It's Our Turn

Last night my son, Tariku wrapped his arms around me as we lay cuddled up together in his bed.   He whispered prayers as he does every night for the people he remembers back in Ethiopia.  He asked that his friends back in the orphanage would “get a great family just like he has” and that they would have food to eat and clean water to drink.  Every night he prays this prayer.  I mean every night…without fail.

He says amen and we talk about how it’s his 7^th birthday the next day.  I ask him what he wants for his birthday and he says “besides getting the kids in Africa clean water?”  I smile and he tells me he just wants a pocket knife and some Ethiopian food for dinner. Check. Consider it done, buddy.  Then he starts to ask me how many people I think he’ll be able to get clean water for.  “More people than I helped for my 5^th birthday?”  I tell him anything’s possible.  Then he starts asking why clean water has to cost money.  “Couldn’t everyone have clean water if it was free?” Yes, son, I suppose they could.  “Mom, when I grow up, I’m going to make sure I have lots and lots of money so that all the kids in Africa can have clean water and go to the doctor and have nice schools and houses.  And I’ll build the biggest house in the world so that all the kids who don’t have families can live with me.  How much money do you think that will take, mom?”

I’m half smiling, half fighting back the tears.  My seven year old is contemplating ending poverty AND the orphan crisis in Africa and apparently he’s going to do it single-handedly. I'm so proud of his compassionate heart.  But there's this part of me that cringes on the inside at the thought of what it will do to him when he starts to realize he can’t do it.  Immediately, I feel ashamed of myself.  Aren't there enough dream squashers out there already?  Maybe what the world needs is more people like my son – people who can recognize a need and just decide to do what they can about it.  Who says he can’t help give clean water to the kids in Africa?  Who says he can’t build a big old house where orphans can have a home? Who says he can’t?

 

For his 5^th birthday, he raised $5,000 in one week so that 87 people in Nguerenguer Village in Central African Republic could have clean water.  You can read that story HERE if you missed it to find out exactly why our family is so passionate about clean water. 

This was where the people of Nguerenguer Village used to go for water. 

Then Tariku started his campaign and with the money raised, this is now their new water source:

Amazing, right?!  A five year old boy helped change the lives of 87 people.  87 people like you and me, with families and worries and hopes and dreams.   

I guess the bottom line is that I'm learning not to discount my son's dreams and desires. In fact, isn't it our children who sometimes lead us?  He made a difference for those 87 people in Central African Republic and now he wants to do it again for his 7th birthday in Rwanda.  We were watching the Charity:Water video below about this year's September campaign and I had to keep pausing it because his questions were coming fast and furious. “Mom, how far do those kids have to walk to get that dirty water?”  “Mom, maybe we can make them a path that isn't so long so they don’t have to walk as far.”  "Mom, do those kids really miss school because they have to get water?"  “Mom, that guy said it’s our turn to get to work.  It’s not his turn- it’s MINE.”  

And that about sums it up.  It's Tariku's turn.

Would you consider helping him reach his goal of raising $5,000 for his 7th birthday to help provide the people of Rwanda with clean water?  I just wish I could bottle up his enthusiasm and excitement and send it straight over to you.  If ever I've wanted my son to succeed at something, it is now.  His whole heart is in this and he understands the importance of this issue because he has lived it himself in Ethiopia.  He has suffered the diarrhea that comes from drinking contaminated water.  At a young age, he has followed his step-mother down to the pond to collect drinking water.  He has experienced the loss of his little brother, who succumbed to the effects of their contaminated water.  This is issue is very real for him, as it is for so many in the world today. 

And now it's his turn to do something about it.  We encourage you to join him as he uses his story to help change the lives of people in Rwanda.  

Watch the video below to see where your dollars will go and how they will help.  Then go HERE to make your tax deductible donation to Tariku's campaign.  I can't thank you enough for helping Tariku see that he really can change the world. It's your turn. 

September Campaign 2012 Trailer: Rwanda from charity: water on Vimeo.

Beautiful Scars

"We all have scars, but as we run our fingers along their rough edges may we not have bitterness or self-pity or guilt; may we feel redeemed." - Mike Donehey

Scars.  Nobody seems to like them much because they mean we had a wound and who likes to be wounded??  Who really likes to have their scars show? The one on my back is a raised, red, crinkly one; the lines of which you can even see through my t-shirt.  Sometimes there is just no hiding our scars.  My mind flashes back to my Savior, who willingly held out out His hands and welcomed His beloved to inspect His scars.  

It's by His wounds we are healed. His scars reflect victory.  

If we have scars, it means we have healed from something.  My cancer scar symbolizes that I went from death to life.  It reminds me that for the first time in 12 years I went to the dermatologist for one pesky little mole and he found a spot in a totally different place that would have gone unnoticed and probably taken my life.  My scar has grace and mercy written all over it and because of that I am growing to love it...in fact I am overwhelmingly grateful for it.  

The truth is, we all have scars whether they show or not.  Some of us wear our scars on the inside where past pain and wounds have been inflicted either by others or by ourselves.  It's easy for me to sit here and write about the obvious scar on my back from my cancer, but I know that I have scars deep inside of me that no one sees.  These inward scars can tend to be the ones we despise the most.  When I allow myself to actually touch them I feel pangs of guilt and sometimes bitterness.  But God touches those same scars and as He runs His finger along their rough edges He simply whispers "Redeemed". 

