Liberia Day One!

Hello! I am trying to blog from Liberia basically so I don't have to when I get back ;)
Today was our first real day in Liberia. I'm in love already. We fell asleep to the rain pouring down and woke up to a rooster crowing and the missionaries we're staying with having a crazy loud and powerful prayer sesh in the next room. I feel like I'm home. One super awesome thing about this trip is that before group devotions at 9 (led by a different one of us each day) we all have to have 30 minutes of "abide time" with God. Pastor Anthony puts on worship music in the living room (which is in the middle of the house) and we all just scatter around with our notebooks, Bibles, and Jesus. It's such a refreshing/filling way to start the day. Then group devotions, family breakfast, some bug spray, and we're off. Today we went to the houses around our guest house and went through the wordless book (basically like those salvation nails with the different colors - they tell the story of the gospel) with anyone who would listen (which was everyone, they are so welcoming here.) It was a super great time! I was able to lead two beautiful ladies to Christ, hang out with a bunch of cool kids, and prophesy over a boy who will some day be an awesome pastor in Liberia. Also, a bug flew into my mouth in the middle of preaching the gospel so I just had to get it out and throw it and keep going. Ha! I also talked to a Muslim man who told me I may not pray for him and I am crazy. But it was a good experience still! After going house to house, we came back to our guest house and had a lunch of protein bars and Pringles. Then, I think I took a nap. The plan was to go to the market, but I think the man who was taking us was fixing the cable so we couldn't go. Hence all the down time. Eventually, some of our group left for the Victory Outreach youth service. The rest of us waited for our ride. We decided to venture out the gate a little because we wanted to explore and we saw some kids. They ran from their yard and waved to us and were yelling. (That's another thing I should tell you - Liberian English is basically nothing like American English. 9 times out of 10 I have absolutely no idea what they are saying, and vice versa. But with a lot of work, paying really close attention, and saying "what?" 4 or 5 times, you can eventually figure out what they are saying.... if you're lucky. But I think, after a while, we might get used to it and get better. But it's really tricky right now.) Anyways, the kids were precious. We attracted a crowd and a full blown soccer... I mean football... game broke out between our little front yard, the huge muddy river that is the road, and the yard across from us. I was of course a bystander of this game, cute as it was. A woman came out of the house across from us carrying a teeny tiny baby girl. She pointed at the baby and pointed at me. I went over and she put her right in my arms. She was the cutest!!! And if you know me, you know I have been dying to hold a baby basically since our plane took off in Pittsburgh ;) It turns out that there are baby twins there, three months old!! A boy named Misha and a girl whose name is something that starts with an R that I can't pronounce spell or say. But she was sooo sweet and it was like a little answer to prayer that reminded me that God knows and cares about the desires of our hearts. It was a special moment :) then our ride got there so we went to church. We were about an hour late but we made it in time to pray with lots of teens and young adults with great purposes in life. Also, I made a new friend named Caroline who is my same age and so sweet. That was really fun. Then, we were supposed to show the Jesus film, but something happened that we won't have the projector until tomorrow, so we went to the market aka grocery store. I got this Liberian pastry thing with apples in it and it was warm and sugary and so great! Then we had a crazy ride back to the guest house because it was so bumpy and so much fun. There was lots of screaming involved which made it even more hilarious. Pastor Sydney told us on the way here from the airport "brace for landing!" which we also think is hilarious so we like to say BRACE FOR LANDING over every bump. So now we are back at the guest house, had dinner and some great prayer time, and now we are winding down. After dinner I got to learn how to make cake African style, stirring butter and sugar in a huge bowl with a glass bottle. It was actually a lot harder than it looks/sounds! Arrow (Pastor Sydney and Musu's son) told me I was bad at it but laughed at me as I struggled. It was quite funny for everyone African who was there and a great experience for me. Eventually they told me to leave, so I guess I was really bad at it. Hahaha. Okay, goodnight! Thanks for the prayers everyone!

The College Question and What I'm Doing for the Rest of my Life.

Actually, I don't know what I'm doing for the rest of my life so this is mostly about the college question.
As of today I'm officially a senior. Which is very weird, and exciting, and weird.
Because of course, after your senior year you go on to be like.. a real person living in the real world. Which is crazy because what even is life without waking up at 5am every day to go to school? Probably awesome. I'm really excited because today I went to graduation which makes me excited for my graduation which is 370 days from now, I think.

