Only In God's Economy... When 66 Equals 68!

Just to let you know...I made sure I had Nick's permission to tell this story...

We’ve known for some time that we needed to make an educational change for Nick, we just didn’t know what we needed to do. There are a lot of factors playing into this decision, but it came to a head a few weeks ago and I knew it was serious when Nick asked to make the change this year, instead of waiting until the new school year…

Scott and I had already been praying about what to do next year when he starts high school, Nick, much like his mother, just does better in a smaller environment. But with the request to change this year, we really needed wisdom… James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him,” so we asked for wisdom to know what was best for Nick.

We had 3 options…leave him in his current school until the end of the year, or starting in January, either home school him or send him to private school. As the weeks went by, it was clear to us that it would not be best to leave him in the public school…but how to decide between home schooling and private school? We trusted that God would lead us step by step to the right decision...

I called the private school and that door was immediately closed…there were no openings, with no guarantees for next year either. So that seemed to leave only home schooling…

But I happened to mention to a friend that the private school was full and it turns out that her family is friends with the principal’s family and they have adopted from China also. She made a phone call and was able to explain our situation and he was willing to at least talk to us, but with no promise that he could help us…they were full afterall!

As we sat and talked with him, he commented that he only allows 66 students…3 sections of 22…but after running some computer models, he discovered that he could take two more students for a total of 68! And sure enough, a few days later, he called to offer Nick one of the spots!

Now I don’t know about you, but every time I multiply 22 x 3, I get 66…I never get 68!

The day he called I was with Nick and just like the day with Zack, when he won his new IPOD, I couldn’t stop the tears… I had prayed so hard for guidance and confirmation…how much clearer could it be because who but God could somehow make 66 really be 68?

I loved Nick’s response though, he said, “Mom…Jesus fed 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish…I think he can handle 66 to 68!”

How right he is… God is in the business of handling impossible situations. I am so thankful for the opportunity that He has given to Nick at this school, but I am even more thankful that Nick was able to so clearly see God at work on His behalf!

Children Outside The Gate...Seeing God BIG, part 7

Children outside the gate who captured my heart...

A young man outside the gate who captured Nick's...

It started with the grandmother who needed money for her children to go to school… And then, a ride past a garbage dump where families, with small children, actually lived… I watched them pick up a bottle of some sort, off of the dump and actually drink from it…some of them live in houses made of garbage…

It grew with stories of small children who are orphaned and caring for their siblings…they live in mud huts and during rainy season, you can find them in their hut trying to hold up the walls…

It became overwhelming as I learned of a little girl at the orphanage who was found under a tree sitting alone, unable to talk, unable to walk, unable to crawl, her hips, pelvic bones and back distorted from sitting, her body the size of a 5 month baby, and no one to care for her.

From the community reports and the condition of her teeth they determined that she was two years old…2, but the size of a 5 month old. Her family had all died one by one, the people in the community who had taken her had died, and the people who had then taken her in could no longer cope so they left her to herself…x-rays showed that she had been eating dirt to satisfy her hunger…

These are the children outside the gate...children, who unlike the children inside the gate of the orphanage, had no guarantee of safety...of a food...of love...of the most basic necessities of life...things that no child should ever wonder if they'll have enough of... These children burdened my heart...

One afternoon, two days before we were to leave, I was taking a break when I noticed a young girl approaching the gate to the orphanage. School had just let out and as she approached, I quickly took a couple of photos…she was the picture of all that my heart was hurting for…

I went inside to ask if it would be ok to go and talk to her and learned that she had come to pick up her brother who was attending preschool at the orphanage…I was so excited to have even a moment with a child who lived outside the gate.

