It takes a Village

 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring 

for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27

The excitement about the unknowns ahead and the adventure that awaits are all the buzz these days for us.  It is hard to tell who is more thrilled to add another arrow to our quiver, Nathan & Becca or Fenley. We can’t wait to see how God continues to weave this story of adoption together. The seed of adoption was planted within us when we were dating and it was awakened this year due to our

struggles with unexplained infertility over the last couple of years. God continues to work. Ever faithful.

We are FULL of anticipation as we await our son. There will be endless praise and glory to our great God along the way that is certain. We are also looking forward to the impact that our adoption has on the communities we are a part of here in Florida, middle Tennessee, and elsewhere. In order to begin this process, we need help. There’s no doubt that it takes a village to raise a child. We need our families, friends, and so many others to please unite and join us as a community of believers in praying. But we also need our community to prayerfully consider giving to this effort. In the first chapter of James the Word states that “pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” Not everyone feels called to adopt (we didn’t for quite some time), but anyone can be involved by prayers and gifts. The bottom line is that we need others to join us in this adventure. For some of you that’s through prayer (and maybe even fasting)  and for some of you that may be in giving. Honestly it is hard to ask others for help. At points we have hesitated to ask for help for fear of what others would think. Recently one of Becca’s mentors said “fear is false evidence appearing real…FEAR. And that is not from the Holy Spirit. We are called to have faith.” So here we are, laying down our pride and fear and joining the spirit of faith and peace. We are beyond thankful for the outpouring of support thus far. Your texts, calls, emails and messages have meant so much. Thank you for joining our team in this!

We want to share what we read recently in Kate Davis’ book Kisses from Katie. These words move us. They are full of truth. So “whoever has ears to hear, let them hear:”

Fear. It’s part of human nature, but it’s not something we got from God. Second Timothy 1:7 says: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” When I imagine God creating each one of us and planting a purpose deep in our hearts, I never imagine that purpose being mediocrity. While the Bible doesn’t tell every person on earth specifically what his or her life’s calling will be, it does include a lot of general direction:

“You are to find me in the least of these.” Yes

“You are to leave your earthly possessions and come follow me.” Yes

“You are to love and serve the Lord God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.” Yes

“You are to go and make disciples of all nations.” Yes

“You are to entertain strangers and lepers and tax collectors.” Yes

“You are to show mercy.” Yes                                         

“You are to live a life of mediocrity and abundance, holding on tight to your comfortable lifestyle,

lest you lose it.” NO

I don’t think so. Mediocrity and abundance aren’t there. However, mediocrity and abundance, comfort and ease, do seem to be safe choices for many people, myself included. In stark contrast, leaving our possessions, following Jesus when we don’t have a well-defined plan, and entertaining strangers – well, that does sound a little scary. But what if, just beyond that risk, just beyond the fear is a life better than anything we have ever imagined: life to the fullest. (pp 100-101, Davis)

We are embracing these words as our own. One of Becca’s favorite verses is John 10:10 “He came to give life, yes life to the fullest!” and this has not only become the key verse for RAVE Ministries but our family as well. We want to live a FULL LIFE.

Team D’s verse for 2015 is Hebrews 10:23 that says to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who promised is faithful! Many of you have joined us in prayer at 10:23am and we are so grateful for your prayers. Now we encourage you to be aware of arrows. Arrows seem to be “in” right now and for the last few months we have been seeing arrows everywhere. Psalm 127:4-5 refers to children being like arrows in the hands of mighty warriors and those that fill their quivers with them are blessed! So be on the lookout for arrows. When you see them – pray. Pray for and thank God for your own children and your future children as we are doing now.

Beginning tomorrow, for the month of August we are launching an online campaign to raise money for our adoption. If you feel led to give to this effort, please visit our Team Daniel YouCaring page. Sharing our story with others and pointing them to our You Caring page would be a blessing. Very soon, we will also have bracelets and tshirts available. Many of you are already wearing the bracelets proudly. These will serve as prayer reminders and a witness to the importance of adoption. Our CrossFit community here will be hosting an awesome benefit competition and there are other ideas we are excited about to help us fund our adventure. Stay tuned. God has BIG plans! We are honored and humbled by you joining us in this adventure.

And for your listening pleasure, we want to share with you some of the songs that have really become our anthem. The lyrics to these songs ring true to our souls and we hope they bless you this week! This story will be a glorious unfolding and one that takes crazy faith…but it is exciting to see Him finish what He started! (see what we did there?) 

Glorious Unfolding – Steven Curtis Chapman

Crazy Faith – John Waller

Finish What He Started – Mercy Me