So obviously with being a senior comes the question of what are you going to do with the rest of your life.
Which is usually phrased in one of these ways:
"Where are you going to college?" and "What are you going to school for?"
Or something like that, because mostly everyone wants to know about college. But I'm not going to college.

I bet that someone who is reading this just had a little mini heart attack or something.
A lot of people think it's a shame when someone doesn't go to college. I think it's a shame that they think it's a shame. I know why though, and they mean well. When I was little, I thought that people didn't go to college if and only if they failed school and worked at McDonald's for the rest of their lives. (Nothing against working at McDonald's - best smoothies ever). But me, well, I don't know. I have a 4.0 GPA this year. People expect "more" of me, I think.

But here's the thing. I believe in God. I believe in what he says, what he does, and who he is. I believe that Jesus died on the cross two thousand years ago to wipe us clean and pure so we can be with him forever. And I believe that the "forever" doesn't just mean after we die when we go to Heaven, but it means that even now in our lives we can have a relationship with him. A personal, real, deep relationship. I believe that God has a plan for each and every one of our lives, that he is completely involved in it, that he guides our steps and calls us to do things for his glory.
I know that might sound crazy to you, and that's okay because it kind of is crazy, but it's true. And if you don't believe that or understand that, I probably won't make sense to you, and my life probably won't make sense to you. That's okay. I just want everyone to know why.

When I was 13 years old God called me to be a missionary. Now to me, a missionary doesn't necessarily mean that you went to Bible school and are certified by a missions board and stuff like that (although it can be of course), but a missionary is really just someone who loves God so much that it overflows into their love for others, someone who lives to serve God and leads/helps/guides others to do the same. Which is me, and you, and anyone, because we can all be missionaries everywhere we are.
I feel a specific call to care for orphans. Orphans everywhere, but especially orphans in Africa. I have known this in my heart since I was 9 years old.

I love taking care of children. I would babysit every day of my life 24/7 if I could. When I was in 2nd grade I told my class I wanted to be a mom. I also tried to get them all to call me Karen, but that didn't work out too well. Anyways.

It dawned on me one day that a college education may or may not be necessary for what I want to and feel called to do. I told my mom I might not go to college and she freaked out. Understandable, she's a teacher, I'm the first born, I'm smart, I should go to college. Lol. But I really, really prayed about it and I told God I'll do whatever you want me to do, but if your plan for me doesn't include college, I really need you to please give my parents peace about it. I was 13. I left it at that and prayed about it for about three years and he did give both my parents peace about it. That was a huge confirmation for me. But it can't even come close to describing all the ways God has answered my prayers. I am so sure that this is God's will for me.

I'm totally open to going to college. If that was what God wanted me to do, I would go to college. Maybe I will someday, I don't know. But not in 2014. I think college is very good and very important. Most people should go to college. A college degree is very important in today's world and society. I definitely support going to college and would advise everyone to do it unless they were sure God was telling them otherwise.

But the thing about God's plan is that sometimes, or maybe a lot of times, it might not make sense. It might not seem logical, comfortable, or safe. It might be controversial or counter-cultural. It might go against what the world says you need or what the world values. Education is good. Education is extremely, extremely valuable and important. But a college degree does not give value to a person or to their life. The fact that the one and only most high God created you, loves you, gave everything for you, and has a plan for you is why you are valuable. Because He says so.

Some people have told me I'm taking the easy way out. It's not. It is scary, frustrating, and awkward to tell people what I plan to do after high school. Especially people who don't understand me at all. Usually people either tell me I'm so nice or try to talk me out of it, and like I said it's scary, frustrating, and awkward. There are many days when I'm pretty sure no one understands me at all. Yesterday, someone who loves God and I very much respect told me, "I know you have a lot of passion, but there's always summer for that kind of stuff." Another time, again a person who I love and respect and a person who I know serves the Lord, lectured me on how I'm rushing my life and hearing God wrong and He is actually telling me to wait and do this later. But here's the thing - right after that another person came up to me and said to me, "Jesus says, 'You know your calling, and you will do it.'" And she didn't even know what just happened. God always comes through for me. Every time. And I know a lot of people, probably including some of you reading this, want to try to talk me out of moving to Africa when I graduate high school. These people mean well and I love them for wanting the best for me, but don't worry. Jesus is the best for me. He will provide everything I need. He will make sure I have the skills, abilities, resources, characteristics, etc. for what He wants me to do. He's going with me. I'm going with him. He has this all under control, and even though I don't know all the details, he does.

