Jealousy, Target, & Asian baby stalking...

In September @ YWAM Orlando we had something awesome happen in our staff training ( God showed up )! Imagine that, a bunch of missionaries crying out to God & he shows up :) Crazy I know... There was weeping, repentance, healings - both emotional & physical & just a lot of pure awesomeness!! This is a new way of life for us & were not going back..

After this awesome week, as a staff we listened to a podcast called "The Unoffendable Heart..." It dealt a lot with jealousy and it rocked our base!! Sometimes we have no idea how much we can walk in jealousy until God shines his light on our heart & we see that "nasty green monster" for what it is :) Anyways, again there was much repentance the spirit of God was sooo strong to free us of jealousy. When we are jeolous we are walking in unbelief and we are withholding love, compliments & joy from others (nasty right ).

So today I was walking around Target ( didn't need anything, sometimes I go there to catch my breath). So of course I go & look at the baby clothes and I look over and see a couple with the sweetest little asaian girl, my heart jumped and sank all at the same time! This was the time to walk out in the opposite spirit of jeously, my first thought was, "why do they get there baby?". (I know terrible ) So what do I do? I follow them and watch! What do I see? 2 of the happiest parents ever. They adored that little girl, they had no idea there was a world around them they only knew they had a beautiful little baby that they adopted and she is theirs! Yes, in target I began to cry, not because I was jealous but because I had joy for them & for me! I walked over & said "she is soooo cute" they were kind of like "we know" :) I walked out of Target happy for them & looking forward to the day when someone adopting may stalk me in Target :) [I've been stalked many times with my little tysen]. :) The point is, I could have missed out on that beautiful experience because of jealousy :) Don't let jealousy steal your joy when others get what we our longing for!! Rejoice with them, jump up & down, spin around & get super excited...It feels sooo good!!!

The Prayer of "Duck Ghost..."

I got a pressing email last week that moved my heart to tears. It went something like this: "Dear Andy and Rachel, The Director of our adoption agency is making a visit to South Korea in a few weeks. If you have been refered a child, she can take gifts, etc to your child. If you have not, the orphanage is in need of toys and / or financial gifts to buy the children toys, etc. Please let me know if you want to do this."

My heart lept. I had a thought. An idea. What if I gave them a gift to take? Could Pax get it? Somehow. Someway. This was my prayer: that I would send a gift, and somehow out of the thousands of orphans, that Paxton would end up with our gift. And that the day Pax comes home to us, the toy would be with Pax. Maybe crazy. But it was another oportunity for God to show the world he is God.

So I bought a little duck last week. It has a small blanket attached to it. And if you look at the picture, it does resemble a duck head with a ghost body. But it says I love you and that moved my heart. And so on Friday, I told many of my friends this story and asked them to pray over the duck and that it would somehow find its way to Pax. And so they did. They embraced this crazy idea. In the middle of prayer, my friend Karl prayed something like this, "...And God, we just ask that this Duck Ghost, would somehow make its way to Pax, and that the day Pax comes home to us all, that Pax would be carrying Duck Ghost in hand..."

And so that is my prayer and it will continue to be until Pax comes home to us....the Prayer of Duck Ghost...

Paxton, Pizza, and Crocodiles...

I was eating dinner with a friend of mine last night...Homemade pizza...Pepperoni and mushroom. In the midst of our conversation, my friend began to share a vision that they had about us - the Millers. This person was reminded of the story of baby Moses, and how his mom had released Him to God by putting him in a small "basket" and sending him down the Nile river. And if you follow the story, he is "received" and adopted into a family.

Now wait...The Nile is infested with reptiles. Mainly the Nile crocodile. It can get up to 20 feet long and way up to 1,500 pounds!! In those days without the internet and our current knowledge, they must have been thinking dinasour? Wow! And this mom trusted God enought to release baby Moses into dangerous waters! With no certainty of the outcome, not knowing who or what may interfere, but trusting God was holding that little one in his hands until he found a safe home.

Paxton has been "released". There is a baby floting down the "Nile" with all sorts of obsticals trying to keep Pax from his family - the Millers. But we know and trust God is making a way for Paxton's arrival.

Update: we have applied for 7 grants. They total over $20,000 in appeals. Please pray for favor and approval. We still are at $15,000 in need. Thanks for your continued prayers and encouragement.