Praiseworthy
10/13/12
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name. Psalm 100:4
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name. Psalm 100:4
Update-10/3/12
I can't believe in less than 24 hours I will board a plane to get my babies! I haven't been posting regularly lately I think mostly because these last few months of waiting have been particularily hard. Our flights to get there this time are brutal, so I with plenty of time on our hands, I may be posting from the airport quite a bit in an effort to catch you up.
Where it all started
A few days ago my sweet Momma, surprised David and I with money to go out to dinner just the two of us one last time before our lives change forever-back to the place it all started for our adoption journe...Bonefish Grill. Yes, Bonefish is where David took me last year on June 29, 2011 and said he thought we should move forward with this adoption. I've decided I am not very good at reflecting on the past OR sitting in the present and taking it all in. It's good for me to be forced to do that. David on the other hand is good at helping us talk about all those things. It was a great night. Our hearts were so full of gratitude over what God has done for us in the past 15 months.
Thanks Momma!
In just under a week, we will travel to get our precious boys. Yep, still thinking about the future.
I'm not an orphan anymore...I'm YOURS!
Oh, how I long for that to be the reality for my new boys. I long to bring them home-my home and sweetly bask in the knowledge that they are mine, and they are HOME! I sit here tonight in Ghana longing to see their sweet faces. Yes, I am in Ghana, technically I could see them if I arranged it, but we, as a family, decided that would not be best. Today, I filed their I-600 Visa application and hopefully will be returning again to get them for good in a few months.
When we left Ghana in May after spending a whole week together, every chance I could I would hold their sweet faces in our hands and say, "Mommy is coming back for you, and when I return, I will bring you home, and you will ride on a plane, and swim in the swimming pool, and you will be mine forever." That was also my parting words, as the most difficult part of this journey so far-the goodbyes-promising our return. It was more painful than I imagined. So, you see why I couldn't break their trust in "visiting" them for a few days or more only to leave again without them.
The culture here is so different. I can't explain it well. Parents here love their children, but they are trying to survive, and the hugs, kisses, the I love you's, the time spent together, get lost along the way trying to survive. The emotional attachments seem to be missing. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of sin, disfunction, and "survial of sorts"in America and in my own home but I am longing for the day when I can right this one wrong. No child should be orphaned. And trust me, there are plenty more here and all around the world who need families. I also long for the day that my precious Ghanaian children will know and understand the love of our heavenly father-the only one who can love them perfectly, completely-the one who is abounding in grace, full of knowledge, lovingkindness, mercy, who will rise to show them compassion. I long for the day he will set all things right. One day there will be no orphans anymore.
In the meantime, I rest in my father's love who ransomed me, called me his own, and now I am not an orphan anymore. If you haven't heard this song...you must...Check out this video from Ronnie Freeman-"I'm not an orphan anymore, I'm yours...
When we left Ghana in May after spending a whole week together, every chance I could I would hold their sweet faces in our hands and say, "Mommy is coming back for you, and when I return, I will bring you home, and you will ride on a plane, and swim in the swimming pool, and you will be mine forever." That was also my parting words, as the most difficult part of this journey so far-the goodbyes-promising our return. It was more painful than I imagined. So, you see why I couldn't break their trust in "visiting" them for a few days or more only to leave again without them.
The culture here is so different. I can't explain it well. Parents here love their children, but they are trying to survive, and the hugs, kisses, the I love you's, the time spent together, get lost along the way trying to survive. The emotional attachments seem to be missing. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of sin, disfunction, and "survial of sorts"in America and in my own home but I am longing for the day when I can right this one wrong. No child should be orphaned. And trust me, there are plenty more here and all around the world who need families. I also long for the day that my precious Ghanaian children will know and understand the love of our heavenly father-the only one who can love them perfectly, completely-the one who is abounding in grace, full of knowledge, lovingkindness, mercy, who will rise to show them compassion. I long for the day he will set all things right. One day there will be no orphans anymore.
In the meantime, I rest in my father's love who ransomed me, called me his own, and now I am not an orphan anymore. If you haven't heard this song...you must...Check out this video from Ronnie Freeman-"I'm not an orphan anymore, I'm yours...
Do you know where you stand?
New International Version (NIV)
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
My head and heart are still reeling from the message shared on Sunday about how God knows our heart.
My head and heart are still reeling from the message shared on Sunday about how God knows our heart.
