Meeting Linda and Renu

Last week I had the incredible privilege to meet two strong, courageous, humble, and beautiful women. Shared Hope International held an event in town and there was no way I was going to miss it! First I met Linda, the president and founder of SHI, she was all that I hoped she would be and more. The work of SHI and how far reaching throughout the world that it is truly amazes me. I feel like we were given so much information that I can't possibly sum it up in a short post so I will hit some highlights but it would be well worth your while to check out their website at www.sharedhope.org . First I loved Linda's passion. This is a woman who was literally placed by God into this position to change the world. She told us that she did not even run for Congress in Washington, her name was written in on the ballot and she was elected. She did no campaigning, spent no money to be elected, it was a placement that God had planned for her. From that position she has done incredible things for those bought and sold into sexual slavery and human trafficking. Her love and compassion for God's children oozed and she told stories of the horrors that she had witnessed and how God's love and Villages of Hope were bringing healing to hundreds. She was also able to show us a video of a undercover investigation that resulted in the arrest of two men selling a 13 year old for sex in Jamaica. Her passion was palpable as she explained that the work of SHI was a part of both the seller and the buyers receiving jail time. Even here in America they found in their undercover operations that the 13 to 15 year old girls will be arrested and the men that paid money to buy them were let go!! Unbelievable, as if the girls are at fault. We also saw footage of American truck stops being places where pimps bring their girls to be sold, 80% of these girls are on the missing and exploited list. This is in our country! We were blown away.
Next we met Renu. There are no words to describe the feeling of watching this beautiful, quiet young woman tell her story of being sold to a brothel in India from her home in Nepal by her adopted brother!! She went to visit him in the town that he was going to college in and she said he bought her a glass of juice at a restaurant...3 days later she woke up in a brothel. Although she attempted to refuse being a prostitute, ultimately there is no choice. Someone from Teen Challenge in Bombay led her to the Lord and she began to pray to God to help her to leave. In a way that only He can God answered Renu's prayer and the owner of the brothel accepted Christ and gave her money to travel home to her family. Unfortunately the stigma associated with her life in the brothel caused people to cross the street when she was near and to have no contact with her, as if it was her choice. She decided to call the number that was given to her by someone at the Teen Challenge, which ended up being her first contact with SHI, but not before she saw her brother who had sold her and stolen her childhood, her innocence, her dreams, and her life to that point. She said he turned white when he saw her and she said, "I forgive you". I was and still am in awe of Renu. She rocked my world in her next sentence, if Christ has forgiven me how could I not forgive him. Everything in me wants to justify hatred, anger, and disgust for this man and yet there stood Renu humbly and gently asking, how could I not? Moments in time, this is certainly another one for me, when my world view is broadened and the awe that I have for my Savior is ignited through His daughter. Renu sees her life as Joseph, what satan intended for evil, God has used for the good. Renu now works with SHI and she counsels young women rescued from the life she once lived. Linda asked her how she counsels them, and in her simple way she said, "I tell them my story."
This is I Am Sister, this is where we war for our sisters in bonds, this is where we do not accept this reality and we find a way big or small to do something to help organizations like SHI to fight the injustice and most of all to lovingly rescue and restore these children and young women who live a nightmare that we cannot come close to comprehending. This is where we do not just get uncomfortable at the thought and look the other way but we hear and respond and obey. We have seen His glory, we know this King and the same God who held Renu every night, who pursued her with His love, He who rescued now asks Whom shall I send? Here am I! Send me.

No Picture With This Post!

What I am about to share will reveal my selfishness, I apologize. Although reading this blog may appear that I am a good person, I'm not. I am a sinner saved by grace. I am reminded of this on a daily basis as I battle with renegade thoughts and with sudden urges to eat anything with a hint of sugar, exhibiting no self control. However, if this blog is to be a catalyst for genuine dialogue and a place for authentic community which is relevant and engaging in today's culture, encouraging us to carpe diem I must admit that I am indeed, imperfect. (Sorry, I couldn't resist)
Ok, enough of that, here is my story. Awhile a go the Lord gave me an idea to do something, which I did. It was kind of a big deal and a lot of work and I enjoyed it immensely and was extremely happy to do it and it went better than planned and I was overjoyed. The day after, which by the way is always the worst day for me, I received a call from a friend that was there and was super excited along with me and we were talking about it and they said, did everyone know that you did all this because I thought it was weird that nobody thanked you. The seed of discontent was planted. A little later I was on the phone with Cherrie wanting her to send me pictures of the night and she told me that she would send them and apologized that there were no pictures of me or Shane because she only had one card and erased us to take more pictures. I hung up irritated. Not one measly picture of me? I did my hair and wore fancy clothes, seriously not one single picture. So I go to take a shower and am really annoyed, no picture, no thank you...what the heck? Emotions began to flow and I am in the shower talking to God and am basically throwing a tantrum. "Lord, can I just get a little glory here, I mean I orchestrated this whole thing and I got no recognition, other people get glory for stuff, why can't I get some glory?" He answers, You don't like those people... It's true, I don't. "Well can I at least have one picture then!!!!???" Ok are you even ready for how God responded...feel my hands grabbing your arms, my eyes are wide and you can feel my excitement, ready? "Well can I at least have one picture then?!"...He answers, "I have your picture". Silence, my anger completely evaporated. He has my picture, can any glory from man, any thank you on earth compare to that statement, He has my picture. The God of the universe, Creator, Redeemer, King of Kings has my picture. I sat down (finally figured out why there is that seat in the shower) and cried. I was overwhelmed by His presence, and humbled by His love. It is for Him alone that I serve and He is proud of me and I wanted more than that, can you even imagine? I am a sinner saved by grace, undeserving of love of this magnitude. I get goose bumps every time I think about it. Do all things as unto the Lord, I did it for Him and He has my picture and that is enough.

