In awe...

In Judges 7, Gideon was charged with taking the Isrealites to war with the Midianites. The most memorable part of this story to me was when God on several occasions began to tell Gideon that he needed to shave the number of people he had in his army down. It was too large. Gideon started in the tens of thousands and eventually ended up with 300 men. They were grossly outnumbered, yet this was God's number. God led them into battle and they defeated their enemies. Of course, God's reason was so that Isreal could not boast that her own strength saved her, so she would know that it was her God that did it. This is how I feel about the last few weeks as we have journeyed through raising funds and stepping out to do all we have set out to do. There was a remarkably low number of people that turned out for the concert, especially considering all the promotion we did, however, among those who numbered less than a hundred, we were able to raise over 6000 dollars. That is God. Short and simple. I just finished reading the book "The Shack" (I know quotes are not grammatically correct here, just can't get italics to work :-)) and have started " Crazy Love" and the thing I am so struck by in both of these is the fact that God truly is the center of the story. Always. It is all about Him and He is the one with the power that makes all things glorious and He is the only one worthy to be the center of the story. I have heard this so many times, but having walked through the last few weeks, seeing my lack of ability to accomplish what has been accomplished, and to see the overwhelming and unlikely response generated from our efforts, this truth is very much embedded in the depths of my soul in a way that it was merely a thought before. Though there are parts of our flesh that resist this, many times, I am finding a huge sense of relief in the gravity of this truth. If He really is the center (which no doubt he is), and all things are working together by his hand in order that more of Him may be revealed through our little stories, then really there are no limits to what He will do for the glory of His name. And the amazing thing is, we are found, within His story right in the middle of His love. Adoption is not my mission. Unveiling Him and his heart is my mission. Adoption is just the platform for which he is revealing his Papa heart in the midst of my life in this moment. It is easy to oversimplify here as there are many more emotions that play into this, but this truly is the core of what we are doing and why. It should always be. What joy there is in this! What freedom! He will finish what he set out to do, and it will be glorious in that if it is a reflection of him, how could it be anything less. I am not the center, Mia is not the center, this adoption is not the center. He is the center. Gaze into the scene unfolding before you. As He works through the details observe his hand and his heart. He wants to challenge all of us to let Him do greater things in our lives. Things we can't accomplish, not by even a long shot, on our own. Things not humanly possible. Let him grow your faith in him. What unspeakable desires do you have in the depths of your soul? What things that you know are impossible for you to accomplish, yet you can't shake the feeling that they are callings, things that seem He is leading you into? I would venture to say, the closer you get to these places these desires, the closer you are getting to His will for you. I believe this with all my heart. These last few weeks have not been hard. They have been joy. I am tired, don't get me wrong, but I have not been stressed or worried. I have truly felt peace and a leading like I have never known. I am so in love with the God I serve. I am anxious to hear of the stirrings he will do in and through this in the hearts of others. He can't move in ways like He is moving now and it not stir what is in the souls of His children who watch. I can't wait to watch with you, as I feel as much like a spectator in all of this as you do, I just have a really good seat.

>Concert Info<

Mia’s Hope Free Benefit Concert and Silent Auction takes place this Saturday!

On May 23 at 6:30pm, John David Webster and Hunter Smith from Connersvine will be performing a benefit event for baby Mia at Every Nation Church Indianapolis which is located at 12258 Hancock St. Carmel, IN 46032.

Enjoy a family-friendly evening of great music and learn more about orphans worldwide and power of adoption. A love offering will be taken for Mia, and the concert will be accompanied by a silent auction.

Y'all come join us and tell your friends. See you soon...

They're here, they're here!

