Pictures provided courtesy of Maya's Hope www.mayashope.org.  



We can not deny what God puts in our hearts.

My heart literally hurts for a hidden treasure...

Hope deferred (Delayed Hope) makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. 
Proverbs 13:12

My heart has been touched and utterly captured by a little girl, a hidden treasure who is looked at by our Father with a love that is deeper than comprehension (than any other) pure love that sees her as the beauty she is. Jesus looks at her with great worth and value not hidden at all.

As of now hope for this hidden treasure, hope for her to have a family that loves her and supports her and sees her as the apple of their eye. 

This hope for her has not come yet.

Is there hope for her?
There is absolutely hope for her, I believe with all my heart there is hope for her, hope that beauty will be made from ashes, hope that she will be cherished and her life will touch and impact whoever she comes in contact with. Hope for restitution and redemption. Hope that she will bring joy and a fresh outlook on simple accomplishments and bring meaning to life.

For I know the plans I have for you. declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 
— Jeremiah 29:11 

Psalm 10:17 
LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.

This hope is delayed, it has not come yet, but it will, I know it will because Jesus loves her, oh how He loves her so. 
It is breaking my heart as I wait for the desire to be fulfilled. My heart is sick and everyday I cry out on her behalf because Jesus loves her so much more. He has captured and broken my heart for her. The reason I am so broken for her is because she is close to Christ's heart. Her beautiful life is being wasted each day she unknowingly waits for someone to come, someone to show her she is wanted, loved, and treasured. Waiting to know what belonging is like, waiting to see beyond the crib she lays in everyday, waiting for relief from fighting daily to survive and hold on, waiting to shine and bring life to a family who willingly says yes to Gods calling on our lives as Christians. 

James 1:27
 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

We are the ones missing out, we are the ones at loss. As healthy Americans who have more resources, money, and freedom than any other country in the world, we are the ones who miss out, we miss out on allowing our lives to be used and then in returned touched and impacted. 

     “One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.” -Mother Teresa

   Does God need us to accomplish His will? Absolutely not. We are privileged to be used by Him and play a small part in all the big things He is doing. Like I have said It is not about us, what we have done or what we will accomplish. It is about what He has done, what He will do, and what He will accomplish through us for His kingdom. We are His vessels.

2 Corinthians 4:7
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

I know without a shadow of a doubt I was not born into this world to make my name Known and to use my life as I see fit. I was born to love God and love people, to be emptied of all of my selfish desires so Christ can shine and use my life to glorify the King. Do I die to myself everyday? Do I choose to love as I should all the time? No I mess up everyday but through Gods amazing grace He has shown me that My life is not my own. I do not deserve anything but God lovingly chooses to use the weak things of this world to accomplish His will. How blessed we are.

2 Corinthians 12:9
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Isaiah 40: 29 
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

1 Corinthians 1:27
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

Why out of all the children in the whole world He very specifically chose her to burden my heart? That I do not know. Why He first broke my heart for her country and her circumstances, I do not know. 
I do not need to know, God has not called me to weep and pray for her knowing why, knowing how my prayers for her will be answered. He has asked me to weep and pray for her because He knows why. 
He knows, 
He knows this precious treasure, He loves her and He sees her in His image just as He sees you and I. Prayer brings us closer to the things that are close to Gods heart. 
The orphan is close to His heart.

Psalm 68:5-6
A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
God sets the solitary in families;
He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

Psalm 27:10
When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.

God does not call the equipped He equips the called and He gives us the faith to say yes, the faith to take a leap into the unknown, knowing He will accomplish His good work. 

Hebrews 13:20-21 
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

“Faith expects from God what is beyond all expectation.” ~ Andrew Murray

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior.

Will what He has called  us to do be easy, NO. Will it be worth it? Will we find joy in it? Absolutely, because He has promised us.

