Reflections on last year, looking forward to the new one.

Last year at the start of the New Year I chose to not necessarily have a "resolution". Instead, I looked over my life like I looked at things the way I did back in the days when I was a career driven woman. I thought about what I wanted to "accomplish" and tried to figure out what one or two things would give me the BIGGEST impact on my life without stretching myself too thin with too many things to work on. It all came back to my relationship with God, and putting Him first and in control of my life. And what a year it has been!

I felt slightly more patient with my children, my heart became even more forgiving, my "priorities" got even more rearranged. I felt more at peace with whatever was happening at the time, faithful in knowing the God was in control. I stressed about things less. (Don't get me wrong....I still worried, I still wrote list after list, and had a million different backup plans for things...LOL... a girl can only change so much in a year.) And I absolutely fell in love with the "least of these". A dear friend introduced me to a blog ( The Journey ) and my life has not been the same since. It is a blog of a wonderful girl who felt the Lord calling her to do more with her life. And the way she has stepped out in faith is truly inspirational. Head on over there to read a bit, and I know you won't regret it!!

While following along with Katie's blog, I stumbled up 147MillionOrphans.com. All I can say is "wow". Two moms with 13 kids trying to bring light to the orphan crisis while helping to feed the children in Katie's program in Uganda. The number of lives that are being touched is amazing! Another amazing thing happened, though, while reading all of these wonderful blogs. A small little flame that had been burning since I was a teenager, but had almost been distinguished, suddenly became a raging fire. And that fire was for orphans and adoption. I felt the NEED to spread the word about the orphan crisis, and felt an even greater NEED to adopt. And in the course of all the different readings, it was Uganda that was tugging at my heart.

I admit, I thought I had lost my mind. I already have two very busy toddlers who drive me close to insanity on a daily basis. I have said more times than I can count that I am DONE having children. This uterus is in retirement. But that could be God's sense of humor at work. By adopting, I am still done literally having children, and this uterus would still be in retirement. LOL. :) I was starting to feel so strongly again about God calling me to adopt that I brought the idea up to my mom hoping for her to agree that I had completely lost my mind. Nope. No such luck. She thought it sounded like EXACTLY the plan God had for me. Well, when she didnt' help the situation...lol....I brought it up to hubby. I just KNEW he would be the one to tell me I was crazy and let me get back to some normalcy with my thoughts. Nope. He let me down, too. I asked him casually one night if he'd think I was crazy if I told him I felt a calling for us to adopt. He looked at me and nonchalantly said "No. I mean, why not? We have plenty of love to share." Now, for those who know my husband, I am pretty sure you could imagine my head literally SPINNING after that type of a comment. He just doesn't say stuff like that. The final straw that finally broke me to accept that I was in fact crazy, (but crazy in a good way-the kind of crazy that God loves us with), and that I may of just been on the right path after all, was when we were in the car driving home from the grocery store and I was just telling hubby it was so expensive that we'd never be able to afford it, we drove right by a church that had their reader board saying "Where God guides you, He will provide for you." Okay then, Lord....guess you can't spell it out much plainer than that. :) I guess I will embrace this craziness with wide open loving arms, just like You did for me.

Looking into this upcoming year, I realize that with hubby being laid off more often than not, we won't be able to necessarily start the actual adoption process any time soon. But I can still pray for the orphans to find forever families, I can help families bring their children home, and I can spread the word to everyone who I meet about just how big this orphan crisis is. Not everyone will feel a calling to adopt, but everyone CAN make a difference in the lives of orphans.

"...once our eyes are opened we can't pretend that we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 1:27