Here she is!!! Our precious Mia! Sorry for the delay....Friday proved to be a little busier than I anticipated with the garage sale prep! Having said that we praise our Father in heaven for a success we could not pulled off with out His help! We raised $1600 on Saturday, despite the cold rain at times! Thanks to all the amazing families who donated goods to the sale, to Starbucks for the 2.5 gallons of coffee they donated to sell and to help keep us all warm and awake, and to all those who came out and took part helping and buying. I had a wonderful time telling our story and just watching all that was unfolding in front of me. So many times I have been near tears just watching the faithfulness of our Father to help bring this little baby girl (his little girl) home and into our family. When I got tired and cold, I would see her face and smile and get a little of what I needed to keep going. My emotional cup is full and we have a lot of processing to do, but for now, our gaze shifts to the next event coming up on Saturday and that is the benefit concert and silent auction. Please help by spreading the word to those of you here in Indy (not that out of staters aren't welcome :-) We would love for there to be many people who come to hear our story and be encouraged not to mention become a little more aware of the needs that are out there and that it IS possible for each of us to make a difference in the life of the fatherless and rejected.

Pictures coming very soon!!!

Just wanted everyone to know that we will have pictures up for you to see hopefully by tomorrow evening! We just got some updated pictures today, thanks to traveling families who were there. We have to get the official paperwork to the adoption agency before we can post anything. So check tomorrow evening....you can catch a glimpse then!

We have a baby...

Brian and I are now the new hopeful parents of a precious baby girl in India.....she is five months old and was born on December 2nd. I cannot wait to share her picture and updates with everyone!! For her sake, we need to wait until we sign some papers that make our intent official and those are received by our adoption agency. I can tell you she just a little pipsqueak but is absolutely precious! As far as we know, the expected travel time is around six months, so we have a while until we will travel to Calcutta and pick her up, however, we will receive updates and pictures which we will post here on our blog and then when we do go to get her, we plan posting while we are there so those of you who so desire can track the journey.
Something interesting that I read from scripture yesterday has really stuck out in my mind during these last few days, and that is that in Joshua, chapter three, when God is getting ready to lead the people into the promised land after 40 years of being in the desert preceded by 400 years of slavery by the Egyptians, the priests were going through the camp instructing the people to follow the ark of the covenant, which is in essence the presence of God among the people. They were told by the Lord to do this because they had never gone this way before. I totally feel like that is us. This whole journey is contingent upon us following the Lord because we have never gone this way before. I literally wake up in the morning and ask the Lord what we are going to do today to continue to make steps to bring Mia home, because without Him driving this thing, I don't know what I am doing :-) In addition to that, further on in chapter three, the priests who are leading the people into the land were instructed once they reached the Jordan River to step into it and after they did, the water would part for them and the people would cross on dry land. What struck me about this was how it was different than when they crossed the Red Sea. God told the people that day, to stand still and watch Him part the waters, this time, they had to have the faith to start into it before they would see the Lord work. I also feel like this is for us in that so much of this journey is about trusting His heart, hearing his voice and walking blindly in faith into impossible things in which He promises to show up. For those of you who don't know, we have to have a large sum of money ready next week to continue on with bringing Mia home. We are stepping into the water, fully needing and expecting God to work. I don't know what that will look like but I know He alway is faithful to bring into completion the work He has started. We are here listening for instructions, and we need your prayers. The final thing I wanted to share with you from Joshua is this, that when Joshua and Moses surveyed the land prior to entering it, they saw it was occupied by their enemies. Many strong armies were there waiting for them. The enemy was setting his traps of fear and discouragement and destruction. Please pray as we have faced this as well. Here we are with the "promised land" in site so to speak, and know that the enemy waits for us with discouragement and fear. We have faced this recently and I am sure will continue as he is ruthless and not easily deterred. But, scripture says if we resist him, he will flee. He cannot stand against the word and be successful. Thanks so much for the encouragement and prayer!!

The call...

This past Friday, we received a call from our adoption agency saying they had a referral for a little girl for us to consider for adoption. Brian and I are so excited to be praying for this baby and seeking to hear from God to see if this is indeed the sweet baby he planted in our hearts so many years ago. As soon as we are sure, we will be able to post her picture and information. Then the journey really gets exciting....Pray for wisdom and peace for us, please! And pray for this precious baby girl.