Time to get real...

Ok, for all those who read this and have been sensing a little something is "off" ...you were right. I've been getting questions and messages about the "elusiveness" of certain posts, etc. I have to be honest, it has been VERY HARD to blog over the last couple of months... because God has been doing something SO BIG and SO CRAZY in our lives, but it simply wasn't the time to share. But, the time has come. Because I'm not that great of a writer, and am certainly not a "blog celebrity" I carry very little pressure to make this come out just right... so... here's me getting real...

On February 10th, our lives were great... normal... comfortable... nice. Honestly, we had finally "arrived" at the place we longed for: good friends, good church, good ministry within the church, loved our jobs... etc. NO DESIRE for things to be different NOW. We were certainly open to things being different later on... but not NOW. (other than the addition of a new child, that is) I go to bed thinking nothing unusual. Life is good.

On February 11th... life changed. You can read about the specifics over the next couple of days if you desire... (i've been back-blogging... is that a word?) I didn't want it... I wanted God to pick someone else. Actually, you can read my feelings about all that here. "I don't want to change. I like my life." But God wouldn't leave us alone... dag-gone-it.

Over the past 2 months, we have been praying like mad... seeking Godly counsel... having meetings... crying... laughing... grieving... traveling... and loving in an overwhelming way... (welcome to my emotional roller coaster)

My heart has changed from a "oh NO!!!!" to "wow. me? us? YES!" (cut to the chase, right?)

So... here's the news. Our hearts have been stolen away. Stolen by these children:

Zambia November 2010 from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

William from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

plus about 210 more. We can't pretend we didn't hear the Lord speak to our hearts... as clear as day. We can't pretend He didn't orchestrate what We would call a very clear path for us to say "yes." The truth is... He did. And we had to choose if we would obey. And we will. We have laid our "yes" on the table. (deep breath) We are the "newest" addition to Lifesong for Orphans team in Zambia. We are moving our family to Zambia! (that's in Africa... it's ok, I didn't know that a year ago) Yes, we are crazy. ... crazy in love with 210+ children in Zambia... crazy in love with the amazing teachers there... and we are crazy in love with the FATHER. Can't even believe He would use us to do anything as amazing as this. So there. It's out. I can breathe and stop trying to be a "fake blogger." ;)

The story is pretty amazing. I'd love for you to follow along and put up with quite a few posts in a short amount of time... I'm going to try to post the things I've written along the way over the next few days. If you are on our support team, you will be getting a more detailed letter within the next couple of days. We love you all and can't do this alone! Ok... so the story begins... I'll leave you with a few pics... of 2 weeks ago... yes... when we were taking the week "off" from blogging... that would be because we were in ZAMBIA! (sneaky little devils)