The Soil

I've heard it said that fruits and vegetables grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us get today. The main culprit in this disturbing nutritional trend is soil depletion. While I'm not one that buys everything organic, I believe there may be a lot of truth to this. BUT, this is not a post about buying or not buying organic.

You see, as I was reading my devotional today in Oswald Chambers, he was reminding me that I am to "go on" with Jesus; to continue with Him in His trials.  The last paragraph explained what that looks like as follows:

"The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on 'outside the camp' (Hebrews 13:13).  The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow-- but only the voice saying, 'Follow Me' (Matthew 4:19).  

Finishing this read and moving onto Romans, it struck me...
We are to continue on with Christ through the highs and through the lows. We are to abide, to be renewed.  Now, it is He who sustains us; His grace saving and keeping us. And even the bearing of the fruit is grown by none other than His Holy Spirit.  But fruit will not grow unless there is a solid soil.  Good soil with nutrients and minerals equals a harvest of plenty; A harvest of organic, authentic fruit.

In all of this, I wonder how my soil has been taken care of?  Have I allowed the soil of my heart to be tilled by His living Word, showered by His amazing grace and tamed (like a tomato plant) by His Holy Spirit?  

Oh Lord, thank You for Your grace. Thank You for your truth and Spirit.  Thank You for making me Your own. Please have Your way in me.  Do what You have to do to break ground in me.  


NUTS AND BOLTS

We are still waiting on our home study to be "finalized". It has been written and sent off to our Colombian Agency, Adoption by Shepherd Care. They are in the process of approving it.  Once they approve it (hopefully in the next few days), we will be able to start applying for grants and loans. 

We are having a Finally Home Adoption benefit on Saturday, October 6th from 6-9 p.m.  For more information regarding that, follow this link https://www.facebook.com/events/354016374673041/

Also, my husband has taken on an extra job to help with the adoption.  Please be praying for him, for his health, energy and strength to be sustained in this busy season by the Lord's hand.  

Keep Quiet and Nobody Gets Hurt

To preface this next blog and ones in the future, let me say I am an "adopted by God who is adopting children, blogging non-blogger". In other words, while I love the heart of adoption and am in the process of it, you may find blog updates regarding our process, or you may at times, see me in the raw; depending on what is going on in my life.  


(Clears throat, stage lights dimmed, curtains opened and the story begins)


Bombs going off, people being torn limb from limb, grace is lost in the moment, fires are set ablaze. Debris covers the ground all around reminding the hurt of the recent terror. Welcome to the world of the human tongue!


For a while now, I have posed the question to the Lord of what it means to take a thought captive. Whether it be fact or a straight up lie from the enemy, we are called to take them captive. What does that mean? In all of this, I will be honest enough to say, I've also not had the craziest prayer life.  Yeah, I've prayed for people's circumstances, my circumstances, things that were brought to my attention. The hard part for me is waiting and praying nothing while letting His Spirit intercede for me.  All that to say, I've needed to grow in both areas.  


As I've been asking the Lord about captivating thoughts, He has also shown me that prayer is just that.  


The act of taking a terrorist captive is to put an end to his destruction. He can't make a mess if he's imprisoned. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 it reminds us saying, "Take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete." Prior to that we are reminded that our weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  Our thoughts, terrorists that they are, can destroy. Accusations, gossip, venting for comfort, facts that should only be kept between us and the Lord are nothing shy of a form of that warfare which goes much deeper than each of them on their own. 


Lately, the Lord has been showing me that the second I let a thought, whether truthful or not (and I mean negative of course), out of my mouth, that captive has been freed and is now a refugee running to anyone they can find for help. Besides the obvious destruction we are allowing to go on when this happens, there are three great losses in that moment.  A loss of grace extended to that being and to the hearers. Grace is the very thing NONE of us deserve that not only saves us but sustains us.  I've been recently reminded that I desire grace from others, so I must call on the Spirit to help me extend, even when it's lacking on the other end. The second loss is a loss of intimacy between me and the Father in that moment.  I once had a friend speak wisdom to me about her relationship between her and her husband.  She had stated she is careful to not share much with anyone regarding quarrels between her and her husband because she feels like that is too intimate of a part of her life to share and she doesn't want anyone knowing her husband like she does.  I thought that was so beautiful and true.  I am recently finding that as I keep things between just me and the Lord (not even taking them to my husband) there is a great intimacy that dwells within those boundaries and it's also teaching me to keep quiet and ultimately trust His Spirit to move and for me to sit back and pray. Also, venting to others never changed my mind as much as praying to God for the situation and Him giving me grace to extend when I couldn't give it on my own. The third loss is that it grieves the Spirit of God when we free those captive thoughts by sharing with others. (Ephesians 4:29-30)


James 3 is a great reminder of that battle scene discribed above and I only pray the Lord would continue to work this out in me to where the battle scene stays on my knees and between me and the Father. 


