Will You Make Room?

I love Christmas trees.    Lights.    Decorations.   Snow.   Decorated sugar cookies.   Christmas music.    Santa.   Ornaments.   Decorated sugar cookies.    Snowmen.   Christmas movies.  Elf.  A Christmas Carol.    How the Grench Stole Christmas.   Decorated sugar cookies.

Sugar cookies are my favorite. 

I love the moment when all of my children are finally home, and we're getting ready to decorate sugar cookies.

 I love the smell of turkey smoking and dressing baking. I love the joy and laughter. I love knowing my children love our traditions. I do so believe traditions keep families strong! And, baking Christmas cookies is a yearly all day long event which each of my children look forward to. My adult sons try to pretend they don't, but they both ask me each year, "What day is cookie baking day?"

So....every year at Christmas, I struggle to keep Christ the center of Christmas. We mention Jesus often, but is it as often as cookies? or movies? or lights? Zeke was once the happiest wise men since the original wise men travelled to Bethlehem. His first every Christmas!

We read the birth story and prophecies of his birth in the Old Testament, but do we spend more time watching our favorite Christmas movies. (While eating Christmas sugar cookies, of course.)

I found a devotion plan on my YouVersion App. It's called "Make Room" and written by Matt Maher of Casting Crowns. It has been both convicting and encouraging. He reflects on the innkeeper with no room for the baby, but do we make room for him in our hearts? Do we truly reflect on Jesus, the WORD,  who became flesh, who chose to suffer that we might have life?

Then, yesterday my sweet Ellie sang such a beautiful song, making precious music that told of the one who made her fearfully and wonderfully.  Lynn Gaskins, your comment on that post touched my heart right where it needed to be as I reflect on Christmas. I am taking the liberty of including it here:

"THis beautiful rendition by sweet Ellie reached deep into my heart--and I knew in my spirit that this-this precious girl and her message was the reason Jesus came. Jesus came to make a way and a path for Ellie; He came for us all-- broken and battered, guilty and shamed, despairing and desperate, or just hopeless and lost....it is a merry Christmas."

"Is there room in your heart for God to write His story?"-Matt Maher

https://youtu.be/pVEJFATwkao

Praise and Prayers

Would you pray for my prince?

(He really hates it when I call him Prince Charming, but I'm going to take that privilege today.)

     There are many of you who know, and a few who do not know, that Scott and I have only been married 2 1/2 years. The theme of our wedding was "Beauty From Ashes". Divorce injures a person deep within, and we joined our lives as broken people who God was healing. Through days, months, and years of pain and doubt, attacks from the enemy, and soul-searching loneliness, we held onto our faith knowing that God is good. I chose to share this picture because it is such a sweet reminder that God sent Scott to help me find my smile again.

     "To all who mourn in Zion, he will give a crown of of beauty for ashes,

a joyous blessing instead of mourning, 

festive praise instead of despair. 

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted 

for his own glory." 

    Following injury, an athlete needs time to recover before returning to the game. Scott and I had both stepped away from church "work" and sat in the presence of the LORD through our healing. We faithfully attended worship and Bible study. We volunteered for service when needed, but even after we married, we didn't believe we were yet ready to minister to others.

  This past year, though, God has brought  much healing and opened so many doors of service that I am overwhelmed. We are honored that He would use us, in spite of us, not because of us. Because of HIM, for his glory, He will use the weakest to confound the wise.

   So today, for His glory, Scott is getting ready to board a plane. He will join a team of members of Bridge Community Church as they head to the Dominican Republic to minister to the boys of Boca Chica. God gave the call, Scott obeyed, and The LORD provided the support needed....

Scott will minister with Holt's House of Hope.

Our pastor has blessed us both more than He will ever know. He has been part of our healing process, part of encouraging us to minister again, and a faithful servant. I am excited to say that Chris is part of the team, as well as other mighty men of the LORD. Scott will be further blessed as they build relationships with the boys and each other.

    Will you join me in prayer the next several days. Ask the Holy Spirit to prompt you to remember to pray for the team, to pray for Scott.

   Bind together with me as I ask the Father to renew his spirit, that the bones that were broken will rejoice again, that he will hear joy and gladness. I pray the LORD will open his mouth, and he will share praise. As He serves others, May He see glimpses of the glory of God, the face of Jesus in the face of each child. May his eyes be open, and his heart be softened.

   And, my friends, if you are struggling, know this for I know.......

I love you, Scott!

What if we.......

A question on social media prompted quite a discussion. Several of the replies have continued to burden my heart. When questioned about the story they share with their adopted children, these mothers' replies were troubling.

"I'm not religious, so I don't believe God did anything. God didn't cause the pain for my child's birth family, and anyone who believes that God would cause pain like that is delusional."

