More Than a Statistic

For the Update:
We are getting fingerprinted January 23rd! We also owe another $3,500, yuck. Our lawyer in the Congo is continuing to work hard on moving our process along and our adoption advisor said that we could expect to travel around July or August...which we hope will be sooner, God willing.

The beautiful snow that came on Thursday provided me with a wonderful four day weekend! It also gave me the opportunity for some quiet time in the house. At night I often wander if our boys are being taken care of. Are their diapers being changed? Does someone come to them if they are crying or hungry? Justin said I can't think about those things because at this moment there is nothing I can do about it. He's right, but now that we have names and faces I can't. 

There are statistics that surround everything. Statistics about marriages, divorce, rate of poverty, abortion, orphans, deaths... the list goes on. Why do these numbers not mean anything to people? Is it because we don't care? Is it because the numbers are too great and we feel helpless? Or is it because we are too consumed with OUR needs, OUR wants, and what consumes OUR life. Perspectives change when you see a face that is one of those numbers. Our boys are two of the 147 MILLION orphans in the world. They are two out of the 5 MILLION in DR Congo. Every number has a face. Every number is a life. 

I've heard many people say that if there was a God who loved us then there wouldn't be innocent lives being lost. If God loves His creation then why does He let people die just because they don't have clean water? Why is there poverty? Why do half of the children in Congo die before they reach their 5th birthday? Because His plan is US. He chose to use His church to redeem creation. I'm convinced that too many of us sit back, play on our iPhones while we watch cable tv, and sit in the luxury of our homes while we hear those numbers and choose to ignore them. I am convinced that Christians could radically change the world if we lived the way Christ has truly called us to live. He didn't call us to comfort. He didn't call us to an easy life. He didn't call us to safety. He calls us to a life changing pursuit of Him. And in that, we make His name known and glorified. How do we do that? In every way we can. No excuses. I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of people patting me on the back and saying "that's great that God has called you to do that." No. He's called ALL of us to that.  For you, it may not be adoption, but He has called us to something that is greater than what we are capable of on our own. 

When Justin was a youth pastor he challenged the youth to memorize these verses in James and they have always stuck with me:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:22-25)

I do not want to be just a "hearer" of God's Word and of those statistics. I want to be a "doer." I can't save all 147 million orphans but I can save 2. I can't help everyone in poverty but I can help some. I think we should heed the words of Mother Teresa who said, "If you can't feed a hundred people, feed just one." 

There is no way that Justin and I could financially adopt. That is why it's so beautiful that God is providing it the entire way. As stressful as it is, He gets the glory in the end instead of us. God is so much bigger than ourselves. Money is no limit for Him because He has none. We praise you Lord for providing the way even when can't see now how you will.

So what will you do? What's the difference you are going to make? I promise you won't ever regret being a doer of the Word instead of just a hearer. 

"He who calls you is faithful, he will surely do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:24