A Spirit of Adoption & Joshua

I wrote this email last night to my prayer team for Rwanda. The word is still really on my heart today though, so I wanted to publically share my thoughts and prayers:

“As hard as I might try, I cannot go to bed tonight without praising God!

I woke up today with a word on my heart. I don’t know why, but these words always come to me when I’m getting ready in the mornings. I may be in the shower or drying my hair, and a thought will hit me. The word was adoption. What an appropriate word for Mother’s Day. What an appropriate word it would be for Father’s Day. Hey, what an appropriate word for every day!

 The Bible says, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father” ~ Romans 8:15.

Father, I just want to pause and thank You right now that You are my Abba Father. Father, I want to thank You for adopting me. Lord You knew my every need and my every weakness, and You chose to adopt me anyway. Lord, I thank You and praise You today for your unfathomable, unfailing love!  

Wow, I’m kind of on fire right now. It has been a good day with the Lord. God has really been dealing with my heart today about salvation. My heart is weighing heavily for the people of Rwanda. It is my utmost desire to see people saved. It is my desire to see the glorious sights of heaven one day with people of every nation, race, color, and language. It’s going to be unimaginably beautiful, yet I still try to imagine it! Please pray. Pray for the spirit to move. I am nothing, but please pray that God can use me to bring Honor and Glory to Him.

Oh, Father, I pray that you would lead, guide, and direct me through the Holy Spirit. Lord, You lead me to Rwanda. Now I ask that You lead me to the specific homes, places, and people You need me to go and speak to. Lord, I pray that Your words and not my own would be spoken and heard. Lord, I cannot do this without You. I don’t have the strength or the power. Lord, only You have the power to save. Lord, I pray that I would see the wonders of Your mighty saving power in the land of Gisenyi, Rwanda. Lord, I ask that you would heal this nation that has been so hurt and devastated by poverty and war. Lord, send them Your spirit of peace, reconciliation, and restoration.

Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” I don’t know about you, but that verse really excites me! We are the children of God! Have you really thought about that lately? Ponder on it for a few moments, and let it bless you. You are a child of the King! Your Father created it all! Verse 17 goes on to say that we are “joint-heirs with Christ”. Pretty crazy, right? I certainly don’t deserve to be a joint-heir with Christ, but am so very thankful that God allows me to be!

Adoption… I suppose here in the U.S. there are many forms of this. Some people do legal adoptions whereby they adopt children, change names, etc. Other times people may just sort of take in others as their own. Either way, it is a beautiful blessing. When God adopts you though, He gives You full rights and privileges. When you accept the spirit of adoption He has to offer, He makes you His child and makes sure I always stays that way. No hurt feelings or any amount of distance between you will ever change the fact that you are His child. Nothing and no one can ever pluck us out of His mighty hand. I praise Him today that He adopted me!  I also praise Him today for sending people my way in this life who have sort of adopted me too. There have been times in my life that I honestly didn’t know where I would have been had it not been for that spirit of adoption that He placed in the hearts of people along my path.

I can’t help but think that there are people now that I have adopted too. While I definitely hope to actually do that one day, I find myself “adopting” others (younger and older) in different roles in my life. What a blessing for God to give us such a spirit to share with one another. I just can’t imagine a more beautiful thing right now. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend and a blessed Mother’s Day with your families.”

Bridget

P.S. I just have to make this addition. If there was ever a child that I would’ve adopted if I was in the place where I could, it would have been Joshua. On my mission trip to Honduras, Joshua, whom was a year and a half, had been abandoned on the streets. I don’t have my journal with me to go back and check. If I remember correctly, Joshua’s mother was raped and became pregnant at the age of thirteen. No one wanted her once she became pregnant. No one especially wanted Joshua though.

I had the amazing blessing of caring for him the one night he was at the mission. I fed him and clothed him. We laughed and played. I held him and loved him. I slept next to him that entire night with my arms around him. I still remember waking up with those big brown eyes staring at me… To this day, His photo is still the background on my cell phone, laptop, and his photo sits on my dresser. This little guy captured my heart. What can I say without crying? The spirit of adoption is just one of the many amazing gifts God has given us.