But that’s when it happened…utter confusion…I helped the little boy out to his sister, but then a construction truck pulled up, wanting to leave the grounds of the orphanage. There was no one around, so I decided to try and open the big gate for them…

What I didn’t know was that the gate had been hit weeks before and knocked off it’s track and it was too expensive to have it fixed. So I planted my feet and pushed…it wouldn’t budge…so I pushed harder…unfortunately, it had rained the night before and suddenly, my foot went one way and my knee in the opposite direction…I’ve never felt such excruciating pain…

At that point, one of the workers at the orphanage saw me and he ran to finish opening the gate, but for some reason, he didn’t help me…he opened the gate, and the truck driver, who couldn’t see me, proceeded forward…frantically, I managed to pull myself out of the way, but I couldn’t get up and the worker left…

So I prayed…I pleaded that nothing was seriously wrong, that somehow God would get me home without too much pain, that I would be able to finish this trip (I was NOT going to the hospital in Africa!).

I pulled myself up and started to walk…every few steps, my knee gave way, so I knew there was something seriously wrong, but at least there was no pain…

I learned later, from my orthopedist, that with the amount of swelling that I had, there should have been pain…I didn’t have serious pain until I got home, even though my leg was the size of a tree trunk…

But it was this injury, that I know, for certain God used to lead us to Abby…

When I returned home, the last of our paperwork had come back and all I needed to do was the final authentication in Washington D.C. We could have been logged in by the end of November, but we would have been logged in with an agency that didn’t receive Abby’s file. I was so frustrated by my knee…trying to decide what to do, to leave it or fix it… I was overwhelmed by our trip to Africa and I had no peace about the agency we had originally signed on with…

So, each day, I would use my knee as an excuse not to complete the final steps for our dossier. In December I had surgery to repair my knee and several days, after my surgery, I was sitting in my favorite chair, with my leg elevated. With nothing to do but wrestle over what to do about my lack of peace about our agency, I decided to search the internet for Waiting Children.

There was one agency that I had password for, so I decided to see if they had a new list… And they did! I will never forget seeing Abby’s face for the first time…she was listed as Dani… her eyes captured my heart…they were beautiful, but they looked so sad.

In that moment, I said, “Lord, is she ours?” And then I laughed at how ridiculous that thought was… But, I just couldn’t let it go…so I challenged Him… “Ok, fine…we can’t even ask about her right now, we aren’t with this agency…if she’s ours, then You’re going to have to move some hearts.” I figured someone would scoop her up and she would never make it to the time when they opened applications up to non-clients.

As usual though, God knew different!

The woman on the hill…the girl at the gate…a torn ACL…surgery…Abby!

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

God works ALL things…messed up schedules…children in need…broken gates…torn ACL’s…ALL things together for good…

God weaves every single detail of our lives into His amazing plan and He accomplishes His purpose...in our case, bringing home Abby…not one ounce of our suffering is ever wasted!

I prayed to see God BIG in Africa and I did see God big at the time, but looking back now, when I have the benefit of seeing more of the picture…I am overwhelmed at how BIG God is…at how active He is in the details of our lives…He is there, every single day, in every single moment…we just have to watch for Him…

It has been such a blessing to tell you these stories...to remember...to once again be filled with gratitude with the depth of God's love and care for us.

I'll take a break for a day or two and then I'll catch you on some really fun photos from the last week...

Our God is an AWESOME God!

In The Community...Seeing God BIG, Part 6

One of the things that amazed me was how Dr. E., the Director of the Orphanage, teaches the children to care for those less fortunate than themselves…orphans, who may have watched their parents die from AIDS…many who have been enslaved and abused…many who have truly known hunger…caring for those less fortunate than themselves.

She is walking them through Matthew 25:35-36, giving them opportunities to care for each group of people listed in these verses… “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…'

One thing she did was take them out into the community to interview different families, and then they chose 14 families to ‘adopt’ to help care for…

As we packed to go on our trip, we all tried to pack things that we thought would be useful for the children at the orphanage and the community… clothing, craft items, etc. While I was deciding what to take to the community, I found a lady on ebay who was selling a huge lot of clothing from her consignment shop, it would have been perfect to take to the community…one box came, but the second one never arrived. I was so frustrated, so I ended up having my boys go through their closets and give me anything that was in good condition that they weren’t using…

My cousin, S. reminded me… “Sharla, you need boy’s clothes more than you need those other clothes…remember, God knows what you need to take.”

