The Ripple Effect

I just love the way God reveals things to me sometimes.

He just KNOWS me.

He made me who I am.

He called me.  Personally.  Specifically.

He called you too, ya know?

But for me He showed me something very profound 

(at least to simple-ol'-me)

God, in His great wisdom gives us opportunities to see His hand...

intervening in situations on our behalf...

Closing doors to which is not the way He wants us to go...

Opening doors that could never be opened without Holy intervention...

and this week He has allowed me to see His "Ripple Effect" 

and He is showing me this in His heart

and best of all, giving me the privilege to let it flow through me.

I will try my best to put into words what the Father is showing me

but grace is requested - this is still fresh for me.

We all know how a ripple looks when a drop hits the water, right?

What we do causes ripples as well. 

For good.  For bad.

r~i~p~p~l~e~s f~l~o~w f~r~o~m o~u~r a~c~t~i~o~n~s

If we 

argue

gossip

dishonor

nag

criticize

carry unforgiveness

hold grudges

and every other nasty attitude...

do you ever notice how that effects those around us?

 We create chaos in our lives, family, and relationships.

We feel drained...

Out of focus...

Scattered...

His holy calling is to be focused.

His holy Word is as one.

The Bible is called the Word of God.

not words... Word.  period.

That Word, as a single focused drop creates a clear, beautiful ripple.

 and that ripple spreads...

and spreads...

and spreads...

even past the point of our eye being able to detect it...

when our human eyes cannot see, it is still spreading.

If we don't get in the way or become an obsticle for it

the ripple will continue.

So this is me receiving the ripple sent by God

and allowing Him to let it pass through me and continue on.

A wonderful bloggy friend advocates for the orphan.

She shares the Father's heart for them - 

and keeps them in front of our eyes.

(cause if we see them and hear about them we can't say we didn't know...)

Her passion is contagious...

her love for these lost and forgotten is pure.

No matter what their "needs" may be

He has called us all to help...

to stand in the gap...

to advocate...

to pray....

to get beyond ourselves.

I once read that if you look at all of the "professing christians" in the US...

 and had only 6% of those who profess to be a follower to take in 1 child...

ONE CHILD

That we could obliterate the orphan crisis throughout the world.

Go back - read that again...

That figure brings a lump in my throat.

My eyes have been opened

and I will not allow them to be shut.

164,000,000 orphans worldwide

15,000 children die every day due to hunger

and we do....?

So this brings us to yesterday (wow - that was quite an intro, huh?)

sorry.  Well, not really... :o)

As many of you know, we foster a precious little girl who came to us broken and bruised.

Such abuse at the hand of her parents it is almost inconceivable.

Even worse, her twin sister received even more (unimaginable!)

My heart breaks at the thought of these beautiful healthy girls treated so brutally.

And at only 2 months old.

Saved.  Set apart by their Heavenly Father.

We are prayerfully waiting for them to become legally free...

and praying for the ability to adopt them both.

Despite her "special needs" we feel Him calling us to advocate for the one we don't have.

EVERYONE NEEDS A MOMMY!

So I continue to pray for the strength to do what He calls me to do.

and God brings another precious one into our path...

SKYLAR... a little one who was born at 24 weeks gestation...

she has possible genetic defects...

monitors and medicine...

therapies and doctors...

and I am so overwhelmed thinking that I don't know if I can handle this..

but still willing and yearning to be used by Him.

And then the ripple comes to me.

Through my bloggy friends post...

of a ripple that had come past her - she shared a post of a special needs child

who needed a family - and a family that stepped forward to give her (and her roommate!) a new family.

The words that were shared off of this woman's blog rippled straight into my spirit.

It spoke directly to what I am struggling with.

She shared,

On Sunday I told my husband "I have reasons not to move forward,
but not one of them can be supported by scripture 
and they all have to do with me." 

Wow.

That was so what I was feeling!

So now, as I pass on this ripple 

(more like get out of the way of His ripple)

I challenge us all.

Can we now take a new look at our decisions?

Can we take a new look at our actions?

Can we hold them up to the light of the scriptures to see His will?

My deepest desire is to let His light shine.

To fulfill what He has for me.

I am not worried about how it will happen

(I know He will always make a way when it is His will).

So today I am overwhelmed ...

by His love for all His children

seen and unseen by this world.

And I know He will give each of us the strength 

and the time

and the money

and whatever we have need of

to fulfill His will here on Earth.

  

Amen?  Amen!