What if.....

What if... No one cared that you had been born? No one saw your first smile or encouraged your first steps? You never felt a mother's love or a father's embrace? You longed for a family that never came and hoped for a home that lived only in your dreams? Orphaned children all over the world are waiting...hoping...praying that they will become dear to someone. That somewhere there will be one special family that finds delight and great joy in welcoming them into their home! Each one waits expectantly, with a hopeful heart for a family to come, each tiny soul daring to silently rehearse secret dreams for the future... Is there room in your heart for a waiting child?                      ~All God's Children International Hope... when there is none, there is darkness. The gift of hope to a child makes all the difference in the world.  To learn more about how you can be involved in showing hope to these precious children, go to www.showhope.org Ready for another eyeopening experience??...... [I thought so] =)  There are approximately 143,000,000 orphans worldwide. A staggering, heart-wrenching number, but what does it really mean? This video shows just how many precious lives 143 million is. Be prepared to cry [like I did] but be prepared to see how God can use you. Whether it is through finances, adoption, awareness, or prayer, everyone can be involved in care for the orphans... just let God's heart be yours.  "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." ~John 14:18 What can you do?... Start with prayer... =)  "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for y ou by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."   ~ Matthew 18:19-20

God's Heart... for missions

Missions has always been close to my heart... these quotes from missionaries express such amazing passion, love, conviction and truth. What better way to live than to give everything to the One who gave all? 

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"Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart" -- Bob Pierce, World Vision founder

"Sympathy is no substitute for action."

--David Livingstone, missionary to Africa

"We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first." -- Oswald J. Smith

"Love is the root of missions; sacrifice is the fruit of missions" -- Roderick Davis

"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." 
C.T. Studd

"And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives…and  when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." 
   

- Nate Saint, missionary to Ecuador

"I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China…I don't know who it was…It must have been a man…a well-educated man. I don't know what  happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing…and God looked down…and saw Gladys Aylward…And God said - "Well, she's willing." 

- Gladys Aylward, missionary to China

"Here am I. Send me." 
           - Isaiah

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." 
 

- Jim Elliot, missionary to Ecuador

"The more obstacles you have, the more opportunities there are for God to do something." 
           

- Clarence W. Jones

"Expect great things from God. Attempt great thing for God." 

-William Carey

"God has huge plans for the world today! He is not content to merely establish a handful of struggling churches among each tongue, tribe and nation.  Even now He is preparing and empowering His Church to carry the seeds of revival to the uttermost ends of the earth." 
           ~David Smithers

Nature's Praise

How wondrous are your ways oh Lord

How mighty are your hands

That carved with whispered words breathed out

Mountains stretched across the land

With peaks so high soft clouds surround

These cliffs in veils of white

Each crevice Lord you know by heart

Each summit shows your might

Down in the valleys far below

Where rivers flow and spring

Sweet waters glisten songs of praise

Praise to the King of Kings

 Poured from His hands warmth flooding down

The sun streams shafts of light

Unfolding blossoms turn to seek

This glow of radiance bright

 The rocks cry out the waters dance

Christ's praise throughout the earth

We must join in this song of praise

And celebrate His worth

For thought the sun's warm rays bring life

'Tis not where true light's found

Not from the sun but in the Son

 Does saving life surround

His sacrifice upon the cross

Makes way for our receiving

 The only thing that we must do

Is lean on Him believing

Walking...... through life

Footprints

"I Had a Dream"

One night I dreamed a dream.

I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.

When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.

"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."

-Margaret Fishback Powers, 1964

This has always been one of my favorite stories. I love how perfectly it illustrates our view of life vs. God's view. When we think we are alone, sinking in the sand, it is then that Christ carries our burdens and holds us even closer to His heart. What an extraordinary God! 

When I took these pictures I immediately though of this poem and now I can finally share them together. 

With Jehovah-Shammah [The Lord is there] never are we alone! 

Beauty comes in all forms...

This is how much God loves us... breathtaking

These remind me of life's journey...

 And these are simply finding beauty in the quirky, 

everyday aspects of life...

I love photography!

What a wonderful way to capture 

moments to last forever. :)

Lets try this...

I find that there are tons of amazing quotes out there and for my first post on this new blog I'd like to share some  of my recent discoveries. =) 

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is." --Albert Einstein

"Do  not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Basically, I love how life is full of miracles that we don't even notice... taking the time to see the beauties and joys of the world takes time but it makes life sweeter. Then I think of verses like this...

"God's voice thunders in marvelous ways, He does great things beyond our understanding." --Job 37:5

Then I can't help but marvel at God's awesome power and wonder how much about Him I don't understand. The world is full of big, miraculous things, and tiny, beautiful things. We just have to take the time to notice the world God designed...