You're the reason why

Today was homecoming at our church, so like any good Baptist church, we had singing after the meal. We were asked to sing, and on a whim Marigrace asked Jubilee if she would sing with us.

She said yes.

Today my beautiful new sister sang "Amazing Grace" in front of our church family. Later Marigrace shared that she almost began to cry as she held her African sister and thought of the story behind the man (John Newton) who wrote the song, and his conversion from slave trader to a man of God. By the grace of God both Jubilee and Jesse are free. Free to be adopted, free to love and be loved. Free to be taught God's word and declare their love for Him.

That same grace that Newton discovered is still promised to anyone who will believe. You're the reason why Christ came to earth as a mere man, lived to serve, heal, and disciple, and then died for the redemption of ALL sin. The same sin that He died for will chain you down, and keep you bound for Hell unless you repent of it, accept Christ's forgiveness, and believe that He is the Son of God and His Father is the Creator of all things, the only God.

It doesn't end there. Now comes the hardest and most rewarding part of it all. You will be a child of God; therefore the going will be tough, times will get hard, but guess what? You have the Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings on your side! He is dying to hold you, to draw you close and give you His very best for your life; don't settle for less then that.

Stop running. You belong to Him.

You run, you hide

As tears fall from your eyes

They fall like snow

From a wounded soul

You hold inside

The hurt of great divide

The hole is starting to get old

So come back to the light

To the love, you will find

It’s been here all along

So come back to the start

And you’ll find in your heart

That you always belonged

To me

Just take the rope

I won’t let it go

Give in

We can start again

I’m life, I’m hope

And I’m ready to explode

With how bad I want you back home

So come back to the light

To the love, you will find

It’s been here all along

So come back to the start

And you’ll find in your heart

That you always belonged

To Me

You’re my daughter, you’re my son

You’re the one I long to love

And you’ve heard I chose to die

Do you know you’re the reason why?

~ Grey Holiday

Home

These babies have officially stolen my heart. I could hold them in my lap for hours and just listen to them laugh (which they do constantly).

Mama has been blessed with new students!

Whitney-Faith slipped into the role of big sister with ease.

The THREE Travis Smith boys :)

Thank you all for your prayers! Without God on our side these babies wouldn't be here.

Six days and counting....

On Sunday, August 2nd, I will be waiting at the Atlanta airport to meet Jesse and Jubilee Smith!! Our children are being escorted home from Ghana and Mama and Marigrace will meet them in NYC on Sunday afternoon.

In six days I will be holding my dear, precious, LONG awaited siblings! Isn't God good?

Thank you for all the prayers. None of this could have happened without our Awesome God :)

The Wilderness

My sisters and I went on a weekend retreat with our youth group to "The Wilderness", a secluded piece of land conveniently located near an awesome river. It has the sweetest cabins, a pond for fishing, and fields for recreation; all of these combined make for an awesome weekend of reflection and diving deeper into The Word. My morning devotions were spent atop a massive boulder on the trail to the river. It doesn't get much better then that. The splendor of God's Creation is unavoidable at this place. The mission of The Wilderness is to give you a place to worship God (at little or no expense). It is an awesome ministry and if you want more info. just let me know.

The river :)

We had a beautiful hike to the river (even though you were dying on the way back)

Group photo!

"I hold, without appeal to revelation, that when we take a view of the Universe, in its parts general or particular, it is impossible for the human mind not to perceive and feel a conviction of design, consummate skill, and indefinite power in every atom of its composition. It is impossible, I say, for the human mind not to believe that there is, in all this, design, cause and effect, up to an Ultimate Cause, a Fabricator of all things from matter and motion."

Thomas Jefferson

Awesome news!!!!!

Guess who's flying to Ghana on Aug. 18th? That's right, Mama and Marigrace have tickets reserved and will be coming home with the babies on Aug 20!!! Mama got a call Thursday that Joha (one of our adoption advocates) was holding Jesse's passport in his hand, had looked it over three times for errors and everything was fine.

Man, God is good :) Thank you Jesus for Your blessings!

A disappointing update....

I don't have words better then my mother's for the sad news we heard a few days ago concerning Jesse's passport. Please be in prayer for our family and check out Mama's blog here to get the details.