Psalm 16:11
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

We love because He first loved us.
We say yes in obedience to the call He has placed on our lives

"We don’t say yes because we are good or because we are good enough or because we know what to do next. We say yes because somehow in our meager, inadequate offering, Jesus is glorified."
-Kristen Welch

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter" -Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe this with all my heart and I will not be silent about the things that are close to Gods heart.

I will not sit back and act like children do not suffer and are not treated like trash. Like they don't matter, I won't do it. Christ looks at His precious children with great compassion, worth, great value, high esteem, and love. I won't see what I've seen (children in Eastern Europe hidden away, and treated like they don't exist) and keep silent. I won't keep silent about wrong, horrible things. It is wrong to hide someone away and pretend they are non existant, like their lives have no worth or value because of a choice someone else made. It is wrong to lay someone in a crib all day and ignore them. It is wrong to withhold love when it is in your power to show Christs love. 

Proverbs 3:27, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it”,

Proverbs 31:8-9
Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat."
Mother Teresa

Gods will is put in our hearts, it is not something we have to conjure up. He gives us the desires of Our hearts. 

Psalm 37:3-6
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

When we are close to His heart our desires will be of things that matter to Him and our desires will be His desires.

Philippians 2:13
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

This precious gem is close to His heart...

Margarita- means "Pearl" a beautiful high valued treasure of God hidden but not hidden from Him. Waiting to be valued and loved.

Isn't she lovely

Isn't she wonderful

Isn't she precious 

Isn't she worth it all

Is it worth it for just one?
Without a shadow of a doubt-

The starfish story 
While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.

He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”

The old man smiled, and said, “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, “But, young man, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one.”

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.
Matthew 25:40

     “What we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. I do not agree with the big way of doing things.”
-Mother Teresa

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

The things God burdens our hearts for can seem overwhelming until we choose to take one step at a time and say yes to the things He puts directly in front of us, until we realize being faithful in the little things, being faithful to the things that bring life and healing to one person at a time are worth it all. They may seem small, or like they are not world changing but God does not see it like that.  He sees it as doing it unto Him. He sees it as loving what He puts in front of us. 

  “Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” -Mother Teresa

Luke 16:10
He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

He has not asked us to change the world all at once He has asked us to change one life at a time by reflecting His beauty and shinning His light and love and then in turn that touched life will touch another and another until the world is impacted and changed. Until we find beauty in this simplicity we are blind.

     “We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.” -Mother Teresa
 
       “Jesus said love one another. He didn't say love the whole world." -Mother Teresa

When God calls do not question, second guess, overthink, over talk, or worry about what people think. Do everything unto Him.

Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people.  Colossians 3:23

"Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do"
H. Jackson Brown Jr

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.
Mother Teresa

This is where true joy and worship is found. This is where your life will be used as an example and reflection of Christ. This is where life begins. Life begins when we see each life the way Christ does with wholehearted worth and value. When we serve those He puts in our path with whole hearted love and devotion.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone
Life truly begins when we take leaps of faith to do what most will not do. When we simply say "yes" to God.

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."
-Mother Teresa

When this desire is fulfilled, (it will be fulfilled in His timing) when hope comes, when God answers my prayers for Margarita, it will be a tree of life.... God is faithful to His promises. 

Isaiah 45:2-3
‘I will go before you
And make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the Lord,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.

Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.



So go ahead 
And love like Your not scared
Give when it's not fair
Live life for another
Take time for a brother
Fight for the weak ones
Speak out for freedom
Find faith in the battle
Stand tall but above it all
Fix your eyes on Him.

Luke 14:12-14
Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Margaritas life matters, it is of great worth and value. If you feel lead and called to make a difference in her life take that leap of faith. Say "yes" to Gods stirring in your heart.
    
Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.
Mother Teresa

“Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them." -Mother Teresa

The road less traveled by,
has made all the difference....
-Robert Frost

My words are not adequate to express all God has done and continues to do in our lives. He is worthy of so much more than I am able to give. Yet by His amazing grace He's called me (each one of us). I have the privilege to be a small part of His goodness, His will, His work and to sit at His feet in awe of how worthy He is.

