yoke

 I had plenty of time to think today as I drove round-trip down to Salem to get documents apostilled to be mailed to Eastern Europe. Plenty of time to ponder, and fret, and pray.
First I was pondering , ' exactly how many orphans are there out there? '

 And the number most thrown out for that is apparently 150 MILLION children. That, my friends, is a staggering number.

But you know what is a more staggering number?
The number of Christians in the world is 2.2 BILLION.
 Let that sink in for a minute.
There are nearly 280 Million self-proclaimed Christians in the United states alone.

  What strikes me here is this: WHY DO WE HAVE ANY ORPHANS?!?!?!?

James puts it this way-
1:27
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.


That is PURE religion. That's putting your money where your mouth is.

BUT- but it's hard.

Adoption is expensive.
Adoption is messy.
Adoption is exhausting.
Adoption is intrusive.
Adoption is a lot of work.
Adoption is not easy. 

But I ask you, is anything Christ has called to do easy?

Is forgiving 70 times 7 easy?
Is turning your cheek after someone slaps you easy?
Is giving someone the shirt off your back (after they just stole your jacket) easy?
Is leaving behind your family to take up your cross and follow your Lord easy?

NO , not exactly.

 But wait! what about Matthew 11:29-30?

     …29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

So, here I am, driving and pondering this... and I thought of how this can be. 
Jesus promises his yoke is EASY - but calls us to do so many things that are nowhere near easy.

We stand there, staring up at a cart loaded like a towering mountain- knowing full well it is an impossible thing for us to pull the weight of, even half the weight of. And there stands Jesus, beckoning us to come join him under the yoke he bears.

You see, there is a secret to a yoke for two- If one of your animals is bigger/stronger- they do all the work. This is specifically why the bible warns of being "unevenly yoked" spiritually in marriage. Because if you marry a non-believer the only places you're going are where you can handle the whole load yourself.

But the secret is we will always be unevenly yoked with Jesus. He is always bigger and stronger. he wants us to join him, to co-labor..but not * hear me* , NOT because he is in need of anything we bring to the table. Sorry to tell you this, but God doesn't need your help. He invites you to help because it will bless you. Because that is the place where you get to walk side by side with Jesus. The place where you are blessed to be able to be so near to God that you are literally joined to him. And, guess what? You won't be doing the work! If you are leaning into Jesus- he is carrying that load. He promises this.

It is a blessing, a gift. 

So, I ask you again- WHY do we have any orphans? 

Jesus is calling you, won't you listen?

***side note***

 
I am fully aware there are many Christian who simply cannot adopt. Perhaps it is a very bad time, perhaps legally you cannot. Perhaps bad health, etc. I get that.
 But please, please do not sit and do nothing.
There are other ways you can care for orphans.

*You can give financially to families adopting or directly to orphans. There are programs like Reece's rainbow- where you can donate directly to an orphans adoption fund- 90% your money goes straight to that particular orphan, the rest goes to advocate for all the orphans listed. 
 
* You can volunteer your time. Adopting families need help... Things like babysitting, a meal, help holding a baby, or doing laundry. They need help running raffles and calling businesses to get donations to fund these expensive adoptions. Children's shelters need volunteers. Many foster agencies and charities exist and need volunteers. 

*And finally orphans, and the families adopting them, need your prayers. They need lots of them. They need prayer warriors. People who will get down in the spiritual trenches and do battle on their behalf.

Giveaway!

I am so excited to tell you all , we are giving away farm fresh pork! Our friends over at Shepard's Ridge Farm has generously donated a ready to go pig to our adoption!!

Want a chance to win a box of pork, all the yummiest cuts, to fill up your freezer??
Let me tell you how -
There are two ways for you to get one entry into our giveaway -

Way #1

- donate 10$ to our FSP 
(if you know me locally you can give me a check) (if you don't do paypal, you can mail a check to our FSP-instructions in link above)
EVERY 10$ gets you another chance , so donate as much as you can 😉

   
Way #2  

  - get THREE 10$ donations from your friends/family ! Your friends/families will also get their names in the drawing for their donation. **** SHARE THIS POST ON FACEBOOK ****

So here's how to make your donation count- simply send me a message on FB messenger or email  me- and show me a screenshot of your paypal receipt so i know how many chances to win you have- each 10$ donation is another time your name goes in the hat!
 Your friends/family just need to do the same, along with telling me who referred them (your name).

So to re-cap one 10$ donation gets you one chance to win about 40lbs of amazing pork- chops, roast, ground, bacon and ham! there will be FOUR winners drawn.

Winners will be drawn in a live Facebook feed as soon as soon as we have 100 entries. Winners will be notified via the same way they let me know they donated.
Pick up for meat will be local- but I can deliver to Portland, Hillsboro, or Forest Grove (dates TBA)

Progress!

Things are really moving along 😀
-both Michael and I received our passports ( in 2 weeks, not 6!)
-we submitted our USCIS application and received a text that they got it
-we have our dr. appointments on Monday
-we did our Homestudy home visit and she said we would have a first draft in two weeks
-we have most of our other paperwork for our dossier

Things are really moving and shaking!

We are praying to bring her home before the holidays 🌲☃🍗
Pray with us please, for expedited times, and of course for funds to come it! It is such a blessing that her country can be such a fast program, but it leaves little time for fund raising. We are looking at an astronomical amount of money to raise in a few short months. We need some miracles !

So I have some New pictures of "Cara" I would love to share with you guys!


here is the catch.... 😇

We need to get our FSP (fundraising) up to 100$ first! Then if you guys get it past 200$ I will show you 2 more!


Thank you so much for partnering with us on this exciting journey!

By the way, our USCIS application should be going out tomorrow and our Homestudy visit is scheduled for next weekend !!

EEP!! we are chugging right along !!

WELCOME!

First of all I want to thank you for joining us on our latest adventure.

We are thrilled to be able to introduce the (soon-to-be) newest member to our growing family ! She is 9 and living in an Eastern European orphanage. She has been waiting for a family for a very long time.

 Right now we are in the process of getting our homestudy completed. For those who have not had this joy- it is endless paperwork! We are also in the beginning stages of planning fundraisers to pay for this (expensive) process.

It certainly isn't cheap or easy- but adoption is most certainly biblical!

 James 1:27 says

" Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."