The truth is we struggle to see ourselves the way He sees us.  In a world of plastic surgery, pasted on smiles and counterfeit perfection, we can begin to drown in the reality of our mess.  We feel less than.  But God looks at you and I and He sees all our failures, all our wounds, all our struggles, all our scars and He simply says "Hello, lovely.  Redemption looks good on you".  Jesus came and identified with every wound you and I carry.  But He didn't just come to identify with them - He came to HEAL them.  The wounds that He suffered were so that ours could be restored.  So He looks at us, marred, battered and bruised and His heart leaps because He loves His job...making beautiful things out of our messed up lives. It's His delight to help us know that we are loved regardless of any mark we may carry.   

I can't help but think about Etanaite in Ethiopia as I write this.  Some of you may remember her story from when I first met her in September of 2011.  She was raped, impregnated and outcast as a teenager. She carried such profoundly deep wounds.  I got to spend time with her again in Ethiopia last month and the difference in her was startling.  

  
Her smile lit up the room.  As she went from table to table serving the children in the feeding program, her laughter carried across the room.  The difference in her was night and day.  She hugged me so tightly I could hardly breathe, whereas before, her eyes were cast down on the ground and her arm hung limply around me.  I think this is what happens when our wounds become scars.  There's a joy that comes with our healing.  There's an ability to walk again with a spring in our step as we look at our scars and see their beauty. Etainette's wounds were out to kill and destroy her spirit, but Love so gently stepped in and stitch by stitch sewed her back together. 

I pray today that you would look at your scars and find that they remind you of Hope.  We'll get more gaping, oozing wounds in this life, to be sure.  But they won't stay that way because we have a God who is deeply committed to our healing and wholeness.  Allow Him to bind up your wounds so that when they become scars your only response will be to whisper the word "Redeemed".  Because that is what we are.

On A Limb

God, You have made us for Yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.  Augustine

The first time I saw this picture it literally took my breath away.  I saw myself immediately. It was her eyes that caused me to recognize myself.  While her body looks at rest, you can see something in her eyes.  Her crossed legs and folded hands give the illusion of peace, but her eyes and mouth are a dead give away for some level of discomfort...some degree of hesitancy.  Yet there she sits, literally hanging out on a limb.  

And aren't we all just hanging out on a limb in some way? 

What I love about this picture is that although her arms are over the branch, it's the limb that is actually holding her.  Her only task is to lean in and rest.  While I love being able to see her eyes, I almost wish that they were closed.  But I suppose having them open is a better picture of the reality most of us choose every day.  We almost rest.  We come close to almost tuning the noise of the world out.  We almost trust that the limb that is holding our sometimes crushing weight will actually do just that - hold.  But instead, our eyes open and tenuously look about us. Even as we assume a posture of rest, it's feigned.  

Jesus says "Are you tired?  Worn out?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest." - Matthew 11:28 (The Message) 

I admit it.  I'm tired.  I'm worn out. Okay, the truth is I'm exhausted and I want a real rest. My burdens seem heavy, my failures seem great and my vision is blurry. Yet I'm not even as smart as the little girl in the picture...I won't even climb up on that limb to give myself an opportunity to rest.  How foolish. The Tree of Life has never stopped calling my name and beckoning me into a real rest. 

It's time to climb up on that limb, throw my arms over the branch, lay my head down and close my eyes.  In rest, the Tree carves truth and identity into me.  The Tree breathes oxygen into my soul, life into my very being. I am a mere shell without it. 

"For I will restore health to you and your wounds I will heal," declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 30:17)  Did you catch that?  There's nothing for us to do except come to the Lord and let HIM restore us. He does the work, because after all, rest that we have to work for is no rest at all.  God desires that we simply receive from Him.  And yet somehow, that makes me skittish.  Simply RECEIVE??? It goes against the grain.  My mind tells me I can both receive AND continue working towards something.  However, I know this one thing deeply - my doing has become my undoing.  And there is Jesus saying just COME. RECEIVE. REST. BE.   

So this squirming little girl is going to climb up on that limb after all.  And she's going to recover her life.  

Daily Bread

Two weeks ago I walked into Berhanu's home in Ethiopia.  For days I had watched this sweet little boy
at the feeding center.  He would shyly hug me when I approached him and then would hang behind the others with a slight smile, taking everything in.  He didn't run straight to me and pull on my hands like some of the other kids.  His presence was just always there - calm, quiet and restrained.  But then he danced and joy slowly overtook his face.  You can see for yourself in the video below...he's in the pink and blue striped sweater.









I found myself swept up in all the wonderful, crazy chaos that ensues when you are surrounded by 60 children.  In the midst of all the greetings, the tugs on my hands, the fingers playing with my hair, the little voices prattling on in Amharic, you can start to feel like you are in heaven.  It's easy to forget that once they step foot outside the doors of the feeding center they walk back into their reality.  And that's what I experienced a few weeks ago, walking into Berhanu's house - his reality.


Berhanu's "house" consisted of a 12 x 12 room that was made up of mud walls and a tin roof.  The shock of the living conditions in Korah never really wears off.  Although all the houses can start to look the same after so many, the reality of what living life in a tiny box that is sweltering during the summer and freezing cold and wet during rainy season never gets lost on me.  


I walked through Berhanu's door to meet his mother, who kissed me on the cheek and greeted me with the firmest handshake I've ever received.  She pointed for me to sit on the bed, while she sat down on the floor. And it was from the floor that she poured out her heart.  Not desperately, not emotionally...but with strength and beauty and dignity.  