NUTS AND BOLTS


As I stated in my last post, the home study is being written as we speak and we are waiting to take the next step in the process because the contract we are sending in needs to travel with $6,500.00 and we do not have that yet. However, about $1,200.00 has come in (Praise the Lord!) and so that puts us down to needing $5,300.00 in order to mail that contract off and get started on the Dossier.  Please continue to pray, we see the Lord providing through His church and we are encouraged by that.  Thankful for your desire to follow us in this journey, supporting us through your prayers and finances!  God bless you.

Chosen to choose

Nuts and Bolts...

Our home study on Monday, July 16th, went amazing!  I'll admit, I was at peace and not frazzled at all.......until the DAY OF! That morning I woke up to a list of things that I thought we needed to get done by 2:00 p.m. to present a great home study; so we worked hard!  At 1:00, Eric knowing how stressed I was, was so precious and told me to go on a date by myself and be back by 1:45 to pray as a family.  I came back settled and eased remembering that the Lord is in control of IT ALL and nothing will pass His hand without Him already knowing about it and permitting it. When we are busy being Martha and all about "doing" we easily forget foundational truths that we wouldn't forget as much if we were busy being Mary.  Two hours at the table and then one quick tour of our house concluded the meeting.  When I say "quick tour of our house", I mean we could've left the toilets uncleaned and the hole on Elijah's bedroom wall un-patched and not done ANYTHING with the basement!  After our caseworker friend left, Eric closed the door and looked at me with this, "Are you kidding me, you did not just make me do all of that work" look on his face.  Hey, they got done regardless, right?!?

That following Friday, the 20th, was our appointment for all of our physical exams and we are all healthy. HOLLA! Our doctor, who is a Christian was very encouraging to us! Thank You Lord!

We are now at a standstill in the process of adoption.  The next step is to send in our contract with our agency in Florida along with $6,500.00!!!  

This ginormous cost includes:

• $2,500.00 (Agency fee)- Costs related to our agency's (ASC) ongoing services in helping us in this process on the US side of it.

• $2,500.00 (Agency fee)- Costs related to our agency's ongoing services in helping us in this process on the Colombia side of it.

• $1,500.00 (Dossier Processing fee)- As I mentioned before, a Dossier is the french word for bundle of papers.  This cost will provide assistance for us, through ASC, in compiling dossier documents according to Colombian guidelines.

This is the next step and BIG HURL of money and we cannot start it until $6,500.00 travels with it! So, please be in prayer over that.  We're praying that this will come before or by October 1st at the latest!  

NITTY GRITTY...

I was sitting down with my children the other day; Eden 8 and Elijah 7.  We were going through our devotional for that morning and reading how God had chosen Jacob to be the leader.  Even though Esau was born first and had inherited a birthright, God chose Jacob to inherit it after all and not by anything that Jacob had done.  Jacob was not born first so the birthright obviously wasn't his according to birth order and Jacob was not the manly one.  Esau was the hunter and worked outside, his father's favorite.  Jacob cooked with his mom and had her favor.  Pause... I'm not saying only manly men hunt and do not cook! 

After we read the story, I asked my kids, "How does it make you feel to know that God chose you? You did not choose God before He chose you. In fact, the only reason we choose God is because He chose us and gave us the gift of faith to choose Him back!"  

I could see that my daughter may have had a harder time grasping this concept than my son.  She looked bothered and spoke up, "Mom, but I chose Jesus and then He gave me a new heart."  I responded with, "You're right babe, you did choose Jesus. But you chose Him because He was already drawing you and had chosen you before the foundations of the earth were even laid." I remember first hearing this truth that I didn't choose Jesus on my own and being utterly offended for a while.  I felt robbed. Worthless. Helpless. I believed for so long that there was something good enough in me to want God on my own without His help.  NOPE... not the case at all. (Ephesians 2 is my favorite chapter of the bible now!) 

