He Sets the Solitary in Families

So, I'll just get straight to the punch line:

The Lord has called me and Bradley to adopt 2 children from Uganda.

There.  I said it.  Aaaahhhh, that feels so good to get off my chest.

Now, for the backstory:

A few months ago, Bradley and I were both praying for a financial situation.  We needed God to perform a miracle in our lives.  While we were praying separately, God spoke to both of us separately and told us that not only would He provide for our every need, but that He was going to add more responsibility to our already crazy lives...through adoption.  And not just one child - but two.  We are very aware of how crazy this sounds.  And some of you are probably thinking "You were praying for finances?  And the answer you got was adoption?"

Indeed.

I'll go ahead and encourage you today and let you know that within 24 hours of receiving and accepting the call of adoption, our financial miracle came.  And we had absolutely nothing to do with it.  Nobody had anything to do with it.  But our heavenly Father, Jehovah Jireh, had everything to do with it.  It was as if He said, "I'm gonna handle this financial situation right away because I have something greater for you.  Come, follow Me."


My God - Holly's God - will supply every need of mine according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  (Phil. 4:19)  Friend, He's your God, too.  If you have a need or are in a desperate situation, go ahead and pray as if the provision is on its way.  He asks us to have crazy faith in Him.  So go ahead.

Okay, okay, okay.  Back to the adoption.

After the initial call into adoption, we had no clue where our children would be coming from, or when we would be able to bring them home.  We began begging God to show us where to go for these children.  And, if I'm being quite honest, I told God that He was going to have to smack me in the face with these answers.  That "still, small voice" stuff doesn't usually work for me.  He was going to have to be obvious.

Shocker.  He answered our prayer.

And He answered it 21 days after we began praying.  For those of you who have read Mark Batterson's The Circle Maker, you understand the significance of the "21-Day Prayer Challenge".  For those of you who haven't read this book...what is wrong with you?  Go get it and read it immediately.

Uganda is where our babies will be from.  THANK YOU, JESUS!!!

He truly does set the solitary in families.  (Psalm 68:6)

Here are some of the details:
- We have asked for 2 children, ages 4 and under.  We would like to keep siblings together, if possible.
- We have requested either 2 boys, or a boy and a girl.  For pete's sake, we need a little testosterone around here!!!  Bradley's going insane!
- We do not know who our children will be, as of yet.  But my God knows who they are and you better believe we are praying for them every single day.
- We are currently up to our eyeballs in paperwork with the home study process.

 So there you have it.  Our little white family of 5 will soon be a beautiful, colorful family of 7.  We will need prayer, people.  Lots and lots of prayer.

Here's how you can pray for us:
- First and foremost, pray for the protection and provision of our children in Uganda, which is an extremely poor, impoverished, war-torn country.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't pray that they are getting something to eat, that they have shelter, that they are being touched by only loving hands, that they feel safe.
- Pray that they are quickly found and placed with us.
- Pray that every dollar needed for this process will be provided.  I already know that He's gonna answer this prayer.  But you can pray, anyways.  Start praising Him for it, even.  As many of you know, the adoption process can be quite expensive (as in tens of thousands of dollars).  But my God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), so providing this money for us is no big deal for Him.  "When God gives a vision, He makes provision."  (Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker)
- Pray for patience.  Adoption is a lengthy process, and Bradley and I are chomping at the bit to bring our babies home.  God's timing is always perfect.
- Pray for impact.  Our motivation in adopting these children is not to draw attention to ourselves or for people to pat us on the back and say "attaboy".  But I pray to God that we do get a heck of a lot attention. I pray that people will see us being obedient in this area of our lives and think, "Hey.  If Bradley and Holly can do it, we can, too."  Our prayer is that, like Paul, we can say "Follow our example, as we follow the example of Christ."  (1 Cor. 11:1)  There will be more blog posts to come about this subject.  So just get ready, people.
- Pray for favor with our home study and the mountain of paperwork that we face.