Her words tumbled out.  Her husband died from AIDS leaving her and Berhanu alone.  She was forced to scavenge from the garbage dump to find food for her and her son.  She smiled big as she said what a relief it is to know that Berhanu is getting fed good meals every day, and even more than that, how grateful she is that he has men like Yemamu and Sisay in his life to show him love.  She went on to say how Birhanu is everything to her and how she loves him so much.  Reaching under the bed, she pulled out all of his grade cards from previous years, beaming with pride over his good grades.  


And then she pulled out a tray from under the bed.  

It was filled with anti-retroviral drugs.  She tells us how she contracted HIV from her deceased husband.  She talks about how she was scared for Berhanu when she was very sick.  And then she smiles and tells us how she goes throughout the community of Korah and talks about HIV.  She is trying to break down the stigma so that people get the help that they need before it's too late.  She is beaming as she shows us certificates that she's received for her good work in the community.  I silently breathe a sigh of relief thinking that at least she is getting some income from that, which will keep her out of the garbage dump.  But my relief was short lived as she laughs when we ask her if she's being paid for her awareness work.  She just shakes her head and smiles. No, she doesn't get paid for it, she says. She goes on to say it's important work and she is grateful to be doing it.


My husband looks at her and asks if she is getting enough food herself.  He knows how important it is to take the ARV's with food so they can be properly absorbed into her system and work the way they are meant to.  She looks at him with a confused look on her face.  

  
"Of course, I have enough food.  Of course.  God always provides.  Not always in the same way, but He always, always provides.  Sometimes it's food from the garbage dump that I find.  Sometimes it's neighbors that bring me food.  Sometimes friends who beg on the streets bring me their leftovers.  But I always have food."


My eyes fill up full of tears as I watch her smile and talk about God's provision for her and Berhanu.  I think of the Lord's prayer.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And He does.  Over and over. 


I answered my phone two days ago to my doctor telling me that the biopsy he took a month ago came back as melanoma while I was in Ethiopia. 


And I think of Berhanu's mother living with HIV in a third world country where everything is a struggle.  I think of the love she has for her own child.  And I remember her timely words.  God always provides.  


He gives us our daily bread.  Just enough for what we need in every moment.  I'm so thankful for that time with Birhanu's mom in Ethiopia.  I had no idea exactly what it would mean to me right now. But I look at her face and I see the strength and peace and hope in her eyes and it feeds my spirit.  


Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow...

In A Moment

My husband, Ben has a beautiful way with words.  He's shared on my blog before about Tariku's adoption, our experience in Uganda and the poverty of our hearts.  Because of his line of work with orphans, he gets to travel quite a bit (insert fits of jealousy here). He just got back from his first trip to Haiti last week and it wrecked him.  He's seen a lot of poverty in a lot of different parts of the world, but there was something about Haiti.  He wrote the following thoughts while sitting at the airport on his way back and I thought they were too beautiful and powerful to keep to myself, so enjoy...

In a moment

Brilliant sparkling landscape.
Bare feet skitter with ticking sounds of life.
Fragrant scene breathed as a tiny hand extends to you.
But it is not as it seems.

Sparkling, yes, with the debris of a disposable existence.
Shattered bottles reflecting shattered dreams.
The bare feet of poverty covered in the mire, sore and bleeding;
Bloodied and infected with the disease of disparity and our ignorance.
Pungent rotting odor assaulting the senses like time-released death.
The decomposing detritus of stolen joy.
The hand trembles with fear and doubt.
"Am I as disposable as this garbage that feeds me?"
Can the child filled with waste believe that they are not the thing that they consume?

The hand finally reaches me as my eyes drift up the arm to the tattered shirt with peeling logo; the exposed shoulder from a shirt intended for a much larger child as it hangs to one side on her; the neck creased with lines that indicate the filth and sweat of someone working in the dirt. 
The chin that has quivered so many times with no one to comfort her, but the face is a paradox. Scars from hurts that will never be explained, creased brow betraying the gift of confusion that injustice gladly gives to so many. 

But the mouth, and the eyes... Oh the eyes! Incomprehensible.
Turned up corners in a mischievous smile, and the eyes, how they dance with delight.

It is now my brow that shows confusion.
Now I see it.  That second of  clarity; that moment so brief that in years to come I will question if it even happened.
I saw it all transformed. It is with her eyes that place is now seen.
The ground still sparkles but it now has a yellow hue that can only be precious metal.
The feet, no longer bleeding are clean and festooned with sandals and are no longer still.
Dancing.  Joyful dancing that starts in your belly, spreads to your head and feet resulting in broad full smiles and bouncing, turning and skipping.
The smell;  newness of life that makes you want to swaddle and draw her to your arms.
And the river strewn with garbage waste and stench, is the clean river of life.  The tree on the bank bearing fruit in its time with healing in its leaves.

And I know that it is only you, Jesus.  You are the one that turns the tears of the orphan into dancing.  You are the one that uses the lowly to shame the wise.  You that gives joy in impossible situations.  It is you that makes a way.

And it is gone. Back to difficulty. Back to filth and hardship. As we lock eyes, that crooked smile communicates the whole of existence.  Her eyes alight with You and it was not this place, but my very being that has been transformed.

Half-Truths, Empty Lives

The enemy of true life has a way of tricking us into hinging our existence on half-truths - ideas that seem noble, but in the end rob us of the fullness that we were created to live within.