So the day arrived when we were to bring our things to the orphanage…I took them into the office and explained to one of the staff what had happened and that I hoped she could use the boy’s clothes, they were all young men’s clothing…no smaller sizes.

As she began pulling things out, her eyes welled up. She looked at me and said, “We were short bigger boy’s clothing…we didn’t know what we were going to do about Christmas.” God in the details again…He tells us not to worry about what we’ll wear! S. was right…I didn’t need adult clothing…they needed young men’s clothing and God orchestrated the details to provide for those precious young men.

Well, the other things we brought were sorted and packaged, into large garbage bags, to take the families in the community on our last day there. This was a very hard day for me…I had so been looking forward to going into the community again, but on the day before, I had torn my ACL in my right knee… I wasn’t in a lot of pain, but my leg looked like a tree stump, it was so swollen (I’ll tell you more of this story tomorrow because it is the story that brought us to Abby…)

Many of the homes in the community were not accessible by car, so we had over a one mile hike, through really rough terrain to get to the house we were supposed to go to… My mom, who is a nurse, was not pleased with the stubborn streak in her daughter… She thought I should stay behind, and really she was right…I could have fallen and hurt myself much worse…plus, at the time, we didn’t know exactly what was wrong with my knee…I wouldn’t let them take me to a hospital in Africa. So, I probably could have done even more damage to me my knee…

But, my heart was aching to be a part of this and desires like that don’t come from ourselves…it would have been much easier to sit down and wait it out back at the orphanage… But I went instead…

As I said, the terrain was very rough and I was very slow…but everyone was really patient with me and we eventually made it to our first house…

What a blessing to meet this mom and to watch Nick present her with this bag of clothing, shoes, and other things we had brought to her…





One of our team members asked her what her favorite verse was, and through our translator, she told us, Psalm 23 and she said, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” I shall not want…but look around you…you have nothing…what faith…what sweet understanding of God’s provision…contentment is just not about the stuff!

And then she said, “I know that God is holding me in the palm of His hand because you came here today.” I will never forget those words…that our simple little offering could be such a source of encouragement and assurance to her…her words spoke volumes to me about God’s faithfulness…about how God can use the littlest thing…that all we have to do is be a willing vessel…

Later that evening, the preschoolers had made cards for each one of us… Each card was unique… As I walked up to receive my card, I had no idea of the blessing I was about to receive…

On the front of my card was a little hand print and the words, “I am in the palm of God’s hand.” The very words that had gripped my heart earlier that afternoon, were written on a card, personally addressed to me! Who but God?

I think if I hadn’t been in a room full of people, I might have just sat down in the floor and cried… I was tired, my leg was hurting and I was dreading the 40 hour trip that lay ahead of us… But God wanted me to know, I was in the palm of His hand…

You know, God speaks to us all the time…we just have to be watching and listening. And if we are, He speaks to us and shows Himself in ways that we really can’t miss… The things that happened during our 10 days in Africa could not be attributed to coincidence…the odds are practically impossible…

Just like the odds that Jesus fulfills every single prophecy in Scripture…but He does…God is not a God who is hemmed in by odds…by the limitations of time and space…God can reach across eternity and speak to our hearts in a way that is personal and intimate…in a way that we really can’t miss, if we’re just waiting and watching.

Well…one more day…tomorrow I’ll tell you about how God touched my heart for the children outside the gate and how that burden, in many ways, led to my knee injury and eventually to Abby…

A Special Team Member...Seeing God Big, Part 5

Quick note...you are probably noticing that I use first initials when telling stories about many people...unless I have their specific permission to print their name on the blog, I try to be respectful of their privacy, so please pardon all of the first initials in this story...

Well, I hadn’t planned to share this part of the story, until a special friend left me a comment on the first day, the story of the glasses… The story that she left, I didn't share it because I didn’t know… I was blown away...it made the story even more powerful... I’m going to copy her story here and then I’m going to tell you another story, that I have her permission to tell…

First, if you didn’t read One Year Ago, Seeing God Big, part 1, you might want to read it to get the whole story…now, this is what our special team member wrote to me in the comments…

Sharla,

Ahhhh, but you forgot to tell the very best part of the story. In my own etes.