This is Joshua:

And these are his precious feet:



Thank you, Lord, for Joshua and all of the other beautiful children around the world. Lord, I pray that one day you would make a way for me to be able to adopt a child, or of it be Your will, children like Joshua, that are in need of food, clothing, and shelter. These children need so much. They need to be shown that someone cares. They need the love of mankind, but more than anything, they need the love of a savior! They need a love of a father. They need the love of THE FATHER! Lord, I praise you today for all You have done and for all You're going to do! Amen!

Your Actions are Weighed

I woke up with a word upon my heart today. That word was action. When I looked it up in my Bible, it took me to 1 Samuel 2:3, which says, “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”

Did you catch that last part? It didn’t say that our actions are measured by man or by the world. The Bible says our actions are weighed by Him.

Over the weekend I attended a Bible Study that expounded on the Last Supper. We talked about self-examination. When thinking about this verse and then self-examination, I couldn’t help but wonder if I come across as arrogant. Are things I’m saying or doing coming across as proud? If they are, God certainly isn’t getting any glory from it.

The more I thought about this verse, the deeper I wanted to go into that word action. I looked in the concordance. The word actions in 1 Samuel 2:3 comes from “the sense of effecting; an exploit (of God), or a performance (of man, often in a bad sense”. It also mentions the words “deed, doing, invention, occasion, and work”.

Wow, a performance! I don’t know about you, but I can think of a couple people off of the top of my head who seem to be constantly putting on a performance. Oftentimes it seems like they just do things to be seen, to get recognition, etc. That isn’t what God wants though. That doesn’t please Him. Our actions shouldn’t be a performance for others, and our actions shouldn’t be to draw attention to us. Our actions should be works and deeds for the kingdom and glory of God. Everything else is meaningless. I suppose that is harsh, but it is reality.

So, in closing, the next time you do something, question why you are doing it. Are you doing it for God? Are you doing it because others are watching? Are you doing it to receive praise? Do you even know why you’re doing what you’re doing? It’s something to think about. I know that it often feels like you are being judged by the entire world. Just remember that isn’t really the case. In the end, it is by God and God alone that your actions are weighed.

A visit with Moses

Okay, this isn't much, but I know Moses has captured many of your hearts; just as he has captured mine. Here is what I know. Gracie went to Tegucigalpa Monday to IHNFA to see Moses. She and Carol Treder-Mallasch of Arrow Ministries in Honduras (See http://mallaschmeditations.wordpress.com/ for more info on that ministry) met with the director of IHNFA, the doctor, and several other officials. While there they also met with the sister of the first lady of Honduras.

Here they are from left to right: The sister of the first lady of Honduras, Gracie, Carol, and baby Moses.

Just to clarify, Moses is still in IHNFA. Pray that whatever tests and proper procedures get done quickly, so Moses can be brought to the mission where he will be loved and adored! God Bless!

Moses

What a blessed week this has been. God has been better to me than I deserve. So much better than I deserve! Thursday evening I got on Facebook to see the latest posts. I saw a post that really blessed me. It was a post by Gracie. This is what it said: “God is blessing us with a 6 month old baby named Moses. (Moises in Spanish) This is a very special case. He is in IHNFA and nobody wants him because he is dying of cancer. We do not know how much time we will have with him before he goes home to the Lord. But each minute he is going to be loved outrageously. Will report when he comes. Has to have one more test first.”

My response was, “Amen, Gracie! Love Love Love! That's what it's all about!” Within two minutes, Gracie called from Honduras. She was/is so excited about this precious baby boy; as am I. I so wish I could be in Honduras to be a part of this gift from God. She explained to me how no one wants this baby. IHNFA has tried to find a home for this baby. They have tried Honduras families, American families in Honduras, etc. No one wants him because he is an inoperable tumor and is dying. Gracie has been told that this 6 month old sits alone all day in IHNFA without receiving any attention or love. When Gracie’s friends heard about him they immediately sought to find placement for him. Apparently this precious little guy is very responsive when he receives attention. Below are some photos that Gracie emailed me this morning.

Part of what really blessed me is when Gracie asked Cindy and Karla about what they thought about bringing Moses to the mission. The mission is meant to be a place for girls and their babies, not just babies. Both girls agreed though that Jesus had rescued them and brought them there. Jesus had rescued them and loved them. They had to help do the same for little Moses. What a blessing!

