Well, I just realized today that it has been 3 months ago today that God placed our precious son in our arms. That day was the longest day of our lives waiting for them to bring Jaxson to us.

As you can tell he was one little, sad, scared and beat up (he got in a fight over toys that morning) little, tiny, beautiful boy. He looks so lost in these pictures doesn't he?

Now 3 months later we have the happiest little boy I have ever seen. Jaxson is so full of joy not to mention full of energy to. Jaxson has 2 sisters that are madly in love with him and a mommy and daddy that are crazy about him too. Jaxson has his own bed to sleep in now, plenty of food to eat and way more toys than he would ever need. The best part is that Jaxson is soooooo very loved by so many people now. We are so thankful for this incredible blessing God has given us!!!!!

Here I Am

OK, so after you read my last post you know God has been letting me know it's time to get off my butt and get busy. So anyway while I was researching this morning I found this scripture:

"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act" Proverbs 24:12

Isn't it funny how God shows you certain scriptures just when you need them?

Then a song came on the radio this morning. I have heard this song for a little while on the radio now and God has put a friend of mine on my mind everytime I hear it. Finally this morning I couldn't take it anymore and I emailed the radio station to find out who the song was by so I could find the lyrics. The song is sung by a band called Downhere. When I read the words to the song (I only knew the words to the chorus) even though I believe God intended me to send this to my friend I couldn't believe how much it fit my own life.

HERE I AM

Sometimes your calling, comes in dream Sometimes in comes in the Spirit's breeze, You reach for the deepest part of me, And call out for the things of eternity.
But I'm a man, of dust and stains, You move in me, so I can say,
CHORUS:Here I am, Lord send me, All of my life, I make an offering, Here I am, Lord send me, Somehow my story, Is part of your plan, Here I am
When setbacks and failures, and upset plans, Test my faith and leave me with empty hands, Are you not the closest when it's hardest to stand? I know that you will finish what you began.
These broken parts you redeem, Become the song, that I can sing (chorus)
Overwhelmed by the thought of my weakness, And the fear that I'll fail you in the end, In this mess, I'm just one of the pieces, I can't put this together but you can.

Wow, is all I can say to this song. It was only through my pain and suffering of 4 years of infertility, through my pain of watching children I loved die when I worked in the children's home for severly handicapped children, only through my tears of sitting and watching starving children on TV for hours as a child and many other things that got me to where I needed to be to do the work God had planned for me.

I wonder sometimes if I had to see these things and go through these things for me to get there or was it just that I wasn't willing to until I went through these things?

God's Love for the Orphans

Well, I am sitting here in tears tonight because God has let me know it's time to get off my butt and get back to the ministry he has called me to. Someone once told me that the easist way for Satan to keep us from God is to keep us busy, isn't that so true?

Anyway I have been doing research tonight for the ministry and it is soooooo much harder this time to work on it. When God first called me to it a year and a half ago we weren't even planning on adopting for several years so it didn't hit home as much as it did tonight.

When I look at some of the faces of the 143 million children in the world that are orphans it breaks my heart. Children starving, children in pain, children who need surgery, children that have never been loved, children just like Jaxson that just want a home. These kids don't care if your fat, skinny, rich, poor, have a big house or a very small one. All these kids want is someone to love them and take care of them.

Sometime's I wonder if Christians have any idea how close orphans are to God's heart. If every church started teaching James 1:27 then we would have a lot more of these children cared for and loved.

Did you know that over 50 verses in the Bible mention orphans? Below is a list of some of those verses.

Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street. Lamentations 2:19 (NIV)
James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Exodus 22:22
"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. Deuteronomy 10:18He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 14:29
so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Deuteronomy 16:11
And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name-you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you.
Deuteronomy 16:14
Be joyful at your Feast-you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.
Deuteronomy 24:17
Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.
Deuteronomy 24:19
When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. Deuteronomy 24:20
When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.
Deuteronomy 24:21
When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. Deuteronomy 26:12
When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
Deuteronomy 26:13
Then say to the LORD your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.
Deuteronomy 27:19
"Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
Job 22:9
And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.
Job 24:3
They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge. Job 24:9
The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
Job 29:12
because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
Job 31:17
if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless-
Job 31:21
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court,
Psalm 10:14
But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
Psalm 10:18
defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
Psalm 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
Psalm 82:3
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Psalm 146:9
The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
Proverbs 23:10
Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
Isaiah 1:17
learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them.
Jeremiah 7:6
if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm,
Jeremiah 22:3
This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
Jeremiah 49:11
Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me."
Ezekiel 22:7
In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. Zechariah 7:10
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'
Malachi 3:5
"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.
John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Are we not to be the hands and feet of Christ?

Jaxson - Our Precious Son

It has been almost 3 months since we traveled to China to bring home our precious gift from God. Three months is not a long time but we feel like it was a lifetime away because it feels Jaxson has always been part of us.

Jaxson has brought so much joy, so many smiles, so many hugs to our lives. It is amazing watching this child with 1 arm do way more than any child I have ever seen with 2 arms. Our social worker told us that he will probably look at people someday and wonder why they have 2 arms.

I can't wait to see what God had in store for this amazing child someday!