So as of now, the plan is to move to Africa when I graduate high school next year to work in an orphanage, take care of children, love them, teach them about Jesus, and learn everything I can about orphan care. I don't know where God will take me from there. Maybe I'll come back to America and go to school. Maybe not. I don't know, and it doesn't worry me because God's plan for me is already planned. It has been a dream of mine for many years to run my own orphanage sometime down the road. But for now, moving to Africa and working in an orphanage is what I know. I am so excited and so, so sure.

Recently I had some doubt. The devil started to tell me that it was too good to be true. That this was so much my dream, was it getting in the way of God's plan? Was this what I wanted instead of what he wanted? How could God's plan for me possibly be so good? Aren't God's plans usually harder and not what I want? (Ha!) What if I get sick? What if I don't know what to do?

But yesterday, after a slightly discouraging and extremely awkward conversation with a teacher, I went to incline feeling frustrated and confused. And God grabbed onto me, held me, showered me in love, and made me look into his face and listen to what he was telling me. It seems too good to be true because IT'S GOD WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. He IS too good to be true, but HE IS TRUE. This plan is so much my dream because HE PUT IT IN MY HEART. He has grown it in me since I was 9 years old! It will be hard, but it will be okay because he has it all figured out already! And it's okay if I get sick, because HE IS THE HEALER. It's okay if I don't know what to do because I don't! He does! This IS his plan for my life, and I let the devil tell me lies but that's all they were. Lies. And God tells me the truth. I believe him. If he says he is going to provide for me, he is. If he says he will heal me, he will. If he says this is what I should do, then this is what I should do. I left that time feeling SO refreshed, so full of joy, and even more sure of this plan than I have ever been before.

I know that to many of you this is just crazy. Yes, following God is an adventure. It is crazy. And I'm so so so so so beyond excited for where it takes me. So, I just wanted to tell you all that God is real and good and I believe in him. I believe him. So this is what I'm doing because he told me to and that's all I need to know.

Thank you Jesus :)


"Give me faith, to trust what you say, that you're good, and your love is great."
"I may be weak, but your spirit's strong in me. My flesh may fail, my God you never will."
"Your love heals every disease, your love fulfills my every need, your love is everything to me, your love is everything."
"The mountains shake before you, the demons run and flee at the mention of your name, King of Majesty. There is no power in hell, or any who can stand before the power and the presence of the Great I Am."

"For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite Bible verses has been Psalm 37:4;
'Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.'
I used to believe it meant that if I did what the Lord asked of me, followed his commandments, and was a 'good girl,' He would grant all my desires and make my dreams come true.
Today, this is still one of my favorite passages of Scripture, but I have learned to interpret it in a totally different way.
It is not about God making my dreams come true
but about God changing my dreams into His dreams for my life."
~Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie

(PS: Exactly one month from now I will be on a plane to Liberia!! Yay!!)

Six Weeks From Now

I'm going to Africa in 44 days. Is that even real?

6 weeks, 2 days.

It's so soon but so far away :)

I wish I blogged more. I'm going to start. Maybe.

Anyways, last night I paid the final balance for my trip to Liberia. I'm trying not to think about that too much because I will cry in Physics class. But seriously, how awesome is God.

I don't even have anything deep or profound to say because I'm just amazed. I'm in awe.

I'm not surprised because I know with all of my heart that the God works miracles. So I'm not surprised, but I'm humbled and amazed. He never fails to amaze me, ever.

This has literally been a miracle.

I'm so convinced that God is God and he is good and he wants me to go on this trip. Because there is no way I could have done this by myself. In fact, I didn't even do it at all. I wish I could step aside and let God type this because that is how much I was not even involved in this fundraising. The money literally came to my door. And most of it was from people I didn't even ask, and in some cases people I don't even know.

God is awesome. So awesome.

Thank you so much to everyone who donated towards my trip. I cannot possibly explain my gratitude enough. There aren't even words. I can't wait to fly to Africa and love and serve, and I couldn't have done this without you and your support.