Only when we are completely selfless are we able to love fully.
Only in my nothingness can He be lifted up and glorified. Only in my nothingness am I able to hear His voice so clearly. He speaks to my heart in such a  way that I am changed.
This change He has brought about and will continue to bring about is not always pleasant, it's stretching, it's humbling, it's realizing apart from the vine I can do nothing. I can prosper in nothing. My joy is only surface. I desire to live so much more fully than this world can offer and I can only live in such a way if I am wholly surrendered and connected to Jesus in a way that hurts for Him. Break my heart for what breaks yours. This is my plea.

John 15:5
 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

We are in the final stages of this wait for our Tucker. We received our LoA (letter of acceptance) on April 28th from China.

The estimated wait as of now is 5 weeks or less.
I am full of joy for this long awaited moment yet I hurt for the world. I hurt for people that have not experienced the love of Jesus. I hurt for People who have not experienced the fullness of joy God has to offer and the simple direction and abundance He freely gives. The price He paid for us was death so we might have life.
As we see Jesus' life played out we see a man who was driven by love for God and for His people.
Nothing else matters period.

We were designed and created by God in His image and this is how He sees us. Oh Lord, open the eyes of the blind, open our eyes to see the way You see and then we will live a life of fullness. The path will be paved and only then will our lives bring healing to others. The desire of our hearts is to live life to its fullest and only in Christ can that happen. Only by being able to lay down our life for Christ to live through us, to love through us, to be all we've desired, to be free. We are captives, slaves to this world unless we are set free. Freedom is in Christ.

I hurt for people that are: 
bound- "a limitation or restriction on feeling or action."
in solitary-  "done or existing alone. lonely, companionless, unaccompanied, by oneself, on one's own, alone, friendless; antisocial, unsociable, withdrawn, reclusive, cloistered, hermitic, incommunicado, lonesome."

Bound to a life of sin and not willing to be forgiven.Bound by the lust's of the flesh and not able in their own strength to be free. Deprived of a life that can be more than a conqueror with Christ.

We can so easily be self consumed by things that are not always bad- e.i. hobbies, giftings etc. 
I am the first to admit I waist time on things that have no value. 
Life is too short to waste it on things of no value.

People- are of great value and worth. To help the solitary and bound you don't have to adopt. There are people in our lives who are slaves to addictions, selfishness, hurt, pain, lusts, bitterness, pride, starving for truth and freedom, for the power to overcome. People all around in bondage to self, addicted to lives that lead down a path of self, tunnel vision of self.

Yes, caring for orphans is a huge tug on my heart but to be willing to go across the world and bring a sweet boy home to his family that loves and treasures him and wants to support him through his life I have to be willing to go into my own neighborhood and be a friend to the friendless, to pray for my own family and love them unconditionally through every hurt and to share Christ with a country that has so much yet hurts so much. People that experiences loneliness in the deepest part of their being.

Psalm 68:6
"God sets the solitary in families;
He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
But the rebellious dwell in a dry land."

My heart is so touched by Psalm 68:6. After looking up solitary and bound and realizing we come in contact with people like this everyday. We have lived lives in solitary and bondage. We are only free because Christ paid the ultimate price, death so that we may have life, life more abundant, A life that is free so we can help the people around us that are hurting, that are desperate for a savior and don't even know it.
When we have freedom in Christ then we are enabled by the spirit to be light to a dark world. To bring hope.

Romans 8:35
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Galatians 5:1
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."

Isaiah 61:1
 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

My little boy is across the world and though I love him with a whole heart - Tucker has no clue how drastically his life is about to change. With no expectation I will be traveling to China to bring home our son. I am taking Morris with me. Please pray for his heart, for peace, for loss as he leaves all he's ever known. These precious children are brave and while this is an exciting time, it is a time that can not be lived by feelings or emotions. It is a time that has to be separate from feelings. A time to love because Jesus first loved us. A time to love unconditionally, selflessly, no matter the response I receive or don't receive, a love that can only come from Christ. The reality in my nothingness, in all I lack I know Gods grace will be sufficient. 