My son, smiling from ear to ear, shouted, "I feel free!"

I thought about that statement for a little while and realized the truth behind God choosing us to choose Him and then feeling free.  How would you feel free knowing that God chose you to be able to choose Him?  Think about it.  Resting on the fact that God chose us, adopted us into his family because of His love and goodness brings freedom, security and peace to my soul. The certainty of salvation in Jesus alone increases as we rest on that truth.  

It's such a mystery, a great tension, that we probably won't 100% completely comprehend until we see Him face to face; God's choosing and us responding. But I am thankful I can rest on the fact that He has chosen me thus equipping me to respond to His amazing grace!

Heart Trouble

So, after one and a half hours of trying to figure out how to change the font of my blog post, here I am!  Great reminder that I am not a natural blogger, HA!  


Since it has been a month of no update, I figured it is time to inform you all as much as I can.  


Our home study visit (scheduled for the 9th of July) was rescheduled for the 16th of July at 2 p.m. due to a schedule conflict of our social worker.  We are excited for him to come into our personal lives this next Monday and see what we are about in the Wood household.  One can hear pieces of your heart and try to make sense of it, but I feel like once they come into your home, is when those pieces start to come together and the game of "RAW" is on! 


After that visit, our social worker friend will take 30-60 days to write a home study review for our agency in Ft. Lauderdale; so they can know us and tell Colombia about us.  Please pray for this visit and for a nice report to Colombia!  Next Friday, the 20th, is when we all get our physical exams confirming we are healthy enough to adopt.  Again, please pray for that to go well.  Those are the next two steps of the process within the next couple of weeks.


So far, $525.00 has come in for our adoption.  This money will go towards part of the home study and our physical exams.  It's been such a blessing to see people come around us and partake in this calling of loving the orphans!  Thank You Lord.


Now, onto the nitty gritty of my heart.  The Lord has graciously been showing me how easily wrapped up and consumed I can become by the process of adoption.  "Wait," you might say, "Adoption is a good thing and one of the ways the Lord wants us to care for orphans." I couldn't agree with you more.  However, when we become consumed with doing something for the Lord more than the Lord Himself, that's a flat-out idol problem. Listen up, I'll tell you what I'm saying. 


Last night, sitting in Redimed with my son who had a fever of 104.4 I was hit with this truth once again, for the 2nd or 3rd time. I was letting my heart be troubled by life's situations and the fact that enlarging our family only means enlarging those types of situations which brought my countenance low.  After about a half hour of sulking in this pouting mood, this thought (from the Lord I believe) came over me.  I, Mandy Wood, am a daughter of the Most High.  I was created to worship Him and bring Him glory.  That is my highest calling in life.  Bringing Him glory comes in different vehicles throughout life.  Sometimes those vehicles take detours, go down bumpy roads, leaving us with bruises.  But, none the less, He will get glory.  It is NOT my job to fret or fear on how the vehicle takes us to our final destination... That is the Lord's job.  This adoption is simply a vehicle to bring Him more glory and He will drive this vehicle how He chooses.  He will provide it with fuel, and even maintain the vehicle after He's done driving it.  I am ONLY the passenger riding with Him, trusting He is going to parade this vehicle around, again for His glory.  AND, if He even chooses to park this vehicle in the middle of the road for a season for whatever reason, I am to trust that.   


Why do I get so caught up in the logistics?  Why do I let my heart be troubled? Because I am human.  Is that an excuse to be carried away by my emotions?  No. It is simply the reason I still fall into that ugly sin of worry.  Throughout scripture we find a constant reminder to not worry or fret.  To trust in God and His goodness and sovereignty.  Also, in Luke 10 we have a great example of a lady busy about getting things done; good things.  She was serving, plugging away at what she knew needed done. We see the Lord graciously rebuke her because she was missing out on the main thing in life, Jesus Himself!  She was missing being fed and nourished by the Great Shepherd Himself.  She was distracted by work, fretting at what was not getting done instead of trusting in Him.  


Lord, help me to remember my role in all of this; to bring You glory in every circumstance, whatever that may be.  Help me trust in You alone and Your navigating throughout my life. 


Oh, and one last thing, we have a "Donate" button now for those of you who have asked how you can financially give.  Thanks so much!  

