This is Michael. He's 6, his favorite animal is a cow, and he's our sponsored child in Uganda.

A wonderful lady named Christie just moved from Alabama to Bugabo Village in Uganda to be the Headmaster of a school she raised money for and helped build. She has been interviewing and taking pictures of the beautiful children who live in the village in the hopes of getting them sponsored before the new year, when school starts.

The sponsored children will be able to attend school, get a meal each day, receive minor medical and dental treatment as necessary, receive shoes and a uniform, and school supplies for a whole year.

All this is just $100 for a whole year.

There are lots of children still needing sponsors, from 3 and 4 year olds to a couple of 12 year olds.

If you follow her on facebook, you can see the photos of the children. Her link is on her blog.

Go to Compass in My Heart to find out how you can sponsor a child too!

Where are They?

Football season is wrapping up.

I don't really like football, but Jeremiah likes it, so we listen to it in the car, and sometimes watch a game on tv.

Those guys are unbelievable. If I were forced to wear tights and run a ball in 20 degree weather while being chased by a group of huge sweaty men I would crumple up into the fetal position and cry myself to sleep.

But they are tough,brave, enthusiastic and domineering. They don't cry when they get creamed by a 400lb linebacker. They suck it up. Because they're men.

We've been watching Band of Brothers. I really like that series. It's not just entertainment for entertainment's sake, it's true and real and emotional and raw. The interviews with those men make me want to cry, because they were passionate about the cause they were risking their lives for.

They didn't complain, they carried on for the cause. They gave everything they had to give, and some gave their lives.

They knew the risks and trudged on, because they knew the reward was greater than the risks. They didn't make excuses. Because they were men.

In America we love to celebrate manly men- men that will stand up and fight-for freedom, for the ball, for justice, for peace.

But something I've come to notice as these months of researching and reading and waiting pass:

In the defense of orphans, where are the men?

Historically and Biblically, it is the women who are nurturers, the care-givers. Men are protectors and providers. They hunt, we gather. They fight, we stand behind them. They go out, we keep the home fires burning. But in the war for orphans, the women seem to lead the armies. Why is that? Is it not a worthy cause?

Where are the fighting men who will do whatever it takes to rescue abandoned and abused children?

The brave men who will stand up to a society that says 2 kids is enough, that Christianity is a white religion made to comfort old ladies, and that the orphan crisis is not our problem ?

The broken-hearted men who cry out to Christ on behalf of dying children?

The men who will ask God to show them the way, to lead them through unfamiliar territories and provide for their families against all earthly odds if they choose to obey Him?

The pastors who will preach James 1:27 and Luke 10:27?

Where are they?

I've seen wonderful, Godly men raise their hands in worship of our Savior during church, men who lead their families in love and reverence of God, then say they could never afford to adopt.

I'm not judging them, because I used to feel the same way, but the God we worship is the same One who CREATED THE UNIVERSE! He made everything from nothing!!

He parted the sea, and turned water into wine, and raised the dead!!

When someone says that to me, I want to jump up and down and scream:

He can provide! He can provide! He WILL provide!

If we will just.let.Him.

If we will just.obey.

If we will give.it.over.

. Fear of the financial costs of adoption is the #1 reason Christian families don't adopt.

Satan's lies are working

When we say that we can't afford adoption, what we are really saying is that we believe God is insufficient, powerless, and uncaring. And He is none of those things!

"Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." Ps. 54:4

"But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me." Ps. 55:17-18

"So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid." Heb 13:6

"There should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord you God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you..." Dt 15:4

"Perfect love drives out fear..." 1 Jn 4:18

Our lives are not our own.

We Christians like to say that.

It's not about me.

What if Jesus would have made the same {lame} excuses we do?

What if He had not chosen to adopt us as sons and heirs?

What if He had sat back and decided we weren't worth the trouble?

What if He had said:

"Oh, gosh, I just don't know. I mean, we don't really have the room for all of them here, and we could never afford it. What would it do to our savings? And what would our retirement look like? And they look nothing like us-what would everyone think? We may not get invited to parties anymore. We might have to move to make room, and that's not really in our schedule right now. It's just too much work, I mean, they don't even speak the same language, and they are so dirty! They've done some pretty bad things, and that's alot of baggage to deal with. I'm just not ready for that kind of commitment.Some of them are sick- some even have HIV and AIDS and man, that's just too sad to deal with, so we should just leave it to someone else, because surely someone else will come along and save them all. It's not really our problem, I mean, they've done it to themselves. "

Think about this:

If you are a believer, you have been trans-racially adopted!