PRAISE GOD!!!!!

Ummm...... yeah on my way to pick Hope up from school to go to Rotary today the magnitude of the meeting hit me and for a second I thought I was going to throw up!! I apologize for starting with that sentence, but it's true:)
So as Cynthia told her fellow Rotarian's "she brought in the big guns today". Hope was dressed in her beautiful green sweater and I actually used hair product, wore eye shadow, and heels!! We brought our best smiles and two picture albums... on the way there (at first Hope thought we were going to Haiti, little miscommunication) Hope said she only wanted to tell the people one thing. I said, ok honey what are you going to say?, "I'm from Haiti and you tell them everything else." So that was the plan and she did well, by the way she also said that she was four, her name was Hope, she was hungry, this is boring, when are we going to go home, etc. Anyways Cynthia introduced us and we showed our picture albums and talked a little bit about Hinche, about how Haiti was hit by 4 hurricanes, the desperate need for water, how wonderful Lavaud is, and how excited we were to do something in Hope's homeland. Cynthia shared all her facts from Lavaud, the requirements that he meets, etc. There are many needs throughout the world, we are well aware of this fact. Most projects brought up dealt with water, either wells or purification systems. It is difficult to want them to choose Haiti while recognizing there is need everywhere, but I was praying like mad that they would. When it was time to vote I did not look anyone in the eye, knowing I could not hide my disappointment, as they went around the table I looked up at Cynthia and saw the tears in her eyes, I mouthed is that a yes and she nodded that it was!!! Now there is one more vote to be taken on the 9th of December, so keep praying, but it looks very good that Hinche will in fact receive multiple wells!

I am still in shock about the whole event and just so thankful that God allows us to be a part of His plan. One thing I know, I'm going to be there to see the faces of the children as they hold a cup of clear, safe water. I wish I could see Lavaud's face when he reads his email tonight!

I have been struck with the sovereignty of God today. Thinking of all the paths that have led us to this moment. It truly all began in the middle of the night in October of 2001 as I was up with Maris and God led me to a photo listing of children in Haiti and I knew in my heart that we would adopt our daughter from Haiti. And then I think to last Christmas when Maris wanted to build a well, and how God brought a new focus for our family in service to Him. Then I thought of all the times that I have missed moments that could have led to "wells". How many times have I lacked faith and said things like, "No honey it's too much money" and not responded to the conviction I felt after I said those words. How many opportunities missed because I did not step out in faith? It is humbling and overwhelming and makes me want to be so attentive to the nudges of the Holy Spirit because we could have truly missed all of this! I cannot wait to see where the Lord leads and am so privileged to be His child and to hold His hand and follow Him.

Thanks for your prayers,

Malia

PLEASE, PLEASE, PRAY FOR HAITI

Okay this is soooo very exciting!!! So I mentioned that Cynthia, my mother-in-law, joined Rotary and took us to their weekly lunch to share about the wellbox. It was great to learn more about their incredible organization and we even raised over a hundred dollars while we were there!! Well Cynthia is becoming more involved and has joined an international board and she nominated Pastor Lavaud to receive a well. Today we found out that it could be MULTIPLE wells!! This is beyond incredible... can you feel my excitement right now? I can only begin to imagine the impact that this will make for the people of Hinche. Hope and I are going to go to the lunch tomorrw and do what we can to sway the vote:) I pulled out my photo album from our trip so they can see the beauty as well as the desperation in the faces of the children. Please pray with us for this miracle and life changing opportunity for the homeland of my precious daughter. They vote tomorrow at 11:00, the prayer of a righteous man is both powerful and effective!!

By the way in case you missed it, Extreme Home Makeover featured a family who adopted 5 boys from Haiti, and 3 from the inner city, and had 3 biological boys... that's 11 boys!! It was a great story and good to see Haiti talked about, you can watch it at abc.com if you missed it.

Holding on to a Promise

I could not resist sharing theses pictures of Miss Emerson and my kids, they were so enthralled! After our visit Hope has changed the names of her Loving Family to James, Syd and baby Emerson...too cute. So here we all are holding God's promise fulfilled.

Mission Accomplished

Kellie and I had so much fun watching our girls go shopping for the troops in Afghanistan. Our focus of the trip was to purchase items for the soldiers new Media Room which was built to boost the morale of the soldiers. We started at Target and did not get past the $1 spot without filling the cart half full with movie theater size candies! We also got popcorn and plastic popcorn containers as well as the game Scene It for the soldiers to play in their new Media Room. I have to applaud Target because when we told them why we were buying $200 worth of candy and games they gave us 10% off!! And the two ladies behind us in line thanked us for what we were doing for our troops, I told them that Lauren's dad had just returned home she looked at Lauren and told her to tell her dad, Thank you! I love it when strangers unite in support of our military. We then headed to the $ store to purchase more candy, but also toys, balls, stuffed animals, pens, and notebooks for the soldiers to hand out to the children trying to just be children in the midst of war. We took a picture of the girls with some of their haul and are now working on raising some money to help send it to Afghanistan. We are going to have a special chapel at the kids school on the 24th and pray over everything being sent. Again I am blessed to be a part of a community who loves with actions and steps out to do what God is calling us to do. It is in these small things that God does such big and powerful things and I am so excited knowing that He will bless His children with something as seemingly insignificant as a box of M & M's !!!

What's Next for the Well Box

We have wondered for awhile what direction God would lead us in next following the purchase of our well... should we raise money for another well or do something different? I have just been patiently waiting for God to show us, knowing that in His perfect time He would, and He did through another child! The morning of our Hero's Welcome Miss Lauren, Lance's daughter, asked me if she could tell everyone that came that night about her idea to send stuff to the soldiers stationed in Afghanistan and to the children of Afghanistan. The moment she said it I thought of Damaris and her vision for the well and I knew that this would be our next adventure. The Well Box had a surplus of $250 as Rick and Cherrie had slipped a check in the box without me knowing! We used some of the money for the party but the rest will be spent on our new mission.