Gracie is going to Tegucigalpa Monday morning to see Moses. They will do some paperwork and hopefully be able to bring him home to the mission next week. We have no idea how long he will live, but it doesn’t ultimately matter. He is in God’s hands and he is a blessing. Until he goes home to the Lord, he is going to be cared for and loved tremendously. Oh, how I wish I could be there!  Please keep, Gracie, Lee, Cindy, Karla, Alejandro, and baby Moses in your prayers. 

 

John 15:12 says, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” I think taking this precious baby is a perfect example of keeping this commandment! So often, people don’t want babies that aren’t healthy or “perfect”. It’s so sad. Praise God that His love isn’t like that! His love is perfect and unfailing. He sees past our physical appearance and our disabilities. He is our encourager. He is our strength and our hope. Praise God for His unfailing love!

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” ~ 1 John 4:16-18

Speak Boldly!

I've had something on my heart the past few days that I want to share it.. I ran across Ephesians 6:19 over the weekend and it really convicted my heart. The scripture says, "And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel".

That word boldly really caught my attention, so I looked it up in the concordance. It comes from the Greek word parrhēsia. It means to have confidence, be out-spoken, to be able to speak publically, freely, openly, and plainly. I think we all know that I'm not out-spoken and that speaking boldly is not in my repertoire!

I suppose it sounds dumb, but I want to be able to speak boldly. I've always shied away from speaking on the phone simply because I falter when I speak. I am not well- versed at all, and I know it. Even in person, I get extremely nervous speaking. I get nervous just talking to friends and family. I will think one thing and say another. Half the time, I'll go back and apologize and say what I really meant to say. I know that sounds silly. Usually my brain has half a dozen things going on at once, and what comes out of my mouth just isn't what I had hoped for, lol; especially when it comes to any sort of public speaking!

Here is where my heart is really at though. I desire to be able to speak boldly for Christ! I want to be able to open up my Bible or an evangecube in Rwanda and talk about the saving grace of God. I want to be ready and willing at any given moment to share what God has done for me and my life (at any time and in any place). I want to be prepared. I want to be ready, so when the spirit moves my mouth will open, and I will boldly speak for Him!

Going to Rwanda!



Just in case you haven’t heard, I am going on a short-term mission trip to Rwanda in May. Rwanda is a country in Africa that has been ravaged by genocide and HIV/AIDS. I know many people are trepidatious about me going on this trip. I have prayerfully considered this opportunity for months though, and I firmly believe that God wants me to go. On May 18^th, a team of approximately 20, under the leadership of Mike and Mary Wagner (http://hisgreatplan.com) of Huntsville, will leave for Kigali, Africa. We will then travel to the city of Gisenyi, in western Rwanda. Gisenyi borders Lake Kivu and is a sister-city to Goma in the Congo. We will return on May 29^th.

I will be going with e3 Partners Ministry. This will be the fifth year that e3 Partners Ministry has teamed up with local churches in Rwanda. The people there are so desperate for the hope that only comes from Jesus Christ! God is using short-term mission teams to spread the gospel to thousands of people. The goal is to see people accept Christ, to make disciples, and to plant churches within walking distance for every man, woman, and child.

I definitely want to ask all of you to pray for me, the team leaders, and the entire May team. There is actually a team in Rwanda right now. Please pray for them, as well! I was blessed to receive an email from Mike Wagner this morning that said that over 1,500 professions of faith have been made in just a few days! Wow, God is good! I cannot wait to see what he has in store for May!

The cost for this trip is $3895. The money will cover travel, lodging, and food while in Africa. The funds also go toward travel insurance, tracts, ground transportation, materials, EvangeCubes, Bibles, and translators for each American.  Remaining funds will be left behind to continue supporting the movement and meet some of the needs of the mission sites. Basically, we aren’t just raising money for me to go or for e3 Partners. We are raising money for the country and mission sites where we work. We are making an investment in the people and church in that country for the kingdom of God! Last year these community impact funds enabled 75 orphan children to attend school!

If you would like to join me in this, please make your check payable to e3 Partners Ministry. Also, please put Bridget Kelley/RW11B on the “For” section of your check. You can also go to http://www.e3partners.org/bkrwanda to make a donation.  All donations are tax deductible! E3 Partners will send you a tax receipt. The total funds for this trip are due April 18^th.

I will post more information about Rwanda and this trip in the upcoming weeks.

