Why?

I've been asked recently, questions like this:

Why do you feel the need to go?
Why are you going?
How did you get to this place?
And, in all honesty, I've even heard......
What in the hell are you thinking?

So I thought I'd share.......

In a nutshell, God has (for several years), placed a conviction upon my heart regarding the orphan. I have struggled at times knowing how I am to answer that call as my husband didn't necessarily have the same convictions. That matters because all I could think of to do to help an orphan was to adopt one (silly me) and, obviously, if your husband's not on board, it's not a good idea. In all seriousness, Jeff and I have always believed (and preached to others) that God would not divide a marriage.....ever.....by telling one spouse to do something that he doesn't also tell the other to do. So I'd go on feeling the weight of needing to do something and every so often I'd mention it to Jeff who would remind me that he didn't feel called to adopt. We would agree to pray about it and move on.

I'm somewhat of a slow learner, apparently; but eventually I realized that I had to do something.....something that I could do on my own (seeing how it was my conviction and all). In the beginning, that something was reading and becoming informed (of the orphan crisis, of statistics and solutions, of stories and ideas). I began to make donations to families who were fundraising for their own adoptions and/or purchasing products from organizations that benefitted the orphan crisis in some way.

The more that I read and the more that I learned, the more my heart hurt.

Eventually, I was no longer randomly giving via links on the internet (oh I still do that too but it became more personal) but, through some of what I believe to be God-ordained meetings, began to develop some personal relationships with people who were/are more involved in the cause than I. Some of those, I shared here.

Long story short, God's word says that He will care for the orphan and the widow. It also says that His people are His arms and feet. I desire, for this one week, to BE has hands and feet in Ethiopia and see where He leads from there.