And thank you to everyone who prayed and everyone who is praying. That means so much. Honestly there is nothing more you can do for someone than pray, to the one who created the universe and Africa and me and you and everything. Please continue to pray in this next month (and a half-ish) leading up to our trip (and during too!) 

I have been praying for this opportunity forever and ever. If you read my blog you know. I'm thankful for every trip to Africa that didn't work out; I learned so much about faith, trust, patience, etc. God is faithful, always faithful. I love this quote from Kisses From Katie (my all time favorite book ever):

"It is not about God making my dreams come true but about God changing my dreams into His dreams for me life."

I'm so excited to go to Africa because I know it isn't just my dream. I know God has a plan for me there. I know I belong there. I have prayed for so many years, I have seen God work so many little miracles in my life, confirming and answering so many of my prayers. I am so ready and so excited. Just 6 more weeks! Six (hopefully) short weeks!

God is so great, and I can't wait to see what he does in these next weeks and in Liberia.

Thank you so much for your prayers :)

Liberia 2013!

My dear friends and family,

 I am so excited to share this opportunity with you! I don’t even know where to begin! I remember watching “Idol Gives Back” when I was 9 or 10 and seeing Africa for the first time. I remember seeing starving children and dying people for the first time. I only saw it on a screen, but I knew it was real and I wanted to do something about it. I have dreamed of going to Africa for as long as I can remember. As you may or may not know, this past summer (2012) I travelled to Port Au Prince, Haiti in July. While we were there, we had the opportunity to love and care for children in four different orphanages. One orphanage in particular really struck me. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before.

            Mostly all of the children were sick, coughing, and dirty. Some of them didn’t have clothes. The ones that did were wearing sweaters, pajamas, clothes that were too small, clothes that were too big, just a shirt, or just pants. Some of the kids even took turns wearing clothes. I would see a boy in an outfit one day, and then the next morning he would be naked and another boy would have the outfit on. The children didn’t have underwear. Some of them had hernias, and some had bloated bellies. When they ate, they would scream and cry, grabbing rice from each other and shoving it in their mouths as fast as they could with tears running down their cheeks. While cleaning out their school desks, I found rice that they had hidden because they didn’t know when their next meal would come. The orphanage smelled like a barn, or worse. Their water came from a dirty pump outside. I will never forget the sound of those kids crying. The orphanage was dirty and smelly and heartbreaking, but I loved it.

            I loved walking in to a bunch of kids yelling “Joana! Joana!” I loved little hands constantly reaching up for me to hold them. I loved teaching them about Jesus. I loved twisting pipe cleaners into hearts for them. I loved sharing water with sweet little babies. I loved never going more than 5 minutes without holding a child, or two, or three. I loved the way they all crowded into a little room to sing and jump and shout and praise God at the top of their lungs for hours on end. I loved the way they insisted on helping us carry buckets of sand that were way too heavy. I loved doing work with one hand and holding a baby in the other. I loved kissing little cheeks and wiping away little tears. I loved when a million little brown faces crowded together, all wanting me to take their picture. I loved washing away dirt that had probably been there for years. I loved showering those kids with love that they probably hadn’t felt since 2010 when a terrible earthquake took their mothers and fathers.

            After this week in Haiti, I was certain of one thing: that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. I love Mexico, and I love Haiti, but I believe that the Lord has called me to Africa. After praying about it for many, many years and many discussions with family, pastors, spiritual leaders, and missionaries, I have decided to move to Africa next year when I graduate from high school. I don’t know all the details yet – in fact, I really don’t know any details – but that’s okay. I trust that God, who knows better than I do, has it all figured out, every last second of it. I believe that I was created to love orphans and that is exactly what I plan to do. The Bible says in James 1:27 that “Religion that the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” So to me it’s that simple. I know that there are children in this world who need someone to hold them, to feed them, to clothe them, to love them, and to teach them about Jesus. I want to be that person. I want to live like this:

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’

And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”

Isaiah 6:8

            With that said, I have been praying for a very long time for an opportunity to go to Africa this summer (2013). I asked God that, if it was His will, could I please go for more than one week? J God is faithful, and answered my prayer. On July 6^th, I will get on a plane and fly very far to a beautiful little country on the edge of West Africa. Liberia is a small country, just a little bigger than Tennessee. The people there speak English. We will be leaving on a Saturday and returning two Fridays later. While we are in Liberia, we will have many ministry opportunities such as: working with church planters and evangelists, sharing the Gospel, work projects, and caring for orphans and impoverished people. I can hardly believe this dream is coming true. 

