where I pray I will never be

You know where clay things are right?

shelves, end tables, flower beds

I pray that I always remain fully aware of the work that I am. I am not complete

I am also not a lump of useless clay

I am a masterpiece in the making!

HE is molding and shaping me and will continue doing so until 

I reach my HOME in Heaven

Who wants to be a SET clay pot on the shelf of their TEMPORARY home

Mommies don't get sick RIGHT?

Well, this mommy has been WIPED out 

Sunday night I started feeling bad and by Monday I had a pretty yucky fever

They thought I had bronchitis and sent me home with some medicine

I ended up running a 103 fever most of the night so headed back in

Tuesday only to find out that I have pneumonia!

 BOO ON THAT 

So, no updates from this mommy because quite frankly, 

I DON"T FEEL WELL :)

Pleasant surprise

I was able to watch a precious video of the children at our little one's orphanage today.

I can not tell you what a pure blessing that was to this mommy's heart!

Chloe was in there quite a bit. I was able to hear her sweet little voice and watch her 

interact with the other beautiful children around her. It was so precious. She just picked up

her little dress and seemed slightly shy. Her tiny feet were attempting to walk in some very over sized

pink slippers. She looked happy. I can't say I saw her smile yet but she still looked very happy...

UNTIL

We saw her in a few more minutes after she was clearly pitching a FIT in the dirt. All of the other

children had run quickly to look at themselves on the camera. She is one of the youngest and it appears that she felt like she wasn't fast enough so just just throws herself face flat into the dirt. Hands out body completely down for the count. She was devastated ( 2 year old style) Then her 

sorrow turned super two year old. One of the men attempted to pick her up to stand and she began arching her little back. We then saw that this had also made Eli cry. He was not about to let her get all of the attention. 

I can not tell you how much seeing them meant to me. I have longed for just a piece of their life. I ache to know something. The video showed a little more of where they live and also several of their precious friends. All of the children seemed so happy and full of life. It was such a reminder of how the Lord has protected these babies and how He has such an amazing plan for lives. 

In a few weeks the family that has our care package is going to be heading to Congo to pick up their little girl. I am so thrilled that Chloe and Eli will finally see our faces. It may mean nothing to them for now but it does something great to my heart just thinking about it.

The Color Run...or MY DEATH

Yes indeed!

It is that MOST AWFUL time in my life again 

when I am talked into participating in a race.

I thought being part of the HUMAN race would cover it but NO

Some people out there feel that actually running with others is fun

and encouraging.

If any of you have been following my crazy life for a while..
you may remember my running history.
For those of you that haven't...you can read that HERE

Sitting at dinner with my family one night, my brother in law Matt
pulled out his phone and showed us a race that he was participating in.
Watching the video I was immediately taken to a world without three children and 

high school abilities. I had said yes before I even thought about it! 

I went on my first run a few weeks ago and within the first FIVE miles ( oh, I mean MINUTES)

I knew that I had signed my life away! The reality hit when I thought I was running like this

For a while there I really felt the wind blowing through my hair,

my pulse was pumping and I was flying by every car I saw

Then something happened. 

The wind stopped blowing, the light turned green and my heart actually began feeling like 

it might explode. The light pumping that I had felt earlier was quickly taken over by a HARSH POUNDING...which basically was my body sobbing at this sudden desire to move faster than normal

I soon realized that i was no cheetah but instead

an OLD OLD lady

All I know is that so far my prep experiences have been less than ideal.

I took out to run the other night which ended up being LATE. So, I called

my brother in law and he said he would take me. No creepers for me!

So, we went downtown to run. 

Immediately upon stepping out of the car, we heard the first quite clap of thunder.

It wasn't horrible and Matt laughed and made a comment about how we better hurry

Well, as you found out above...my translation of hurry is not everyone elses :)

We had gone about 1.5 miles when the rain, thunder, lightening and WIND came down!

Something i HATE is wind. I know...that might be stupid but I really hate it. So, now

my fluffy self was running downtown, in the sideways rain, thunder and dodging lightening.

We had to head into a parking garage..were the security guard yelled that we should be running on the sidewalk NOT in the garage. ( Im pretty sure he was kidding) Then we made it to an ATM machine where we stood for a few minutes hoping the rain would decrease. IT ONLY GOT WORSE! We then sprinted ( and that for me is anything more than a jog) to the next inlet which happened to be a staircase. Standing there for a minute things got a little crazier. We then saw a man run by with only socks on. We looked down the road to see our next hole to duck into. It was a bank. We ran and stood there for a while. We still had 5 blocks or so to go. The wind was picking up and it wasn't getting better! There was a security guard standing inside and so Matt decided to leave me there with his phone ( that I didn't have the code for) and he sprinted and got the  car. I stood there like a baby scared to DEATH, praying, tearing up and shaking. The security guard came close to the door at one point when the wind picked up but then went to sit back down. Ahh...then, MATT SHOWED UP!!!

So, this LONG story to say. This race better be worth it! I am hopeful that it isn't the death of me. I have been working hard and hope that I won't end up leaving in this

Only time will tell friends!

My thighs are worn out just thinking about this.

Ahhh...but there is hope 

Does this book ring a bell :)

 Just sayin!