No matter where you are spiritually, this message is for you. It's one of the best explanations of the gospel I have ever heard:
click here to watch or listen to the message...It is the first message entitled: "God knows your heart"-June 3rd, go to the right side of the page and you can listen, download, or watch the video. After the worship is the message.
Update on the following post: We had to remove the boys' pictures...we thought we could post following court, but found out we have to wait until their visas are printed and they are on the way home.
Precious aren't they?
These are their given names by a courageous ghanaian woman who loved her children enough to give them a better life in America. Most people we meet here who ask us if they are ours and if we are taking them to America are very sweet and say something like, "Oh bless you", because you can't just leave Ghana. They do not give people here visa's to just leave if they wanted to come to U. S.
In the pictures above, we are serving at an orphanage. The bikes the boys are riding are not "ride-able" bikes. They have 4 flat tires, and are terribly rusted. But they fought over time on the tiny rusted, not-working bike they scooted around. That's how all the bikes and play equipment are. Far too much to write here in one post but just a few things on my heart today....
I was surprised by how little the orphans have at the places we visited. (I know one would think-they are orphans...)Yes, their basic needs are met, but they still need so much more. For example, the power goes out here several times a day. They cook all their meals over an open fire with charcoal. The charcoal is very expensive. They need a stove-they want a cooktop similar to a coleman camping stove with a propane tank. They need a generator for when the power does go out. Many of these children need sponsors to go to school. They need momma's and daddy's most of all.
This trip was about many things. Of course meeting our children, attending court to make them OURS, but also to serve orphanages and love on children and share the hope of Jesus. I thought about evangelism and what opportunites God might give us to share the gospel with the Ghanaians.
But in my preconceived notions of what I thought it might be like, and what I thought God would have me do-"my agenda" God has gently shown me that it's all about the ORPHANS. Period. Please pray for them and consider if you are to go or to give.
Broken,
Karen
So Far to Find You
My heart is flooded with emotions as I sit here in the airport waiting to board our final plane to Ghana to meet our boys for the first time. It's all so surreal that God has allowed us to be a part of something so amazing. I've been thinking about our family and friends over the last few days and how much we have felt covered in prayer. I can't remember another time when we've needed such concentrated and specific prayer. We have been overwhelmed by friends that have called, texted, or messaged that they were praying for us, or that God had layed something specific on their hearts for us and shared it, or about which they have promised to interceed for us. I will never forget, and I hope I am equally as faithful in return.
We arrive in Ghana tomorrow Monday the 21st and will try and give as many blog updates as possible.
We will be doing missions work with Feeding the Orphans(FTO) during the time we are there visiting City of Refuge, as well as a few precious orphanages and strategic partners of FTO. So grateful to be serving and delivering supplies on their behalf. Please check out FTO and the amazing work they do for the destitue in Ghana and around the globe.
Please pray for our first encounter with the boys on Tuesday and immediate bonding. Also please pray for favor with judge and passing court on Wed. the 23rd. I will update as often as I can.
With Love and gratitude~
Karen
"God sets the lonely in families." Psalm 68:6
Just you WAIT and SEE...
This is Jessica, the oldest daughter in the Boggs family. I am about to turn 15 (in 26 days! not that I’m counting).
As I sit here and stare at the first picture we received of F. and O., I focus on their eyes. I just don’t like looking at it. I see sadness, loneliness, and fear.
They have no idea that there is a family waiting to take them in and love them more than they will understand. They don’t know that there is a brighter day if they just wait a few months. They don’t understand why they are in the orphanage. They are scared.
I would do anything just to hold them and whisper to them, “It’s going to be okay! Just wait! Soon, your life will be completely changed. We are preparing for you to come home. JUST WAIT! Don’t waste your time worrying. It’s not worth worrying because what is waiting for you is beyond your imagination. We love you unconditionally! We want YOU.”
They have no idea.
When I think about how much they must be worried and scared, I think of us as children of God. We are dirty. We are abandoned. We are unworthy of God’s grace and love. We are scared. We worry more then necessary. We don’t understand. But, if we stop and listen to our heavenly Father, HE is whispering to us:
“Its going to be okay.
Just wait.
Soon your life will be completely changed.
Don’t waste your time worrying.
It’s not worth worrying about it because what is waiting for you is beyond your imagination.
Just you WAIT and SEE.
I am preparing for you to come home.
I love you unconditionally.
I want YOU!"
