Gratitude

There is a word that brings neighbors running across yards
in their leopard-print fuzzy robe. 

My neighbor called and said the word.

"Missy, I have cancer."

I told her to come over now, while kids in pajamas still peek between railings wondering about bed.  Just come now.

Paul handled the kids, and as I watched her cross our yards under the light on my front porch, I prayed so many things.  I prayed for many more years of scampering across yards in fluffy robes for tea.  I prayed for this beautiful woman to see a world past her forties.  But mostly, I prayed for the right now, for the words between us, and that He would sit with us in this mess...

And He did. 

While telling me about her biopsies, her upcoming double mastectomy, the chemo, the dreams now on hold, I see something flickering across her face, lighting up beneath the days of lost sleep...

I see peace. 

I hear her say,  "I feel gratitude.  That I know God."

Gratitude.

In cancer.  In lost dreams.  In the month of hell that lies before her, that is coming too fast in all of the rushing to save her life, in all the procedures and surgeries...  

She feels gratitude. 

It's what I have been looking for for 2 years now. 
I've been looking for the people who don't break deals.

When I found Jesus, I had some "deal-breakers" for Him.  I let Him know that if they happened, all bets were off. 

Don't let anything bad happen to my kids.
Don't let anything bad happen to my husband. 
Protect my family. 
Give me ____.

I was afraid of "The Worst Thing That Can Happen". 

And here, in my living room, was someone facing that very thing, in a poise of peaceful gratitude.

He keeps sending me these people, carrying the "worst thing"
with grace and without fear.

And she says to me, with a bruise the size of Texas on her breast from this week's biopsies, and with those giant tumors lying right next to her heart, eating away at her body...

"The worst thing that can happen is to not know God."

We hold hands, we pray; we are in fellowship with our God as He sits with us in our robes.  It's palpable.  He walks with the afflicted.  He's with her. 
She knows it, and I feel it. 


His promises give her life.  Unconditionally, without question, and with 100% chance, she has life eternal, and she rests in His promises alone. 

I watch her run back to her house under the light of the half-moon...the same house that she and her husband have spent the last year fixing up with loving hands, so that they might share that home with foster children...   

I watch as she reaches her porch and turns to wave,

cold air framing each exhaled breath that escapes from my often

ungrateful and frequently complaining mouth...

And there is gratitude for each and every one.  

Thank you Lord, for today's breath.  

Let me not ask you about tomorrow's.  

Let me rest in your promises.

Let me accept your life.

Father, please bless my neighbor with

one hundred times

what she has given to me tonight. 

"Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him..."

 - Job 13:15

Care Package

We get to send over care packages whenever another family in our agency travels for court or pick-up.  We all take turns carrying gallon ziplocs for each other, stuffed with whatever we think will tell our child
how much we love them. 

It's never enough.

What in the world do you send to the other side of the world to two infants that says "Mommy's coming"? 

What do you send that says "You have a family"

 or "Daddy's waiting for you!"

I found these weeks ago at my friend Bonnie's house.

I made one block for each baby.  I filled four windows with pictures of our waiting family, and two windows with their pictures.  All of us together.

I packed a small envelope of pictures and a verse card for each child for the nannies to hang over the cribs.



I packed it all up. 

Yes, I cried.

I wanted to be the one to give it to them,

to hold them and smell them.

The next morning...

...someone took apart the whole package.

Then she waited patiently for Daddy to bring home the car (we are still sharing) so that she could take her brother and sister's toys to the Post Man, 

who gives them to the Truck Man.

Later, we returned home from Fellowship Dinner to find our own family care package waiting on our doorstep. 

Someone sent me love, too:

It's a big deal. 

It's our first brown baby doll.

As soon as the box opened,

Lilly screamed her new sister's name.

She knew!

A doll and note from my dear friend Julie, who I met five years ago when we sat down next to each other at a wedding reception. 

I loved her immediately. 

