Yes – Page 8 – Wide Awake International

Category: Yes

Orphan CareYes

Back in the Saddle

LOOK WHAT CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!! I know, I know, it may not seem like a big deal, but to me this is huge! Ever since I was 13 years old I’ve been traveling the world. All through high school I spent my summers going overseas on mission trips. I chose the college I attended based on their summer missions program. I married into a family of missionaries. Jed traveled to Europe serving with his dad. Jed and I have led several teen and adult teams on missions. We have a huge world map on our wall and people we love all over the world. We fancy ourselves the vagabond hippy type (with a mortgage and 4 kids in tow)….hmmm…..

Four years ago we visited my in-laws in Kosova and shortly after that, our passports expired. That was devastating to me. Not just that it costs an arm and a leg to renew them (ugh), but that we didn’t have a great urgency or need to renew them right away. We knew God wanted us here where we are and we weren’t going anywhere soon. He called us to the foster babes of our city and our heart was here with them. He called us to a local church where we have grown, loved, and been loved. It was a fabulous time of loving babies and raising up our own, but it felt like a part of us- or a part of who we dreamed God had created us to be was put on hold- maybe forever. I know I sound a bit melodramatic, but that’s how I get about my dreams. It’s the high school drama nerd in me. 🙂 We were willing to go and God had us here. What’s up with that???

Fast-forward to January when God starts to stir up a season of change in us, then we commit to the sweetie overseas, and then that falls through- but God does not. He is leading us and guiding us in the manner He knows we will follow. He’s smart like that. We don’t know what the end result is, but we know we must obey or miss the adventure of a lifetime. So we’re going. We’re going overseas in April. Yep, that’s right! We’re headed to Eastern Europe to scope things out and see what the Father would have us do. We’re lining up contacts right now, people who are doing awesome orphan care, and seeing if we can meet and chat. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel, we simply want to see what God is doing and what part He may want us to play. We’ve got some pretty big ideas and dreams and no idea if they could be reality, but God knows. Perhaps He’s leading us there to meet our next child? Perhaps He’s leading us there so we can come back and put fire under the feet of the believers here in our town? Perhaps He’s leading us there to help for good? We don’t know, but we’re excited to find out!

If you would pray for us we’d sure appreciate it. Specifically, we need to know who God wants us to meet with so we can set those things in motion. We’ve put lots of feelers out there, but want God’s ultimate plan to come to pass.

More to come!

kimnjed September 23, 2011 2

Orphan CareYes

Changing Directions

I need to get better about this blogging thing…I know there aren’t many (or any!) people reading it at this point, but somehewere down the line I’ll want to go back and remember this journey.

The winds are changing! We had thought we would start to pursue another child, but things might be heading in another direction. I just wrote about it in an email to someone who really has inspired us along this journey, so rather than writing it all over again, I’ll just paste in part of my email.

“I have to share with you what God has been doing since things changed directions with our RR sweetie. So, of course at first we were super sad and confused. What was God speaking? It was obvious He moved mountains to make J’s adoption happen (for his adoptive family), then why did we feel like He had told us to commit? We waited on Him and prayed, and continue to pray and wait.

This is what we know: God used J to turn our eyes in the direction of the Eastern European orphan. He used him to turn our hearts in that direction. I believe we had to commit to a child for our hearts to fully turn. Does that make sense? My heart was broken before, but when you commit to a child you give them your heart, and that was a game-changer for us. Our foster care adoption has been drama after drama and honestly we had gotten a bit jaded. J opened our hearts again to the plight of the orphan.

Ever since before we were married we have both desired to minister overseas. I worked for a missions department in college and we have led several trips overseas, my inlaws are missionaries, our hearts are abroad. We’ve asked God time and time again when we would get to go and always felt He had us where He wanted us in the US. After things fell through with J, I instantly started looking for another child. Jed was not so sure. He works in early childhood attachment and development stuff, I’m a pediatric nurse…Jed asked the question “what if this is our time to go?” I know it might sound crazy…but we are willing. I know in that country there are cultural difference and mindsets dating back for hundreds of years. I know it’s not a matter of just training orphanage staff to do better, it’s a matter of a nation seeing the value of life, that everyone is child of God and He does not make mistakes. I’ve emailed some with Andrea G and she told me some of the reality of trying to help in the orphanages. The problem seems impossible, but that is when God does his best work, right?

Our heart, Lord willing, is to join forces with people who are doing the work of helping these children. We want to use our education and skills to help, but also somehow help in mobilizing the church to do what the Lord has commanded in caring for the orphans. The church could do so much more than just the 2 of us. I have no stinkin idea how this will play out, or what God has in mind, but our vision is big and our hearts are open. We simply want to hear God’s voice and obey. We would love to visit Eastern Europe in March or April of next year to scout out what God might be saying and maybe meet some contacts.

Things have turned out different on this journey than we thought, but through that experience God has awakened old passions and dreams that we thought we had to put on the shelf for life. He is good and His love never fails.”

So, that’s it in a nutshell. Like I said, we have no idea how this will all play out! We are willing. We desire to have our lives count for something. I don’t want to live for comfort. I don’t want to look back at our lives when are old and have regrets of what life could have been like if we would have lived radically for Him. I don’t want to hold anything back. Lord willing our kids will watch our lives, live it with us, and see His Kingdom come and His will be done.

kimnjed July 18, 2011 6