Please be praying as we embark on an unknown journey that by faith I know will be beautiful.
The reality is yes, it's exciting but it takes laying life down to bring life.

Please pray that God will bring in the rest of our finances.
We have payed our final agency payments and by prayer and faith we know God will bring the money for in- country expenses and airfare as we have seen Him do so graciously before with our Morris.
God is so amazing. Please let your heart be open and let God use your life. you never know how He will use you.
It will be great I promise.

‘Freely, freely, you have received,
Freely, freely give;
Go in My name, and because you believe
Others will know that I live.’

With much love,
Miranda

If you would like to help practically you can go to the GIVE section or here....
Thank you!
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I am humbled at the gift of life. The way God looks at each of us with eyes of deep unconditional love, compassion, and as His treasured gifts. Each life to God is precious, beautiful, worth dying for. Each orphan is just as much treasured by the Lord as we are. He has called us to be His hands and feet and to see each life through His eyes.
Life is a miracle. Each life is so precious. Each child deserves to know the love and support of a family, to have a place to call their own, to be encouraged and uplifted in Gods plan for them, and to know that God has gifted each of us in different and unique ways and desires to use those gifts for His kingdom.

Our visit to Morris' Orphanage was a gift, we feel very privileged for the opportunity to see where he has spent the first five and a half years of his life. I have been looking forward to this part of our trip for a longtime.
Morris' orphanage is a four and a half hour drive from where we are staying in Guangzhou so we anticipated a very long, emotional day.
Not knowing what to expect we decided through prayer this would be a good thing for Morris to say goodbye to his nannies, teacher, and friends.
The visit turned out to be a bigger blessing than we realized.

As we arrived at Morris' Orphanage his friends from preschool were waving down at him from an upstairs open classroom. His built up emotion poured out on arrival, tears streaming down his face. He has about the most heart melting cry I've heard. We let the orphanage director carry him up to his classroom. As he entered his classroom his cry turned into laughing. He loves his friends! We felt very welcome and they began showing us all that they have been teaching him. Morris was so sweet as he passed out a small treat to each of his friends. His smile lit up the room and you could see the love each one had for him. Morris' teacher sat with him at the piano and they sang a song.

Each room they took us to was where Morris spent his days. We learned so much about him in that short time we were there. Each care giver loved our Morris and was so thankful he now has a family and an opportunity to spread his sunshine. They called him "sunshine boy!"
We were blessed with a few treasures they had saved for him. A small teddy bear, his little tin cup he drank from, and an amazing memory book with sweet baby pictures. Morris was so proud to show us his crib that he slept in and his chair with his name on it that he sat in during his preschool time.

Our guide Rebecca was amazing! She was able to translate questions we had for Morris and we found out he loves lanterns and when he grows up he wants to make a lantern. These little pieces into his thoughts are each treasured. He is very smart, he greets everyone with good morning auntie or uncle, and he knows each of the kids names at his orphanage.
He said goodbye without tears although on the way home he shed a few as he was thinking about his friends.

I pray that each of us as Christians will take time to pray about how we can help the orphans and widows however that may look.

God has shown me the lack of love and wickedness of my own heart during our time in China. The disabled here in China are very much outcasts. Many people have no compassion to people with special needs, as we walk down the streets we do not see people with special needs.
We have been shown disrespect with starring, pointing, laughing because of our sons disability. I have been very heartbroken at these responses and have let my heartbreak turn into anger and bitterness. The Lord gently reminded me that He loves the very people that have shown this disrespect and that these people need Jesus. China is a country based on false God's or no God at all. I am called to show Christ's love to each person I come in contact with, I can choose to shine for Him. Please pray with me for this country. God desires that each person come to know Him. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few. My prayer is that through each family that adopts, that shows Christ's love for the least of these, for the children and people with special needs that ultimately people's hearts here in China will be opened and changed. That they will desire to be different, that they will have a longing for a true religion in their own lives. My prayer is that I can love like Christ loves because only then will people see a difference.