It was me, the Jewish one, the only non-Christian, traveling with all of you who said....

I said..."Dear G-d, If it is true what they say about you showing up BIG in Africa then show me a Miracle right this very second. On second thought, nevermind. I already believe in you completely and wholeheartedly.

Then I said... Jesus, if YOU are who YOU say you are then YOU PERFORM A MIRACLE right now this very second by helping us find the pair of glasses that this woman needs so badly yet I know do not exist in this box.I asked for this "Miracle" just to see if what you all say is true - is true. No offense.

I said this prayer in complete silence next to E, and as she opened the box, I held my breath. I said "E., you know what would be a miracle? If these glasses were in this box. That would be an absolute miracle is if the glasses you are holding (the very first pair picked up from the thousands in the box) are 9.75R and 10.25L."And they were!

That's my side of the miracle story.

I LOVE YOU!!! P...

P. was a very special part of our trip…she is an amazing woman with a heart of gold!

On the day we headed home, we had a 5 hour bus trip before our long plane ride…about 1 ½ hours out from Johannesburg, we stopped for a bathroom break and quick snack. When we got ready to leave, the driver discovered a problem with the bus. I don’t know all of the details, but it had something to do with leaking oil…

So, we prayed…the men tinkered…and we prayed some more…the leaders of our group called for backup…but now we were in danger of missing our flight.

At one point, another team member, L. got off the bus with P. and invited her to walk around the bus with her and lay hands on the bus as they prayed for it…I’m so glad that someone else’s faith is so much bigger than mine sometimes!

There is absolutely no explanation as to why that bus started…nothing changed…there was no oil to replace what was missing…the only explanation is just God.

As we started off again, I could tell by the looks on the faces of a couple of the men, who had done this trip before, that they were concerned about something…so I asked.

Apparently, the area we were headed into was known for bandits and they were notorious for hijacking buses…not exactly the place you’d want to break down. So at that point, I started praying hard…I wasn’t worried…just being proactive! I had an unbelievable sense of peace!

We made it to the airport without incident and home safely! But once again, God showed Himself BIG to P. and the rest of us...

In Luke 15, Jesus tells 3 different parables of someone who lost something…the shepherd who left his 99 sheep to find the 1 who was lost, the woman who lost her coin and searched to find it, the father who’s son rejected him and wished him dead, taking and wasting his inheritance…each time, the one who lost something, rejoices when their treasure is found…

In each parable, before our faith in Jesus, we are the one who is lost…we are God’s treasure and He delights to pursue us and find us…Heaven rejoices when just one prodigal child returns to the Father…

God is so pleased to reveal Himself to us…as P’s testimony of the glasses shows and the story of the bus clearly demonstrates, all we have to do is ask!

Tomorrow, I will tell you about a blessing that rocked my heart to the core…this one was just for me and of course the ones I tell the story too!!

Seeing God Big, Part 4

Before I introduce you to A, I just had to tell you that I took Abby and Mackenzie to see High School Musical 3 today. It was Abby's first movie and I was a little concerned about how she would do...she's only been home 3 months, her language is progressing miraculously, but I didn't know how it would go over to sit for 2 hours in a theater...she LOVED it, she wanted to go back in when we were done! She was so cute sitting on the edge of her chair...every once in a while, she would look over at Mackenzie and I and just grin! Now that was a really FUN first!

Ok...now for the story of A

To this day, to think of A, still takes my breath away…such beauty, such joy in the face of such heartache…

Isaiah 61:1-3 says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”

These verses are a prophecy of the ministry of Jesus…the first time Jesus spoke in the synagogue, in Luke 4, He began His ministry by reading this passage…

A is a beautiful picture of the truth of these verses…that Jesus really does bring healing and restoration...

Before A came to live at the orphange, both of her parents died and she was living with her grandmother. The grandmother knew that she would soon pass away, so she brought Anastasia to the opening of the orphanage. A begged her to complete the paperwork so that when she passed, she could live safely at the orphanage.

Sadly though, family members did not respect her grandmother's wishes and when she died, they took A to live where she was horribly abused…the men would press wood chips into her feet and make her dance for them at night…among other things.