(Julie, not the doll.)

(Ok, both.)

God weaves people together like a tapestry. 

We come in and out of each other's lives,

having no idea of what lies ahead.

Julie and her husband adopted their first son from Ethiopia a few years after the wedding.  When adoption became a possibility for Paul and I,

I remembered Julie.

I called her immediately, and we have talked almost every single day since.  She has helped, listened, advised, and supported our family in every way possible, all the way from central Florida. 

I told her recently that I have had a special place in my life waiting for a friend just like her.  She challenges me.  Yes, we talk about adoption; but the late night conversations that go on and on normally have nothing to do with adoption and everything to do with God, or how to walk the walk without losing your mind.

When God was setting out the place cards for the wedding reception, He knew to put the future Ethiopian Mommies

at the same table.

The next day, it happened again:

Another gift, another friend.

A necklace from Amazima made by Ugandan women, sent anonymously. 

Only after a little hunting did I find the culprit. 

My dear Erin. 

We have walked through the fire together.  She has been there for my during my darkest days, seen the absolute worst of me, and loves me anyways. 

Do you know what a priceless gift that kind of friend is?

It's a treasure.

(That's her, conquering the Hawaiian sunset)

She's soulful, fearless, and she taught me how to embrace people without evaluating them for their worth beforehand.

I'm Blessed.

Thank you, God,

for sending me your care packages

dressed up like people.

Thank you for my friends,

 new and old;

the people who have written me daily

to tell me they are praying,

the friend I haven't seen in 15 years who wordlessly direct-deposits a monthly commitment to our adoption fund,

 friends who have mailed baby gear to my doorstep,

who have cooked for me,

offered to travel with me,

held my hand when I cried,

calmed me down,

lifted me up, 

delivered God's joy,

and opened their hearts to the children of Africa....

Thank you!

10 More Kids!

10 Kids were placed with sponsor families on this link in less than 10 days.

10 More were added, and they were once again joined with sponsor families.

Meanwhile, these children have created something within my heart. It's the idea that gifts given to us by are Father are not meant to be kept. This GIFT of seeing children matched with sponsor families has been one of my greatest joys, and I can not allow it to sit here on my lap without passing it on.

I am recruiting 10 Bloggers to take their own 10 Kids.

10 x 10 = 100 Kids loved, fed, remembered.

10 For 10.

Join me today, by requesting your own 10.

Share the gift by visiting the links below and sharing these 10 For 10 posts with YOUR friends, helping us to extend our "reach".

ROSTER:

1) Driggers Family Post

2) Preedy Family Post

3) Jensen Family Coming Soon

4) McCoy Family Coming Soon

5) Lewis Family Coming Soon

6) Wagner Family Coming Soon

__________________________________________________________________

Original 10 More Kids Post:

A big thank you to those of you who sponsored the original

10 Kids at Kechene school, where Paul and I will be  visiting in Ethiopia. 

You guys gave me so much hope for what can be done by willing hearts, that we have taken

10 More Kids for all of us to find families for. 

Round Two:

11.  Leiya - NOW SPONSORED!
By Teresa Toney and Family

12.  Mekdelawit - NOW SPONSORED!

By Kelly Sedeyn Borchert and Family

13.  Befikadu - NOW SPONSORED!

By the Popowicz Family

14.  Debora - NOW SPONSORED!

By the Geaslen Family

 

15.  Selemon - NOW SPONSORED! 

By the McCoy Family

 

16.  Mikias

17.  Hirut - NOW SPONSORED!

By Laura Harms and Family

18.  Serkadise - NOW SPONSORED!

By Vicki Willems Hookham and Family

19.  Dawit

20.  Tessema - NOW SPONSORED

ALSO by the Geaslen Family (see #14)

Share this post.  Share the pictures.  My personal goal in this project is to be able to sit and tell as many children as I can at that school about their sponsor families. 

I prayed about taking on 10 more... 

