Am I Truly Thankful?

Admittedly, I would have to answer "NO"; not by my Father's Holy standard.
I can relate to the guy portrayed in this video.  "Our world teaches us that we don't have enough and we're entitled to more. We often look to God with our problems and difficulties and forget to be grateful for all that he has already given us."



Praise the Lord for His Spirit which dwells within me to desire a heart of thankfulness.  May He continue to do His work on my heart as Stephanie and I prepare to travel to EE to, Lord willing, finally meet our daughters and bring them home!  My my thankfulness in how He has orchestrated events in my life to date never cease!

"Scripture is clear that the lives of believers should be characterized by joy, contentment, and gratitude. Though we do encounter difficult trials and situations consistently, we must be disciplined to thank God and know that He will sustain us."

Colossians 3:1-16 - Put On the New Self

¹ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. ¹¹ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

¹² Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

... and a little closer

If you check out our "FSP Page" on the Reece's Rainbow website, you will notice this status update:

One step closer....praise the Lord!

What Are We Hoping For?

Hope is Fading – Orphan Sunday from Allan Rosenow on Vimeo.



So, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, what can we do to make sure they do not lose hope?  What should we do, out of loving, thankful obedience to our Father who adopted us first?


1 Peter 3:3-25

Born Again to a Living Hope

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, ¹¹inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy

¹³Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, ¹⁵but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." ¹⁷And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
²²Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³ since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴for

"All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever."

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

...and closer

At 8:41am this morning (US Eastern Time), our dossiers were delivered to the addressee.  Thank you Lord for allowing UPS to get it there!

For some goofy reason, I am intrigued by the routes shipments like this take:

1. Mechanicsburg, PA to Harrisburg Intl Airport
2. Harrisburg to Philadelphia
3. Philadelphia to Cologne, Germany
4. Cologne to Warsaw, Poland
5. Warsaw to EE city

 Now, next step is for dossiers to be reviewed, translated, and submitted to governing agency.

Please pray that our dossier review results in everything being in order and ready for submission...

A little closer

Two identical dossiers have been mailed to Eastern Europe, and are expected to arrive tomorrow.  Once received, they will be translated and submitted to the adoption authority in that country.  Over the past four months, we have collected a total of 80 documents.  I remember when I first looked at the list of required documents, and feeling somewhat overwhelmed.  Each document needed to notarized, and finally apostilled (state verification of the notary) in Harrisburg.  If I were to find out tomorrow that our documents got lost somehow, first I would scream very loudly (throughout Lancaster County), and then I would do it all again for these two precious girls we hope to meet very soon. 

Two completed dossiers

The reality of this mission is becoming more evident each and every day.  The day we leave will be bittersweet.  No words will be able to describe the moment we step on a plane knowing we're only days from meeting our girls.  However, we'll also be leaving our other children behind for six or more weeks.  I knew this would be the hardest part of the journey, and it will be.  It's likely that we'll travel in five to seven weeks. 

Over the past several weeks, we've seen our adoption fund grow to almost $4000.  We don't know who has contributed (except for a few who have donated to us personally), but we are more grateful than my words can express.  It's very humbling to ask people to donate money, and even more so to accept it.   We continue to praise God for those who have and will contribute.

The following is adapted from Grace Gems:

All of our present and future blessedness, is wrapped up in His holy and gracious purpose.

If Jehovah is your god--then all of His glorious attributes and perfections are engaged and employed for your eternal welfare!

• His mercy will supply your needs.
• His power will conquer all of your foes.
• His wisdom will direct all of your ways.
• His faithfulness will answer all of your prayers.
• His justice will maintain your cause.
• His infinite love and mercy will be displayed in all of His gracious dealings with you!

Katelyn Needs a Family

Meet Katelyn

You can read her profile on Reece's Rainbow by clicking HERE

She was at the same orphanage as Gayle, but apparently has recently been transferred from the baby house.

I am convinced that it is the Lord's Will for a family within His Church to step forward in faith and adopt her...

May the Lord will lead a person to this blog post, or to her profile on Reece's Rainbow, and may they respond in obedience to Him who had adopted us first...