Eventually, she was able to escape and returned to her grandmother’s home where her older sister was now trying to take care of her other siblings…A begged her to take her to the orphanage.

On our last day there, there was a dedication ceremony for a new dorm that was being built for older girls and many of the children performed for us. A was one of them… In the morning, she danced with a group…

But that evening, she had prepared a special ballet that she wanted to share with us... She danced with a basket that represented her basket of joy that she had found since coming to the orphanage and meeting Jesus! As she danced around the room, she scattered her joy on all of us because she wanted us to share in her joy with her…

Even now my heart and my eyes well up as I think of this beautiful child who had suffered so much…Who but God could heal a heart that had been so horribly damaged? Heal and restore it to the point that the very thing that had been used to torture her, dance, was now her instrument of sharing her hope and her joy?

At this time I didn’t know about Abby…but the image of this child, her joy and restoration, would be the source of great hope and courage as we prayed about adopting an older child.

A reminded me that God is far more powerful than circumstances…that He can heal the most broken heart…that He truly does bring beauty from the ashes…gladness instead of mourning…praise instead of despair… A is growing into an oak of righteousness who beautifully displays the splendor and glory of Jesus!

I feel compelled to add this...I don't know what you're facing in your life right now...what seems beyond hope or repair...but NOTHING is impossible with God! I didn't come to Christ until I was much older...I was empty, I had tried to find life...purpose...joy...in a million places and while they provided something for a time, it never lasted, and then I was on to the next thing.

It wasn't until I came into a relationship with Jesus that something changed. I discovered a joy that wasn't based on circumstances, peace that didn't disappear with every storm...I found forgiveness and I found purpose...and to this day...10 1/2 years later...it hasn't disappeared...I haven't moved on to something different.

That's what A discovered...I don't know that I've ever seen anyone that reflected it so vividly...In A…I saw God BIG!!

Tomorrow, I hope to tell you about a very special member of our team, but I want to wait until I'm sure I have permission...

Seeing God Big, Part 3

(Please drop over to Leslie's blog, her daughter is Susannah, many were praying for Susannah as they adopted her, she was very sick with a serious heart condition...well, Leslie's dad fell 25 feet from a ladder, please, please pray for him.)

The first day at the orphanage, we had a birthday party. I love the way Dr. E., the Director of the orphanage, does birthday parties…The birthday child sits in the middle of the circle and each of the older children come up and speak a blessing over their 'brother' or 'sister'… It was during these blessings that I first saw C…

He brought his Bible up with him and read the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) over the birthday boy…he spoke with such authority…poise…it was powerful to see this young man stand so boldly in front of his peers and all of these strangers.

In the coming days, we got to know C better…he is truly an amazing young man.

C’s mother died and he never knew his father…He was passed from family member to family member and finally to strangers where he was a slave herding cattle. At one point, he ran way to live as a street kid in one of the big cities…but it was too much, so he decided to try and find his father.

He went to the last place he had heard that his father lived, only to discover that he also had died. An aunt, who had 8 children of her own, finally brought him to the orphanage.

Dr. E said that C quickly discovered a love for God’s word and now he loves to teach in the orphanage…the problem was, C had an eye condition that made reading more difficult for him.

Well, one of our team members B., flies helicopters…and a while back, B.’s wife had given him a large print Bible. Since he's a pilot and has perfect eyesight, he had just put it on the shelf...it had never been used. As he was packing for his trip to Africa, his wife brought him the Bible and suggested he take it with him, she said he would probably find someone who needed it…

Well, I’m sure you see where this story is headed…On Sunday at church, B. noticed that C was having a hard time reading his Bible…he had found the person who needed his large print Bible! Once again, God provided BIG in the details!

Since then, money has been raised and C was able to have surgery that significantly improved his eyesight...

But let me ask you again, who but God? One young man, thousands of miles away, one pilot with a misfit gift, and one wife who answered the stirring in her heart to send the Bible...

God knows and cares about ALL of our needs...

It was such a blessing to watch C…to know the heartache and hardship that he had lived through, and to see his joy, I'm sure you can see it in the pictures…he is a special young man!

Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to A…bring your Kleenex for this one!

Gardening...Seeing God Big, Part 2

Quick note before I tell you my next story...be sure to check out the button on my sidebar for Bringing Home Rachel...it's an awesome raffle for a beautiful little girl that needs to come home to her forever family. Be sure you read the family's story...their son was in a horrible car accident and even in the midst of it, God led them to this precious child... For a small contribution you can enter to win an awesome Nikon D60!

Each day we were in Africa, we were assigned to different teams… I loved being in the community, so the day my mom and Nick and I were assigned to work in the gardens together, I was so excited!

Just a quick background note… we went with an organization called Heart For Africa (you can click on the name and go to their website) but they work with orphanages in Kenya and Swaziland and also with the surrounding communities. They repair roofs, plant gardens, do medical screening and vision testing…pretty much anything a community would need…

So this was our day to work in the gardens…we started off with our 3 teams, but when we got to one of our drop off locations to plant, the owner of the home was not there and he had not prepared his garden. So J., our guide, decided to combine the two remaining teams and go on to the next location…this was very significant, as you’ll find out in a moment!

Planting the gardens is hard work…we would run a crude irrigation system, install a fence…with no tools…hand wrap it…plant onions, spinach, tomatoes and a few other things…it was hot and the women had to wear skirts! But it was incredibly rewarding…





Usually the family would hang around, sometimes they would join in and help us, but they watched everything we did…



One thing about Africa, that is vastly different than America, is that no one is on a time schedule…so when we finished planting the garden, we had to hang around and wait for the truck to come back for us. As we all clustered under a large shade tree for some relief from the heat, the grandmother (gogo) came out carrying one of her few pieces of furniture…a bench…she wanted us to have some place to sit, other than the ground! And then a few minutes later, she came back with a chair…this time she didn’t come all the way over to us, but simply sat it close by so we would know it was available.





I don’t know why her simple offering moved me so much, but it was such a sweet reminder that it is not the size of our offering that matters, it’s simply the heart behind it. She was grateful for our efforts that day and showed us in the only way she knew how…

When the truck returned for us, we went back to the house we had left earlier to see if the man had returned. As we stood waiting for our guide to talk to the man, an older woman came walking up the road. She had a terrible limp, I have no idea how she had made it so far, her foot was severely deformed.

She didn’t approach us, but sat down on a little hill nearby. A couple of us went over to talk to her and she began pulling out a set of papers. One of the ladies in our group was able to learn that her husband had died and now she had no way to send her two grandchildren to school, to finish out the year.



In Africa, you pay to go to elementary and high school and then you can test and go to the University for free…it’s an interesting system. It cost about $50/quarter for a child to go to school…$150 for a year.

When this woman’s husband died, she lost her means of support and the children were being kicked out of school because she couldn’t afford to pay for them….and school in Africa is the only hope of a child escaping this horrible cycle of poverty.

Now remember, we were supposed to have been at this house earlier…and only one team would have been there…3-4 people instead of all 7 of us. When J., our guide, finished talking to the owner of the home, who had decided he didn’t want a garden, we asked him to talk to this lady to find out exactly what her need was…

Turns out, she was on her way up the mountain to the orphanage, to try and get help for her grandchildren. Most likely, the orphanage wouldn’t have been able to help her… But when she saw us, she decided to stop.

J., who takes his job very seriously to protect those who come to Africa, said he would normally never consider a request for help from someone in the community…it can be very dangerous for the person receiving help, as well as for those offering the help. But J. said the whole time he was talking to her, he kept hearing God whisper in his heart, “Get out of my way.” In addition, we had been told, in no uncertain terms, not to take money with us into the community.

Well, when we were told that all she needed was 700 Rand, a mere $100, all of us started pulling money belts from under our clothes! There were 7 of us and we each had 100 Rand!!

7 rebels who would have been split up if the earlier plan had gone according to schedule…

7 rebels who would not have been sitting on that hillside if the man had been home the first time we stopped by…

1 guide who was willing to listen to his Heavenly Father…who feared God more than man…

2 children who would not have finished school that year if God hadn’t orchestrated all of this.