Lord, my prayer for sweet Morris is that he will have a deep compassion for people and for his country. I pray that he will be bold and that he will find his confidence in You. I pray that he will shine bright for You, that his life will be a reflection of Your beauty, and that many will come to know You through his story.

May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in. ~Mother Teresa

Gotcha Day!!!
It has taken a little time for this post because we have been truly cherishing each moment with our precious boy......
Monday May 20th 2013
The day couldn't have been more beautiful, each moment is treasured.
I want to start off by saying I am so thankful God is steadfast and never changing because in this life emotions change daily and sometimes by the minute.
As we prepared to meet our sweet boy I found myself in constant prayer and was able to reflect on all God has brought us through up to this point.
I was able to reflect on God's heart for me and for the orphan and the beautiful process adoption is. God is in the details even when we think some of them are silly.
The Lord keeps speaking to me saying, one step at a time, just put one foot in front of the other and I will take care of the outcome, in faith do My will for you and you will see more of my character. So here I am doing that very thing, entrusting the outcome into His hands. Through this I am able to trust Him more. I can not put into words every detail, but I can say God has truly reminded me that He is in control and He sees what is in store.
Every single prayer has been answered up to this point, I am so very thankful for all of the prayers that have gone out on our behalf and the power prayer has.
Before leaving to meet our Morris we spent time in prayer, as we headed out time seemed to stand still as we were driving. I felt God calming me, He gently said it will be ok.
We entered the civil affairs office and went upstairs to a small room crowded with other families and noises. We were searching for our boy, we had to patiently wait for them to bring him out. Through a crack in the back door of the room we saw a glimpse of our sweet little boy sitting in his wheelchair with a smile on his face, he looked over and saw us gazing and smiled so big, he had recognized us from the pictures we sent :) We continued to wait.....
As the nannies wheeled Morris out I literally felt like I was in a dream and everything, all the distractions in the background faded. He was all smiles, looking so proud.
Before I picked him up the nannies wanted him to show me a Mother's Day gift he had made for me. He was so proud showing me the picture frame with the family picture of us in it. He pointed to each person in the picture yelling mama, baba- it was so cute. I looked down and his arms were stretched to the sky with a smile from ear to ear! I picked him up, he came right to me, I held him close while giving him hugs and kisses. Like I said before it is very hard to put these moments into words, they are very very special. The moment we had been waiting for so long had come. All the pictures and videos we had seen finally were becoming real. We could see and touch our little boy. He is truly amazing, we are so proud of Morris for being so brave. I kept saying I cant't believe he is ours. Adoption is a miracle.
Morris was very excited about his bumble bee backpack filled with special toys and treats. He especially loved the little fan airplane, juice box, and bubbles. The simple things we take for granted he sure loves. As we blew bubbles and had Mickey Mouse pop them he was laughing at the top of his lungs. He felt very comfortable with us, not afraid. We had time to ask the nannies questions and collect his things that we had sent to him. All of a sudden Morris realized the nannies were gone and he began to weep, my heart broke as I watched his eyes searching all over the room for the only familiar people in his life. It was heart wrenching.

I just want to say how very thankful and blessed we are for the nannies that truly loved our boy over the past five and a half years he's been alive. We can tell they really love him, they took very good care of our sweet boy and wanted to make sure they each got individual pictures with him before they left. We are so impressed with the love and care his orphanage provided.
Thank you Jesus for our precious, precious treasure. Thank you for choosing him for our family.
Morris began to calm down on the car ride back to the hotel. He amazes us with each passing day. He is receiving our love, and his trust for us is building with each moment we spend nurturing him. Our little boy is tiny, yet strong, meek and mild yet passionate and full of life. His disability does not define him, it makes him who he is. He loves conquering new challenges and making us laugh. We are blessed beyond measure!!