The Nuts and Bolts

So, It's been a while since I've updated on here and a friend gave me some outside perspective on what she wanted to know regarding our adoption process and progress.  


I had an Arbonne "Party with a Purpose" last night.  All of the proceeds ($120) went towards our adoption.  It was so sweet to see a few women come out to support us in that way.  So, thank you.  (That money will go towards paying our agency in Ft. Lauderdale (Adoption by Shepherd Care) for our orientation we had while on vacation.  That agency is who we are adopting through.) We do plan on having more fundraisers down the road as well. By the way, if you knew about this party and wanted to come and order but couldn't, Angie is still taking orders up until next Friday (June 22nd) I believe.  You can always let me know as well.  


Now onto the steps we are taking currently...
My husband, Eric, and I had 50 questions to answer for our agency who is providing us with our home study (Gateway Woods).  These questions were the same for each of us.  We finally finished them and sent them in.  Yesterday, we received an email from our social worker that we have been assigned to another social worker through that same agency to come out and interview us.  This is the actual home study.  The purpose of this visit is so they can see for themselves and the country of Colombia that we are fit to bring children into our home safely.  They will recover some of the questions that we answered and sent into them, they will look around our house and get to know us and our children.  


Cost of Home Study: $1700.00 (Still needed)


Once we have our home study completed, which could be anywhere from 1-2 months from now, we will qualify to start applying for grants.  Meanwhile, Gateway Woods will send our Home Study off to Colombia.  


The next step is for us to put together a Dossier (French for "Bundle of documents with a label and spine").  Basically, it is a very detailed description of the Wood family and our life for Colombia to see on paper.  We will send pictures, inform them of our hobbies, etc. We cannot move forward with this until we have the money for it.


Cost of Dossier:  $6,500.00 (Still needed)


So, that's where we are at currently.  Hopefully, this will give you better understanding of what we need and how you can be praying for us.  Thanks for keeping up with us!

"Our Feet Are Older..."

For our last morning here on the island, we decided to hit the beach one last time. After taking some pics of the kids splashing around for a bit, we took one final stroll along the shore. On the way back, Eden, our little 8 year old daughter, wondered why her feet hurt while walking on the shells and ours didn't. As Eric explained to her that "our feet were older and had walked on much more than hers have",I had a deep moment for a second. For the believer in Jesus who day after day puts their trust in Him in all things, choosing to believe He knows best, those shells are trials in life; some pretty small and unnoticeable, and others big, rough and sharp around the edges. As our feet continue to walk forward in trials trusting Jesus will not only bring us through them, but He's making our feet to look more like His, even better, our character more like His. The more shells these feet walk upon, no matter the size or lack of mercy they have on my soles or heels, the goal is for my feet to be weathered in such a way, that my eyes stay fixed ahead on Him who has walked before me. Lord, this is my prayer, that I would walk forward in suffering knowing You have a GOOD purpose for that trial. You love me and desire that I look more like You to bring You glory in this lifetime, while getting ready for the next. Amen.

Comin' Home

Welp, the time is here. Today was the last full day of our vacation in Florida! God was so gracious to keep the only day full of rain on this island for today. We were able to do laundry, pack and then go to Sweet Berries for a great custard. We're planning on hitting the beach one last time tomorrow morning if the weather permits. Checking out at noon, we'll head up to Orlando where we'll eventually take off. We'll be landing in Indy around midnight and then drive home from there to find our own comfy beds waiting for us... Sigh. We have had a crazy good vacation, well rested and super refreshed. We are ALL ready to come home to our loved ones and jump right back into the swing of normalcy. Super excited to keep drinking from this cup of Living Water I've been quenched by while here as well as make some good changes to keep me coming back for more. God's word has been SO ALIVE and penetrating to my soul on this trip. I DON'T want it to stop! Ready to check out some new books from the library and read up on some ladies whose lives I read about in the book, Faithful women and their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper. I suggest it to any woman who wants to get excited about a life lived for Jesus. Let these sisters who have went before you bless your soul like they unknowingly did mine. On a different note... Eric and I are finishing up our home study questionnaires and will have them sent out hopefully by Monday. We will then schedule an actual home study visit and get that ball rolling. Please continue to pray for us as we move forward in this. We are so thankful for all the support we have in our friends and family. We love all of you and are glad we have you all to walk through this with us!