Once again…God showed up BIG in the details! Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to Caleb...another amazing story!!

One Year Ago...Seeing God BIG, Part 1

I’m not sure why today feels so significant, but I just can’t stop thinking about what I was doing this time last year…

Nick, my mom and I, after 2 very long layovers in American cities, an 18 hour flight and a 5 hour, very scary bus ride in rain and unbelievable fog, were in Swaziland, South Africa. My mom had been before, but this was a first for Nick and I…we were on our very first mission trip!

It was an unbelievable trip… My prayer, leading up to the trip had been a plea “to see God big.” I wanted to see what He could do, and WOW, did He answer that request. We didn’t see any miraculous healings, or anything like that, but it’s where I learned, very clearly, that God shows up BIG in the details of our lives…

On our second day there, my mom and I, along with several others, were doing vision testing in the community. None of us had any idea what we were doing, but somehow, God was providing. They would sit down in front of one of our vision testing machines, we’d punch the buttons, and we’d get a reading. We’d always do it a couple of times to be sure the reading was correct, but if you’re reading this and you work in ophthalmology, you’re probably cringing…not exactly the best way to prescribe glasses…but it was all they had.

After we would get a reading, they would take their ‘prescription’ (I use that word very loosely) over to the ladies who were handing out glasses…there were hundreds (probably close to a thousand) of pairs of glasses that had been donated and their prescription was marked on them. All day long, people would get excited over their new glasses…

But the one that still takes my breath away was at the end of the day…we were all packed up and waiting for our ride back to the orphanage when another, older lady came in…she had received the flyer, but couldn’t read it well enough to know what time to come.

We were exhausted, but we unpacked everything and I sat down to take her reading…I was stunned…surely this can’t be right…
-9.75 and -10.25…she was legally blind. I did her reading several times and every time it came up the same. “Lord, we will never be able to help this woman.” He must have thought… “You have such little faith.”

I sent her out to where we had packed up the glasses, again thinking, “Even if we had them, we’d never find them…,” as I said, there were hundreds and hundreds of them…

But before I knew it, she was running back into the room, dancing, hugging and singing…SHE COULD SEE! The ladies looking for glasses had opened one of the boxes and the very FIRST pair they picked up had the EXACT prescription that she needed!






I can’t even begin to describe the emotions of that moment…the understanding that would come in the following days…

In America, we have so much…just yesterday…Mackenzie and I went to the eye doctor. Turns out Mackenzie is near sighted and this will probably explain her headaches and aching eyes…and then, I just needed to get a more powerful prescription…you know..age and all!

I didn’t like the prices of the place we were at, so I did some checking and found someone who would take our insurance…we saved a TON and it was still expensive, we had hundreds to choose from and they will make them to the exact specifications that we need…what an incredible blessing!

But Margaret (that was her name) didn’t have the same opportunity, and still God provided!

In Matthew 6:25-27, Jesus said, “25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

All week long, I watched God provide for people in impossible situations and I was deeply convicted that we have so much that we miss seeing God really work…we are not dependent on Him for the basics of life and I think it makes it harder for us to trust Him for the bigger things in life…as I’m learning with Abby, trust grows best when you’re given the opportunity to meet a person’s most basic needs.

I think over the next few days, I will tell you a few more stories from our trip to Africa. It was an amazing week of seeing God BIG in the smallest details of life!

I Am About To Burst To Tell The Rest Of This Story...

I've always wanted to be like Paul Harvey and say... "And now, for the rest of the story..." Today I have my chance! Something AMAZING, beyond anything I would have dreamed or imagined, has happened...BUT if you haven't read the post before this one, on What I Love About Zack, read that first...then this story will mean a lot more!

Every summer Zack's orthodontist office does a postcard contest for summer vacations...I can't remember all of the categories, but I figured we were a shoe in for Fartherest Away. I had planned to mail the postcard while we were in China, but I couldn't even remember to buy a postcard, much less get it mailed...I was a little distracted!

