Remembering the song that played on the Abe day video........ 

Everyone needs compassion
Love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Saviour
The hope of nations


Saviour
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave


So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender


Shine Your light and let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the glory of the risen King

Tuesday it became apparent that we may need to seek some further medical advice.  We would covet your prayers right now.  We are so privileged to parent him, and rest in that before the foundation of the world, the Lord chose us to be Abe's family. We don't doubt international adoption, our agency, his orphanage- we just are dealing with the possible reality that the road may look different from the one we have thought.  Isn't that true of all of life though?

We are waiting to receive an appointment with a Pediatric Neurologist. I find it interesting that we are once again waiting.  Silly me thought the waiting was only for the adoption process. :)  I know that this is where the Lord wants us, fully dependent on Him and Him alone.  He is in physical therapy and we will continue that for sure.  My heart aches, but I'm filled with the goodness of a Savior that loves Abe more than I can ever imagine!  I know that the power of prayer is a powerful tool. Please pray that Abe will be fully healed, that he will make remarkable gains in his development and nothing is found at the neurologist!  We rest in Him and His grace for all our needs today.....and everyday!

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."  Isaiah 55:8-9

"Oh Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me." Psalm 30:2

But Jesus hearing this answered him, "Do not fear, only believe, and she will be well." Luke 8:50

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2008

if my people PRAY...
most of you who have been on this journey have been able to watch me go from a little "brentwood girl" who loved shoe shopping and her yellow car, who relied on God a little but mostly on her cell phone and her money and her mommy and daddy, to a woman, all alone in a foreign land, with nothing to rely on but The Lord Almighty. you have laughed and cried with me as i have put my trust in God to do the little things like kill the bat in the shower or hold off the rain on a long walk home, and the big things like heal my dying children and provide guidance for each step i take on this path. He has provided unfailingly. sometimes in the way i expected, and sometimes in a way quite His own and so much better. it doesn't change the fact: HE HAS PROVIDED UNFAILINGLY.

oh, but i am a human, and ever so slow to learn. some days i just marvel at His patience with me. i have often wondered since re-entering the US why i feel such great culture shock. how can i feel such a disconnect with the place i was born, raised, and for 18 years called home? i have blamed it on many things. american extravagance. the grocery store that almost sends me into panic attack mode due to the sheer quantity and variety of foods. people building million dollar homes. a lack of understanding and a lack of thanksgiving on the part of all of us. the ease with which we receive medical care. the amount of STUFF that just clutters our lives.

it hit me just the other day like a rock on the head. all these things make it difficult to readjust, yes. but what has been the big shock to my system, the huge disconnect, is that i have stepped out of my reliance on God to meet my needs. if i am sick i go to the drug store or doctor. if i am hungry i go to the grocery, need to get somewhere, get in my car, need some advice or guidance, call my mom or go plop on my roommate's bed, want to feel happy, get ben or brad to make me laugh. i keep forgetting to ask God first to heal me, to fill me, to guide me, to rejoice with me. i have to set aside "time to pray" in the morning and at night instead of being in CONSTANT COMMUNICATION with Him. as i sit here writing, i am frustrated at my own stupidity, my human willingness to step back into a place i swore i detested.

for a split second this weekend, my world was shattered. my best friend in the universe, who is going to be a very successful accountant one day in the near future, asked if she could take a look at the ministry's finances, practice on them (this was a blessing to me also as sometimes i am not quite as organized as i would like to be). to say the least, she was baffled. how was this even working? out of 150 children that need to go to school, only 44 are sponsored. that means that the other kids are going to school on donations, or my savings. i still owe ugandan schools about 8,000 dollars to finish this term which will end in december, not to mention that the rent on the house is due next month. she couldn't figure out logically how this could work. if i couldn't even finish paying for this school year, how was i going to pay for 2009? if sponsorship money only covered the cost of school fees, how was i going to continue to pay my overhead? my very un-business-like answer was, "so far, we have made ends meet. the money just always comes by the end of the month." i think she wanted to laugh at me, but i love her for not doing it. she explained to me, as so many others, my very wise father included, that this was not possible. i would have to cut back. that only the 44 children who actually have sponsors will be able to continue school in 2009, the rest of the money raised will go to paying off debt we owe the other schools and then as we have savings we can expand to more children. the idea of telling 106 children that not only could they no longer go to school but also that i would not be feeding them or providing their medical care was something i couldn't even imagine. my mind raced. i held my composure until she left and then broke down in tears.