I wish I had a video of Lauren on this night. As you can see by the proud look on her father's face she did a wonderful job sharing her idea with all of us. Damaris and I and Lauren and her mom, Kelli, are going to go shopping with our extra money and bless our service men and women as well as the children who are living in a war torn country.

One more thing, after I knew this was what was next for us I put it together that when God gave me the vision for "I am mother, sister, friend" raising money for the well fulfilled I am Mother, and this new adventure fulfills I am Friend! I was reminded that having big dreams and vision is wonderful but I cannot wait for the miracle, "I need to be the miracle"(Pastor Bob). My greatest desire and prayer is that I AM will happen but I need to do what I can where I am at, with what I have now in this moment.

A Hero's Welcome Part 2

Last week we were given the opportunity to thank two more American Heroes for their sacrifice and service to us and our country. Not long after we began praying for "Kate's Dad" we added "Anson's Dad" from Hope's class, to our prayers. Jess was also deployed to Iraq and we along with several classes at school and other families committed to pray for him every night. Then we added another dad from Hope's class, "Natalie's Dad" to our prayers, Lance was stationed in Afghanistan.

Jess was due to be home in the Fall and the last time I talked to Kellie she was hoping Lance would be home for the holidays. Then I was at school a few weeks ago and I had just found out that Jess was in San Diego and I looked up and there was Lance!! I cannot tell you the excitement of our prayers that night as we thanked the Lord for bringing home "Kate's Dad, Anson's Dad, and Natalie's Dad". It has been over a year since we began praying for these men and their families and I was as thrilled as the kids!! Of course you know what this means... a party!! (I have decided that I am God's personal party planner!)

This time we invited the whole school since Lance has kids in 4 year old preschool and first grade and all those now second graders had been praying for so long. It was an incredible night that I really can't describe. We had wonderful food and fellowship with almost 100 people!! The goal was to bless those men who have blessed us and I think we accomplished that. I talked to the teachers and the Four year old class said the Pledge of Allegiance, the Kindergarten sang God Bless America, and the 1st and 2nd graders sang My Country Tis of Thee. We watched a short slide show that Lance brought home from Afghanistan with pictures of the children and the harsh landscape of that country and then his sweet daughter shared her vision of helping those in Afghanistan...more on that later. Then we watched one of my favorite songs, "If I die before you wake" and then Shane led us in some worship. My favorite part of the night was when the entire room applauded all three men that we have defended in prayer for so long, Stephen, Jess, and Lance. It was beautiful and perfect and again I feel privileged to be a part of saying thank you!

"If I Die Before You Wake" by Dusty Evans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGhzOvhDGp0

A Hero's Welcome Part 1

Over a year ago our family committed to praying every night for “Kate’s Dad” aka Captain Stephen B. while he was deployed in Iraq. Every night at bedtime we would lift up our soldiers “especially Kate’s Dad” to the Lord asking for their safety, physically and spiritually. There was not a night that we did not pray…literally. If the kids were tired and I thought a short prayer without the soldiers, children of Uganda, Haiti and Zimbabwe was too much the kids would absolutely not let me say good night until we prayed properly.
I had never met Stephen, but when he came home in May I felt the Lord telling me that I needed to throw him a welcome home party…so I called in the troops and we organized a “Hero's Welcome” from the First grade class and the Teachers at our school. I called my friend the fabulous Chris F. to cater the event and decorated the backyard with red, white, and blue. I talked to Mrs. R about the kids doing a special presentation, (they did a wonderful job) and asked Shane to lead us in a few worship songs. We thanked Stephen and his family for their sacrifice and his service and we praised God for the answer to all of the families of our schools prayers to bring him home safely. It was a beautiful night and I was privileged to be a part of it. It was a small gesture from those that he had served to give up one night to say a simple thank you. Thank you for giving up a year of soccer games, movie nights, his children's birthdays, Thanksgiving Dinner, Christmas Morning, date nights with his wife, and all the little moments that we can take for granted so that we would not miss those precious moments with our own families. Thank you for risking everything you hold dear for a cause bigger yourself. Thank you for being an American Hero.

John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

OH JOPPINS!!

This is the face my daughter makes right before she says, "Oh Joppins!" It is a word that she made up months ago and uses it in place of phrases like "Oh gosh" or "Oh man" I wish you could hear her as you are not quite sure if it should be spelled "Oh Choppins" or with a J. It's hilarious and I crack up every time she says it which of course means we hear it even more...Oh Joppins!!!

Seriously

Can you even believe these pics? My friend Cherrie of Tucker Bleu Photography had Kruse, Hope and I practice poses for her at the park today and lucky me I get these out of it!!

The Last Time...

The last time I was in Washington D.C. the Twin Towers were still standing, the Pentagon had no memorial, the Shanksville countryside had not yet been the burial for some of the first heroes of a war that our country did not seek out.

The last time I went to Arlington Cemetery there was not a section dedicated to the lives lost in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. The last time I walked through the thousands of white headstones I did not see a fresh mound of dirt with the wreaths of a recent funeral still standing and parents saying a final farewell to their child. The last time I was their I did not hear a mother tell her son to go find Daddy and give him a kiss and look up to see a 4 year old boy kissing one of these white tombstones.

