What Does God Look Like and a portion of my friends blog who adopted from Haiti!

What Does God Look Like and a Portion of My Friend's Blog Who Adopted From Haiti...

What Does God Look Like...From “Fields of the Fatherless” by Tom Davis

“Being in God's presence had a powerful impact—it literally changed Moses' physical appearance. His face was shining so brightly, he had to put a veil over it. The glory of god was so strong, the people couldn't bear to see it.”

Have you ever experienced a spiritual event that was so real, so dramatic, it changed who you are and how you live? One of those defining moments when you knew you touched the eternal?
I remember such an event when I was in high school. It wasn't even the happening that was so profound; it was the message it brought me.
I finally had what every sixteen-year-old dreams of: the coveted driver's license. Although the car my grandfather bought wasn't exactly the car of my dreams—a fifteen-year-old Buick Regal with a second-rate paint job—at least it was drivable. But most important, I was the driver.
One horribly humid Texas summer day, I was on my way to golf practice. I lived with my grandparents in a fairly affluent community where neighbors were usually helpful to one another. But on this day, everyone's Southern hospitality must have been played out.
As I turned a corner, I saw some commotion about a half-mile ahead of me on the side of the road. An older woman was standing by her car, trying to flag someone down. The two cars in front of me drove right past as if they saw nothing. But I pulled over.
After I climbed out of my car, I realized what this woman was so frantic about. She had been trying to get her elderly mother into her wheelchair, when the attempt went haywire and her mother fell over. The poor woman was lying along the side of the road, and the wheelchair had fallen on top of her. Several attempts by her daughter to get her back into her chair had failed miserably.
The helpless woman was nearly hyperventilating because she was so upset. I lifted her off the ground, settled her comfortably into the chair, and wheeled her safely into the house.
Those two women were so thankful! They thought I was the most darling young man in the world and were ready to nominate me for citizen of the Year. The daughter said they'd been there for more than thirty minutes, trying to get someone to pull over and help them. Everyone was just too busy.
I left there feeling on top of the world! I had done something to help someone who was in need-someone who was entirely helpless without my assistance. But I also felt something else: I felt like I had done something special to please the heart of God—that He was smiling at me and enjoying my meager efforts.
I think for the first time in my life I saw the face of God—I saw it in that elderly woman who was lying on the ground in need of someone who would show her compassion.
My actions that day thrust me into the realm of the eternal.

Jesus is Very Near

You may be wondering, How could you possibly see the face of God in an elderly woman on the side of the road? Allow me to explain. Or better yet, let Jesus explain.

In Matthew 25, Jesus paints a remarkable picture of what the end of the world will be like, and what will happen at judgment. In doing so, He reveals the importance of our actions on this earth and how they will affect our eternity. Beginning in verse 31, Jesus returns in all of His glory to separate the sheep from the goats—the true believers from the false believers. After the division, He tells the sheep—the true believers—to enter the kingdom of God He has prepared for them since the beginning of the world. And then he tells them why they are able to enter:

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I
was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prision, and you came to Me.
(Matt. 25:35-26 NASB)

The righteous who are listening to Jesus are confused. They can't think of a time when they did any of this directly to Jesus. How can you minister to Jesus and miss it? His answer is found in verse 40. “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (NIV).
Suddenly their eyes are opened. When the righteous gave to others, they were giving to Jesus. Wow! If that's the reason Jesus gives for ushering us into His kingdom, it is surely a powerful statement as to what he's looking for from us.
What Jesus didn't say is almost as important as what He did say. He didn't say, “Whenever you help the successful people or the truly religious people, you're helping me.” No, the people Jesus was referring to were down-and-out, people who couldn't care for themselves, the helpless, the needy, Ministering to these people, Jesus said, is equal to ministering to Him.
This passage of Scripture reveals the heart of our Lord. He aches for those in pain, He sees the needs of the hungry and hungers with them, He hears the cry of the orphans, identifies Himself with their misery, and lowers Himself to their level.

God's Face Today

So what does God look like?
He looks like the Romanian orphan who doesn't have a hope in the world unless someone enters his life and reveals to him the love of the Father.
He looks like the little girl in Africa who has no father, who has watched her mother's body being ravaged by AIDS for the last five years, and has been crying over and kissing her since she took her last breath about ten minutes ago. Now she has nobody, she's only seven, and she's standing all alone on a dirt road as they carry her mother away.
He looks like the struggling single mother who is hanging on by and emotional thread. She is mother, father, protector, and provider, and to top it all off, she has to leave the child she loves so much in the hands of a stranger all day, just so she can work and put food on the table.
Jesus is hungry. Jesus is thirsty. Jesus is naked. Jesus is in prison. Jesus is sick. Will you do what it takes to minister to Him? For the joy set before you...search for the treasure in earthen vessels. When you do, you'll find Christ Himself.”