that is when God yelled at me. the rock hit me on the head. i never chose these 150 children, God gave them to me. i never planned to send them all to school, He did. its not me who is carrying all this out, it is our Lord for whom all things, ALL THINGS are possible! i could just see Him up there laughing at me. "Oh, you of little faith! ASK ANYTHING IN MY NAME AND YOU IT WILL BE GRANTED YOU!" i had become so concerned about how I was going to continue to provide for these kids that i has forgotten that it wasn't even supposed to me me who was providing! i had been so busy working to raise money, that i had forgotten to keep asking Him. i literally fell to my knees. i am not cutting back. i am not telling 106 kids that they are not going to school next year. why would i do that? look at the last year. has God ever failed to provide EXACTLY what is needed? no. why then, would i ever believe that He is not going to provide this time?! i fell to my knees. i begged for forgiveness. i promised to do better. i began fasting and praying fervently for his continued provision. since then 13 children have been sponsored, 3 new fundraising dinners have been set up. friends have rallied around me asking what they can do to help. i did nothing but pray. i am no longer fasting but i have resumed my constant communication with God. He gave me this life, why wouldn't he want to be involved in every minute of it?

i have written this long story that you may be encouraged. make a conscious effort today not to set aside "time to pray" but to live in CONSTANT PRAYER. all you have to do is ask. ask and believe that nothing is too small or too big for your Lord. HE WILL SHOW UP. just make sure you invite Him!

70,000 dollars will pay off our debt for this year and send all 150 children to school the whole of next year with money left over for food, water, electricity and medical care. i BELIEVE that God will finish this good work that He started. i KNOW that He is faithful. pray with me. KNOW with me.


for all of you out there praying for a miracle (davis family!) - keep presenting your extravagant requests to God.

MIRACLES HAPPEN.



to sponsor a child look to the right side of the blog under "blog archive" and find the July 3 post.

to donate to help us finish out this year make a check for any amount payable to Amazima Ministries and send it to Amazima Ministries International, 1694 Autumn Place, Brentwood, TN 37027.

thank you to my supportive friends, and all of you who are prayer warriors for us right now. you are instrumental in this great plan, what a blessing!

Abe and I aren't feeling great, but these sure put me in a better mood.  I have seen both before but recently saw them again on different blogs.  Had to share.

Here it goes---and remember that I am sleep deprived! :)

1. I am pretty laid back about most things but super rigid with time.  I don't like to be late anywhere!  Drives Moody crazy. :)

2. I put peanut M&M's in my popcorn at the movies- yummy!

3. Need my coffee before my day can officially begin.  Really enjoy my Gobena beans. :)

4. Am not organized at all, but am in the fantasy land that I dream about sometimes.

5. Come from a really competitive family!  We could make anything a competition- may have carried some of that over to my family.  

6. At a party, I would rather have deep and meaningful conversation with just a few people instead of small talk with the whole crowd.

7. I won't listen to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving!!

That's it!  There you go.  You may be asleep by now- now that sounds like a great idea!

I tag:

1. Melissa

2. Jessica

3. Abby

4. Holli

5. Kelly

6. Kristi

7. Jennifer

p.s- several have commented on the Moody shirt.  Hilarious.  I didn't even realize that is what he had on when I did the post.  I bought a ton of things on sale at the Gap when we began the process forever ago.  I was just buying for the orphanage-- not for us b/c we weren't getting a baby, right? :)  After our referral, I pulled it out for Abe.  

Here is a sweet comment left on the blog while everyone was in Ethiopia to get me.  It said, "Thank the Lord Avery is feeling better. We have been praying for her. Mateo went to bed early tonight because he did not feel well. He asked if we could pray for Abe one last time as an orphan because tomorrow he would not be an orphan any more!! I started to cry!! He also said that he and Abe will have a special bond because the are both adopted. To God be the Glory! We love you all, Aunt Shanna, Uncle Luis, Mateo and Marco  (Shanna is Moody's sis)

How great is that?  Thank you Lord for my whole family.