It's a humbling thing to realize the half-truths that pervade our lives. Scratch that.  It's downright annoying.  The recent months have been full of God revealing the half-truths that I've allowed to creep into my thinking and thus, my way of life.  Half-truths are almost more dangerous than outright lies, because often lies are easily spotted and we can do away with them, but not so with half-truths.  They fly under the radar unnoticed because they have the appearance of truth.  They have the scent of being right but contain the power to hold us back from all that we were made for. 


I've grown up in the "Church", where unfortunately, half-truths have been held up as whole truth and shouted aloud with good intentions.  And I've bought them.  Hook, line and sinker.  We must learn to finish the sentence.  And not just with our mouths, but to believe it with all we are. 


I am a wretch...and God has made me royalty as His daughter by His grace. 


I'll never be rid of my sin and the mess I've made...and God is making something beautiful out of my brokenness because He wastes nothing.


I am weak...and all throughout history, it has been the weak ones that God has used. 


I shouldn't do anything until I'm sure it's God's will...and when I walk out of a surrendered heart to Him, I can be assured that my will and His will are one in the same.


I have nothing to offer...and as His own, I have an open invitation to reach out and find everything I need in Him. 


What stands between you and your destiny?  False ideas about ourselves and lies we have believed can block us from experiencing what we have been called to walk in - FULLNESS.


It's time for us to see the half-truths for what they are and step into who we've been created to be, because you and I, friends, are made for so much more.


Someone once said that many of us are starving while sitting at a table laden with food.  And I think I have been starving myself somehow.  Perhaps because I feel I'm not worthy of such a meal.  Perhaps because sometimes I can't see the food on the table.  But there's a voice that beckons me to open my eyes and come and eat... that it's more than okay for me to reach out and take what is rightfully mine as a child of God.  It's been God's plan all along - to give us access to a life and a feast that is beyond what we can imagine.  The key word there is GIVE.  God GIVES us everything we need to lead a life that is full and purposeful.  We can't do a single thing to earn it.  We can spend our whole lives striving for it and never find it.  It's pure gift.  


And this has exposed something critical for me.  I can run around like crazy, striving and "doing" things for God, but all along, God is just saying "Come. Eat. You have all you need right here with Me."  God doesn't need me or anything I do for Him.  He simply doesn't.  But what He wants is my heart.  As I turn my affections from the striving and doing and just simply look at Him, I suddenly see that there's this spread that He's prepared for me just waiting to be eaten. While we eat food because we enjoy it, we mostly eat it to sustain us.  It's taken into our bodies so that we are satisfied and have energy to expend.  And so it is with the food we eat from the table of the King.    


The table contains all we'll ever need.  It has the grace for every circumstance, the healing for every hurt, the strength for every challenge, the victory for every battle, the peace for every fear.  What we choose to partake of from the table flows out into our lives.  It frees us up to say yes to the opportunities God places before us because there's enough of Him to go around.  The table never empties.  And because the table never empties, we can trust that we are loved.  Our Father is inviting us into a rich, exciting life with Him.  When we begin to say yes and give everything out of the place of knowing we are loved, people are touched with a power that transforms the lowly into princes and princesses.  It is a love that reshapes orphans into sons and daughters. It happened to the crippled man  in Acts 3.   


"One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.  Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.  When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.  Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”  So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.  He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.  When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him."


I love that Peter and John had nothing by the world's standards to give this man. I feel that way a lot - especially as I look at the precious kids I love in Ethiopia. I feel like I've got nothing to give. What do I do when I stare suffering and need straight in the face? Did you catch Peter's words? "What I have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."  Peter didn't seem to wonder if he had anything to give.  He was aware of what he already possessed.  He had reached out and taken those things from the table that empowered him to bring healing to this man.  What Peter had was everything.  He had full access to all the power, love and strength of God and he didn't waste time wondering what he should do with it.  It was right there for the taking.  


And, friends, it's there for the taking for us.  God isn't hiding the potential and beauty of our lives from us.  He's holding it out for us.  He's saying "Dinner's ready.  Come and get it."  The love of God and the fullness of life He has for ALL of us is being offered to us at every moment.  Let's not starve ourselves when the table is heavy with food.  That must break God's heart.  It's all for you.  Every last crumb.  Dare to believe it and watch your life be transformed.  God is GOOD.  He is FOR us.  Dig in.


All I know is that I have this one life, these few breaths.  What do I have to give?  I can only give what I have. And it turns out what I have is all that God is. 




*italics taken from Jessica Davis' "For Love's Sake"

Stopping For The One

"Do not be fooled by the luxuries of this world; they cripple our faith. Like Jesus explained, the right things have to die so the right things can live – we die to selfishness, greed, power, accumulation, prestige, and self-preservation, giving life to community, generosity, compassion, mercy, brotherhood, kindness, and love." - Jen Hatmaker




Easter is almost here.  Every year it comes, and every year I somehow forget all the emotion that springs up in me as a result.  I am reminded of my weakness and my brokenness.  And I become more convinced of the newness of life I am meant to have.  I think of that dark Friday centuries and centuries ago where the sky was dark, the earth shook, the veil was torn and Love died.  For me.  For you.  But Love didn't die and leave us alone.  Love died so that we might never be alone.  So that we might know in the deepest parts of ourselves that we are the beloved.  We are meant to live for so much more.

Love has brought life and transformation into my own life.  Love has taken what was broken and pieced it back together.  Love has breathed life into what was dead and lifeless.  Love has restored and redeemed me.  It has taken what was gray and brought color.  Love hasn't solved all my problems.  Love has entered into my problems with me.  Love compels me. And it's this same Love that is doing something new in 150 little lives in the middle of Ethiopia. 

