Blessings and Raindrops

November 14, 2014

feed their tummies. {an update}

Life has been so full around here. I have all sorts of fun updates and photos to share … but first, I have to show you guys these photos. I received them from our team in Kinshasa early this morning and I just couldn’t stop smiling.

*In case you don’t follow our Feed Their Tummies updates, there have been some changes to our program lately. Check out THIS update to read all of the details…

To sum it up for you, we started feeding a new orphanage. The orphanage houses 26 girls who have been rescued from sex trafficking.

These girls had no hope. They were broken. They were alone.

Our partner organization, Mwangaza International, stepped in. Each girl is now living in this safe place, receiving an education, healthcare and counseling.

These girls are being taught who Jesus is.

There is healing.

They are learning their place in the Kingdom of God.

Truth is replacing lies. Light is pouring into the dark.

They are learning their true identity: treasured daughters of the King.

What an honor it is to walk alongside our Congolese friends in this important work. Feed Their Tummies has stepped in to relieve the burden of feeding the twenty-six girls. They had been eating once a day and now they will eat three warm meals every day.

Tummies are being fed. Hearts are being healed. Love wins.

*You can partner with us: HERE or local friends, HERE.

November 10, 2014

Tour Through Blogland {Lee, Me, and the Girls}.

Unexpected friendships are my absolute favorite things about the blogging community. McCall is one of the friends that I like to tell Dave “I met online” – because that sounds creepy and hilarious. I have been reading her blog for a couple of years and I don’t even know when she went from being “the girl who writes a blog I love” to “a real-life friend” but I’m grateful that she did. I’ll never forget standing in the driveway of our rented house at the beach when she called to tell me about this precious little girl whom she had fallen in love with. The waves crashed in the background as we talked through the fears and the unknowns of adoption in the DRC. At the time, McCall was fervently praying and asking for discernment but, in her heart, she knew. The little face looking back at her from the computer screen was her daughter. And, life would never be the same.

I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend, McCall today. I just love her story and I know you will too.

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Hi, I’m McCall! I’m a wife, mother, and former high school English teacher, I live in a tiny Mississippi town with my Chemistry-teaching husband and two daughters (Libby, 10, and Hollyn, 5). We are currently waiting to bring our third daughter home from the DRC.

Sometimes I try to be funny, but mostly I just love Jesus.

Three years ago, we were ‘normal’.

We lived a comfortable life with comfortable jobs in our comfortable town.

And then, one day, I watched a Youtube video, and my life hasn’t been the same since.

You see, I was living in a bubble.

I had no clue about what was going on in Africa.

It’s funny the ways God uses to draw us to Him and reveal His plans for us.

But once my eyes were opened to this great need, to all of the children in God’s great big world with no families, I couldn’t UN-see it.

And I had to do something.

It wasn’t a hero-mentality situation.

I didn’t think I would single-handedly solve the orphan crisis.

But I also couldn’t stay home and do nothing.

At least, not any more.

So, I prayed.

I researched.

And I talked to my husband.

Adoption and Africa were both on our radar.

What we didn’t know then was that they’d never leave.

I asked him if we could go–

I NEEDED to be in Africa.

I dreamed about it, thought about it constantly, and saw Africa everywhere.

He agreed that if I could raise the money, we could go.

So I did,

and we did.

We headed to Uganda to serve in a children’s prison that summer.

(Yes, you read that correctly.)

We came home, and I knew instantly that it wasn’t enough.

I had to do more for Africa.

I had to be there.

God was up to something.

So, I did the only *logical* thing I could do–

I quit my job as a high school teacher and took an unpaid internship for a non-profit that helped provide clean water to the people of Malawi.

And then, naturally, I went there too.

And when I came back from Africa,

the hubby and I agreed that it was time to adopt.

We had the choice to either follow God’s call for our family or to say no.

We said yes, and I’m so glad we did.

We’re currently still waiting for our daughter to come home.

And in the meantime, I’m still doing what I can to help spread God’s love in Africa, which led me to Rwanda this past summer, where I got to meet the women I’m helping to create jobs for while here in America.

These people in this place– they are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

And now, I’m so very honored to have the opportunity to set foot on their ground, soak in their culture, and sleep under their stars.

