LOGISTICS
Dear ones, $50,000 total has been raised thus far.
THAT is breathtaking
Truly, that is so much.
Thank you to each of you who gave, prayed, and shared.
We could never thank you enough.
We still have $100,000 to go…
But we have hope.
Surgeries will now be in mid August.
We need to have that total in by mid August.
I know it is hard.
Maybe it is hard for your heart to understand $150,000 to ONE BOY.
Or I guess, maybe IT IS ME that has a hard time understanding
Maybe it is me that has a hard time asking for the help.
Yes, it certainly is
Because I have been surrounded by the hungry on the streets of India
I have seen the fatherless by hundreds
I have longed to help each of them
I know the plaque of need that could nearly swallow us if we really looked at it
I know that $150,000 can go a LONG way in feeding thousands of children
Maybe it could send them to school too.
There is just SO MUCH need.
I understand the predicament you may be thinking
How can we give to Adam, this one child, when there are so many more?
I feel guilty at times…for asking for my one again and again
When there are so many others
But then the love of a mother floods me
And I realize I would raise millions if I needed to for my boy
Because he is mine
I treasure him.
I know the value of his one little life
It is precious and it does not have a cost
And then I am reminded of the 99 & 1.
How the Good Shepherd left the 99 behind for the 1
That is His heart
That is the heart of the Father
He lays down His life for His sheep
Even if it is just one sheep
He pursues and He sacrifices and He chases after
Again & again & again
And it is no longer I who live
But it is Him in me
His heart floods mine, by the gift of His Spirit
And He teaches me to see the one rather than the need
He teaches me to see a name that hungers
Rather than a number of ones that hunger
And it is all because He saw me
He pursued me and redeemed me when I was lost
I was the 1 and He rescued me
And there will always be a need
But isn’t that His place?
He is the Sovereign One
He gives and He takes
He breathes life into each of our finite bodies
Is He not the one to satisfy the need that threatens to dismantle us?
Is He not capable of it?
After all, He is the Author of Life.
And He shows me
My guilt comes when my gaze is off
It comes when I keep my eyes on man
It comes when my foundation is sinking sand
It comes when I think I am the one who needs to feed the thousands and rescue Adam too
It comes when I think I AM the answer
It comes when I forget
Just like the israelites did
He is
Rest assured
He was and is and is to come
So as I get nervous and as I want to justify to you…
I want to explain ALL the reasons Adam needs this money and that you are investing well
I want to tell you how AMAZING Adam is doing
He quiets me
He reminds me that
He was the Rock that was struck in that desert, dry
He was the water that poured forth to those parched mouths
He was the Lamb that was slain before foundation of the world
If the Sovereign God did not even spare His own son
But GAVE HIM UP for us all
How will He not also, graciously give us ALL THINGS?
He will.
He is all things.
In Him all things live
And move
And have their being
So as I question the why’s and the how’s
And as I seek to justify and explain
I am silenced because I remember it is HIM
He is our provision again and again
He gave us life and eternity
How then will He not provide for every other thing we are tempted to fret over?
What could possibly be more costly than a life saved for eternity?
NOTHING.
If He gave Himself already
NOTHING can shake me.
Because it is all secure
He knows the need
And He meets it
He loves the one in the midst of the need
And He rescues
Again and again
He provides Himself
Not only will he provide for my one Adam
But He will also feed the countless hungry
And He will keep on providing
From His broken flesh, our bread
And His poured out blood, our wine
Because it is Who He is
I am mere man
I cannot fathom it
Nor comprehend it
But it is who He is
So I rest and I trust
The countless needs in your life and mine can be met by One alone
Let us trust Him
________________________________________________________
You know what story I want to share?
It is actually a video with a story
It is called 99 Balloons
I will share the link in a few lines
I first watched it my 2nd year in college
It was a Sabbath morning and we were gathered together
And I heard this father’s voice writing to his son
And I wept
I wept at the value of ONE LIFE treasured
I wept at the purpose of ONE LIFE spared
I wept at the design of our ONE ABBA FATHER who gives and takes
This is the video
Will you take a few minutes to watch it?
Well, dear ones
It hit me too.
It is beautiful
I love it and I love Elliot’s parents and I love our God who authored such beauty
In the midst of so much pain
I had forgotten about that video
I graduated nursing school and returned to India
I lived in a children’s home for a while
I got married
We moved to rural NE India
Then I started teaching nursing classes
Ethical issues and questions came up in my students minds
And I struggled with how to answer some of their questions
Then THIS VIDEO came to mind
So I took the 2 days needed to download it
(rural India internet problems)
And I showed it
And the girls and I…we wept
It was beautiful
We talked about the value and design of one little life
We talked about how what we see as foolish and not valued
Our God views completely differently
We talked about that word from Job
That HE GIVES and HE TAKES
Yet
HIS NAME BE EVER PRAISED
And I encouraged them to remember this video
Especially when sick babies were born in their hospitals in future years
I encouraged them to hold them, love them, pray over them
I encouraged them to encourage their hesitant momma’s to love them
To embrace the child’s life
I encouraged them that it was such an opportunity to share Grace and Truth
LITTLE DID I KNOW
I had NO IDEA that just 2 weeks later a real sick baby was to be born
(in that very hospital where those girls and I were working and studying)
I had NO IDEA that baby would be our son
(and these same girls would help me nurse him and feed him and bathe him)
I had NO IDEA that our God was preparing my heart to welcome him
(while having these same girls cheer us on and encourage us and remind us of Eliot;)
He is faithful
Dear ones, He authored that video
He authored that precious life of Elliot and his parents
He led me to see it 7 years prior to Adam’s life
He caused me to share it to my students
Then He let me and my students all be a part of caring for Adam
Then He moved my husband’s heart and my own, towards adoption
That is sovereign design
In that I can rest
That is a story worth sharing
That is an Ebenezer to be raised higher and higher
Fast forward 2 years
This past spring 2013, we had a new friend from the Midwest visit us in India
He has a heart for special needs and adoption
He is listening to our story
I mention how the Lord used this ‘random’ video called “99 Balloons” to prepare my heart
To prepare my heart for Adam’s birth and adoption
He stops me mid sentence
He then tells me Elliot’s dad is a best friend of his!
Really, he does
And we all nearly fall prostrate
For He is a good God
And it is all connected
Because it is all Him
And our new friend shares that out of that video
SO MUCH GOOD has come
And that 99 Balloons is now so much more
Check out their site HERE
It is amazing
That one little Eliot’s life has opened amazing doors
For children around the world who are orphaned with special needs
99 Balloons is an organization to help provide for those children
Because the need, it is endless
But so is our God and His ways
And He keeps on showing Himself faithful
Even when we are faithless, He remains faithful,
For He cannot deny Himself
Dear ones, that is my story for today
He works all things for good
He weaves stories together
And the design He is creating is beyond what we can fathom
I only see bits and pieces on this side
And it nearly knocks me over every time
He is the Author and Finisher
He knew Adam was coming
He knew what Adam would need
He knew all the money that would be called for
And He will provide
In that I know
Raise your Ebenezer with us
Share and Trust along with us
Jessica, you continue to inspire me by your life and your writing. You are such a gift. Thank you.