The Blessed Life

In thinking about what I should blog about in my first entry...EVER...I decided I could write about my intention of this blog. Then, something AWESOME happened to my husband and I this week that I just had to share!

But first, lets start from the beginning...

I have always had a heart for foreign countries and adopting. I only recently have had an idea as to what my calling is, but I have always known that orphans, especially those in third world countries, had my heart. James 1:27 has a dear place in my life: "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Farther is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble..." (NKJV). We are called as Christians to look after our widows and orphans. As to why we are called to do this, I believe it is because it is people in these situations that need the most help. They need the most love. They need the most hope. Being in dire situations such as the loss of a spouse and/or parents can put people through such a dark and sad place. Situations like this can set the tone for the rest of someone's life, what better tone to set for someone then the tone of Jesus' love, which is reflected when we care for them.

In addition, we are also orphans ourselves, as we are told in John 14:18 "I will not leave you orphaned. I'm coming back" (MSG). From this verse we can determine that as long as we are not standing next to Jesus, we are orphans, we are without our Father. God is the Creator of all things (Col. 1:16), including us. God is our Creator and our Father. As Isaiah 64:8 says:
"But now, O Lord,
You are our Father.
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand" (NKJV).

We all need parents. We all need our Father. Someone to give us advice. Give us unconditional love. Give us a home. We ourselves are orphans, so we are called to care for the orphans of the world. We can relate and give these orphans hope. So, as well as caring for people who need it when they are hurting the most, another reason we are called to care for orphans is because we are orphans as well. We can relate.

My husband and I this week decided to sponsor a child through Every Orphans Hope. The children on this website are all from Zambia, living in AIDS-infected communities. While they offer other amazing programs, such as Chicks 4 Orphans and mission trips, we were beyond excited to enroll ourselves in the sponsorship program. Doing this was fulfilling a lifelong goal and dream of mine. The very next day, we got to see a picture of the amazing 9 year old boy we are sponsoring, Jerry. We are very excited to be an influence in Jerry's life, as we know he will be in ours. Not only are we excited for the privilege of being part of Jerry's life, but it is also so fulfilling and exciting to be doing God's work. To be doing as we are called to do is such an amazing feeling. I am so proud to be part of Jerry's story, and that we both get to be orphans together, striving to be with our Father some day in heaven.