"I do not for one second believe that God would cause my childrens' birth mothers' pain, loss, and heartache to make me, or anyone else a mother."

"God doesn't use and discard the life and emotions of a birth mother to bring adoptive parents babies!"

"If God in His sovereignty designs for a specific child to be adopted by a specific person, does He is his sovereignty design for some orphans to remain orphans and have terrible things happen to them?"

I absolutely believe my children were God's gift to our family, whether adopted from China....

or brought into the family by marriage....

or by birth

When we talk about adoption with our treasures from China, we often talk of Moses. His mother was unable to keep him, but God kept him safe until his new mother could find him because He had BIG plans for Moses. And I tell them, "Just like Moses, God has big plans for you. We will never know why your mother couldn't keep you, but we do know God kept you safe until this mother could find you. And, I'm so honored that God is allowing me to see all He has planned for you."

How do we, then, reconcile our joy with the pain of birth mothers who feel they cannot care for their children? or the pain of the orphans left behind?

I would certainly agree the pain they endure is unimaginable. We live in a fallen world, and while we suffer the consequences of our own sins, so many others suffer from bad choices not of their choosing. Some were given no choice, born with physical defects that we, in our limited understanding, consider tragic.

And, we who are Christians know that God works all things for our good. We know that God had a perfect plan that did not involve an imperfect world. We know that sin came into the world through man.

But, how do we convey that message to those who are lost?

What if we were.....

Light?

I wonder if the mothers above have seen the LIGHT shining in our lives. If the body of Christ were living as He commanded, would they see it?

Where is the CHURCH when birth mothers are hurting? Are we there in loving support for unwed pregnancies? Are we there with support for families who give birth to children with disabilities? Do we lovingly accept those children who are different? Do we teach our children to reach out to those who might be outcasts in our schools?

What if we were THAT LIGHT?

If more Christians responded to His call In James 4:27 to care for the orphans, would there be any orphans left behind? Statistics suggest that if only 7% of Christians adopted, all orphans would have families. There are an estimated 2.2 billion Christians in the world, and an estimated 143,000,000 orphans. I did the math and confirmed those statistics.  If 7 out of every 100 Christians responded, just 7!

Why don't we?

Why aren't we THAT LIGHT?

Is it that we don't take James 4:27 seriously? Do we truly desire to please Him above all others? Is He our first love? Or, is our comfort our first love? I've heard many excuses: I can't adopt because I don't have the time, money, room in my house, etc. If we adopt, I'm afraid I won't be able to give my "own" children the things they need, like a college education, a car, an iPhone. Is the "perfect" life for your children, the American dream, more important to us than love for children who have no one?

Why aren't we THAT LIGHT?

Some have said, "I'm afraid I wouldn't love an adopted child the same way I love my biological children." 

What?? Really?? Have we forgotten that our Heavenly Father adopted us? Isn't love a fruit of the Spirit? If we abide in Him, and He in us, will HE not love through us?

What if we WERE that LIGHT?

Will You Pray?

The package arrived today, and I was excited. I opened it and took out the pieces, remembering when I ordered each one. Then I picked up my favorite.

It. was. beautiful.

Too eager to wait on my gifted photographer husband to take a professional image, I set up a few things to take a simple photo with my phone. It gave me time to touch each strand, each bead, and run my fingers along the wire carefully wrapped around the brass bars.

Then I tried to see her face. 

Whose face?

Jobina. 

I don't know her personally, but I can picture her. She lives in India, so she has dark hair, dark skin, and deep brown eyes. She is fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator who calls her beautiful. Her eyes have seen horrors I canNOT imagine. Her body has been subjected to cruelties we wouldn't want mentioned. 

And then I began to pray. I asked the LORD to heal the scars left behind from the time she was a victim of the sex/slave industry. I asked him to restore the years the locusts have eaten and renew her spirit. I prayed that she knows the love of JESUS.

Since opening Josiah's Blessings, it has been our desire to encourage others and bring glory to the Father, to focus on ministry more than business. I have prayed many times for the ministries our business supports, but it felt so much more personal today. 

There are several products in our store that have signatures on the tags. I plan to begin praying specifically for individuals asking the Father to break my heart with the things that break his.

So, today, will you join me? Will you, too, pray for Jobina? Will you share the work of organizations like Eden Ministries, Rahab's Rope, Purpose Jewelry, and the International Justice Mission? Will you ask the LORD how you can become more involved in the fight against modern day slavery?

The necklace above is from Purpose Jewelry .The proceeds form the sale of Purpose Jewelry go to iSanctuary, providing care and employment for survivors of trafficking and sex slavery. You can purchase it and many more items that can impact the world at Josiah's Blessings in Blackshear, GA.