 I saw so many miracles within the sponsor families' emails to me about why they chose their child, or what their sponsor child already means to them, that I was unable to deny that God can do big things with a willing heart, and I know that there are more willing hearts out there. 

Today I watched as 3 families reached out for my last child on the original 10 list within 5 minutes of each other.  Setotaw may have been the last to be sponsored, but he ended up being the "treasure".

I want to bring you more treasures. 

I know that there are 10 more families out there waiting for these children. 

Let's find them!

Learn more about Children's Hope Chest and Kechene School on Greta's blog.

And don't forget to check in and pray over our original 10!

Be the Sheep!

"Kisses from Katie" Giveaway!

A young girl sits awake all night long, praying over every breath of a dying baby who is fighting the fever of malaria.  She bathes the baby in cool water, administers Ibuprofen, and she prays. 

Morning comes.  The baby does not die. 

The young girl praises Jesus.  She is not a nurse.  She is just a little girl herself.

Meet Katie, the 22-year-old mother of 13 adopted little girls, the caregiver to an entire village, and the founder of Amazima Ministries. 

Before all that, Katie had a boyfriend.  They were going to get married someday and have little babies with BIG smiles.  She had a cute car, a cozy family life in Tennessee, and was headed towards a future like many of ours.  A blessed existence. 

Instead, Katie went to Uganda.  At 19 years old, she left everything she knew to follow her calling.  She left her boyfriend, her cute car, her cozy family.  She left her future that would have looked like many of ours, and she traded it in for a more blessed existence. 

She traded it in for a room with rats, bats, bugs, and dirt.  She was covered in red clay all day long.  The rain beat down on her constantly. 

The children in Uganda were so needy, so sick, and so beautiful, that when their little hands grabbed for her hands, her clothes, anything they could hold; she could not say no.

   

To her, they were all Jesus. 

And Jesus is everything to Katie Davis. 

The dedication of this book reads,

"For Jesus.  Every word, every breath is for you."

I believe her.

Katie settled into Uganda, and found herself "home".  The door to her home was always open to Jesus, and so God made her the single mother of 13 of His children.  He also made her "Mommy" to an entire village.  

He used her to found a NGO named Amazima, which feeds, heals, and educates the Ugandan people.  

Katie does not want your applause. 

She wants you to know her Jesus. 

The one that loves unconditionally, without qualifying people for worth.  The one that stops whatever He is doing to feed the hungry or attend to the sick. 

The Jesus who asks us to do the same.

She wants you to know that while our kitchens are fully stocked with many kinds of food, people are starving to death.  Children are dying from preventable illnesses.  She wants you to know "the truth".  

Katie taught me that we can help.  One child, one mother, one family, one village, one country at a time. 

I met Katie in early 2010 through the words of her blog.  After I processed what I had read, I decided to put my "Yes" on the table for Jesus, to do whatever He would ask of me, and never again allow fear to keep me from serving the great love of my life.  

Just look at what Katie may have missed if she had obeyed fear.

This book proved to me what Jesus says time and time again; that there is nothing to be afraid of, because even through the loss of possessions, the lives of those around you...even if one of your own children is ripped from your arms, God is still there. 

And God is bigger than all of it.  All of the fears and the bugs and the hidden diseases and the 'what ifs' and the 'I told you so's and the not enoughs and the traveling halfway around the world twice and the not knowing what my babies are doing right now... 

He's got it covered, with or without my help.

Thank you, Katie,

 for reminding me of the
invincible nature of my God.

____________________________________________________________________________



This Giveaway ended November 4th...

I am happy to announce the winners:

1)  Kimberly K!
2)  The Raudenbush Family!  
3)  Jessica of SteadfastMinds!



(I am wearing the "Heavenly" necklace in the picture above; compliments of my dear friend Erin.)


Thanks again to Simon & Schuster for the giveaway books!

I've Got 10 Kids...

