Friday, June 11, 2010

Transition

My last blog entry was all about stopping to remember what God has done.  This blog post is to celebrate what God is currently doing!  Just a quick recap of the past two years for those of you who are new around here:

Ben and I decided to expand our family through adoption back in 2008.  We pursued an adoption of a little baby boy from Ethiopia (up to 12 months old).  As we embarked on this journey we started reading more about Africa since we basically just knew what we saw on tv. The first book I picked up at the store was "Red Letters: Living a Faith that Bleeds" by Tom Davis.  I admit...I picked it out because it had a cool cover. :)  Turns out that book with the cool cover started a transformation in me that is going on to this day.  In it I read about the AIDS crisis in Africa, about the millions of orphans in Africa and about the Church's poor response to these things that God cares so much about.  I was broken.  I started asking questions about my life and the way I live it.  I started evaluating my love of "stuff" against my love for the least of these.  I started wondering why I insisted on living my life so safely.  I've just got this one life, right?  What am I doing with it? How had I ignored this crisis?  How had I closed my eyes and ears so tightly so I wouldn't be bothered? 

That book led me to check out the author, Tom Davis.  I looked him up online and found out he's the CEO of Children's HopeChest, an orphan advocacy organization.  Through his website I ended up going to the blog of a woman named Brandi, who is now one of my best friends.  We ended up exchanging emails and I found out more about the organization.  The more Ben and I found out about HopeChest the more we liked it.  We ended up driving down to Louisville to meet the new COO, Bob Mudd. He was leaving a very lucrative job to run HopeChest. We learned more about the organization and how we could volunteer so we decided to get involved. 

Throughout this time I can't begin to describe what was going on in me.  I was losing sleep, I was dreaming of Africa, I couldn't get the pictures and stories of the African orphans I had read about or watched videos of out of my head.  My life as I knew it was over.  Then came the opportunity to go to Uganda.  The way God paved the way for our trip is CRAZY.  What we saw there changed us.  It shattered us into a million pieces.  It gave us vision and the hope that people like you and I can make a difference in the world. One of the things that haunted us about Uganda was the number of child headed households.  Children raising children.  There were four and five year olds holding their younger siblings on their backs.  We were heart broken for these kids.  After seeing these kids we decided to change our age range for our adoption.  We felt like we needed to be open to adopting an older child.  Two days after we made the change we received a referral for our son, Tariku.

Our family went from this


to this


But our journey isn't over.  We have our son home, which has only further reminded us of all the children in the world who do not  have anyone to care for them.  Our hearts are now wired to give our time and energy to helping provide orphans with a hope and a future.  We have been praying seriously for the past year about what our next steps as a family should be. 

Through this time we've had to grapple with what we value and what is really important.  We've been brought face to face with the question of what we are willing to sacrifice.  It's been a crazy important journey for us.  One that has brought us to this conclusion: We are willing to go wherever He wants us to go to serve His children.  In the end, that's all that matters.  The American Dream doesn't matter.  How much stuff we have doesn't matter.  But giving our all for the dream God has for us does.  After years of running from the sacrifice that God requires of us, we are finally willing.

So today, my husband is quitting his job of seven years where he has done community development.  We are leaving the city we have lived in for the past thirty years.  We are leaving both of our families.  We are leaving our friends.  We are leaving our church.  We are leaving our children's comfort zones.  We are moving to Colorado Springs to work for HopeChest.

Are we scared?  Heck yeah.  Do we still need to sell our house desperately?  Yep.  Are we crazy?  I'm sure.  Are we excited?  Completely.  Are we in awe of what God has done in the past year?  Totally. 

Are we totally relying on God to continue to lead us and get us through this massive transition? Oh my, yes.  The really, really great news as I was reminded yesterday is that "The One who calls you is faithful and He WILL do it".  - 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Let the FUN continue!

21 comments:

  1. This is COMPLETELY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
    Prayers for your journey! To GOD BE THE GLORY!

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  2. amazing. love watching you. such an encouragement.

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  3. Our journey to a "new life" sounds so similar to yours. I know God has something for us in the future as well. (For now, he has learning sign language as quickly as possible and learning how to parent a hearing impaired child...but I know there is something else.) I'm so thrilled for you. I've always felt connected to you even though we've never met... We're both Amy's, both were changed forever in Uganda, etc. I will be praying for your family and I rejoice with you as you enter this CRAZY, SCARY, WONDERFUL new time.

    Much love in Jesus,
    Amy

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  4. Cowabunga. Sometimes you just have to cliff dive. Can't wait to see how God blows us all away. Love you so much and love being on the God-ride with you.

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  5. Chills!

    I love the story God has written for your life!

    I am so honored to be along for the ride - even if only in the praying-from-a-long-distance kinda way!

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  6. May the ripple effects of your following of Jesus bear much fruit for all eternity...why are we so slow to believe God's way is good? I loved this post! Thanks Amy, and God bless you on your adventure with incredible joy in Himself.

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  7. What an inspiration! Way to take such a huge step forward, into God's will for your lives! There is much blessing in obedience. Looking forward to seeing how he blesses your lives, as well as the lives of those you touch! Praise God! :o)

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  8. oh my this is the best thing i have read all day! keith and i were just talking with vince this week about our church hooking up with hopechest! i am in cincy in 2 weeks, would love to see you!

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  9. How AWESOME! We just sold our house and are going to be living and traveling in a 5th wheel with our four children to raise money for Togo, West Africa where we will be supporting a local Togolese man who has been given a call to start an orphanage, medical clinic and Bible institute for the people of his country. We have only been in the 5th wheel for a couple weeks now. A little scary? Yes. Complete and utter excitement with great expectations for what God has in store? Absolutely YES!! God bless you for surrendering your lives to serve the only One worth serving!

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  10. By the way, I was currently working on a blog post right now titled "In Transition"- - -pretty weird!

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  11. My husband is from Jamaica and they have a popular saying, Cool Runnings....peace be the journey.

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  12. {calm. cool sigh} Satisfaction in trusting God! So totally worth it! Pray abounding! Expecting miracles!

    Jen

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  13. i have been reading your blog for sometime now, but have not commented (if i did, it was just once or so). i can relate to alot of what you said- the adoption of our daughter seemed to propel us into the calling He had on our family. after many years of desiring, seeking and lots of prayer, He led us through many open doors over the last few months and my husband is quitting his job of 20 years, we are selling everything and moving our family to south africa to be house parents to orphans, teach school and do outreaches. it seems CRAZY to many around us, but we KNOW that He is calling and we MUST answer- no matter the cost (which has been counted and seems to be being done daily- lol). i will be praying for your family as you follow HIM and can't wait to see what HE has in store!

    blessing,
    amanda

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  14. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr8PZ3ajEWo

    yes, they are. thanks for changing the times, amy.


    love, g

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  15. I am SO THRILLED to hear all that God is doing in your life. I am grateful that God has some amazing support waiting for you in Colorado Springs. You will all be blessed to have one another. Thank you for sharing your heart. What a wonderful testimony! I wish you great joy as you learn to walk into pain. Hugs, Angel

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  16. I'm blog lagging....just now catching up on a few...praying for you all as you transition. I know the feeling of leaving all you've ever known - for us its been a process we're still walking out. You're an encouragement and a blessing to watch as the Lord uses you and your precious family.

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  17. Haven't been here in a while. I love this post.

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  18. I am so enjoying your blog and learning about the journey that God has you on!!! =)

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