The last time I was in Arlington Jen and Shane weren't married, they hadn't even met. They hadn't fallen in love via email and phone calls while he was deployed in Afghanistan. They hadn't gotten engaged and then married on the beautiful Kona coast. He hadn't been deployed two months after their fairy tale wedding to Iraq. The last time I was in Arlington there was no headstone that said Captain Shane T. Adcock, May 24, 1979 - October 11, 2006. The last time I was there I did not kneel down before a headstone and promise that I would never forget his sacrifice, that I would tell my children of his bravery, that I would continue to pray for his wife, that I would relish the freedom he fought for.

In loving memory of Captain Shane T. Adcock, we will never forget...


October 12, 2007
Shane,It's been a year since you went to your home in heaven above,
Yet not one day since you left has the world not felt your love.
Your love for your country, family, and friends, but most importantly God,
For the path you chose on which you gave your life on the land you trod.
To say that you made a difference just doesn't seem enough,
So let me tell you how you changed the path of one of us.
When I see a soldier now I always say a prayer,
That God will keep him safe from harm and let him know we care.
When I see the beauty that surrounds me everyday,
I stop and thank God for the blessings that He has sent my way.
When I look at my three sons and the freedom that they share,
I am humbled by the sacrifice of soldiers to keep freedom there.
These soldiers don't even know my sons yet they fight for their right to be free,
How special these brave young heroes are that they give so unselfishly.
Soldiers who, just like you, knew it from the start,
That they were destined to be soldiers because of their compassionate hearts.
Shane, I promise to always remember the sacrifice that you gave,
The countless lives for our country and for God that you sought to save,
I'll remember what you told my Daddy when he said, "Shane, keep your head down low,"
You said, "Uncle Tommy, I'm not worried because if I die then I know where I'll go."
So Shane as you're exploring Heaven way up there,
Could you give Granddaddy and Grandma Barnes a hug and let them know I care?
And until we meet again in that Celestial sky,
I will watch for rainbows and know that you're close by.
Love,Helen

(Taken from Legacy.com Guest Book)

I Love Kids...

I had the privilege of speaking in chapel last week at the kid's school. I shared about Hope's adoption and how God has adopted all of us into His forever family. Following chapel many kids have come home to their parents and said, "did you know Hope was adopted"? I love it! They are truly colorblind.

Finding Hope in Haiti

"From that moment a child began to grow in our hearts. Just as physical conception is necessary to bring a child into this world, so a conception has to take place in the heart if two people are going to bring a child into their lives through adoption. We didn't have a blood test to prove her existence. I couldn't hold a piece of paper in my hand to verify her reality by the latest ultrasound. But God's promise of a child was as real as any physical pregnancy. A daughter was conceived in our hearts just as surely as if she had been conceived in my own body." - The Strength of Mercy. We knew we had a daughter, we knew she was in Haiti and we knew this was a call that we could not ignore.

The miracles that brought Hope home are too numerous to count and we are constantly reminded of the sovereignty of our God and stand in awe of how He brings His plan to pass. When we began the adoption process Haiti was closed to adoptions as a result of a volatile political climate and questioning the call we almost chose another country. But we were not at peace and we knew that the God of the entire universe is also the God of Haiti and He would open any door if we would trust and obey. And sure enough by the time we were done with our home study we were able to begin the adoption process through Haiti.

We finished the remainder of all classes and paperwork in June and on November 17th, 2004 we received our referral and first picture of Hope at 6 weeks old. From that time on, we thought the finalization of the adoption would take approximately 6 months, but that was not to be. The weeks began to drag to months as we waited for our paperwork to receive approval from the Haitian government. Then in May 2005 we got an email telling us that three of our documents had been lost and we would need to redo them, have them notarized, and FedEx them to Haiti. That was not the news that we were waiting for, but after crying out to God that day I knew that this would eventually be part of the miracle that brought Hope home. Sure enough, a few months later we would learn that our dossier passed up others in line because when the missing documents arrived in Haiti our file was brought to the top of the pile. And we sometimes doubt that God is in the details.

We had so longed to spend her birthday with Hope (September 27th), but again it was not to be. We celebrated her birthday without her with a trip to the zoo and days later received a call that Hope would be ready to travel on October 17th! We were thrilled and so excited to take her with us to California to meet Auntie Jen, Uncle Jer, and the boys for Thanksgiving, but once again God's timing was different than ours. We did go to California, but without Hope. Our prayers became more focused now, Lord please let her be home by Christmas. During this entire time of waiting, God blessed us with notes of encouragement, a Haitian children's book with the word "Hope" written on the side of a tap-tap, songs, scriptures, friends, and most of all His peace. He constantly encouraged us that this was His plan and that He is faithful to complete it. There are seriously too many things to list but one thing was extra special. We had randomly bought 4 tickets to a SCC and Mercy Me Christmas concert with Chris and Toni at the kids school auction. On December 8th we went to the concert and not long into it they began sharing why they chose to do a Christmas concert...to promote Shoahannah's Hope, which is SCC's ministry which helps families with adoption expenses and basically just promoted adoption in general. Then Stephen plays "All I really want for Christmas is a family" while a slide show is playing of orphans in the background. Of course at this point Toni and I are sobbing and I am pretty sure Shane and Chris were fighting back the tears and then our almighty God surrounds us with His love as everyone in the Rose Garden joined in prayer for those families waiting to adopt and for their children waiting to come home. Chris leaned over and said, "Did you ever imagine that tonight this entire auditorium would be praying for you?"

