THE ADOPTERS, FIERCE AND UNTAMED

Wonderful to have our friend Nicol Cricket back with us at Hope at Home! Her post, Pregnancy of the Heart from last year really touched us. Originally from South Africa, living now in the UK, Nicol and her husband Thomas are parents of "the best two children in the whole world!" They have experienced the great lows of infertility, financial ruin, death of parents, Thomas going through heart failure resulting in receiving a pace maker; and they have lived in some awesome highs, the highest of which is the adoption of her two children. To date they have adopted two children from South Africa, Noa-Joy their daughter who is African and is seven years old, and their son Elijah who is four and is of mixed race--with many more still in their hearts.

~Still time to take advantage of our Early Bird Registration Rate for Hope at Home 2013, September 27-28!

The Adopters: Fierce and Untamed

I have been hearing a lot about faith lately and what is required to have it. The word "brave" seems to go hand in hand with the word faith.

One of the definitions of brave is to feel the fear and do it anyway. Another is fierce or untamed. I like to put the two words together that to be brave would be to have untamed fierceness inside of you; and that if you possessed those qualities there would be little that you could not do. When I think of the ones in my life who demonstrate these qualities of untamed bravery, of fierce living, it would be the ones who loved outside of themselves, who risked much, who opened their hearts, who felt the fear and did it any way--The Adopters.

Fierce living is something that cannot be contained or calmed down, and won’t be reserved. It’s the passion that is unleashed when you find yourself out of control, vulnerable even exposed. Sound familiar? I ran into a place like that not too long ago when we met a social worker in her office to discuss adoption. I felt out of control (playing the waiting game), vulnerable (at the hands of another to be approved acceptable to adopt), exposed (revealing every aspect of my life that was asked of me). A lot of people have asked me how I continued the process, and often will call me brave. I used to brush it off and say, "Not really. You just go on."
But since this has been mulling around in me and I have gone deeper into the meaning of being brave, I have understood that in order to advance the kingdom, untamed bravery is required. Matthew 11:11-12 says that the kingdom of God is advancing violently and it is violent men who take hold of it. The children that God has blessed us with, our adopted children, are the ones who can’t get to us on their own; it is us who need to go and get them-- "to take hold" of them. 

Pushing Through

You see it is this fierce living, this untamed bravery, that empowers you to push pass all the barriers in order to get what God has planned for you. Sometimes there is pain along the way, disappointment and delays. You have to push through all of that, because it is untamed bravery that you possess, allowing you to feel compassion. Compassion is a place where you decide to love anyway, regardless of the situation. Even when you are scared or feel powerless, compassion enables you to press in to places you would normally avoid because of the fear or powerlessness you feel. 

The enemy is consistently trying to paralyze me with fear, making me feel powerless. The scriptures say that I am a co- heir with God and that I partner with Him. In order for me to do this, that is play a role as a co-laborer in obtaining my inheritance, I need to have compassion--fierceness mixed with love. When I am compelled by love I will push through the wall of fear that is keeping from me the hidden treasures that God has in store for me. 
I will see the social worker as being on my side to advance the kingdom. I will pray brave prayers of moving papers into the right hands, divine appointments and favor. Instead of seeing orphanages as desperate places, government red tape as powerless situations that cause fear and beckon me to retreat, I want to be motivated by Kingdom compassion, by this fierce love that refuses to be contained or tamed and presses right through the wall of fear to receive all the victories God has for me.

Untamed Bravery and Co-laboring

I know that I am preaching to the choir, because you who have already advanced the kingdom of God by taking care of the orphans and widows already possess untamed bravery. I don’t think we can encourage each other enough to keep up the good fight we started, and to keep living this life of fierceness, choosing kingdom compassion to drive us forward into all that God has for us. I want to honor you for your bravery. And when you are at your low point and the fiery darts of the enemy are shooting at you, my hope is that you will remember that you are a co-heir and have a role to play. Your role and mine is to posses kingdom compassion, which is fierce love, and to remember that God has placed untamed bravery inside of us. You will push through the obstacles to obtain all that God has for you. For without you there would be no process called Adoption. 
Thank you for your Untamed Bravery!

~For ongoing suport and encouragement, find us on Facebook.

ORPHANS NO MORE!

This post will be mostly photos, but oh how true it is that a picture is worth 1000 words. No matter who you are, these photos from H@HKids! will lift your spirits as you see with your own eyes the Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8:15) at work. Beautiful, Powerful, Awesome! Beloved Sons and Daughters!
Keep scrolling down to see them all--we don't want you to miss what Father God is saying through these images. Laura Means and Ruth Holleman captured some of the Father's Heart for His children. 

So, first off we got the children checked in:

Our team had lots of fun with the FAB Children (foster, adopted, and bio):

Worship was lead by Emma Templeton, a bio daughter with 4 adopted siblings:

Our team prepared a few skits for the children about their IDENTITY as Children of the One True God, interspersed with testimonies from young adults from adoptive families. 

Jenni Means shared The Truth About Lies with the kids. 

There was something powerful about seeing our team, some of whom are adoptees themselves, love on these children:

It was really moving to see each child take their "hello my name is" tag on which they'd written one lie that they have believed about themselves and put it on the cross, exchanging that lie for the truth God was showing them:

And our favorite part of all, the Date With God. To see a room full of children quietly listening to the Lord and interacting with Him in times of encounter--now that right there is the Spirit of Adoption at work! They prayed for the nations, read God's word, sat in His lap, painted what He said about them, shared their own and prayed for others' prayer requests, received a blessing and prayer as they had their hands washed.