           It is a pretty expensive dream, but I know that nothing is too big for God. I am simply asking that you pray. I would not ask that you do anything more or less than what God places on your heart. If the Lord leads you to contribute to the cost of this trip, I am humbly grateful! Please pray for me as I prepare for this life-changing two weeks. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!

All my love,
Gianna <3

2012!

Goodbye 2012! Wow. What a crazy amazing year. So many miracles. So great. God is good.

Here were my resolutions for this year! Let's see how I did ;)

1. Get my braces off. Accomplished!

2. Turn 16 - check!

3. Get my permit. Success!

4. Go on a mission trip - yes!!

5. Babysit for a new family - accomplished.

6. Blog more. Hmmmm. I have no idea! I think so.

7. Fine Arts, Poetry. Check, made it to Nationals. Also made it to Nationals in songwriting :)

8. Find a way to use photography for the glory of God. Hmm. Fine Arts? :)

9. Continue to learn ASL and Spanish - yup! Work in progress :)

10. Make a new friend - yes :)

11. Lead someone to Christ - success!

12. Read the whole Bible - accomplished.

13. Spend more time with God every day. Check.

14. Write more. Yes!

15. Become a better servant. Hmm. I'd say yes, but that's a work in progress too because you can always be better.

Yay! I'd say it's been a very wonderful and successful year :)

2013 resolutions later when I decide what they are!

Happy New Year!!! :)

Haiti Day 5!

Friday, July 27th. Day 5.
Wake up, eat breakfast, get ready, etc.
Leave for Orphanage #3, again.

When we got there, I was greeted by dusty little brown hands grabbing mine and yelling "Joana! Joana!"
Love. Them.
We continued our work project (sand, buckets, upstairs, you know).
We finished hauling all the sand that day, which was SUPER exciting.
When we were done we hung out for the kids for a little while, just playing with them and holding them and giving them some toys/clothes/shoes/etc.

After we left Orphanage #3, we went back to the guest house to change and get cleaned up, and then headed back to Orphanage #4.

When we got there.... oh my goodness.
Cutest. Thing. Ever.
We pulled up to the gate in our huge truck and there was a little boy standing inside the gate,
jumping up and down and shouting and clapping and waving to us.
I have basically never seen a kid so excited about anything before in my whole life.
It was so so so so so adorable.
Within seconds all the kids were outside, and we were greeted by the sweetest hugs and smiles.
I went inside where some of the kids were showing us pictures and a map on their wall.
I asked one of the little girls (Esther) if I could take her picture.
(Well, really, all I said was "foto?" because I totally cannot speak Creole!)
She smiled so big and I took her picture, gorgeous girl.
Then I tried my best to ask if she wanted to take a picture with me, and her face lit up and she practically jumped into my arms.
We took a picture and she gave me the biggest hug and was literally attached to my hip almost the whole entire time we were there.
It was super sweet. We were instantly best friends.
I even taught her how to use my camera, and she very gently and carefully put the strap around her neck and held it tightly with her little hands. She was thrilled (and a pretty good photographer:))
After a while it was time for us to go.
If you've been to San Luis, this was kind of like the last night there.
They sang us the sweetest song ever and we all got in a big circle and prayed together.
There were definitely tears, from our team and the kids.
They kept asking if we were coming back, but this was our last time there.
It was so sad. Esther got down and stood and held my hand. She didn't let go even while I was hugging the other kids goodbye.
She stood there silently, holding really tight to my hand.
After a couple minutes, she looked up at me with the most innocent smile and asked in the sweetest voice,
"What is your name?"
I smiled and said "Gianna" and she jumped back into my arms, wrapped her arms around my neck, and said "Joana" and hugged me.
My heart was so happy and so sad and I hugged her and told her I loved her one last time.
Then we left.

