Today I missed him.  Worship was phenomenal with prophecy and a spontaneous song.  The preaching of the word convicted me of an area of sin and gave me hope for change.  I was reminded of God’s faithfulness as the service closed with the baptism of 6 believers.  And then walking out to my car, children in tow, I missed Jesus.  Jesus visited our church and not only did I miss him, I was embarrassed of him and dismissed him.

As I was walking to the car a lady approached me in the parking lot of our church (which happens to be in one of the top 5 wealthiest counties in the USA) she had written on a piece of paper – Mother of 7 children, need money for rent.  Please help.  God Bless you.  She didn’t speak much English.  As soon as I saw her sign I got uncomfortable, I hastened my step and mumbled, no I’m sorry I can’t help you as I pulled my daughter behind me.  My daughter wanted to know what was happening and I mumbled “she wanted us to give her money.”  I felt a twinge of regret and a thought of hey maybe you should go back there and see if you can help her, but my schedule and plans didn’t have time for that.

Matthew 25:44-45  Then they also will answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?  Then he will answer them, saying, “Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”

How far I fall short!!!  My heart is grieved.  I weep for the orphan, I attempt to ease my conscience by bringing a delivery of groceries to a local food pantry and yet miss Jesus right in front of me.  I’m thankful for the conviction of my sin and can’t help but wonder, “How many people met Jesus at my church today?  And how many people (like me) turned him away?  Did that lady find any of the help she was looking for?  In a church of all places?”  I can only pray that someone else showed her the love of Christ in a very real and tangible way, and repent of my pride and arrogance and seek to change and honor God by caring for the least of these.   Oh God forgive me and change my heart!

 

This video is well worth the minute it takes to watch.

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

We have some really exciting news to share. . . We are preparing to adopt again!  While we must wait until January (1 year home with our kiddos) to officially begin again with our agency we are starting to fund raise now.  We have an excellent opportunity for you to get some Christmas shopping done while helping us raise some of the money we need to cover our adoption expenses.  We have partnered with Just Love Coffee to sell bags of coffee.  For EVERY bag we sell they will send us $5!!!  You can sign up on our site for a once or twice a month shipment, or just purchase one bag.  They also have travel mugs and t-shirts to purchase.  Our coffee website is

http://justlovecoffee.com/taylorfamilyadoption

Please feel free to pass our link around to everyone you know!  And we’ll be sure to keep you updated as things progress with round two in the Taylor Family Adoption Journey!  God Bless!

What a blessing!  Our family was featured on the reflections blog over at Lifesong for Orphans today.  You can visit the site here: http://lifesong.squarespace.com/

  Lifesong is an incredible ministry which provides matching grants to families in the process of adopting.  It was Lifesong’s generous grant and the donations of those that matched it that provided for close to $10,000.00 we needed to bring our children home. 

If you are burdened for the orphans in our world today, this is an incredible, honest, ministry that provides funds for families to jump the hurdles of finances on their way to adoption.  If you’re unable to personally adopt I’d encourage you to answer God’s call to care for the orphans by donating to this wonderful ministry or helping a family you know of that is in the process of adoption. 

Thank you Lifesong!

Sorry you have to click on the link because I can’t get the video to upload here. 

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/3T4JObgVp7151qla

Hope you enjoy!  These are some pictures from our trip to Ohio, goofing around at home, and some water and mud fun out back.  You can click on any picture for a larger view.

 

Laugh out loud!  The kids and I certainly did.  I thought I was actually going to pee my pants.

I thought I’d try giving Fikadu a mohawk. . . He and Tigist thought I was crazy. 

So I asked him if he’d rather have this instead. . . .  =)

Hopefully we’ll be attending this conference again this fall.  We encourage you to visit the website www.togetherforadoption.org

Tigist lost her very first tooth yesterday. . .

Then Fikadu, not to be out done, pulled out one of his own. . .

Then Tigist decided her TWO bottom teeth should also come out today!

That makes 4 teeth out in 2 days for the Taylor kiddos!  Craziness!

I visited the Salon de Tigist

Daddy and Fikadu showing off their muscles

I got the most colorful bunch of flowers in the entire store as an anniversary gift from the kids!

We dressed up like cows for a free meal at Chick-fil-A . . . . mysteriously there are no pictures of me! =)

 

The kids saw their first fireworks on the 4th of July