This is the God we serve. He knows the cry of our hearts, how we prayed for Hope for Christmas, how with each day that passed the longing to hold our daughter grew. He blessed us with our complete family on December 20th in the Miami airport. From the moment she was in my arms she was home. Its as if she knew how much I loved her, that she had been held in my heart for 13 months, that I was her momma, and that she would forever be my girl. I have no doubt that Hope was meant to be a part of our family, that before the creation of the earth she was meant to be my daughter. Hope's middle name is an altar, just as with Damaris and Kruse that we may remember His goodness and faithfulness and bless Him there. Her first middle name is Emilia, her birth mother's name. We are so grateful for her sacrifice. She gave up her child out of extreme poverty to have a chance with another family and she is a hero for it. Hope's Hawaiian middle name is Kahea O Akua, called of God. Shane and I were called to adopt Hope, it was an act of obedience. Hope's call is two-fold. She was called out of Haiti, a land dedicated to satan with voodoo as its national religion, whose darkness is both physical and spiritual. And she shares the call that God offers each of us; a call out of the darkness of a life without His glorious light. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of the darkness and into His glorious light." Adoption is the example of what our Lord has done for us. He has called us to be His children. Ephesians 1:3-8 says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will- to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."

We are so blessed to have Hope as a part of our forever family and I pray that all of you are a part of our eternal forever family. Jesus gave His life to give you hope and I pray that you accept His extended hand.

Happy Birthday Miss Hopey, I love you and can't imagine life without your smile and your hugs. You make me laugh everyday and I am so glad that you grew in my heart.

TODAY

Today, September 24th, 6 months after our first official fundraising event we have raised $5,390!! Today we have done a small part in fighting a statistic that we could not live with. Today we did something bigger than ourselves. Today God showed us that "if we make the effort He will make the difference"-Pastor Bob. Today we did not hear and look away. Today we helped someone that we will never know this side of Heaven. Today I told my children that because of them other children will live. Today I am overwhelmed and humbled by the greatness of my God. Today we proved that with God all things are possible. Today we listened to our children. Today we, we being every single person involved in this journey, became a part of the remedy.

You donated time, battled "can do" machines, you got creative, you went door to door, you prayed, you praised, you told your friends, you had the faith of children, you made me proud to know you, you blessed me with your generosity, you played your fiddles, you sold lemonade, you gave us your cans, you gave us money, you gave us your furniture to sell, you paid more than you needed for my baby clothes, you gave up birthday presents, you gave out of your abundance and you gave in the midst of need. You gave even though you had never met me before, you matched your can donation, you turned in your change, you watched a movie in our back yard and paid to do it, you left me speechless and on more than one occasion you left me in tears, and most of all, you have served the least of these. You fulfilled the words to one of my favorite DCB songs,

"...Where there is pain
Let us bring grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Let us be brave
Where there is misery
Let us bring them relief
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Oh surely we can change
Something"

All glory to You my Lord and my Savior.

Thanks Grandpa Bob and Grandma Maureen!!

I called my mom to tell her about the rotary lunch today and that we only needed $78.23 more and her reply was, I guess we better finish the rest off! Thanks Mom and Dad, not just for the money but for your part in showing me the meaning of service, faith, and loving Jesus by loving others, I love you both so much!!

Thank You Rotarians!

Cynthia took me to the Rotary lunch today and had a "bell ringing" for the well box. Let me tell you the Rotary is amazing and they do incredible things throughout the world, I am so impressed by this organization. "As signified by the motto Service Above Self, Rotary’s main objective is service — in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world."
Cynthia wrote a brief description of the history of the well box which they read aloud and then they rang the bell for our family. As the lunch closed, one of the visiting Australian Rotarians tapped me on the shoulder and handed me $100 cash for the well box! Then another Rotarian, Lavinnia gave me $10 and yet another, Susan gave me $5, so all in all we made $115 today bringing our total to $5311.77!! We are soooo very close...

Still More Cans and a Tearful Goodbye

We said goodbye to Emmy last night, she is on her way back to college and we will miss her sooo much. Before we left she handed me an envelope of more can money...$35.25. Thanks so much Em for calling your neighbors and bringing all those cans back with Shane, for all your help with the garage sales, and for all the movie nights just for fun! We love you and are so thankful for all that you have done to make this dream a reality and I can't wait to call you when we finally reach our goal, only $193.23 to go!

Love ya,

Shane, Mali, Maris, Kruse, & Hope

Happy Birthday Grandma Cynthia!!

When Cynthia was asked what she wanted for her birthday this year she generously suggested donations to the well box in instead of presents!! What a generous and wonderful idea. So instead of buying the pedicure I was planning on we added $25, as did Jen and Jer. That added with some money from her mom, plus $20 donation from someone at her work, the grand total of Cynthia's Birthday donation is $90.00 bringing us only $228.48 away from our goal!!! Thank you Cynthia for giving on the day you are supposed to be receiving...Happy Birthday!! New total $5161.52.

The Heartache of Haiti

I am overwhelmed watching the news and seeing the pictures coming out of Haiti. Hanna and Ike have wreaked havoc and devastated the country. It is hard to imagine that the third hungriest country in the world and the poorest in the western hemisphere could get any worse... but it has. What little the Haitians had has been taken away by flooding. They are now surrounded by water contaminated with animal and human waste as well as those killed by the storms. Water has always been hard to come by, well I should say clean, safe water has been hard to come by but now they are literally being flooded with disease and clean water must come in bottles from the UN leaving people with very little options. In Hinche, where Pastor Lavaud is, they lost 100 water purifiers in the floods! I can only think of Katrina and how we are the richest country in the world and we have taken years to recover. Please pray for God to dry up the land and to use the developed countries to bring aid to a country overwhelmed by heartache.

We Got Mail!!

You will not believe what was waiting for us at the mail box today! Our dear friends, Darrin, Angela, Dylan, &Trey sent us a card excited about the well box adventure and wanting to be a part of it. With their gift of $250 they have pushed us over the $5,000 mark and I am jumping for joy. I know I say this on every post lately but I am going to say it again...I am overwhelmed by the response of our friends and family. You have blessed us with your prayers, support and donations and we love you all. Thanks D family, you rock!! New Total...$5071.52

Another $20

Grandma Joyce shared The Well Box vision with her friend Richard and he sent us $20 in the mail today! It has been so fun to see our family and friends share with their own sphere of life. Thank you Richard for your gift, we are so grateful. $4821.52

Miss Heyna & Grandma Marge

Miss Heyna brought me her "can do" slip today that she and her mom, Emily, received from Fred Meyers where they took back Grandma Marge's cans. We are adding $2.35 to our total, thanks Miss Heyna and we love you...$4801.52!!

