Exodus 22:22-24

A few articles for your "reading pleasure".

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/677204

http://www.wnd.com/indez.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=126204

I titled my post today with this reference because of what it says in response to the first article. In Exodus 22:22-24 it states:

"Do not take advantage of a widow or orphan.
If you do and they cry out to me,
I will certainly hear their cry.
My anger will be aroused........

The first article is a small update about the collapse of the Imagine adoption agency and gives a small insight into what happened before the bankruptcy. In addition to this I found out that children in the transition home before the collapse were lucky if they were fed twice a day. I would like to name the person(s) responsible for this but I know that God will take care of these people. I do not understand how greed can take a hold of a person to the extent that you would allow innocent children to suffer. It breaks my heart to know that there are thousands if not millions of other people like this out in the world.
The second article is one that makes my blood boil and is in reference to the Haitian orphans.It is titled -
"Haiti's children held hostage by UNICEF's agenda". I also know that God will take care of those responsible , but the person in me just weeps to think that millions of children will continue to suffer if we do not do something about this. I do know one thing we can all do -PRAY. Prayer is a mighty weapon and one that we need to continue to use.

February Slump

Hey everyone. Yup, you read right, I'm in a major slump and have not written anything for a while. Feb. has seemed like a long month in the adoption world and in my personal world. There have been only a couple of referals but lots of successful court dates. We have been trying to get our dossier updated which seems to be going very slowly. I was much more on top of things the first time around. We should be able to send any remainder items this week and then off to the provincial gov. for approval. Pray that the dossier will have a quick approval.
I was reading someone's blog this week and I have come to respect this couple tremendously and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing a poem that she had on her blog. It really said everything that had been in my thoughts these last 2 years.

"I've had my share of excuses in the past...

Too busy

Not enough money

Not enough time

Too young

Too old

Can't afford it

Already have 4 children

Not sure if it's God's will

Not sure

Can't afford it

What will others say

What will others think

People will think we are crazy

What if they are right?

Can't afford it

What if it's hard on our other kids?

It's not the right time

Not sure if I would be good at it.

House is too small.

Can't afford it.

Not sure if I want to start all over again

What would we drive?

What if it's too much work?

What if it's too hard?

Can't afford it.

Yet for every excuse God has the answer-

HIM.

It's all about Him-period.

He must increase,

but I must decrease.

John 3:30

We limit God with our excuses.

We limit God with our fears.

We limit God by putting Him inside a box-

A box we have designed on our own.

But by doing this we are actually robbing

ourselves-

robbing ourselves of the blessings,

Robbing ourselves of true joy

Robbing ourselves of truly living.

Because you see when we take 'us' out of the

picture

Our worries,

Our fears,

Our excuses,

And we put God in the center of our lives

The possibilities are endless.

He has the way...

He IS the way...

And all you have to do is

stop making excuses and take that first step.

Stop listening to the world.

Stop being afraid of the what ifs-

And listen to the one who knows.

The one who has the answers.

The one who really matters.

The truth is

we don't have to be perfect

because He is.

We don't have to have all of the answers

because He already does.

We don't have to know how

because He will show us.

Each day you wait

is a day that they wait too...

The cost of your excuse is a lot higher that the

cost of an adoption

because look at what it's costing them.

Stop making excuses.

They are waiting

And so is He...

To show you the way."

The only regret I've had in this whole adoption process is that we did not start sooner. If you've ever had a feeling that adoption is for you then start now. You will never regret it. There is a child out there waiting for you.

Dosier back from Ghana

Well we finally got our dosier back from Ghana. Now we have the privillege of redoing a bunch of the paperwork. Isn't International adoption fun???? At least it feels like a step in the right direction. Once we have our dosier in Ethiopia I will be anxiously waiting for a referal. Referals have still been trickling in at Imagine and it's exciting to hear all the stories. I get tears in my eyes ever time I hear about them knowing that life will change for these precious little ones and for the ones receiving them. We started at #87 and I think we are probably down to about # 80. At this rate we hope to receive a referal before 2010 ends. On a different note, I love all the well meaning people asking me if I'll go and get a child from Haiti. The thought is nice except for the fact that we are well under way with our ethiopian adoption and would not jepordize that. And it is not as easy as we would like to get the orphans out of Haiti. I pray that someday soon there will be a smooth process for all the children in Haiti. Life should not be this difficult for these kids. On a humerous note, my 9 year old son thought of a good way to raise money to support our little girl in Ghana that we were going to adopt. He thought I should go on "Are you smarter than a fifth grader" and win tons of money and donate it all to Mariam. I'm afraid that I am NOT smarter than a fifth grader. His heart is definitley in the right spot.