It was two years ago that I met a man named Yemamu in Ethiopia.  Love united our hearts and I knew as my airplane left Ethiopian soil that Love had connected us for a bigger purpose.  And now, two years later, it is with great joy that I get to tell you about an opportunity we have together to see Love and restoration enter one of the most hopeless communities on the face of the planet.

Yemamu's NGO "Hands for the Needy Ethiopia" has now officially partnered with Children's HopeChest to help bring 150 precious kiddos food, clean water, medical care and hope.  These kids are the most vulnerable children in the community of Korah.  They have been eating garbage from the city dump and wearing clothes they found there.  Many of them have lost parents to disease.  Some of them have been begging in the city.  All of them - ALL OF THEM - are important.  They are the ones, just like us, that Love came for. 

Before I go any further, I want to stop for a minute.  I was reminded this morning of the story of blind Bartimaeus in scripture.  In Mark chapter 10, one week before Jesus dies on the cross, he is walking with a crowd through Jericho.  He hears a voice shouting out to Him "Jesus, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped.  He didn't stop to tell him to be quiet.  He stopped so He could call Bartimaeus over to Him.  Everyone around Bartimaeus is telling him to shut up and not to make such a scene, but he keeps shouting.  Jesus asks him what he wants and Bartimaeus simply says "I want to see." He wants the most basic and important of his needs taken care of.  And Jesus says "Go.  Your faith has healed you." And Bartimaeus received his vision back and his life was changed. 

Here is Jesus knowing He has the cross to face soon, with much on His mind, I'm sure, stopping for the one that no one else would have stopped for.  He stopped for the one that wasn't seen or noticed by others.  He stopped for the one that everyone was telling to shut up.  What was on his mind, the things he had to do...none of that stopped Him.  We catch a beautiful glimpse into the heart of God here.  Talk about newness and transformation.  Talk about new life.  Imagine how Bartimaeus' life changed.  All because Jesus heard him call out and loved him enough to stop and restore his life.

And, honestly, that's what God has been asking of me.  He is asking me to stop for these 150 little ones on the other side of the world who have no one listening to their cries.  He is asking me to see the potential they have for transformation.  He is asking me to see how much He loves them.  He is asking me to love them the way that He does.  Wholly.  Unselfishly.  Without expecting anything in return.  God is asking me to slow down and take notice.  And so I find myself responsible for helping make sure these 150 little ones are seen and sponsored by people like you. 

The crazy thing is that we as Westerners simply don't understand what an impact stopping for one will make in their lives.  We don't know how $34 a month literally helps take Biruk or Tsegenesh or Melkam from death to life.  We can't imagine how a relationship with a child on the other side of the world will transform our own hearts.  We don't know the dignity that these kids receive from an education, a new pair of shoes or access to food.  Because we already have it.  And so much more.  We have never had to even think about our dignity.  It's been handed to us on a silver platter simply because of our geographic location. 

Guys, I don't have adequate words to tell you how beautiful these 150 children are.  I don't have language to describe how my heart feels for all of them.  I wish you all could meet them.  I wish you could see their smiles that radiate despite their circumstances.

I am one person.  Just one.  As much as I wish I could sponsor all 150 kids, I can't.  And frankly, I wouldn't want to rob you of the joy that comes when you enter into a relationship with one of these kiddos. 

So, this Easter I am just asking you to stop for one.  Just like Jesus did.  Will you hear them calling out to have their basic needs met? In the midst of the Easter baskets and meals to prepare and clothes to get ready, will you consider stopping for the ones Jesus cares so much about? 

I was thinking yesterday about the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for us so that we could live in abundant life.  And I was wondering if my life is being lived in appropriate response to the gift of Love and Life that He gave.  Jesus' love was radical.  It stopped at nothing for us.  I just want to love with all that I am.  God doesn't need our $34 a month. He just doesn't want us to miss out on what giving our love away looks like.  It was in giving His love away that God turned this world upside down.  I want in on the upside down Kingdom of God.  I want to engage in a story that is bigger than myself. 

I'm at a loss for words, friends.  There is nothing that I can do on my own to see that these 150 children find sponsors.  It is completely in God's hands to provide.  But I must be faithful to share the need with you.  I won't guilt you into sponsoring a child.  I just simply ask that you ask God about it. 

You can go HERE to see all the precious faces that represent lives and stories and laughter and love.  In a matter of five minutes, you can take care of sponsorship online.  You know where to find me if you have any questions.  :)  Oh, and while you're there...check out Mekdes Fanta, a sweet little 5 year old girl who is the newest member of my Ethiopian family. When I was in Korah in September we found her wandering the streets and brought her into the center for a meal.  We found out that her mother has to leave her alone every day so she can go find daily work to try to feed her. Now, she is sponsored.  She is my "One". Pure joy.

Thank you for reading, for listening, for stopping for the one...

"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." - John 13:34

Shattering the Lies

I look at these precious little kiddos from Korah in Ethiopia and I have one thought lately.  God, let them know how much they are loved.  Let them know how valuable they are to You...how You delight in them. It doesn't matter they are the poorest of the poor.  It doesn't matter if they can't see correctly.  It doesn't matter that they wear the same clothes day after day.  It doesn't matter that some of them are orphaned. What matters is what You say about them.


