Sunday afternoon

We got to meet our kids this afternoon.  It was amazing!  Big E ran to me immediately and wanted me to pick him up and he didn’t want to get down for a long time.  We played in a courtyard with all of the kids from the orphanage and had a great time.  It is staggering the number of children in a small space and it is heartbreaking how these kids long for someone to come and get them.  We gave Big E a picture book of our family and he wouldn’t put it down.  Then, we left and went to the hospital to see Little E.  I was not emotionally prepared to see a hospital in Ethiopia.  Little E is in much worse shape than we had hoped.  She is the size of a 9 month old and barely able to hold her head up.  She was very lethargic and not very responsive to sounds or movement.  However, there is a beautiful nanny who has stayed with her for the last 2 ½ weeks and loves her like a grandchild.  Little E still has a nose tube for feeding.  While we were at the hospital, the folks from the orphanage started what could best be described as a freestyle rap session beat to which Big E showed off some mad dance skills - I can’t wait to post the video when we get home.  I’ll teach him English and he can teach me to dance. Best part was that it brought a smile to Little E. We are meeting with her doctor tomorrow and hope to gain some more information about her condition.  We were told that the doctor is going to try and expedite her adoption process so that she can receive better care.  Big E cried when we left – our hearts break for this little guy who has dealt with so much suffering both personal and watching his sister.  Unfortunately, the internet connection is too slow for us to send pictures.

 

We are amazed and thankful for the love and care that the orphanage workers and director have for these orphans.  I can only imagine the eternal reward that they will receive in heaven.

 

Please pray for Little E to recover and for the government to look favorably on her case.  Please pray that I will be an understanding husband to Ashley – this is so hard for anyone but for a mom to see her child in that condition is terribly difficult.

 

His,

jb

Sunday morning

God is good. We arrived late last night along with all of our bags.  Last night was crazy navigating the airport and customs. We got to sleep around 11pm. We were awakened with the Muslim calls to prayer at 4:45am. As the loud speakers throughout the city echoed with chants and prayers for 45 minutes, we prayed and thanked God for His mercy towards us. Thankfully, God put us back to sleep when the chants stopped. He was so kind to do so. We're struggling a bit with jet lag and altitude (Addis is at 8,300ft) but nothing serious. We went to church this morning. It was good to say to God corporately what we had been saying privately. The sermon was encouraging from Matthew 5 about the command to rejoice in persecution because we are blessed. The best news today is we are leaving in 15 minutes to meet our kids to see Big E at the orphanage and Little E at the hospital.

 

Tasting and seeing His goodness,

jb

Saturday night

It’s 7:11pm on Saturday evening and we’re at 37,000 ft.  I just looked up at the flight map monitor and saw we were over Southern Sudan.  My brother and friend, Peter Swann, has given his life for the people of this new nation.  As we fly over, I am challenged again by his words at the Aid Sudan banquet a few weeks ago that we should have joy-filled anguish for the lost.  What looks like empty dry desert to me from the airplane window is home to some of the most neglected and persecuted people groups in the world.  I am praying for the people of Southern Sudan their new found national freedom would be an impotence for an awesome work of God among them.  Oh God make their souls pant for You as a deer pants for water! 

 

His, jb

Guten Morgen!

We are sitting in the Frankfurt airport awaiting our flight to Addis Abba. We are grateful for a few hours of sleep. I spent the periods between the naps praying that our luggage would make it to Addis with us. I'd be happy to wear my favorite pair of shorts and comfortable polo for the whole trip but we have 4 75lb duffle bags packed with things for the orphanage. It's the stuff we take for granted, like shoes and underwear. In the pictures of our son, he is wearing no socks and sandals too big for him. We solve that in Houston by driving 10 minutes to Stride Rite. After praying and thinking this way through the night, I woke up and read through Romans 8 and 2 Timothy 2. Our spiritual reality before our adoption was much worse than cold feet and bad shoes. We were slaves. Slaves to a master who desired to annihilate us. Thanks be to Him who adopted us as sons. He who adopted us calls us to live purposeful lives for His glory, like soldiers, farmers and athletes that Paul gives as an illustration (2 Tim 2). God grant us the strength to do as you call!

His,
jb

Pray For One Thing

We are at the airport about to get on our plane to Ethiopia and I just wanted to tell you some of our prayer requests. I really have 1.
1. This first prayer request is the foundation and filter of our other prayers. Please pray God would grant love, faith and joy in Jesus for the praise of His glory. not just more love, faith and joy for us but for us and you and my kids in Ethiopia, and my kids in Houston, and orphanage staff workers, and my parents, and our friends, and our kid's friends. We know this is the will of God for us. We do not know if health, or airplane flights on time are His will for us, but we know love, faith and joy are. I am praying our love for Jesus increases. I am praying He draws near to us and shows us more of His beauty. I pray our love for people increases. I pray our dependence on Him increases. I pray our trust in His goodness to us increases. I pray our joy in Christ increases as we experience His love and trust Him.
2. Please pray that our 2 children in Ethiopia would feel loved by us and by God.
3. Please pray we develop a good relationship with the orphanage manager and workers. Please pray we are able to meet with our children for more than 1 hour a day. We have heard this is determined by the orphanage director.
4. Please pray we pass court on May 18th. sometimes people do not pass court the first time.
5. Please pray our little Girl E continues to get better. We think she is still in the hospital, but off the feeding tube. She is continuing to get better.
6. Please pray we do the work of God He desires for us to do while we are there. We want to really sense from the Spirit the words or actions of faith He wants us to take. We feel like we are get to be the eyes for so many who would love to be in our spot. We want to see it well for you and communicate it well to you. This is a work of the Spirit.
7. We are going to get to meet our Compassion child, (we love Compassion International) and visit a compassion site next Thursday. Please pray for us to encourage their work and faith in Jesus.
8. Please pray for strength, faith and patience for my parents as they take care of my kids in Houston.
9. Pray that God would do a fresh work in us as we walk among orphans and the poor.