Passport :)

I am upstairs at the moment. For the first time in way too long I can hear my mother laughing with sheer joy as she tells the good news to a friend on the phone. You know what the good news is if you know my mother at all. Our little boy has a passport. A little black book that will allow him to leave Ghana and arrive in America with no problems. The laughter dowstairs goes on.... :)

I can finally imagine myself at the airport, welcoming my new siblings home. I couldn't do that before today.... Thank you God! I thought that I would want to shout or scream with joy when we finally heard the news, yet instead I'm filled with a content calm. They will come home. I think we were all beginning to think (and fear) that they would remain in Ghana forever. Mama said her trip to see them seemed like a dream. No more. They are coming home!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

The post I didn't want to do...

Making a post for the Carpenters for Christ LA mission trip means that it's over, the end, finished. I didn't want to accept that so I put off posting about it. I have now realized that I have great photos and awesome memories and I need to share them. God did a great work in and through every person who went to help Beulah Land Baptist Church in Haughton, LA. I can say with confidence that we all left changed people, ready to serve the LORD in our Jerusalem.

Here are a few photos....

The roofers were blessed with overcast skies on Monday and were able to knock out those shingles in no time.

Hard working girls

Special friends


This is one unstoppable crew!



Final day group photo :)

Let the fun begin!!

I've never seen that much insulation in my life! A day of working with that lovely stuff means a cold shower at the end of the day :)

Beulah Land Baptist Church

Fun times :)

Thank you Jesus for bringing together an unlikely group of people and using them to further your kingdom. The building that we helped construct is just that, a building. The people who gather inside that building to worship You and learn about You will become the church. Bless Beulah Land Baptist Church as they strive to reach their community. Give them strength as they do Your will.

For Sarah

Below is an amazing arrangemant of Love Story (Taylor Swift) and Viva La Vida (Cold Play) by Jon Schmidt. This song is dedicated to his little girl, Sarah.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

The first five lines of this poem (the fifth line especially) remind me very much of my Mama. She is the bravest woman I know and yet would never consider herself so; her mercy is abundant but she never forsakes justice. Right now Mama's heart is torn between two children in Africa, a husband and seven children in her home and the reminder that her oldest child is about to leave for her own home 400 miles away. This will be an exciting and enriching year (it already has been) but it as not been without heartache and great faith on the part of my Mama.

I love you Mommy and pray for your strength. This poem gives me a vivid picture of your walk with Christ and I pray that I may emulate it in my own life.

When the weather's not so fair....

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare
This is where the rubber meets the road
This is where the cream is gonna rise
This is what you really didn't know
This is where the truth don't lie

You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

When the water's high
When the weather's not so fair
When the well runs dry
Who's gonna be there?

You find out who your friends are

If you've been keeping up with my mom's blog (Streams of Joy) you know all about the outpouring of blessings our family has received for the adoption process. Gifts have come from friends we haven't seen in years, family members who live in other states, friends and family from our community and church and anonymous donors that will never reveal themselves.

It's hard to remember when but I do believe that about two weeks ago we were still unsure of how and when the adoption fees were going to be paid. As of today every single fee has been met ( with gifts and grants), Mama has flight plans (the tickets were also paid for by friends and family and our Grandmother even gave us snacks for the little one's on their flight home), and just yesterday we were given three different gifts from fellow brothers and sisters in Christ which amounted collectively to $500.00.

God is showing my family just who our friends are. Without Him working through them we would still be worrying about a $3000.00 fee that hadn't been met. We felt as if our well had run slap dry, but God knew better. It was as if He looked around and said with a smile "Hey y'all, watch this."

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow.

Missed Opportunity

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas A. Edison

My Mama is going to Ghana!

Within hours my mom will be holding these precious babies in her arms! No longer will they simply be faces on pictures. She will hear their voices and their laughter, kiss their faces and hold their hands! What an awesome God we serve. The adoption process has seemed to be a dream until now. They are coming home in a matter of months, no doubt about it! Thank you dear Jesus!

This is Home
Now I'm finally where I belong
Where I belong
Yeah this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it
Yeah this is home

~ Switchfoot

2008. What a Year

December has been a full month! I can't believe it's 2009 already. Each year seems to fly by faster and faster, bringing changes that we would never have foreseen.

Never would I have thought that....

My oldest sister would become engaged...



My family and I would become involved in the process of adopting two children from Ghana...



I would be blessed with the chance to study under the most amazing piano professor...



I would become even closer to my sisters...



And above all other changes, I would make the most important decision of my life; a decision that made Jesus Lord of my life and left me without a shadow of a doubt that I will meet my Saviour in heaven.

Thank you Jesus for this year, 2008, that you have blessed me with. I love You and can't wait to use the year 2009 to serve You with my whole heart. Direct my steps as I follow Your Light. I love You.

Amen. {Let it be}