I think of the stories of some of the children from Korah. I think of the sweet little boy who was thrown into the garbage after his parents died, hauled off in a garbage truck and was discovered in the trash dump where he still lives today. I think of the teenage girl who was raped and bore a son as a result. I think of the girl who walks her blind mother down to the city streets to beg every day.


They are His beloved.


Beloved.  It means a person who is greatly loved; dear to the heart.  This is what we all are.  His beloved.


As I write this, my husband is in India at a school where children from the slums have been given an opportunity for an education they never would have received apart from sponsorship.  He got to meet Tulsi, this precious little girl who has no parents...

During a skype conversation with me the other day, Ben said "She's going to change the world.  She has caught the vision that she matters and that she's special.  She walks around like a queen."  I had tears fill my eyes as I read his words.  What if...what if we all walked this earth knowing we matter and that we're special...that we are royalty, sons and daughters of the King?


The reality is that we are.  But many of us, myself included, don't live like we are.  We walk around like we don't know our names, our very identities.  We are like whimpering children living crippled by the labels and lies that have been put on us and spoken to us by others or by ourselves over the years.  The children in Korah know labels and lies.  They have been told that they are worthless, useless, unworthy, unloved, outcasts.  Some of us have been told the same.


I've been reading Henri J.M. Nouwen's "Life of the Beloved".  Honestly, it's rocking my world.  Beautiful in it's truth and simplicity.  My name, Amy, means "beloved".  Hmmm.  Interesting.  I've always known the meaning of my name, but I've never embraced it or lived it.  In my 37 years, I've never fully lived in the place of freedom that comes with knowing what it really means that the God of the universe calls me His Beloved.  I think I'm beginning to scratch the surface of that truth.  Just like Tulsi...I matter, if for no other reason than I am His Beloved.  Why is it so easy for us to believe that other people are the Beloved, but not us?  When the reality is:


Long before any human being saw us, we are seen by God's loving eyes.  Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we are heard by our God who is all ears for us.  Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we are spoken to by the voice of eternal love.  We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children, and friends loved or wounded us.  That's the truth of our lives.


And I think when we grasp this truth in the core of our being, it changes everything.  From the moment we claim the truth of being the beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are. When we know we are the Beloved we can let go of fear because perfect love casts out fear.  We can be who we're created to be.  We can walk confidently and laugh at the uncertainty of the future.  We don't have to look to other people for affirmation because we are loved by the only One who is constant.  We can see others for who they are despite themselves - the Beloved.  There's a shift that happens within us...we are set free.  Free from striving to earn people's affections.  Free from all the lies and deception that plague us.  Free from self-rejection. 

 "Just one word from You could shatter a thousand lies."


Beloved. 

The word echoes in the chambers of my heart.  Becoming the Beloved means letting the truth of our belovedness become enfleshed in everything we think, say or do.  Yes, it changes everything about our lives.  It's what makes Tulsi go from walking with her head down to prancing about like a queen, head raised high...a dreamer.  She has rejected the lies that her history, her poverty and her society define her.  One realization has shattered the lies - she's the Beloved.  And as such, she matters.  She is important.  So are you.  And so am I.  God says so.  He whispers into those deepest places of doubt and insecurity within us and says...

"I have called you by name from the very beginning.  You are mine and I am yours.  You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests.  I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother's womb.  I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace.  I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child.  I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you, and where you rest, I keep watch.  I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench all your thirst.  I will not hide my face from you.  You know me as your own as I know you as my own.  You belong to me.  I am your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your lover, and your spouse...yes, even your child...wherever you are I will be.  Nothing will ever separate us.  We are one."

May all of us, every child and adult, walk like sweet little Tulsi, secure in the knowledge of who we are and who we belong to.  Regardless of our baggage.  Regardless of what people have told us.  Regardless...

We are the Beloved. 

Transformed

Man's Maker was made man, that He, ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother's breast.  That the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on His journey - that the Truth might be accused of false witness, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded, that Life might die. - Augustine

I've been talking quite a bit lately about how unfathomable it is that the very God who created the universe came to earth and stooped so low to be with us.  How He enters the lowly places of this world and makes His home there, bringing hope and making all things new.

I am fairly certain there are no words that can describe this better than the picture above of my son, Tariku.  He is feeding ice cream to my inlaw's 98 year old neighbor who is in her last days under hospice care.

You may look at this picture and just see a sweet moment.

I look at this picture and I see healing and hope. 

I see a little boy who did not know compassion or kindness growing up.  You would weep crocodile tears if you knew what my son has been through. 

I see his burned hand stretched out to give away something he never received  in his formative years.  Not ice cream, but love. Simple and pure.

I see a transformed heart, a wounded healer.  And I look at my son and I know that it's true...that God makes beautiful things out of the dust.  That He gives us hope when there seems nothing to be hopeful about. 

I see God in my son.  I see it in how he sits so patiently with an old grandmother, without hurry, as if there's no other place he'd rather be in the world than right there.  And so is God with us.  Content to just sit with us and spoon feed us whatever we need.  To come and enter our situations and just be present.

I see a heart overflowing with compassion that has been born out of his own pain and brokenness.  It makes no sense, my son's capacity to love. 

I see what once was darkness and hopelessness now pouring out light and hope. 

Maybe this Christmas Eve you aren't feeling hopeful.  Maybe life's circumstances cause you to feel heavy, anxious or sad.  Know that God is sitting right beside you.  That to be with you is the very reason He came.  And He won't stop at just being with you.  He will be hope to you.  He will take your pain and your brokenness and make them beautiful...into a masterpiece even.  

He redeems everything.  Merry Christmas, friends.