Altars

Exodus 20:24b says, "Build altars in the places where I remind you who I AM, and I will come and bless you there." Our son Kruse's middle name is an altar, Ikaika i ka Ho'omana which means "Strength to Worship". I am not sure why I feel compelled to write this tonight, if this is for someone who reads the blog or for myself, but for some reason I know that I am to write this tonight and if there is one thing I have learned through "the well box" it is that when God speaks I want to obey.
On June 25th 2002 I had an ultrasound for our second child whom I have named Maluhia Lani, "Heavenly Peace". We found out on that day that our baby preceded us to Heaven. I had had friends who had miscarried and always ached for them but never really understood the pain of losing a baby. There are no words to describe the loss...nothing. My heart was broken but just as He always does (if we let Him) God met me where I was and brought Shane and I to a place of truly understanding "worship".
"The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord."-Job1:21b
As we drove from the Doctor's office to the hospital for another ultrasound to make sure that there was indeed no heartbeat, we sat in silence but I could hear the words in my head "Here we are standing in Your presence worshipping You, worshipping You. You are greater than the ocean, You are bigger than the sky, You are stronger than the river, there's nobody else who loves me like You do...here we are"
This was a Tuesday, they could not get me in for a D & C until the following Monday...for 6 days I was a living tomb for my unborn child. I walked around, went to the grocery store, to work, and to church knowing that my child was in my womb...dead. My life was changed in two huge ways once at church and once at Safeway.
I stood in the checkout line like a zombie, knowing we needed groceries but wanting to be crying on the couch at home. I stood there and looked at those around me as if the world was in slow motion. God was with me in line. I remember glancing around and thinking they have no idea, they look at me and have know idea that death is literally inside of me. It was in that moment that I have never looked at anyone the same...God showed me at Safeway that I have no idea the pain behind a face. Does their dad have cancer, has her husband left her for another woman, has she been trying to have a baby for years, was she abused as a child, can he not walk away from an addiction, did his father die without them ever reconciling. When I see people now who are angry, I no longer am annoyed by their rudeness, I wonder what happened to you today? When I see someone with the hollow look I am sure was in my own eyes, I say a prayer for whatever hurt they are facing. There is a world of hurting people and they are all around us if we choose to see them and sometimes a smile and a silent prayer is all we can give.
Church was a tough one. No one knew I was pregnant and after losing the baby I did not want to say anything except to immediate family. So on Sunday morning I went to church with a plastic smile and stood to sing our first praise song, "I'm trading my sorrows, I'm trading my shame, I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord. I'm trading my sickness, I'm trading my pain..." Obviously God and Shane had met in the process of him working out his worship set and there I was starting to sing, when again the world moved to slow motion and tears filled my eyes and I stopped, unable to sing the words if I did not mean them. In that moment I knew a choice was to be made, am I going to praise the God who could have saved my child, who could have breathed life and stopped death. Can I stand here and truly worship with my hand on my womb. Can I say "Yes, Yes, Lord" to this? It was a moment in time that I knew I would never be the same, the beginning of a journey to the true meaning of worship that I would trade nothing for, not even a miracle. I would never have chosen to lose a baby, never wish it on anyone, yet at the same time would not trade the months of closeness with my Savior that the loss allowed. He surrounded me with Hope (thus the name of our daughter) in the midst of grief and gave me a compassion that I would never have understood otherwise and best of all He gave me a vision, of nail scarred hands holding a tiny, precious baby.

My Girls

I truly can't get over all the blessings of this journey!! Tonight my girls Miss McKenna and Miss Morgan brought me a cup of money for the well box. They, along with their friends Rayna and Hailey, raised money by having a lemonade stand at their house. I am so proud of you girls for doing something. That is what we have learned through all of this that whatever we can do is better than doing nothing at all...and because of all those little somethings we are going to do one very big thing!! Adding the girls $19.26 we are now at $4799.17

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa W

Grandma Cynthia and Grandpa Terry also had a "change jar". Apparantly this is something people do, Shane and I on the other hand enjoy our 44 ounce sodas with our spare change.
Anyways, not only did the parentals give us all of their change...they also matched it making their total contribution $198.36!!! On Saturday we were $1,000 away and today we are only $610.09 away, that was only 3 days ago! New total...$4779.91

I don't even know what to say...

So after our wonderful time at church and my awe of God's faithfulness we grabbed some lunch and hit the sand volley ball court for another tourney. While we were playing my Mom and Cynthia went to an open house in the area and began chatting with the realtor there. She was telling them about another house that was rather expensive and Cynthia said something about it being out of her price range and the realtor said dreams start somewhere (or something to that extent). Cynthia says yes they do let me tell you about my granddaughter's dream and goes on to tell her about The Well Box and how it started with a 6 year old and that the well would be through World Vision. Turns out that she is a World Vision sponsor and wants to write a check to The Well Box...and she does for $100!! A complete stranger to us until today!

This wonderful woman's name is Roz Anderson and she works for Remax. (if anyone is buying or selling a house you just might give her a call) Roz thank you sooo very much for your generosity I am truly overwhelmed. (And by the way I bought Three Cups of Tea 3 months ago and have not had the time to start it, until tonight, I am on chapter 2 and already inspired.)