Below is a photo of a bench at a refugee camp in Rwanda. I love how personal it is. They didn't just carve that they love Jesus. They said "I Love My Jesus"! Amen!

By His Wounds

This is hard to watch... It's such a beautiful song and great reminder of what Christ did for us.

Why can't you just be like everyone else?

So the other day, I was challenged with a question. The question was, “Why can’t you just be like everyone else?” In my childhood and teenage years, I longed to be like everyone else. I wanted to wear the same clothes others wore, talk the way they talked, do the things they did, etc. That simply isn’t the case now. Why should I or any of us want to be like others when God created us to be uniquely different? Don’t get me wrong, I have a few people in my life who I admire more than you could imagine. I am drawn to them though because they understand what I’m about to write and because, as I recently told one, it permeates in everything they do.

First of all, we shouldn’t (just) strive to be like those around us.  We were created in His image; not the image of “everyone else”! Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them”. Child of God, God doesn’t want you to be like everyone else. He wants you to be like Him.

Another scripture that is important to grasp is Romans 12:2. It says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”. God wants us to be willing to let go of the strongholds of this world, so He can transform and use us for His glory.

To whomever is reading this… You don’t have to be like everybody else. You can be more! You were thought of and loved by God before you were ever conceived. Psalm 139:14 says, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. God made you uniquely special! I pray that each of you knows this. I also pray that if you are reading this and have children, that you will be sure to let them know just how special they are to you, but more importantly, how special they are to God. Remind yourself and others that we are unique and valuable.

I love the fact that God knows us better than we know ourselves. Luke 12:7 says, “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows”. Do you know how many hairs you have on your head? I sure don’t! God does though. He knows it all. He knows everything about you; your heart, your pain, your struggles, your past, your future, etc. He knows it all and He wants you to know that you are special, valuable, and that He loves you unconditionally!

One foot in front of the other

I did something I never do when I woke up this morning. You’ll never guess what it was! I woke up and walked on the treadmill. It’s something I know I need to do, but honestly can’t ever find (or make) the time to do. I didn’t have anything pressing today, so I did that before I got in the shower and got into anything else.

I took my IPOD with me and listened to Casting Crowns. I was having a good time walking and singing and lifting my hands to the Lord. At some point, I looked down. I watched my feet moving in perfect precision; one foot in front of the other. I got to thinking about this journey called life. As I was walking to a preset program, the treadmill increased. It almost felt too fast, but I was able to get back into a rhythm. When the treadmill sped up, I got to thinking about so many times in my life where I just wanted to hit the fast forward button. I’ve wanted to do it with school. I just want to be done and be in the career of my choosing. I’ve wanted to fast forward through painful and challenging times to a place and time where things can just be calm and peaceful. That just isn’t how life works though.

We can’t fast forward through things. We have to walk through them. Sometimes we can take great strides, while at other times we have to take baby steps. I couldn’t help but an email I got the other day. It said something like we weren’t promised that life with Christ would be easy. We were promised that it would be worth it though! Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint”. I know it’s not always easy, but Hebrews 12:1 says, “..let us run with patience the race that is set before us”. I don’t know how long your race is. I don’t know the speed you’re traveling. What I do know is that from time to time, we are going to feel so tired and weak that we feel like we can’t go on. My message to you is to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. God is with you and he will not let you faint. You will win the race!

An Everlasting Love

My mind has been on love a lot lately. I see so many people around me (myself included) looking for love, struggling in current relationships, living in miserable marriages, and just simply seeking every day for someone to really love them like they yearn to be loved.

I can’t help but think about how so many times we rush into relationships. We become completely enamored and consumed. Oftentimes, we completely lose ourselves. We take our eyes off everything and everyone except for that person we are so desperately seeking; that includes us taking our eyes off of God. Sometimes we lose track of their hopes and dreams. Other times we throw out our morals, which ALWAYS create other problems.

I find myself daily seeking the mate that God prepared for me. I constantly have to remind myself that even if I find that person, they won’t be perfect. Their love may be one of the greatest things I’ll ever experience on this earth; still, their love will never compare to the Love God has for me… the love He has for you.

Jeremiah 31:3 says, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee”. God’s love is everlasting (eternal). It doesn’t wax and wane like the love of man. It is pure and steadfast. God and His love are always reliable and will never fail you. True peace and contentment can only found in His love and His ways; not in the ways and affections of man.