I've got 10 Kids...
and I need you to love them.

UPDATE:  These children have ALL been sponsored!!!

10 Kids were placed with sponsor families on this link in less than 10 days.
10 More were added, and they were once again joined with sponsor families.

Meanwhile, these children have created something within my heart. It's the idea that gifts given to us by are Father are not meant to be kept. This GIFT of seeing children matched with sponsor families has been one of my greatest joys, and I can not allow it to sit here on my lap without passing it on.

I am recruiting 10 Bloggers to take their own 10 Kids.

10 x 10 = 100 Kids loved, fed, remembered.
10 For 10.

Join me today, by requesting your own 10.
Share the gift by visiting the links below and sharing these 10 For 10 posts with YOUR friends, helping us to extend our "reach".

ROSTER:

1) Driggers Family Post

2) Preedy Family Post

3) Jensen Family Coming Soon

4) McCoy Family Coming Soon

5) Lewis Family Coming Soon

6) Wagner Family Coming Soon

______________________________________________________________
Original 10 For 10 Post:

Remember Hope Chest?

Well, I've "brought home" 10 Hope Chest children to The Oasis. 

I want them to find their sponsor families today. 

I want to share my "Christmas Joy" with you. 

I want you to find it right here, in one of these beautiful children. 

Do you want to see the face of Jesus? 

He's here, among "the least of these"...

1.  Aynalem - NOW SPONSORED!
By Sarah (Test) Pierce and Family

 

2.  Kidist - NOW SPONSORED!
By Erica Eaton and Family

3.  Andualem - NOW SPONSORED!
By Diane (Test) Kucmerowski and Family

4.  Elsabeth - NOW SPONSORED!
By Carrie Fudge and Family

5.  Getahun - NOW SPONSORED!
By Buffy (Burchette) Lentz and Family

6.  Getaneh - NOW SPONSORED!

By (my uncle!) Paul Spoutz and Aletha Madden

7.  Henok K. - NOW SPONSORED!

By Abbie (Buresh) Zulim and Family

8.  Henok M. - NOW SPONSORED!

By Tina (Cottrell) Razzano and Family

9.  Matewos - NOW SPONSORED!

By Katie (Rheinhardt) Watkins and Family

10.  Setotaw - NOW SPONSORED!

By Heather Whitcomb and Family

(Don't worry...10 More Kids coming soon!)

When I travel to Africa to bring home our babies, I will be visiting the Kechene school in Ethiopia, where all of the children in these pictures find love, faith, education, food, health, and Jesus.  I will love them, hold them, and tell them that Jesus cares.  And that YOU care. 

And you can write them today and tell them yourself.

Today is the day.  I am giving you your own little "referral".  You can be a part of this miracle that has consumed my heart and soul; and when I visit Kechene, I will bring back pictures of YOUR children.

This is a serious commitment, and yet it requires so little. 

Commit to $34 a month, and to writing letters to your child. 

Commit to praying for them, and hiding them in your heart where your hope is.  The hope that tells you that you CAN do something to change the things that need changing.

Email me with the child you have chosen at Mroepnack@gmail.com.  I will send you a sponsorship packet and a referral # for the child that you chose, along with a your child's profile and more information to get you started right away with Children's Hope Chest.

Commit to changing one life, today, right now. 

I have partnered with the project leader at
http://www.greta-givemeyoureyes.blogspot.com/ to bring this effort to The Oasis. 
Support Greta, and see Kechene from her eyes:

Hope Chest

Last night, Daisy fussed after I put her to bed, telling Mama that something wasn't right.  I went in to check, and found a wet-diapered little girl who was trying to fall asleep in a big wet circle of spilled bottle, shirt soaked through. 

I let Daddy deal with diapers and fresh PJ's while I handled the sheets.  As I tugged off the wet ones, my heart sank.  I thought of all the big wet puddles on the crib sheets in the Enat Elam video, and the newborns with bottles propped up against blankets learning to self-feed... 

