Category Archives: Day in the Life October. It’s always one of my favorite months of the year. The changing of colors before the cold…leaves falling–while in reality much is preparing to be still for winter…there’s so much beauty in Fall. Richard turns 39 this October…and I follow close behind–beginning our very last year in our sweet thirties. That even feels a bit […] In a world filled with so much heartbreak, sin and disappointment…THIS… “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 The news. Today. Everything around us–sometimes–appears…broken. Isaiah 40: 31…”but they […]  Today I got to catch up with my dear friend Kristin. We met through a ministry mutual friend–and oh my…this girl has challenged my faith, spurred me on closer to the cross and reminded me of many things–like “God’s got this”…only she shares it in a different phrase—hilarious–much better–and a God story to go with […]  Just a quick family update–because I rarely have time to update as we are chasing 5 littles! This weekend Cousin Emily got married–and Loo-bear was the flower girl. P-man and Frankie baby participated in the fun! AND Zeke and Isaac went off for the FIRST time together to Nana and Papa’s…Zeke’s FIRST weekend away since […] Wow….I am impressed at your ability to control your emotions when your little guy said that about his little brother! I’d have been blubbering all over the place!! Haha!! The church. The people. Community. Missions. Orphan Care. The poor. The world. All of these–require a key thing to do things right. It’s what Jesus came for. It’s what He died for. And it’s a single word. Relationship. It seems like every time I open my computer, Facebook or whatever–there’s another article being circulated how […] Andrea, thanks for writing this! Very encouraging and refreshing to see positive talk about the church. I find it to be true that all too often there’s too much talk and not enough action. It’s amazing that God’s work prevails despite anyone’s lack of involvement or disagreement – which is a testament in itself to God’s goodness! Praise God! Yes, yes, and YES!!! Thank you so much for sharing this. I am so weary of the judgment and negativity and finger pointing. This is so timely. I’m crying over the fact that someone took time to write this! Truth! What a breath of fresh air! Great job!!! Way to be bold. This is truth. We have been focusing too much on people’s issues and mistakes and when we do that, it takes our eyes off of Jesus. We are called to share his love, not point out everyone’s mistakes and try and fix them. This does nothing but cause hurt and like you said, fear. We are all human, and we will all fail from time to time. I believe it breaks Gods heart more than anything to see the church divided and see Christians focused on other Christians mistakes and trash. We all have some sort of trash that Jesus already paid the price for! . We need to get back to sharing His love and fixing our eyes on Him and not nitpicking others mistakes so much! This has been on my heart a lot lately as well. Great job! “I want to pick a fight because I want someone else’s suffering to matter more to me. I want to slug it out where I can make a meaningful difference. God says He wants us to battle injustice, anyone who gets distracted with the minutiae of this point or that opinion is tagging out of the real skirmish. God wants us to get some skin in the game and to help make a tangible difference.” – Bob Goff #lovedoes Amen. Thank you Andrea!! LOVE YOU!!! This means so much to me! I have been so discouraged lately with all the negativity towards the church and adoption. And, a small part of me wondered if I was doing the wrong thing (the enemy). This spoke so much truth and gave me so much encouragement that “yes”, God is for adoption! You are NOT crazy, you are RIGHT, sister! The enemy’s most successful tactic is to destroy the church from within! Way to preach TRUTH! Thank you for being a voice for so many! I have heard enough negative, unproductive, self righteous, attention seeking, chatter. So sad to see the enemy using believers to stifle the good works of their brothers and sisters are doing! Andrea, you have spoken so well of the Bride. We must never forget that the Church (even the ones we disagree with!) is who Jesus died for–the ones he is coming back for. I so appreciate how you are honoring His Bride, for I believe it is never in Jesus’ heart to dishonor the ones he loves, as is so common. Well done friend! YEAH! Standing and cheering… and some tears of celebration. Thank you, thank you. Thanks so much, Andrea, for this. When I read all the negativity that’s circulating, I wish people could come and see what God is doing where I work in Uganda. And everywhere the stories are repeated. He is the Redeemer, and He is at work redeeming His lost world, calling people from every nation to Himself, and using His imperfect church to do it. So exactly what I needed to hear! This is so encouraging to me! I wrote you an email about how I was fearful about adopting for the wrong reasons. Really, it was just the enemy putting people in my path to discourage me. I needed this today! <3 You nailed it with this post,Andrea. God is doing such good work through the Holy Spirit with you and your family. Saying ,Yes, My Lord…is action packed. One day years ago 20 or so , we got a call from David Hicks. He was watching 2 girls struggling using a pay phone . He pulled over to help them . They had suitcases with them . They were from Antigiua. They were legally here but clueless of how to cope with life in America. That one intersection was more cars than they had seen in their lifetime. Dave call me and and shared that these girls had no place to stay . He was going to his church to ask for anyone to give them a home to stay in until they got there feet on the ground. He wanted to know if we could put the girls in our home until the church responded. I VERY reluctantly said yes. I truly wished I had not picked up the phone (no caller ID’s ) Dave said , you and Doc have a big home and it sure would be a blessing …Mary and Dave had refugees staying in their home. I told Doc that night and assured him it was temporary.It ended up years and years that they lived with us . We sent both of them to nursing school ,they both got married. They also had other church friends of theirs move in . AT one time we had 5 Antiguan’s . They all had jobs . They lived with us for almost 10 years and one never left so she is going on 19 years. No rent is charged, they are family. You , Andrea , are such a cool person. You do it ,girl . |
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Love this, love her heart and love God and His creativity.
Wow. Just, wow. Such a beautiful story and challenge to each of us!! Thank you for sharing!!!
Wow. Thank you for sharing this story. It challenges me on so many levels.
Andrea- I read this once this morning, and then went to re-read it to my kids, and couldn’t finish because I was crying so hard. My husband finished reading the story. Not a dry eye in the house. What a great way to start the morning! I then watched Lupita Nyongo’o’s speech on “beauty” at the Essence awards, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPCkfARH2eE). I cried again. “You can’t eat beauty, it won’s sustain you, compassion is what sustains you”. What a great Monday! God is SO good, and people never cease to amaze me with their big hearts. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! This story blessed me today!
Wow, thank you for sharing. Such a beautiful example of how God just wants to LOVE people through us. Loved this story.