World Changers

I LOVE our new t-shirts!! You should head over to the Ordinary Hero Store and get one for yourself! ordinaryherostore.org

OH is a fabulous organization that advocates for orphans all over the world - with a special emphasis in Ethiopia. They sell all sorts of apparel to help raise money for individual adoption funds.

I keep thinking about the message on these shirts - the message of adoption. Patrick's is the gray one that says, "I'm gonna change the world." This little boy that God led us across the country to find is definitely a world changer. Already I know of one adoption that has happened because of him. One little boy, born in the same city as our little guy, who now has a forever family because of our story. I have shared our story with countless others who have expressed the desire to adopt. Even just one child saved from the horrors of growing up without a family makes a huge difference. It changes the world - for ONE. That is the message on my shirt. "Change the world for ONE." God is so good at that. He changed eternity for us on the cross, and we come to Him one by one and accept that free gift of salvation. He used Moses, ONE baby saved from the jaws of death in the Nile River to set His people free. He used Mary, ONE young, scared teenage girl, to change the course of human history and carry the Son of God in her womb.

Patrick's story is so much bigger than our lives. So much bigger than our family. Our hope and prayer is that our story will change hearts - ONE at a time. That as we tell of the Grace that brought us together, that others will want to know this God. The one that sets the lonely in families. The one that has adopted us into His forever family. Our prayer is that many will see that though we had four children already, we knew that wasn't enough. Not as long as there were others who needed love. Daily I pray for God to lead us to the next ONE. Our son or daughter who I know is out there. Waiting for the love that can only be found in a family.

When I look into the eyes of this precious life, when I hear his infectious giggle, I wonder how anyone can doubt the power and goodness of our Savior. There is no way that out of the 147 million orphans in the world that we could have found our son without guidance from Him. And without a doubt Patrick is our son. Since before the foundations of the earth, he was meant for us. I know that, and I pray he never doubts that. I pray that the intense love we have for him would shine so bright in his life that it points him clearly to Jesus. The One who orchestrated it all.

I also pray, and I pray this in faith, believing that it will be accomplished- that his birth mom will come to know Jesus because of the little baby that she carried in her womb. My son. Our son. I pray daily for this beautiful lady, who chose LIFE. I pray that she will one day be granted eternal life through a saving knowledge of Christ. As we raise this little boy, we are training him to understand that her choice was utterly selfless. That in adoption, she gave him the gift of a family. We will give him the gift of hearing about Jesus.

Would you like to be a world changer? Would you consider changing the world - for ONE?