I'll be honest.  I lost faith for a moment. 

The immensity of the AIDS and orphan crisis finally did what it does; it punched me in the stomach and told me that anything I can do is not enough.

As I scrambled to pull myself together and manuever crib sheets around bumpers, I prayed that God would keep my candle lit.  I thanked Him for fresh sheets.  I asked Him to handle the dark voice that did not belong to Him and remove it from my brain.  (He did, because He does.)

I am battling that dark voice every day.  We all are.  The one that tells us that we are not big enough to make a difference, because the problems of this world are too overwhelming. 

So we do nothing.

And yet we have a responsibility as Christians. 
It's right here in black and white.  Actually, it's in red lettering. 

What EXACTLY does GOD say about our responsibility to the hungry? 
To those in Africa who are "sentenced to die" by starvation?  

Well, it's harsh, and you aren't going to like it.  The first time I heard these words on Daily Audio Bible, I was floored:

¹¹ Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die;
      save them as they stagger to their death...

¹² Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.”
      For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.
   He who guards your soul knows you knew.      
He will repay all people as their actions deserve.

                                    -Proverbs 24:11-12

Soul-crushing, right? 

(And yes, I do apologize to those of you who have become "those who knew" by reading this blog.  I will try to make up for this post later with more pictures of me in adult footie one-zip pajamas. 
You don't have to tell me where my traffic comes from.) 

So what can we do? 
Where is the solution for this impossible situation?

After reading this post by author Tom Davis about my post, I read his book, Red Letters.  I found an answer, amidst all of the statistics that reek of death. 
 
It lies within our five small barley loaves and two small fish. 

The disciple Andrew asked:

⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6: 1-14

 The boy had faith. 
The disciples had statistics. 

Don't let Satan use statistics to trick you into thinking that you should not offer Jesus your small lunch because it won't make a difference.   

Have faith.  Be the boy. 

Ready and willing to help?  Confused about what to do? 
I understand.  I am, too. 
I will never fully figure this one out.

Not everyone is ready to roam the streets of Fort Lauderdale,
feeding and ministering to the homeless.

Not everyone is called to move to Uganda
right out of high school and adopt 13 little girls.

And not everyone is called to adopt a child from another country. 
(I know that!)

How about sponsoring one? 

How about being the disciple who tells a lonely child of God that they are not forgotten?

The benefits of sponsorship go both ways.  You and your family can write letters telling that child that Jesus has not forgotten them, and neither will you.  You can back those words with a year or more commitment to sponsor them in education and health care. 

You get to watch God work. 
And He DOES.

Want to see what your tiny fish and barley loaves can do when placed in the hands of Christ?

Want to see Jesus feed the 5,000 all over again?

Do you want to be the one to hand over your lunch while everyone else stands around asking questions?

Do you want to see what He can do with your tiny fish...

And your 5 barley loaves?

Offer it to Him.
(He still puts on a show.)

Why am I doing this today, when I am sure we would all prefer a nice post about homeschooling or a walk in the garden?

Because I have a 6 month old, 9 pound daughter...

who will not grow up sitting in the dirt begging for water,
and a son who will never beg for food.

Because I have prayed and searched for the right charity to point my readers to, and I believe in this one, because sponsorship programs allow you to impact one person's life in a way that can change the future.

Any of these kids could have been ours. 

And I mean all of ours. 

These are God's kids, and they belong to all of us.

We must mark the lives of the lost 
with the love of Jesus Christ. 

We must TEACH them LOVE. 

These photos are the proof of lives changed through
Children's Hope Chest  

You can be the hero by doing something that will give you more joy than you have ever known. 

You can tell them you remember.

You can be the one to love "the least of these."
- Matthew 25:40

$34/month  = one child loved, fed, and remembered.



Choose your child today, 
and I will go and visit them myself,
and tell them that you care.



-Missy