Called....

So, here I am... blogging our adoption.  That's right, WE are adopting.  Us!  Fifty-somethings, with 5 children at home and 2 out on their own, children ranging in age from 3 to 30.  What are they thinking!?  Did that thought at least cross your mind?  I have to admit, it was the first question that popped into my mind when God whispered the information in my ear.  "Are you kidding?  Really, God?"  But over and over, through sermons and prayers and scriptures, through blog posts and conversations, He said, "Yes, this is what I'm calling you to do."

Until we started on this path of international adoption I never realized just how often (at least 41 times!) the Bible calls us to take care of widows and orphans in their distress and to stand up for the needy and the oppressed.    That really struck me- it's not a matter of waiting for God's call.  He's already called.  Our job is to ask "Where?"

Now, adoption is nothing new to us.  We have adopted once internationally and 5 times domestically.  But, when my eyes were opened to the daily lives of special needs orphans around the world they were opened wide!   Children as young as 4, transferred to adult mental institutions, because of their developmental disabilities.  Children, grown to adults, and still crammed into cribs, their limbs twisted and frozen over time.  143,000,000 orphans around the world.  I was called to pray.  I became a Prayer Warrior through Reece's Rainbow  for 3 of those orphans.  I have committed to pray daily until they each have a family.  As I prayed for them God broke my heart for others.  In that brokenness, He began to whisper...

Dan and I talked and I found out that God was working on his heart also.  We were led to one tiny 9 year old girl, living in what some call "the bad place", an orphanage in Eastern Europe.   God kept up that whispering and we have also committed to one of her roommates, a little boy, aged 11.

I will try to keep you up to date on our journey.  Currently, we are in the Home Study phase.  We would love your prayers- that paperwork would be expedited and that everything will roll smoothly along.   International adoption is a long process.  We are anticipating 7-10 months before the children will be home.  It is also expensive.   We began the process with about half the funds needed, knowing that we would have several months of saving and fundraising time.   You can  follow us along the way at http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=robbins   Right now, we are on "New Commitments" but you will be able to see us move from there to "Already Home"!

This first post is entitled "Called..."  God's word calls those who believe to do something. What does that look like in your life?

"Take my life and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days,

Let them flow in endless praise.

Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing,

Always, only for my King.

Take my lips and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold,

Not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect and use

Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it Thine,

It shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is Thine own,

It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself and I will be

Ever, only, all for Thee."

Frances R. Havergal, 1874