So, the day we left to come home, I realized at the airport, in Guangzhou, that I still hadn't purchased any postcards...at the last minute, just as we were getting ready to board the plane, I ran into a little shop in the terminal and grabbed the only box of postcards they had...and paid WAY too much for them! I almost didn’t buy them…

At Zack's next appointment, I decided to just take one in. Since it was early September, I figured we were too late, but turned out, there was still another week left in the contest, so they accepted it. I kept watching our e-mail, but when we never received a notice, I just figured someone had gone even farther than us. I had completely forgotten about it...until today.

Zack had another appointment and as I was checking out, Zack said, "Mom, look, we had the postcard that was the fartherest away!" It was posted on a bulletin board behind him! So I just said to the lady at the desk, "That's cool, we had the postcard that was furtherest away."

She looked up with this surprised expression and said, "Didn't anyone call you?" No...I never heard anymore about it... She jumped up, walked back to another room and came out carrying...

Are you ready for this? A brand new IPOD, just like the one that was stolen! We had NO idea that there was even a prize for this contest...we thought it was just the honor of having your name posted!

And the thing is, Zack's IPOD that was stolen was a refurbished one...he had ordered it to save money, so every once in a while, there would be a little glitch...nothing big, but occasionally we had to reset it... This was NEW!!

Zack took one look at my face and said, "Ah mom, don't cry!" But I couldn't stop my eyes from welling up...he's lucky that I didn't just let the tears flow, like they were threatening to do...you know...that BIG lump in your throat, that somehow holds back the tears, but, if anyone looks at you, or if you try and speak, will break and the flood will come...that was me. I think if we hadn't been standing in the office, in front of so many people, I would have just sobbed!

So, they call Dr. A. to come up front and have his picture made with Zack… I felt compelled to tell him what had happened…I didn’t bring our faith into it, I simply said that “Zack had his IPOD stolen last week, and even though he’s pretty sure he’s knows who did it, he decided not to push it since he couldn’t prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt.” And then I mentioned that the kid he suspects is a troubled young man…

Dr. A looked at us and said, “See what faith can do!” I had ABSOLUTELY no idea where he stood…we’ve never discussed it…he had no idea where we stood!

I realize that many, who don’t live by faith, would argue that this is just a grand coincidence… But I will emphatically say that I do NOT, in any way believe in coincidence…and even more so when so many events transpired to perfectly time this to happen after Zack made a choice to live for something bigger than an IPOD, putting this other child’s heart before his own rights.

Does God ALWAYS bless us, or reward our obedience so visibly? Of course not. Would He still be a good God, even if this hadn’t happened? ABSOLUTELY…

But sometimes, God pauses in the midst of eternity and blows our socks off…I am so completely overwhelmed…but what’s even more important…Zack is overwhelmed! What God did for his faith in that moment…Zack will never forget. Zack made a choice to live in light of eternity and God blessed his obedience!

So maybe you’re wondering, how can we even believe that God of the universe even cares about a 15 year old and his IPOD? Fair question…but the Bible says that He numbers the hairs on our heads…if He cares about how many hairs we have, which changes from moment to moment…why wouldn’t He care about a 15 year old’s disappointment…

Zack has used that IPOD as a testimony…he openly shares what he has on it with his friends, and it’s far different than some of the stuff that they listen to…it’s full of Christian rock… it has other, non-Christian music too…but we’re careful to check the lyrics before we put it on there.

And for the couple of friends that know about this at school, and what his decision was to not pursue it, there’s no telling how this will speak to them.

Matthew 7:11b says, "...how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him." God is an amazing, perfect Father...I have no doubt that He LOVES to bless us, even more than we can think to even ask...

When I think about how I love for our kids to open gifts that we are excited to give them, it's fun to imagine heaven at the moment the lady brought out the IPOD...I wonder if God said to the angels..."Come here for a minute and watch this?" Maybe, maybe not... But I have no doubt that God was watching and smiling as He waited for us to unwrap this unbelievable blessing!

Our God is so BIG that He can use anything to bless us and increase our faith, even an IPOD!

P.S. He said, "This one will not be going to school!" What an awesome remembering stone! Way to go God!!