I have no doubt whatsoever that I will continue to travel to Africa as often as possible until one day, when I’m old and grey, my daughters will sit me down and lovingly tell me that I’m too old to go back to Africa even one more time.

My heart has been broken.

My life has been changed.

People think I’ve lost my mind.

I’ve never been happier or more fulfilled.

Saying yes can be scary.

Stepping out of the bubbles we live in can be sad.

Leaving our comfort zones can be overwhelming.

Adoption is hard.

But God is good.

We’ve seen our daughter’s face.

In fact, we’ve been staring at her dimples and watching her grow up in pictures for over a year now.

I never imagined adoption would take this long or be this difficult.

But God is in control.

His ways are better than my ways, even when His ways don’t always seem to make sense.

And these day, I am nothing but thankful.

No matter how hard it is to be different, no matter how much my heart aches for the daughter I haven’t met yet, no matter how much I long to be in Africa,

it’s better than living blind to all of the needs in this world.

And while I can’t do everything,

I’m working hard to do my little something,

even if my something comes by the way of very long plane rides to the land I love far, far away.

**********************************************

See? Don’t you just love her?

{And, I love how her story and Catherine’s intersect in Malawi and the DRC — I didn’t even plan that}.

Happy Monday, friends!

*You can read the other posts in this series HERE and HERE.

October 27, 2014

weekend smiles.

A few things that made me smile this weekend…

1}. The chill in the air on these cool, fall mornings. {And, the way the morning fog drapes the landscape out here on the farm}.

2}. An afternoon spent with friends. {These little ones have celebrated Halloween together over the years…it makes me smile to see the way they have all grown together…and a little misty-eyed too}.

3}. These works of art. {And, the fact that my friend, Leslie, is always brave enough for craft projects at her house…}

4}. This concert series created to feed little tummies. {And, the fact that we have a standing date night with some of our favorite old and new friends once a month}.

5}. This stay-cation. {Our floors were being finished and we had to evacuate due to the smell. What a fun night it turned out to be: jumping on beds, sneaking in our pup in my purse, swimming, riding the elevator, breakfast buffet. All things magical to these littles}.

6}. This little love. {Because she just makes me smile. All the time}.

7}. This girl carrying her pumpkin to the party. {Because, you can take the girl out of Africa, but you can’t take Africa out of the girl…}

8}. This Halloween celebration with dear friends and old neighbors. {Because I adore yearly traditions and miss our neighborhood pals}.

9}. This photo. {Because, these two. She loves her daddy to pieces}.

10}. My little artists. {Because they have always loved to create. And, I have always loved to watch it happen}.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, also!

I’ll start back up with my Tour through Blogland next Monday. Sorry about starting that and then just abandoning it for two weeks…my gals had some unforeseen stuff come up. But, these are worth the wait. They’re going to be good!!

October 21, 2014

under the stars.

Dave had recently suggested to the boys that they set up a tent and camp together in the backyard. Without fail, every day since, the boys have asked if tonight was the big night. Each day, there was a reason that the answer was “not tonight, maybe tomorrow.“

Our days are full. By the end of the day, we have either been out late or dinnertime has quickly ushered into baths and bedtime. This past weekend was busier than anticipated. School nights were not an option.

Days passed. Yet, the boys kept on asking.

Yesterday, Dave decided to make it happen. Even if he had an early morning meeting and knew that sleep would be difficult on the cold, hard ground.

The evening was a bit chaotic, Charlotte and Sylvie were both sick and the normal evening tasks seemed to be taking longer than normal. It was cold and wet outside. Dave was exhausted from a long day at work. It would have been easy to scrap the idea and try again another night.

That wasn’t happening.

Dave knew that the boys would have patiently waited for another night. He knew that it would have been reasonable to hold off on this seemingly small thing. Yet, more importantly, he knew that the biggest risk of waiting would be that the boys may stop asking. They may stop looking to their hero to join them in making memories. They aren’t going to be four years old forever. Time passes in a blink. These moments are what this life is all about.

So, they pitched a tent. They lit a fire. They sang songs. And, they huddled together under mounds of blankets and slept under the stars.

Magical moments.

This morning, they woke up early and drank hot cocoa in the tent. They came inside laughing and ran into my room right away to tell me all about their fun night through smiles and eyes shining with joy.

I’m so thankful to be married to a man who loves his family so well.