Again I have to say that this journey has been so incredible as I see again the faithfulness of our Lord as we say "ok God this is big but You are bigger" and if we take that first small step He meets us right there with more than we could have ever asked or imagined...$4581.55!!

SPEECHLESS

It is not often that I find myself speechless, but that is exactly what happened this morning at church, I was speechless and brought to tears.
When I first pulled into the parking lot I saw Daryl and Kathy's grandkids playing on the playground and thought it was nice they were here and must be visiting for the day. After Praise instead of greeting right away we found out that Bryce and Summer (the grandkids) were going to play their fiddles for us, not out of the ordinary as they have done this at church before. I sat next to Damaris and smiled as I listened to these incredibly gifted children play a song. Then my dad came up and said that Bryce (11) and Summer (9) had seen on the Internet that there were many children in the world dying because of unclean water and immediately the tears filled my eyes as I knew that Kathy must have shown them The Well Box. Do you know what these children did? They told their parents that they wanted to help because they did not want children to die and so they made a sign "Playin for Water", made a jar with a slit on the top, and took their fiddles to the Saturday Market and played for four hours to raise money for The Well Box and they made $170.00!!! Can you even believe that? I am constantly humbled by the innocent faith of children who see a need and figure out a way to meet it. We have so much to learn from them. Thank you Bryce and Summer for listening to the Lord and having the faith to step out and make a difference! New total...$4481.55!

Holy Can!

We just did the math of how many cans we have taken back so far, are you ready...6,249!!! That is completely insane!!

GET OUT!!

Shane and Emmy were off to the Can Do machine again tonight with the bags from the barn and 8 new bags from Emmy's neighbors. They barely all fit into the Explorer so we knew it would be more than last time and it was $103.90!! That is an incredible amount of cans and thanks to Sharon at Fred Meyer we are adding $104 to the well box (she gave them an extra dime to make it even) making our grand total to date...$4311.05. I never expected to raise this much so quickly, I thought this would take us a few years to accomplish. Huge THANK YOU to all who have helped us, prayed for us, donated cans, ate our food, donated cash, bought our stuff, and donated stuff. This entire journey has taught us so much about faith, community, and being willing to step out of the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary. We are only a little over $1,000 away...get out!!

More Cans and Crazy Kids

The plan this evening was for Emmy to come over for dinner and then we, Shane, the kids, Emmy, and I would go to the Can DO machine together. However, my children have turned into loud, overly excited, animated little turbos lately and there was no way I was taking them in public. So I wrestled them to bed and Shane and Em faced the icky, sticky machine without the pitter patter of hyper feet. They brought home $76.95 in under an hour...impressive. New total is $4207.05!!!

Here are some pics...notice the fire in their eyes.

Joyce the Great

Damaris received a letter from her Great Grandma Joyce today with $40 for the well box. What a blessing! She wrote Maris a letter telling her how proud she is of her and that every day someone needs help. So true we just need to have our eyes open to see them. Thank you Joyce for the gift and the reminder...$4170.10

The Change Jar

From what I understand Emmy raided her mothers gigantic change jar holding $114.55 in coins to give to the well box. That my friends is a lot of change! We are at...$4130.10 and counting.

J-LO

Jen from Shane's work was unable to come to our dinner and a movie night so she gave the well box $15 making our total...$4015.55. Thanks Jen!

I Am Mother, Sister, Friend

There are moments when the knowledge of what goes on outside of the four walls of my home is enough to send me into despair. When I stop to let the facts sink in it is overwhelming. When you read this information there will be so many reactions, anger, hate, doubt, fear, and sadness just to name a few.
I try to ask myself, what if it happened to me, what if my six year old was taken as a sex slave for tourists. I looked at Maris and really let myself go to a place I have never gone, to try imagining her with a man 30 years her senior. To see her tiny body being taken advantage of, her spirit crushed, the innocence I fight so hard to protect tore open. It sent me to a despair that was beyond what I could imagine and yet I know that there are thousands who live this nightmare everyday.
There are countless numbers of people who fight their own battle daily. They are all around us if we choose to see them and put ourselves, if only for a moment, in their shoes. Imagine being forced to kill or be killed, to be desensitized by watching a sibling or friend brutally killed in front of your eyes. To be so desperately thirsty that you are forced to drink the very water that you know may kill you. To watch “the disease” take first your father and then your mother…to fear going to the clinic because you might also be infected. To be so proud of your loved one and the sacrifice they gave and yet at the same time to miss them with every breath you take.
I urge you to truly feel these emotions, question God, your beliefs, the world as you know it. Be angry, hate the injustice, grieve the innocence that is brutally stolen, fear what is in the heart of man and what he is capable of doing, sorrow with the mothers and fathers whose children have been abducted, despair with those children forced to carry a gun, scream, cry, yell, let your soul be torn apart, there is only one thing that I beg of you to not do. It is truly the worst thing that you could do… nothing. Do not turn away, listen, do you hear their voices cry out for help. This is a part of your story now, a moment in time that you choose to act or turn away, it is entirely up to you.

“Having heard of all of this, you may choose to look the other way… but you can never say again that you did not know.” --William Wilberforce, British Politician, Abolitionist.

www.iammothersisterfriend.blogspot.com

So Funny

So you know I was all emotional about the red crib going to hold another "precious baby"...Shane told me today when the guy came to pick it up that he is using it to decorate a nursery for a model home. LOL! So much for that idea.




that's how I feel too Hope!

The Perfect Night

I was a little nervous for our evening with the high temperatures but the breeze picked up at about 6:30 and the yard was totally shaded so it was perfect. After dinner we had a water balloon toss with Emily being the wettest and Robert and Karli the champions. We decided to trade in hot smores for shave ice as we watched Cars and thanks to Grandma Cynthia we also had some "real" popcorn popped for us. We were a mixed bunch from Shane's work, the kid's school, and church, I was so blessed by all that came and chose to be a part of something so much bigger than dinner and a movie. Thank you all for your generosity we made $290 putting us at exactly $4,000.55!! (Hope just said, "mom, that movie night was sooo good!") Here are few pics of the night...