As you can see, God is working in major ways in our lives.  We don't know why He chose us for such an awesome task.  There is nothing special about us.  We are no better than anybody else.  In fact, there are probably many other families who are better qualified for such an endeavor.  But, as my pastor reminded us a few weeks ago, "God does not call the qualified;  He qualifies the called."  Our job is only to be obedient and say "yes" to whatever it is that He asks of us.  He will equip and empower us for everything.

We're ready.  We're ready to step out of our safe little boat and start walking on the water with Jesus.

"I will not leave you as orphans;  I will come to you."  ~John 14:18   

God Is Not Colorblind

I'm gonna step up onto my little soap box for a few minutes.  All of my life, and in particular in the past few weeks and months, I have heard the following phrases regarding different races and ethnicities:

"God is colorblind."
"We need to be colorblind."
"Christians should be colorblind."

Songs have been written about the issue.  Good songs.  With good intentions.

But every time I hear anything along these lines, something inside me flares up.  A little red flag pops up.  Warning signs start flashing.

I realize that I will be skating on thin ice with this post.  I realize that I'm not smart enough or educated enough to handle a full-blown debate where this subject matter is concerned.  I realize that I'm just a small, white, stay-at-home mother to 3 little white kids.  I realize that most of the people who read this post are much smarter than I am.  And I am asking you, the reader, to realize my heart and extend grace, if necessary.

But I have to ask the question - "Is God really colorblind?"

Now, I understand the sentiment behind the word.  It's meant to convey a message of racial equality...that God loves us all equally.  And He does love us all equally.  Make no mistake about that.  And scripture tells us in 1 Samuel 16:7 that "Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."  And in many ways, we are all exactly the same: we all sin, we all need a Savior, we all long to love and be loved, we all need a family, we all need acceptance.  In many respects, we are all identical.

However, this word also implies that He doesn't see our skin color when He looks at us.  And here's where I disagree.

How can the God of the universe, who spoke this creation into existence, who invented color, who created each and every human being - regardless of skin tone - in His own beautiful image...how can this God be colorblind?

Revelation 4 describes the throne room in heaven, where God Almighty is seated.  Verse 3 says, "And He who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald."  According to this verse, God is literally surrounded by a rainbow.  He abides in color.  He dwells in diversity.  He is continually beholding beauty.  He takes delight in variety.

In Genesis 16, He is called Jehovah El-roi, "the God who sees."  He sees everything about us - He sees our bad hair days, our unflossed teeth, our chipped fingernails.  He sees our hidden pain, our less-than-perfect pasts, our secret regrets, our untold bitterness.  He sees us.

And He created us in His image.  We are His most magnificent works of art.  Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."  This is the part that blows my mind.  Think about all of the different races, tribes, nationalities, ethnicities, skin colors on this planet.  Every single human being on Earth, regardless of appearance, was created in the image of Almighty God.

We must serve one colorful Creator.

So, is God colorblind?  No.  I don't believe He is.

To my African-American friends with gorgeous brown skin - You are beautiful.  You were created in God's image.  He sees you and He delights in you.


To my precious husband, the whitest white boy I've ever seen - You are beautiful.  You were created in God's image.  He sees you and He delights in you.


To my Asian-American friends - You are beautiful.  You were created in God's image.  He sees you and He delights in you.


To my Hispanic friends - You are beautiful.  You were created in God's image.  He sees you and He delights in you.


To my friends of every other race, nationality, and ethnicity - You are beautiful.  You were created in God's image.  He sees you and He delights in you.


To my 3 priceless daughters - You are beautiful.  You were fearfully and wonderfully made.  God knit you together in my womb.  He saw you before you were even born.  And He sees you now.  You were created in God's image.  He delights in you.


So that's my soap box for today.  It is now our privilege and our joy, as Christ-followers, to love like God loves.  To embrace all.  To delight in all.  To accept all.  To see all.

We will not be blind.

Red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in His sight...