Where are the Godly men who will lead the armies and fight for the souls of 147 million lost children who will never know the Savior they love and claim to live for if they don't show Him to them?

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions were his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them." Acts 4:32-34

For a man's perspective, read this

Up Hill Both Ways {But God is Good}

That is what it seemed like this week, getting ready for our two fundraisers this weekend.

Every little thing that I was trying to do in preparation seemed like it was being thwarted by satan. Have you ever felt like that? Ugh...

Tiring.

So while you all were going through the 12 Days of Christmas here, at home we were dealing with:

2 cases of pink eye(Ethan and Charlotte)

2 ear infections( Charlotte)

{no sleep}

1 unknown virus (Caden)

I had to buy a new iron for sewing

I couldn't clean the bank since the kids were sick( that money goes into our adoption fund)

I had a crown put on(not cheap!), which resulted in some sort of extremely painful ulcer in my mouth, the meds for which werent covered by our insurance, and didn't work anyway

sewing machine meltdown before the craft fair on Friday

no one would let us hand out fliers for the Salon Day Fundraiser

our oven quit working on Saturday night, just as I was getting ready to bake goodies for Sunday.

and

Only a handful of people came to the Salon- and none from the hours we spent walking around with the fliers from store to store.

I'm not complaining about all this-please don't see it that way. I'm just trying to illustrate how satan works sometimes. He does not want this adoption to happen. He knows that adoption is a reflection of our adoption in Christ, and he hates another child finding a home, a family, and God's love through this all. He hates how it is uniting our church family at the same time he is trying to divide us and keep us from worshiping as one body. He hates that our eyes are being opened to what 'loving your neighbor' really looks like. He hates that people are sacrificing to bring Zoey home. He hates that God is being glorified.

God is good. God is bigger than all these little issues. He is not bound by circumstances or situations. Unlike me, he doesn't have a budget.

When I worry about not getting this done or that done, or timing or cost or whatever, I sometimes think God just laughs.

"Oh ye of little faith..."

He could send someone with a big fat check to cover all our fees, or he could literally send the money falling from the sky.

But instead He, in His infinite wisdom, is choosing to make us work and trust and go one step at a time, just one foot in front of the other, on this road that is unpaved and untraveled.

He shines His light only enough for that next step, but somehow, it is enough.

From our two fundraisers this weekend, He brought us right at $700 closer to Zoey!

Thank you to everyone who came out in support of us and Zoey!

The Twelfth Day: Adopting Families Christmas Shops

This year, we have decided to try to be more intentional in our gift giving. That's what this whole 12 Days of Christmas has been about- finding ways to help others, spread the love of Jesus, free the orphans, lift up widows, rescue the oppressed, give life, be intentionally giving of ourselves as we give gifts this year, instead of rushing and stressing and overspending and just plain driving ourselves crazy trying to check off our lists.

So here is the last day. Only 3 links, but inside each one, you will find dozens of families across the world who are all adopting a child, or children, and are selling things that they make themselves to raise money to bring their children home.

Adoption is expensive, its unfair, but its the truth.

But every little bit adds up, and is truly appreciated.

There are many unique items on these links- clothing, accessories, seasonal items, toys, household things. But each one is connected to a child somewhere in the world; each one is lovingly made by a parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, sister, brother, or friend who cherishes a child they have never met and is working to give them a home, a family, and a future.

Please consider doing some of your shopping with these families. It will mean the world to them, and hope to a child.

Christmas Frenzy : 40+ families

Home for Christmas : 70 families

Shopping with a Purpose : 40 families

And while you're at it, watch this really really good video...

The Eleventh Day: Live FashionABLE

Live FashionABLE exists to serve vulnerable women of Ethiopia- girls, single women, wives, and mothers who have become entangled in prostitution as a way to provide food for themselves and their children. For an uneducated, poor woman of low class status, with no training, prostitution is often the only choice.

So out of necessity, to survive, they sell their bodies for food money, for a night of shelter, for anything they can.

But you can help provide a ray of hope, a light in the darkness for these women.

Buy buying a scarf from FashionABLE, you can help create and sustain a safe, consistent well-paying job for women rescued from the chains of prostitution. The profits allow them to house, educate, and feed the women, plus enable them to bring other women off the street and train them as well. The women are gifted with dignity, safety, restoration, and a new life.

And you are gifted with a beautiful, handmade scarf. Each scarf is only $22 and comes with a handwritten message from the woman who made it.

Give the gift of a warm scarf, give the gift of new life!

Live FashionABLE