After Orphanage #4, we headed to a nearby hospital to pray for people.
A lot of us were really wanting to see God do some crazy miracles, and we were really excited.
However, we had one small problem... they wouldn't let us in.
Well, it's kind of hard to pray for people in a hospital if you aren't allowed in a hospital isn't it.
I think it's safe to say that we were slightly disappointed, but only slightly.
When we were walking back to the tap tap, someone asked if we could just pray for the people outside?
So we all gathered around the flag pole outside the hospital and started to pray.
It was so cool! It was like SYATP in Haiti :)
We prayed for Haiti and the people in that hospital and that God would bring healing to that country. It was a crazy moment.
When we were finished we asked some people outside if we could pray with them. Some people didn't want us too.

Then we saw a woman, her new baby, and two friends come out of the hospital. The two friends were helping her walk, and the baby was so tiny. It was pretty obvious that she had given birth very recently, maybe even that morning or the night before.
We had the honor of praying with her and baby Shakina. She was such a beautiful baby!
After praying with the woman and some others, she asked if we could drive her home. So we loaded her, the baby, her two friends, and all their bags into the tap tap with us and took them to her house.
It wasn't a very far drive, but it would have been a far and possibly dangerous walk with lots of hills and dirt, and where she lived wasn't the friendliest neighborhood. Plus, she could barely walk.
After we dropped her off I was amazed. I can't imagine how she could have possibly gotten home if we weren't there. It still amazes me to think about how perfectly God set up that moment.
We were upset at first that they wouldn't let us in the hospital because we wanted to pray with people and see God do all these crazy miracles.
But honestly, we weren't supposed to be in that hospital. We were supposed to be outside to drive that woman home.
He had heard her silent prayers and saw his daughter in need and came to her rescue.
How incredible and humbling to think that Jesus used US to be his hands and feet for her.
Wow.
God is so great. It's so awesome to think about how his plans are so much better than ours, and that he allows us to be a part of those plans. I love him.

After that, we went back to the guest house.
An incredible day in Haiti.

Thankfulness Day #4.

Thankfulness Day #4. Well, it's Orphan Sunday.
But Merissa was so right; every sunday should be orphan sunday.

I want you to do something for me.
Read this out loud.
I'm sorry if you feel weird doing it, but read this out loud.

I wish I could speak words that would make you feel the weight of 143 million+ orphans in the world that need the love we're supposed to be sharing.
I wish I could explain my frustration towards Christians who do nothing about it.
I wish I could write something in this blog that would make everyone who reads it drop everything and start the adoption process right now, but I can't.

So for today I just want to say that I am thankful for a broken heart.

I have seen orphans crying.
I have seen them alone, naked, sick, and dirty.
I have watched them scream and cry and grab rice off of each other's plates while they were eating.
I have looked into a child's eyes and seen years of anger, hurt, loneliness, starvation, sadness, and sickness take their toll and turn that beautiful smile into a blank stare,
into a limp body that just hangs there when I hold it.
I have held a child who didn't know love; she only knew anger, so as I kissed her cheeks, she hit and pinched mine.

And I'm thankful.
I'm thankful that it crushes me every day.
I'm thankful that I can hardly sleep at night.
I'm thankful that it haunts me.
I'm thankful that I can't get those faces out of my head.
I'm thankful that I can't get dressed or eat a meal or lay in my bed without thinking of those kids.

I'm thankful because my perfect God is going to use this broken heart.

I'm thankful because if I didn't have this pain in me, I probably wouldn't do anything about it.
I'm thankful because I used to just "feel bad". I used to just want to sit back, be comfortable, donate some money and that would be "good enough". I used to think it was terrible, but leave it at that.

But that was before I met them.
Before I fell in love.
That was before I held them in my arms.
Before I gently held those pinching hands and tried to teach them to love again.
Before little fingers tried to rip the earrings out of my ears because they were so desperate for just anything.
Before I found rice hidden in their school desks in case no one ever fed them again.
Before I knew that 26,000 children like them die every. single. day. for reasons that we can do something about.

And now my "feeling bad" is an unquenchable burden and passion to end their suffering and teach them about the Jesus who loves them more than anything.

My prayer today is that you would be broken for those children like He was broken for you.
Because those kids' broken hearts aren't going to be healed unless ours are broken too.
I pray that this wouldn't be just another Orphan Sunday but that this would be THE orphan sunday that we stand up and do something about it.
I pray that these broken hearts would get on planes and would scoop up those kids and love them with everything we have until we carry them all the way to Him.

I'm thankful that my eyes have been opened and that now I can never forget; I can never turn away.

Today, I'm just thankful for a broken heart.