So as I said we went to Chic-fil-@ so the kids could play, this was not our local Chic-fil-@ but one in a town over as we had stopped at the library in that town first. We met a sweet little guy there named Jacob and the kids had a blast together. He said he wished he had a little brother named Noah , I asked him if he had any brothers and sisters and he said no. Thoughts start running through my head I wondered if I met his mom maybe she would be interested in getting together to play. As we were about to leave he asked if we came there often and when would we be coming back (Awwwwe......). I knew I needed to meet his mom. I asked him to point her out she was sitting just outside the room at the tables talking with his Grandma. When I got closer I noticed she was wearing a "Help Haiti" T-shirt!
For those that don't know these shirts were started by our worship leader after the earth quake hit Haiti. They had just adopted their daughter from Haiti but were still waiting on the adoption of their son to go through (which was being held up by red tape) when the quake hit. While fighting to find a way to bring their son home they came out with these shirts and 100% of the profits go to serving the people of Haiti.You can check it all out here http://helphaitishirt.com/
Anyways already feeling the connection I introduce my self and we get to chit chatting and she mentions that they are in the process of adopting! I asked her if she knew about the adoption conference in October that our church is hosting http://www.togetherforadoption.org/?p=7165 and she says she does! That they know the Ivey's (our worship leader) and Matt Carter (our pastor @ the stone) SMALL WORLD! We talk some more I told her of our plans to adopt from China through the waiting child program. Here is the kicker....her husband is the pastor at Riverstone and they JUST had team get back from China who were serving at an orphanage and THIS Sunday they would be presenting on it!!!You could have knocked me over with a feather! She went on to say that many of the children were still on the waiting child list and adoptable. We exchanged phone numbers and we have been chatting through f@cebook, we have become instant friends and it feels like we have known each other forever!
So today we came to their church and it was such a blessing! The young man who shared about the trip really blessed my heart. He shared on behalf of the group videos and pictures and stories, his open heart, humility and honesty tugged so heavily on my heart. The strong point of the message was suffering. Which could not have been anymore perfect. It seems this subject seems to have been coming up a lot in our lives lately and I think it is often misunderstood. It was a great message that made you look into your own heart and reflect and refocus.I am going to devote a separate blog to this message because it was so good and SO NEEDED!
I just can't believe (but I can ;) ) how amazing God is to work and connect people and hearts. Ever sense we took the first step in this journey God has been surrounding and sending people and events in our lives like this. He is spurring our hearts on and answering those prayers for signs and confirmations. My prayer is that we too can be that for others in this journey.Never ending... even after all is said and done and Selah Joy is home and in our arms.