*Just as I was getting ready to post this, Tariku came into the room and turned up the music I had playing.  He said "Mommy, this is my favorite song."  Then he wrapped his sweet little arms around me and rested his head on my shoulder while we listened to these words:

Your love never fails, it never gives up.  It never runs out on me.  On and on and on and on it goes.

It overwhelms and satisfies my soul


And I never ever have to be afraid


One thing remains.

The Love that came to be with us never fails, never gives up, never runs out.  To be sure, the people sitting in darkness have seen a great Light.

In The Dirt

Want to know what I love about God?  He's completely unpredictable.   He does things that are completely upside down and unexpected.  While the world looked to the sky waiting for the Messiah to come down with great procession and riches, Love came down in poverty - vulnerable, weak and helpless. 

Not only was the way He entered the world completely unexpected, but so was the city He chose.  Scripture says "Nazareth...can ANYTHING good come from there?"  I've often heard people refer to certain cities here in the U.S. as "the armpit of America". That's what Nazareth was...the armpit of the world.  So, of COURSE, that's where God chose to send His son.  Everything about how the Savior entered our world was revolutionary.  It didn't add up.  It made no sense. 

But you know what's really crazy? He chose to STAY.  He spent 30 years in the city of Nazareth.  Out of a place where there was nothing redemptive, came redemption Himself.  He stuck around the hell hole of Nazareth...He stayed with people in their brokenness, filth and pain.  He could have left.  He could have.  I'd never really thought about that before last night.  From day 1 on earth, God chose to BE WITH the marginalized, the least and the poor.  And not for just a moment, but for thirty years.  This is no fluke.  Jesus wanted to relate to us in our brokenness.  He didn't go live in a palace...that's not real life.  He went to the sick, the cast offs, the poor, the lonely.  He sat with them. He played with them as a child.  He laughed with them. He cried with them.  He LOVED them.  He REDEEMED them.  He entered their pain.  He went to them. He became lowly.  The God who placed the stars in the sky came so low.  And He stayed low.  He stayed in the dirt. 

Photo courtesy of Jobin Sam, who lives his life in the dirt with orphans in Calcutta

We must find the places of pain and heartbreak and live there because that's where Jesus is.  It doesn't mean we live depressed...God came to give us HOPE.  He came to call us out of our darkness and to live in the hope He offers.  But until we get acquainted with the grit, the grief and the sorrow of our world, just as Jesus did, we will miss Him.  WE WILL MISS HIM.  And I don't want to miss Him.  The thought of missing out on the fullness of who God is because I'm not WILLING to enter into the sadness of this world makes my heart hurt.  I want to be found willing.  O God, may I be found willing.

We see Jesus being in close proximity with the marginalized.  We see Him touching lepers.  Before I went to Korah (a leper colony in Ethiopia) the number one question I got asked was how I was going to protect myself and keep from getting leprosy.  May God deliver us from our mentality of being concerned for ourselves first.  If Jesus touched the lepers, why aren't we? If Jesus sought out the lonely, why aren't we? If Jesus was moved to tears by His compassion for His people, why aren't we? WHY AREN'T WE???

God chooses to reveal Himself through us to others.  Immanuel...God WITH us. God IN us. The nearness of God comes through the proximity of His people.  So, where are we?? Comfortably closed in our four walls?  If God's love is seen as we go, then I'd better find myself going.  I'd better be found engaging in people's messy lives.  Why wouldn't I if that's where Jesus is?? 

God came for me.  He came so low for me.  Will I choose to go low?  Who do I think I am that I shouldn't go low too?  God stooped so low to pick me up.  Do I realize that my soul will be satisfied more richly and fully when I choose the road of the broken? If I am running away from the low places, I am running the wrong direction.  God is not found where we think He would be.  The incarnation proved that.  He is found on the narrow path of the lowly.  He is found in their eyes, their tears, their smiles.  This is the God I've found...the God of the lowly.  And He's more beautiful than I possibly thought. 

May we be found willing...

Anathi's Story from Children's HopeChest on Vimeo.

"NEED"

It's officially December.  The month we celebrate Immanuel - God WITH us.  The entrance of our Savior into the world.  What I love about the way God sent his son into the world is how simple it all was.  While there were great multitudes of angels celebrating His arrival, a handful of shepherds and three kings who traveled far to witness God incarnate,...the King of Kings made His entrance in a manger without fanfare. This is so symbolic of the humility and selflessness which would define His life (and should define ours as well). 

We celebrate Christmas because we celebrate the extravagant love of God, who sent us the most amazing, costly gift of His son.  The Creator of the universe modeled for us in an extraordinary way what it means to give.  God held nothing back.  He gave what was most precious to Him - His son. 

And we give too, when we celebrate Christmas.  In fact, we spend 450 BILLION dollars on Christmas.  That's a lot of giving.  But WHAT are we giving??  Do you know it would only take 10 billion dollars to solve the water crisis in the world?  There's just a little perspective.

A few weeks ago I asked my kids what they wanted for Christmas.  You should have heard the crickets in the room.  "Um...well...um...I don't really know". There you have it, folks.  My kids couldn't even tell me ONE thing they wanted for Christmas.  Know why?  Because they have SO ridiculously much and half of it they don't even use or remember that they have.  How sick is that? And yet, we are actually thinking about buying them more??

Something MUST give here, friends.  I say this for myself as well as for anyone else who can understand my heart here.  This Christmas, my kids are each getting 3 gifts - something to wear, something to play with and something to read.  The days of buying more stuff for the sake of buying more stuff are over.

