Friday, July 6, 2007

Howdy!!
Boy, I'm not so good at updating our blog, which makes for quite a boring blog! Sorry to any of you that check this regularly and are disappointed by my lack of blogging!! I'm going to try to get rockin' on it more often. The problem is we have NO news on our kids other than NO PASSPORTS this week. This is becoming all to familiar and I'm starting to have flashbacks from our friends long...really long, wait for passports. We walked with the Lorenzen's through their process and it was tough just watching! Praying, crying, longing for something, anything, some news of your kids. Now we are in the exact same place. We have heard some fun tidbits about our kids through other families. Other children from AOH that have come home to thier families are talking about "Osobie and Fatu" I guess. We also got a update from another friend who just picked up her baby just 2 weeks ago. She wrote " Hi Katie - we saw your kids at the orphanage! Fatu stood up and did the ABC's for us and Osobee gave a bible verse. "
OH YEAH!!! I was just flipping out to think of our little girl saying her ABC's in her Liberian English, and Osobie reciting a bible verse! Wow!! We are so blessed! God has deposited such a deep love for them that is just beginning. We are soo ready and longing for them to be home!!

Oh, and now for an update on our One dollar adoption fundraiser (www.jeffandkatie.onedollaradoption.com) we are now at : $4,839!!!

Oh yeah!! It keeps coming and we are rejoicing over every dollar and thanking God for His provision. THANK YOU!! We are constantly blown away by the generosity and sacrifice of other families who have given to us while they themselves are in the midst of adoption!! Thank you!!
I know this African proverb gets used alot, but I still love it. It takes a village to raise a child!! It takes a village...you fill in the blank. We are called to do this, to be this, to be a body, to be a community, God's kids. This reminds me of a Liberian kids book I just bought off Amazon. It is called Head, Body, Legs -a story from Liberia by Won-Lyde Paye. It is from the Dan people, a tale told by mothers and grandmothers. It is about the importance of co-operation-each part of the body is necessary and helps the others, just as each person in a family or a community is necessary and helps others. The story begins with a head rolling around unable to do many things. The story ends with a full body-arms, legs and all, reaching up to pick a mango from the tree and enjoying it's sweetness. By being together, working together and risking together we get to partake of the sweetness of God's kingdom.

Hmm... sounds just like a verse in Romans.

"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully"

and ....I Corinthians 12:12
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.


I want to see God's purposes, plans, and kingdom come because we joined hands, hearts and minds.

4 comments:

Laura said...

What an exciting and encouraging update! You're getting so close to your financial goal. God is good! Now, you just need those passports! I'm praying!

Jeremy and Kamina Johnson said...

We are praying for passports to come soon! Our dossier was sent to AoH, so now we wait for a referral. What was the author of the other book? We were thinking of ordering them.

Anonymous said...

Praying that you will get those passports soon. Also, thank you for the encouraging reminder that we are called to be a "body", functioning together.

Brandi said...

Praying for passports! It sounds like your kids are super popular over there! Can't wait to hear the stories straight from you guys!

Yeah on the money coming in. God is so GOOD!!!

Brandi