Beautifully Derailed: Save the Date!!!

So, yes, I actually do still have a blog, but it’s been months and months since I posted anything here. Life with three kiddos has happened, and it’s kept us more than a little busy. No complaints, though. We are blessed beyond measure by these three entrusted to us.

I opened my TimeHop app this morning and it pulled up a blog I posted three years ago today. We were twelve days from meeting Addie. It was a time of great excitement and anticipation. We had begun the adoption process two years earlier, and the wait had become excruciating. I wrote that day, “ Addie turned six months old this week on the third, and while it was painful to not be there with her to kiss her cheeks, it is really quite remarkable to know that the Lord of All is there with her, watching over her, providing for her. It’s a real exercise of trust to not be able to physically care for your child and rest in the fact that He is capable. Addie (and also Payton) is always His before she is ours. I pray I never forget that.” He answered my prayer- not really in the way I would have preferred at the moment, but in the best way- His way. I will not forget that she is His. I cannot. If I forget that she is His, I am in despair and without hope. Knowing she is His is what allows me to accept that she will never be home. It’s why I can go to bed in peace at night. Unbeknownst to me when I wrote that blog, this exercise in trust will continue as long as we live. As I reread the blog this morning, I could hear Billy singing in the background, “When peace like a river, attendeth my soul; When sorrows, like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, It is well with my soul…” This journey with (and without) Addie has taught us to say with blessed assurance, “It is well.”

I was about to begin writing this blog after reading the old one, when the Holy Spirit reminded me I hadn’t even opened the Word this day, and I’ve learned that writing without first going to Him is never a good idea. I opened a devotional app on my phone, and the first words on the screen were from Krista Williams, “God wants to use the painful places in our lives as a gateway into His presence.” And then Genesis 28:16, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” Losing Addie was, without question, the most difficult and painful experience of my life to date, but I can look back and offer thanksgiving, even through the tears, because I know that the Lord was with me in that place. I know, with a grateful heart, that this road is what drew me into the presence of God in ways I had never before experienced.

There are countless ways the Lord has redeemed our pain, and we know that He has entrusted to us a precious testimony of His goodness and faithfulness in dark times. We also know that our time with Addie and her birthmother was a gift that opened our eyes and helped us see, up close and personal, a huge need in our world.

When we went to Ethiopia the second time, to meet our precious Ellie, we were sitting in the van one day in the capital city of Addis, when a young woman came to the window with a tiny baby strapped to her back. She was begging for money and food and the pain in her eyes was intensely clear. The grief that hit me was overwhelming. I felt like I was looking into the eyes of Addie’s mother. I felt like that baby was my once joy-filled, sweet Addie, staring at me with hollow eyes and gaunt cheeks. I knew that moment, that God had a plan for this pain we had experienced, and it went far beyond me, Addie, or Ellie.

I have prayed for two years that God would bless us with the opportunity to help women around the globe who are in similar situations to Addie’s mother- women who need dignified work to provide for their children, women who are alone and hurting, women who need Jesus.

It was these prayers that lead us to helping a young woman by the name of Eyerusalem through Eyes that See. (http://anotherbakerbaby.blogspot.com/2014/10/remembering-addie.html) That has been such a privilege. However, the Spirit was still pushing me with, “there’s more…”

My dear friend, Jenny, recently said to me, “I wonder how the world would be different if everyone had an Addie?” She said it in passing, and probably doesn’t even remember saying it, but it has rung in my heart repeatedly since that night. I do have an Addie. I have a child who has changed the way I see others and the world around me. The Lord used Addie to change my heart and attitude. But I have to ask myself, Has this change in my heart driven me, in turn, to change the world?

We are seeing the Lord begin to help us dream of new ways to help the countless “Addie’s” and their mommies. The Lord has blessed me with a vision for what could be a tremendous opportunity for myself and my friends (and your friends, and their friends, and their momma’s friends…) to make a difference in the lives of women here in the United States and around the world. Drumroll, please… Cue Clark Griswold…. “Joy to the world…!”

Announcing:

Addie's Christmas Shop-

Goods from the Globe, Good for the Globe

Ummmm, what?, you ask. Allow me to expound. Over the past couple years I have come across so very many amazing ministries that teach women artistic skills and business tactics and that then allow them to work and provide for their families. Billy and I have purchased items from nine different organizations (so far, with more to come) that work with women in eleven different countries, US included, giving them dignified work and hope in Jesus. At Addie’s Christmas Shop, (which will be November 21 at our home) you will have the opportunity to purchase these items from us, and all the proceeds will be going to the Oldham County's Crossroads Pregnancy Resource Center and Lifeline’s ministry, (un)Adopted. Do you buy gifts for teachers, babysitters, secretaries, your mail carrier, hair stylist, ANYONE? Need stocking stuffers? This is the place! Imagine if instead of all those $10 Starbucks cards you buy, you spend your money on an apron made by woman in Uganda, who can now feed her babies because of your purchase! Imagine buying an adorable doll made by a woman in Moldova, and teaching your children the value in giving back! When you buy a necklace from China for your sister, you are giving hope to a family in desperate need. Each gift you purchase connects you and your recipient to a woman in the country where it was made, and then to a woman in the country to which the proceeds are going.

I am really praying that my home is busting at the seams with women who want their Christmas shopping to mean something this year. Or of course, the jewelry, scarves, purse, etc. they're wearing themselves to mean something… shopping for yourself is also permitted/encouraged. :) I will be sending out invitations soon and would love to know if you're interested in receiving one! Let me know if you would like one by mail, email, or Facebook, or all of the above, if you're super forgetful like me. Bring your momma, your sister, your bff, your small group, your whole neighborhood- just let me know so I can have enough products to purchase and a cup of coffee and some yummy treats ready for you to munch on while you shop!

We are super excited about how God is going to use Addie's Christmas Shop, and we hope you will join us for a great evening! Go ahead and mark your calendars, save the date now for November 21st! For now, I'll leave you with this teensy sneak peek of some of the goods!