I think of this and think of my friend who adopted a Haitian boy and her post about “American stuff”. I also think of how my kids want to give to an orphanage and deliver the items to Ethiopia...not a vacation, a hard journey. I think of how between my friends post and the cost of the adoption and my kids desire to go to Ethiopia, (this could be God's calling of them to the Mission's Field or something else incredible), that when we think of doing something this summer...we say, “Oh, that money can go in the travel fund.”, and we've been giving up “stuff”. I think of how I had my hair done one last time with highlights that can grow out. Do I really need to spend that kind of money on my hair? It can go towards an orphan or beds for our baby/babies. I want to share my friends blog on a new perspective.
With that I want to ask my friends to give to my kids mission project, (has absolutely nothing to do with them...they are just the vessel that God chose to use for this time and place...it has everything thing to do with you being a part of something that will change your life and your heart).
I kinda' have to laugh because facebook tells a lot about what our money goes too...there's much that can be given up to reach a starving child. I'm not saying we have to give up vacations, (we all need them), or special things or every dinner...but, we could give up one time of getting are hair done and give that to someone in need, (I was spending $70 + dollars for that). And as I read my friends blog...we could give up a lot more. Trust me, I'm gonna' be doing it every month for a long while, my hair might be a bit boring ya'all...But, I've realized that it's not that important compared to the “real world”. I have to say, “What's wrong with being honest about such truth's surrounding us in our world. How many kids have died right now from starvation? And we're having our 2nd cup of Starbucks today. We all can be a vessel and do much.
I think that's just such a cool thing. Isn't it time, (I know it is for this family), to be God's image and to reach Him by reaching His children?
Here's my friends post...check out her other posts...she is an incredible woman. I know she "gets it". As we gave them money to get Ronel home, she now is giving to Ethiopia and the kids project. That's just who she is, who her family is. They are forever changed...love it!

May 17, 2010
Ronel has changed me.
Having Ronel in my home has changed me. More than I thought it would.
Most days I am completely aware of my American over spending. Ronel is baffled by the cost of American things. Because of this, He always asks how much something costs. It is always too much. "Mama, that's too big money" He says. My shopping cart tends to be a lot less.
Our home is under 1800 square foot. Still he says "Mama, this house too big." I am now content in our small but still too big home. I wasn't before. Things that use to take up space in our home are gradually being moved aside. The importance I had on them is fleeting. The noise of TV is now a seldom sound. Instead, a lot of laughs, a lot of "Mama he/she did ______", and of course the hum of the washing machine. The thermostat in the house has even changed and with it our house was introduced to box fans. Our closets are thinner and meals simpler.
I lived in excess simply because I could.
Now, every day, my excess is examined through the mind of a thinking 10 year old.
Ronel wakes up early, completes his chores, eats breakfast, waters the garden, makes his lunch, all that before 8am. When he earns a few dollars he tucks them away in his wallet. He told E that he was saving to help us buy a car for him to share with Colt. In the same breath, He asked Colt if he was willing to save for the next 6 years. You can guess C's answer. R just responded with "I will save enough for both of us."
Colt is use to taking his few dollars and waiting for the ice cream truck, saving for book fair money, or (heaven help me) buying silly bandz. Nothing is wrong with any of that. The mind set is just different.
I was completely unprepared for how Haiti would capture my heart over two years ago. And now I find myself in much of the same place. Haiti has captured my heart over and over and over again. For this season, Ronel is Haiti. Ronel is the people of Haiti right at my dinner table. All my ideas and decisions are challenged.
I am challenged to love people more, to save and to give, to be willing to go, to live more simply, to be a mom, to not take that for granted. At times the wild adventure is pounding in my chest.
Simply.
God is using Ronel, my son, to prune me.
."I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off
every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit
he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

Here's a link to her b log: http://debraparker.typepad.com/

I know change is scary. We are so comfortable in this Western culture. God however never intended us to be comfortable. It's really not about Corbin & Lauren's missions project. It's about what Debra said...it's time to be pruned. To think of more than our little life on our little block. I'm amazed what grit and boldness Ethiopia has given me. My heart is taken. It is there. I can hardly think of my child living in an Orphanage. Or if my child is not born yet...of a mother having to make the decision to give up that child, and is she getting a meal, does she have clean water to drink, is she dying of AIDS? It might not be everyone's thing to adopt. But, we all can reach out to the orphans, the widowed, the needy. Over 60 times in His word we are told too.
Won't you give today? When you look into the eyes of our baby/babies...you will remember where you gave too.
Truthfully...I thought about orphanages and what Shelly was doing with kids in Tanzania...but, I never took it to the next level...a heart level. Once you hit that level...there's no turning back. Your life is forever changed in an incredible way. It all of a sudden stopped being about me and started being about something much bigger.