Expecting #4??

Good Soggy Afternoon girls!!!  Hope you are nice and dry!  This is a 2 pots of coffee kind of day.  One in the morning and one to get you through the afternoon.  It has been quite busy around my house lately.  If you haven't heard the news the Smith's are proudly expecting their fourth child.  This one not of my womb but of our hearts.  There is a child waiting in Ethiopia for us.  We have officially begun the paper work to get to him or her.  It is a loooooooong process.  Longer than any of us could have imagined, but it is for a human life right!  We have prayed and prayed and prayed.  God gave us what we feel is a confirmation so we have taken the first couple of steps.  Met with the agency.  Went to our first adoptive group meeting. (Levi's Circle)  We have filled out line after line after line after line!  Told a few people and asked all to pray for us and with us.  I have had moments of elation and moments of being really overwhelmed.  I am almost 34, do I really want to start over?  Lord you know we are stretched financially how can WE do this?  Will my kids get to go to Disney World if I do this?  Will they resent me if they grow up and not have had the best name brands and best of recreational, athletic or educational opportunities?  All of these questions and more have flooded my mind.   I guess you could say I was counting the cost. God says in His word to count the cost to follow Him.  But as we stand on this rainy Ash Wednesday I have contemplated His cost for Me.  His life.  His life for mine.  The more I read the more I realize this life is not my own.  The only life I am convinced that is worth living is the one spent and poured out for the Savior.  The Lord opened my families eyes to those in need.  Proverbs 24:12 states that "once our eyes are opened He holds us responsible to act"  I can not go back now, and I wouldn't want to.  We are at the beginning of Lent.  I want to encourage you to look at this season leading up to our Savior's death and resurrection as a time to focus on Him.  Alot of people give up meat or even sodas or desserts for Him during this time.  But what good is that if He doesn't have your whole heart.  That is what He wants.  A people who will count the cost and do it anyway. 
     Dear God, please raise up a holy generation who desire You above all else.  Who are willing to pray and trust you to do Big things in our midst, for Your names sake!  May we reach out to the widows, the orphans, the weak, the naked, all for You!  Cause us to go the extra mile to dash the strongholds in our lives and the  lives of others.  May we pursue righteousness and purity.  All to shine Your light to a needy world! Amen!
Carrie