In our heavenly adoption, God CHOSE us in our while we were still sinners, dirty and opposed to God. He loves us more then we understand just like my sweet F. and my precious O. They don’t understand why our family loves them. Just like we are anxiously waiting day by day to bring the boys home, the Lord is waiting to bring us home- our true home. What we don’t understand is that their is SO much more waiting for us yet we waste too much time worrying about earthly things when all that does not matter. That is like the boys worrying about their life in the orphanage when in reality, they will be here, home, for far longer then they will be in the orphanage.
The Lord has taught me so much in this adoption process and this is one of the lessons He has taught me. Stop worrying about the NOW, its simply not worth it.
Jess(:
Happy Happy Day!
Adoption Update...We have boys!!!
Well, we don't HAVE boys with us yet, but we have found our children and are in the process of making them ours. We can't post their pictures yet, but they are precious brothers ages 6 and 4. We have hope. Hope that there is an end in sight. God has been so good to us. The last week has been such a rollercoaster ride and he has shown himself faithful once again. More to come...
Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. - Isaiah 1:17
Everybody's gotta eat right?
Please join us...
Adoption Lunch Fundraiser
(sponsored by 1seedplanted.org)
Come before or after church anytime between 10:30-1:30pm
Date: Sunday May 6, 2012
Time: 10:30 am-1:30 pm
Location: 229 Franklin Rd.
All proceeds from this event will help bring our boys home!
Every Life is Precious!
This is Faith. A precious child being rescued by Adeye at nogreaterjoymom.com from an orphanage in Pleven, Bulgaria, where children are systematically and purposefully starved to keep her small, weak, and unable to do anything but lie in her own urine and feces. I am changed after reading this, I hope you will be too. Read her full story HERE.
Often I'm an all or nothing girl. I find the things I want to share here are one of 3 things. They are either intensly personal-things like exposing my fears, chanllenges and sin, sharing something I'm learning or that God is showing me, or extremely shallow and of no value to anyone. It's strange for me to blog in the first place because I often wonder(much like twitter and facebook) why anyone really cares what I have to say anyway. I suppose I will forge on because I'm guessing you might appreciate the connection, encouragement, and information just like I do when I read other blogs. So I will get over myself, the idea of making mistakes here on the blog, and the fear of what you think of me and strive for the connection anyway.
An update on the ADOPTION front...we are WAITING! It has taken alot longer on this leg of the journey-waiting for our referral (getting matched with our children) than we thought it would. But if we've learned (experientially) anything thus far it is that nothing goes as you expect in international adoption. Came across this great quote: Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life." - Simone Weil
Contrary to what I thought, waiting is not exactly passive. It's active and passive. It's the development of further trusting God's sovereignty, timing and provision. I Love Sue Monk Kidd's explanation:
"I had tended to view waiting as mere passivity. When I looked it up in my dictionary however, I found that the words passive and passion come from the same Latin root, pati, which means "to endure." Waiting is thus both passive and passionate. It's a vibrant, contemplative work. It means descending into self, into God, into the deeper labyrinths of prayer. It involves listening to disinherited voices within, facing the wounded holes in the soul, the denied and undiscovered, the places one lives falsely. It means struggling with the vision of who we really are in God and molding the courage to live that vision." - SUE MONK KIDD, When the Heart Waits
How do I love the folks over at 147 Million Orphans?
Let me count the ways...
147 Million Orphans mission is 3-fold-first to raise awareness about the worldwide orphan crisis, to help those children with food, water and medicine, and lastly to aid families who are adopting with fundraising. We are offering a special discount on selected 147 shirts to help raise money for our adoption. To check it out click here!From https://www.147millionorphans.com/
STATISTICS … DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN THE NUMBER, BUT IN THE CHILDREN !!!!
- Did you know there are hundreds of millions of children worldwide who have lost one or both parents.
- Every 14 seconds an AIDS death leaves another child orphaned.
- Approximately 88 million orphans live in Asia.
- Approximately 45 million orphans live in Africa.
- Approximately 14 million orphans live in Latin America & the Caribbean.
- Approximately 1 million children live in public care in Central & Eastern Europe
- More than 800,000 children pass through America’s foster care system each year.
These statistics do not even include the UNKNOWN children living orphaned both here and abroad that go uncounted, unnoticed and unloved.
James 1:27 “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for the orphans and widows in their troubles and refuse to let the world corrupt us.”
Love this song... "Blessings"
by Laura Song
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise
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