The day we left for China Morris was exactly 51/2 years old.
We are so grateful that God has hand picked us out of all the people in this world to go on this journey of adoption to our little man. We feel very privileged to be little Morris' parents.
The first few days as we waited to meet our little Angel we had a wonderful time together. We have enjoyed the rest and seeing some of the beautiful Chinese culture (not to mention loving this nice hotel).
There have been so many different emotions through this adoption process, but God is always here to give us just what we need. He is definitely a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He never ceases to amaze me. So thankful I have Him to lean on. I am so thankful He desires to build our faith and trust it gives this life purpose.
The most amazing part of the days leading up to meeting sweet Morris is the peace God has enveloped us with. Peace that passes all understanding. He has been here to calm each fear and doubt that try's to creep in.
My husband has truly been a blessing. He has so much love to give, and such a big heart. I love how the team work draws us closer and closer together. My heart is so full.  I am one blessed girl.

M

My heart is overwhelmed as I think about Gods love this morning. I woke up early to catch the 6:20 Ferry to Vancouver, BC - The last two days we have had the privledge to lead worship at some amazing churches here on the islands of British Columbia. My wife and I are meeting up at the Vancouver Airport to complete what was birthed through prayer many years ago. We are going to go get our little boy!
Thank you Jesus for Your love in my life. Thank You Lord for Your compassion. I could never say thank You enough. We want more of You in our lives. Our prayer is that our actions would declare who You are. Your beauty overwhelms me-
Please be with us today

God's Provision

I should not be blown away at God's goodness and faithfulness, that is His character. Yet I am.
I am humbled that He chose me to be my husbands wife and chose us to be parents to three sweet children. We are blessed that He hand picked each of them for our family.

He has once again displayed His faithfulness in our Journey.........

He has once again guided and directed each of our steps...........

He has once again poured out His grace and mercy..........

His love abounds

March 12th,

China gave us our letter of acceptance. Meaning we will be traveling to bring home our precious little boy very soon.
We received our Letter of Acceptance in 35 days. A month earlier than we were expecting. It is all happening a lot faster than we thought.
We are so so thankful and so very blessed. God sees the path before us. He knows our every need and desire.
We take great comfort knowing that God is with our Morris as he waits for us. Please pray for Him as he is about to leave the only life he has ever known.

March went by very fast with all of the paperwork and all the anticipated steps we have taken in this adoption process. God's perfect timing! March is a very special month. God began to place a very real, very heavy burden on my heart for our precious Morris last year. My heart is full as I see how God compels us with His love. My life is forever changed as I look back and see God's mighty hand at work
In all the tiny details. He cares for us, He does not leave us as orphans, His spirit has come to change us, to live and dwell in us, to give us sight when this world is so dark, to give us an eternal perspective. Without God I am a selfish wretch that lives only to gratify the flesh. I need
more of Jesus.  I need Him to continue to burn away the things in me that are not of Him.

Thank you for using the weak things of this world Lord..........

WE WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HAVE PRAYED AND GIVEN TO OUR ADOPTION!!! WE ARE SO BLESSED!!!

God is using each of you to play your part in an orphans life (AN ORPHAN NO MORE). We are so, so grateful for the love and support we have been shown throughout this process.

Please keep praying for us as we are now officially waiting for our Travel Approval (as of April 18th). This is around a 2 week wait. It could take longer. When we receive our travel approval we leave two
weeks after that. (Middle to end of May)
Please pray for us! We need a lot of prayer. Our lives are about to be changed forever. We are thankful, and at the same time we know it will be hard in ways.
Please pray for Elias and Brighten as they adjust to Morris. Please pray for Morris as he learns to be part of a family (he has never been apart of a family).
Please pray that God gives Luke and I the love and wisdom it takes to raise our precious children for Him. Prayer is the biggest way you can help!!!!!!!!

M