Goodbye Red Crib

We have officially sold every item listed on Craigslist today and I am saying goodbye to the beautiful red crib and changing table that Shane painted and distressed for me. I loved that crib and am happy it will be used again for another precious baby. The set sold for $50 so we are now at $3710.55!!

An Unexpected Blessing

I received a card in the mail today from the D Family, they could not make it to our dinner and a movie night tomorrow but wanted to be a part of our cause...so they sent a $50 donation. Thank you sooo much Sean, Molly, Emily and Matthew that brings us to...$3660.55!!

$100 more

We sold our last desk today for another $100 putting us up to 3610.55!!! We are scheduled for our first dinner and a movie this Friday and still have bags of cans to return. Hopefully we will break $4,000 soon. Thanks again for all your support and prayers we are going to do this!!

Every Little Bit Counts

Well we had our leftover garage sale today and it was a tad disappointing but I am reminded that every little bit does indeed count. We started out bright and early this morning and soon realized it was not going to be a busy day. The highlight was when my good friend Chris donated a love seat that sold for $50...making our total for today $77.55. We did have a little fun while bored during the garage sale and we started trying on Jack and Ben's old t-shirts (size boys medium) and decided that they should be our team uniform for our sand volleyball tourney that afternoon. Needless to say it is rather humorous to see larger grown men in a boys medium, you can check the pics at http://www.tuckerbleuphotography.blogspot.com/ and see for yourself. So as of today...$3510.05

Gotta Love Craigslist

We have added another $115.00 tonight selling Maris's beautiful hand me down crib for $15.00 and a desk donated by the C Family for $100.00. $3432.50!!

Pastor Lavaud

This wonderful man is Pastor Lavaud in Haiti and the well box has just officially bought him two new bits for the drill that he uses to dig wells in Hinche!!! And we couldn't be more excited:)

The funniest thing is we met Lavaud through the internet...kind of. Here's the story. Shortly after Kruse was born we took the fam to Hawaii so that my grandma could meet her newest grandson. We went to Oahu, home to Hilo, then ended with a week in Maui...perfect. When we came home and it took me a few payments to pay off the visa I felt the Lord asking me if I would be willing to spend as much money on a trip to serve him as I would to go on vacation. So I told Shane that the next summer I felt like God wanted us to go on a mission trip instead of a vacation. The search began...the world was at my fingertips and I googled many ideas trying to figure out where we would go. During this time we knew in our hearts that our daughter was in Haiti but we were only in the beginning of the process of adoption at that point and had no connections there at all. Meanwhile my friend Cherrie, who is adopted and who is one of my biggest supports and cheerleaders during this time, googled Haiti and read all these web sites and just felt the Lord telling her to contact this one..and so she did in a 5 page email! Seriously the next thing we know Cherrie and Emily are flying to Wisconsin and staying with strangers to meet Lavaud who is flying in from Haiti to speak at the church that supported him. Sorry, to make a long story short they loved him instantly and saw what an incredible man of God he is. So they just happen to be planning their first ever mission trip to Haiti while Shane and I are looking for a mission trip and we are adopting from Haiti, Cherrie (who is obviously crazy) and Emily are up for it, and Jon wanted to come and called Travis and the next thing we know we are on a mission trip with complete strangers to a third world country... unbelievable! There is too much to write about the trip, it changed all of our lives in many different ways. For us it was visiting the birthplace of our daughter, a country that we will love and be a part of for the rest of our lives. I cannot wait for the day when we take all three of them to experience the beauty and heartache of Haiti.

But this is about Lavaud. I loved him the moment I saw him. His smile lit up his face and he was so thankful that we were there. He was born in Haiti and went to Technical School in Wisconsin, promising the Lord that he would go back and help his native Haitians. He has certainly fulfilled his promise. Below is a picture of the school, church, community center, radio station, and the third floor is his home in Hinche. He has numerous programs to help his people be self sufficient through community gardens and giving pigs to families to raise. With the current food crisis he has been distributing food to those in need. As we were there that week, exactly four years ago, I remember thinking as I watched this gracious, humble man that he is just like Jesus. His lifestyle reflected Christ to all around him, especially the witch doctor who he gave corn and other fruits and veggies to help them grow their garden. He did not condemn, only loved and through that she accepted Christ. It is a privilege to help Lavaud whenever we can and I have loved reading his emails the last two weeks and remembering all that we experienced on that trip. The believers that we met lacked so many basic needs, but you would never know. We saw hope in every face. We played and laughed with children who had no shoes and little food and yet were so full of life and joy. They are amazing people and I am honored to have met them. Here are some pics:

Shane and Cherrie getting our first real smile out of Sandra

This is the first morning Sandra came over...

"witch doctors neighborhood" we put on a show, actually that is what Lavaud is laughing at up top...

...Travis's sweaty, hairy thighs sandwiching Shane's face to make Goliath!


And this adorable little guy sat next to me and just smiled!



THE FACTS:

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, the third hungriest in the world. It is estimated that 300,000 Haitian children are restavecs, slaves...today. In fact the country watched as an undercover reporter made a deal to buy a child for $50...or for a mere $10,000 he could have a child with papers...in less than two weeks. Reality: our adoption process once we had a referral and a picture of Hope took 15 months. They lack clean water and most places lack electricity. Haiti needs your prayers and your attention. There are several links in the side bar of ways that you can help and Lavaud's ministry is Haiti Christian Ministry...you would be surprised at what you can do for less than $30 a month.

New total less $227 sent to Haiti is $3317.50