The Best Mother's Day Present!

Psalm 103: 2-5 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity,who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit,who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
This is the best mother's day gift. We just got this news tonight from the doctor in Ethiopia. We praise Jesus for healing our little girl in Ethiopia. It was so sweet of Him to show us His steadfast love and mercy through this.
Here's the note. 
"Edil is doing fine no diarrhea, no cough, no fever. She is taking food orally. Still there is NG tube feeding with her special milk. She has special attendant. Her checkup for TB is negative. Her leg edema has improved she lost like 300g because of this edema, but i am very hopeful that she will start putting in weight in few days."
Thank you, God for this precious gift for Mother's Day. I receive it as love and a glorious display of the riches of your mercy!
Jesus is the All-Satisfying Treasure!
Ashley 

She is improving. Join me in the fight for FAITH!

The doctor in Ethiopia said that our Baby E is still improving. Thank you so much God! All glory to you. Thank you for hearing us and choosing to answer us in this way. Her diarrhea has stopped. She is taking some feeding by mouth. She does not have a fever. She is coughing less. She still has an IV and needs the Kwashiokor milk. Please continue to pray for her healing and the presence of the Spirit to fill her with comfort. I have spent hours and hours today trying to figure out how to get her some vitamin supplements they requested. Please pray God would help.
I have to say that I am having to battle anxiety right now. I just wanted you to know that in the midst of this it can feel like the weight of the world is on our shoulders. I just got sick and have a fever. Jay has been sick. We are doing some remodeling to our house and we are putting in a new pool. This is the last 3 weeks of school for my kids. They have parties galore. We leave in a week and  a half for our court date in Ethiopia. All I want to do is stay on my knees for Edil. It is so cool how God uses trials to clarify what matters. I love times when I am so desperate I do not want to get off my knees.
So I am listening to Piper's series Battling Unbelief, http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/by-series/battling-unbelief, specifically the Anxiety sermon. They are may be my favorite Piper sermons, but I love 1 & 2 Peter.)  The Christian life is a fight for faith. 2 Tim 4:7 God commands us not  to be anxious but trust Him Matthew 6: 25,27, 31 and 34. The root of anxiety is unbelief in the promises of God. 2 Responses. 1. This is not good news. It is good news and bad news. Like finding out you have cancer. You need to know you have it so you can fight it before it kills you. 2. How can I have any assurance at all?
Listen to Piper and learn how to fight. "My answer to this concern goes like this: Suppose you are in a car race and your enemy who doesn't want you to finish the race throws mud on your windshield. The fact that you temporarily lose sight of your goal and start to swerve does not mean that you are going to quit the race. And it certainly doesn't mean that you are on the wrong racetrack. Otherwise the enemy wouldn't bother you at all. What it means is that you should turn on your windshield wipers and use your windshield washer.

What I mean is this: when anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God's glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked. At first blow our belief in God's promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line depends on whether we set in motion a process of resistance. Whether we fight back against anxiety. Will we turn on the windshield wipers and will we use our windshield washer?

The Testimony of Scripture

Psalm 56:3 says, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in thee." Notice: it does not say, "I never struggle with fear." Fear strikes and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike.

For example, 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you." It does NOT say, you will never feel any anxieties to cast onto God. It says, when the mud splatters your windshield and you lose temporary sight of the road and start to swerve in anxiety, turn on your wipers and squirt your windshield washer.

To the One Who Struggles Daily with Anxiety

So my response to the person who has to deal with feelings of anxiety every day is to say: that's more or less normal. The issue is how you deal with them.

And the answer to that is: you deal with anxieties by battling unbelief. And you battle unbelief by meditating on God's Word and asking for the help of his Spirit. The windshield wipers are the promises of God that clear away the mud of unbelief. And the windshield washer fluid is the help of the Holy Spirit.

Without the softening work of the Holy Spirit the wipers of the Word just scrape over the blinding clumps of unbelief. Both are necessary—the Spirit and the Word. We read the promises of God and we pray for the help of his Spirit. And as the windshield clears so we can see the welfare that God plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11), our belief grows strong and the swerving of anxiety smoothes out."

What an amazing word. May we use the trust His promises in scripture with the power of the Holy Spirit. Use your windshield wipers and wiper fluid when anxiety attacks. 

Hear Piper model how to fight for Faith:

• When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with the promise: "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand" (Isaiah 41:10).
• When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise, "So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not come back to me empty but accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).
• When I am anxious about being too weak to do my work, I battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9), and "As your days so shall your strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25).
• When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, "I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).
• When I am anxious about facing opponents, I battle unbelief with the promise, "If God is for us who can be against us!" (Romans 8:31).
• When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise that "tribulation works patience, and patience approvedness, and approvedness hope, and hope does not make us ashamed" (Romans 5:3–5).
• When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, "Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" (Isaiah 46:4).
• When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that "none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living" (Romans 14:9–11).
• When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promise, "He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:6). "He who calls you is faithful. He will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). "He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).]

I am printing this out and using it to fight for faith in Christ tomorrow. Trusting that when I seek Him first all these things will be added unto me in the exact measure He desires!

Thank you Father, for your great and precious promises. You are Faithful!

Jesus is the All-Satisfying Treasure!

Ashley