Two months ago I watched children scavenging in a trash dump for food in Ethiopia.  I saw a 6x8 room where 7 people slept with one make shift bed.  I no longer have the audacity to say that I need anything. Or that my children do.  How about we take that 450 BILLION dollars we spend every year on Christmas (forgive me, but that figure makes my stomach churn) and give it to people who actually need something.  Those people are in our cities and around our world. 

I put my 6 year old adopted son from Ethiopia to bed tonight and he prayed this: "Dear God, please help the kids in Africa all have mommies and daddies like I do. And please help them have food to eat and clothes to wear.  And let them be happy like I am."  This coming from my child who weighed 20 pounds when he was 4 years old and suffered from extreme malnourishment.  This coming from my child who went without clothing.  He knows what a real need is.  He has lived it.  I can't tell you how humbling it is to be taught by my own child who has lived through and survived circumstances I could never in a million years imagine.  My child gets what a true heart of generosity looks like.  If there's a need and it's in our ability to meet it, then we should.  It's that simple.  Why wouldn't we?

And this Christmas, I have a practical way that you can be involved in doing just that.  A way that will provide dignity for a child and give them opportunities for education.

To go to school in Korah (Ethiopia), you need to have a school uniform.  I actually heard stories of families not sending their children to school because they couldn't afford the small (in our eyes) school fees and/or the uniforms.  Can you imagine that being a reason for our kids not to attend school??  It's completely unacceptable.  Most of the children I met there had one set of clothing to their name.  I'm not sure that any of the clothes actually fit the kids.  They just wear what they can find, be it too big or too little.  Because of the expense of a school uniform (on average $28 per uniform), most kids are wearing their uniforms from a year or two ago if they have one at all.  And that one uniform is worn every day all day.  You can imagine how tattered and dirty they become. 

This Christmas, I would LOVE to raise enough money for each of the 60 kids in the Hands for the Needy program in Korah to get a new school uniform.  That's $28 per uniform.  $28 to give a child dignity and opportunity for education. 

Will you join me in generously giving to these kids who truly know what need is? I think it would be so amazing for me to be able to tell my son that God answered his prayers and gave some kids in Africa clothes.  These lessons in God's provision are invaluable for our children.  And for us. :)

I believe there are more than enough readers of my blog to cover this need.  All we need is for 60 of you to step up and give $28 to provide a uniform.  We need a total of $1650.  That may seem like a lot of money, but if we all help, it can be done. 

What I haven't told you yet is how I was going to do a campaign for new shoes for the kids in Korah, but before I could write the blog post, the $900 was funded.  Then today, I was going to change directions and raise money for medical care for the kids since the shoes were funded, but before I could write the blog post, the $750 for medical care was completely funded.  My jaw has been on the ground all day long.  We have four fundraising projects going on right now for specific things and 2 of the 4 have been covered without having to ask anyone to get involved.  AMAZING. The only thing left on the list of four things after the uniforms are funded is a washing machine so that they can be washed efficiently and well.  Perhaps we can raise the money for the uniforms AND the washing machine (an additional $875)???  God LOVES these kids so much and is providing for their needs through people like you who are willing to sacrifice on their behalf. 

I would love to see this money raised by Christmas.  It can happen.  If my son can raise $5,000 for a water well in Africa in one week, we can certainly knock out these uniforms that cost $1650 in one month!

So here's how to do it:

1) Go to http://www.handsfortheneedy.org/?page_id=386

2) Follow the directions on the page to give.

3) Be SURE to put “ET3008000″ in the Reference Number Field so the money is designated properly.

4) If you would like to put "uniforms" in the "Notes" field that would be helpful as well.

Five minutes of your time, twenty-eight of your dollars = a significant impact in the life of a child.  Education is life in Africa and you can literally help give a child a chance at a future they deserve for a mere $28.  Now THAT is a gift.  Thanks for considering this and for helping to spread the word.  Can't wait to post pictures of the kids in their new uniforms thanks to YOU! I'll keep you posted on the progress we make! Thank you, thank you, thank you for joining me on this adventure of learning what real need looks like and for helping to change the story for these kids in Ethiopia.  Giving is so beautiful.

Thanksgiving in the Handing Over

Our happiness comes not in the having, but in the handing over. God extravagantly pays back everything we give away and exactly in the currency that is not of this world but the one we yearn for: joy in Him. - Ann Voskamp

Sometimes, words aren't enough.  I look around and wonder how in the world I get to live this life.  I marvel at how my life looks nothing like what I once thought it would.  It's so much better.  Had I held on tightly to what I thought I wanted, I never would have known just how extravagantly God pays back when we surrender to Him...   

The JOY of adoption. My friend Katie said it best - "Adoption is a redemptive response to tragedy that happens in this broken world. And every single day, it is worth it, because adoption is God's heart." And it is SO worth it!

 


The beauty of living in missional community with people who know this truth...

The way I learn from my children how to love more fully...

Living in such a breath-taking place where I am daily reminded of God's presence...

Being a part of an organization that is transforming the lives of children all over the world and helping them reach their dreams...

Having a whole other family in Ethiopia that teaches me how to give my life away...

Living a life of shared passion with my best friend...

Falling in love with a community of orphans in Ethiopia who fill me up to overflowing... 

Yes,indeed. God always pays back extravagantly.  Always.  May you find joy in the handing over this Thanksgiving.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”    - Psalm 100:4-5