Home is where your heart is

*Breaking away stone for the new gym floor*

The more my husband and I read the Bible for ourselves, the more and more we realize *we* are not living the way God has called us to live. The simple words such as..."love your neighbor as yourself " echo through our minds day after day. We do not want ourselves to be hungry, helpless, abandoned, hopeless, unloved, dirty ext...Another question always comes...How big is our neighborhood?? Why do we put limits on countries...God is a global God. He sees the world as a whole. So Africa and America are just places on the globe with people and needs...we are all Gods children no matter where you live or where you are called to serve. Everyone is called to serve God in different ways...I think that we are all called to to go out of our comfort zone because that is where God is...waiting on us to say "yes" and have faith in Him. He doesn't say...don't take your family there because the people are dirty and sick...he says...GO and love those people and I will give you strength and I will keep you safe and be with you. He is not calling us to work our whole lives so we can have money in the bank when we retire or money to do with what we want to. If your focus is only on this world and the things in it you have the wrong vision. WE ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE TO LIVE. God is not calling us to live it safely and worry about decorating our house or what clothes we wear or our children wear....He wants us to be called out for HIM! What does that mean to you? That is what we have been thinking about...Not 100% sure but we have a very good idea of what and where God is calling us. Two years ago I had no idea where Ethiopia was. I mean come on! Britton and I adopt?? That is so unheard of given our family and our background..we literally stepped out in faith...Some say it is because Britton and I are adventurous people..but we know that it was all God leading us to understand what we know now...God is not calling our family to live in a big home nicely decorated with the latest fashions and all dressed in expensive clothes and have everything we ever need and just go to church on Sundays and live the rest of the week in luxury...its not reality...only the sad twisted lukewarm American idea...whew! Glad to get that off my shoulders...Now you know how we really feel.
*Hanna and her twin sisters, Taricwa and Meleat*

We are reading a book together called Kisses for Katie. Here is a journal entry that she wrote in 2008 that stuck with me...

Ordinary People. He chose Moses. He chose David. He chose Peter and Paul. He chose ME. and He chose you! Common people. Simple people. People with nothing special about them. Nothing special except they said yes. They obeyed. They took the task God assigned them and they did it. They didn't always do it well, but they said yes, and with His help they did it anyway. Extraordinary tasks. Moses was a murderer, a shepherd just trying to mind his own business and move on with life when he watched a bush catch on fire and not burn up. God wanted to use him to lead His chosen people out of Egypt. Moses was human and told God that he had the wrong guy. Moses wasn't a eloquent speaker and he was afraid. But he said yes, and God used him anyway. The Red Sea parted, bread fell from Heaven and people believed.
Jonah was an ordinary fisherman and God wanted to use him to set Nineveh free of its wicked ways. Jonah was human and quickly ran away, overwhelmed by the task God had given him. From the belly of a fish, he repented, begged forgiveness. He said yes, and God used him anyway. The people of Nineveh believed in God, turned from their evil ways, and were spared from destruction.
David was a shepherd boy, pretty much the runt of the litter, the very last thought in his fathers mind, and despised by his brothers. God wanted to use him to be the next great king of Israel. Though everyone doubted and watched in horror, David said yes, and God used him anyway. Little David used a stone to take down the giant Philistine. The Philistines were defeated, and though David continued to make mistakes, God used him to make Israel a great nation and relay His words to many people.
Mary was a peasant girl, probably a teenager, getting ready to marry a local carpenter. God wanted to use her to carry His Son, hope for all mankind, into the world. She asked the angel, "Why me?" and "How?" Ultimately, though, she surrendered herself to His will. She said yes and God used her anyway. A baby was born who transformed the world then, and still does today.
Paul a young man who made it his goal to destroy Christianity, dragging believers to prison and even killing them. God wanted to use him to proclaim His name to Gentiles all over the world. Paul had a violent history and initially other believers were afraid. But he said yes, he fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel, and God used him anyway. Paul performed and witnessed miracles, wrote close to half of the Bible, and spread the good news all over the world.
Sometimes, the every day routine of my life feels so normal to me. At other times the idea of raising all these children seems like quite a daunting task. I realize that since I have chosen a unusual path it is easier for outsiders to look at my life and come to the conclusion that it is something extraordinary. That I am courageous. That I am strong. That I am special. But I am just a plain girl from Tennessee. Broken in many ways, sinful, and inadequate. Common and simple with nothing special about me. Nothing special except I choose to say "yes" to the things God asks of me and "yes" to the people He places in front of me. You can too. I am just an ordinary person. An ordinary person serving a extraordinary God.
Our special friend Tesfaye giving out blankets to the older people...
...and giving out oil to the widows
...and bringing supplies to Hannas family.
Coffee ceremony in the gym
One of the leper bath houses at Korah.
Volunteers organizing donations
making the new gym floor
School supplies from a giving heart
Hanna's temporary home after a fire burnt their old one
New roof in their house! They will now be protected from the rain and the sun.
Getting ready to make lunch for the lepers :/
Christmas celebration for the some of the orphans at Korah
A widow and her son
building Hannas new house!
The twins, Hanna, and their Mother

New shoes!
These girls are left alone all day by themselves

Tesfaye when he was younger....
Another bath house
sweet girls after church
Sweet girl
feeding the lepers
A widow with leprosy
Bless Tesfaye's heart!

Britton is making plans to go back later this summer to Korah. He is taking several boys with him Lord willing and they will be building a bath house for the lepers at Korah. They will be spending two weeks with Tesfaye. To say he is excited is a understatement. Alot of people question mission trips. Why spend money on a ticket when you can just send the money and help more people out? You miss the point when you just send money...it is important to go and see the need for yourself and be changed. Also God is calling us to go and be his hands and feet. What a joy to do this for Christ. We owe our whole lives to Jesus! Time is running out...there are hopeless people that NEED our precious Jesus. Sometimes it would be nice to just forget about the world and just focus on our ourselves...but thats not reality...its not real. Oh Jesus! Give us hearts that are willing to follow you at any cost! We owe everything to you!

"Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine, injustice when He could do something about it....But I'm afraid He might ask me the same question." Anonymous