Avengers, Assemble
We are in an Avengers state of mind in the Shelton household. The boys' imaginations have been captured by this colorful cast of super heroes. On any given day, you can find our boys, along with a bunch of other neighborhood kids, running up and down the block, protecting the earth in epic battles with their shields, hammers, and of course the all powerful "Hulk smash!" They have defended us from countless villains and thwarted many an evil plan, and we are all better off for it!
For the girls who are reading this who, like me, have never ever cracked open a comic book and couldn't explain the difference between a DC and a Marvel super hero if their life depended on it, let me explain the Avengers' appeal. The Avengers are an unlikely team of super heroes who come together when the earth is in grave danger from an extra terrestrial bad guy who is too powerful to be defeated by just one of them. They join forces as a team, laying aside their differences, and use each of their own super powers in a collaborative effort to beat the bad guy, impose justice, and restore order.
Today, I feel as though I have seen a glimpse of my own team of super heroes coming together to join in my fight against a villain that threatens to overtake me. Along with our adoption calling comes the daunting task of raising an estimated $38,000.00. To even officially get started with an agency, we have been advised to have $10,000.00 in-hand to pay for the initial costs associated with the home study and the paper chase (assembling all the documents required to apply to adopt.) Those numbers may not seem like much to some people, but to us, they are a lot! Left to my own devices, I can't even imagine saving up that much money, at least not before the boys are twenty-five. The numbers themselves have become my nemesis, my arch enemy if you will, which sometimes threaten to overtake me with paralyzing fear. But Steve and I are the stubborn sort, and we're not known to let little things like insurmountable obstacles deter us for long.
We have been telling the boys that we are expecting God to do miracles. I explained to them the other night that God owns it all, and that this isn't really a challenge for him. He called us to the journey, and He'll provide the means to accomplish it. After confidently telling the boys all of that and saying their bedtime prayers, I went back to my room and prayed from the depths of my soul that God would help me believe with my heart what I could so convincingly say with my mouth, and put this fear to bed once and for all. And amazing enough, He's doing it!
Today is Orphan Sunday - a day when Christian churches remember the plight of the fatherless. I was blessed with the opportunity to share with my own church about our calling to adopt. I told them that the call was somewhat of a surprise to Steve and me, although in hindsight, we can see how God has been preparing us for it for years. I talked about how we had helped, and continue to help, with fundraising efforts for friends and family who were adopting, and how through that process God started teaching us to love children we've never met in places we've never heard of, and to fight for them. I told the congregation that Steve and I had been to prior Orphan Sunday services wherein we didn't yet feel the call, but that we each prayed that we were willing, and if it was God's desire for us to adopt, he should tell the other one and make it clear. (He did.) I told them about doing the "Not a Fan" Bible study this spring and sensing God's voice telling me something big was coming and to get ready. (He had started that conversation with Steve while I was still pregnant with Trenton, but I wasn't ready then.) And I told them how I was filled with fear the day I worked up the courage to talk to Steve about it, and how God gave me not one, but two signs in one day affirming the call, and that we were all in. I concluded by telling our church that this journey is exciting and terrifying, and that we will need their help and encouragement along the way.
We brought with us a stack of books and Christmas cards to make available after the service. Many of them went home with new owners, several of whom deliberately overpaid for them. We had others tell us they'll be purchasing from us in future weeks, and some even asked about buying copies my CD that we sold as a fundraiser for other adoptions a couple years ago. One woman told us that she doesn't even attend our church regularly, as she bought three books and paid us for four. It was a blessing!
But the blessings didn't stop there. We went out to lunch with friends who have connections we didn't even know were available locally until this week. They are creative and energized and have the ability to help us with a fundraising project we had abandoned that we are extremely excited about! After church tonight, another couple made their way to us with really encouraging words, and offers of help in the exact areas where I need it, and I intend to take them up on all of it. A card found its way into my purse with a generous gift we were not expecting, which led us to have to explain to the boys what tears of joy are (this was very confusing to them).
As of today, Steve and I are officially out of the red and into the black. We have recouped what we invested into getting the books and cards printed, and the account is growing, and we are feeling strengthened, blessed and encouraged. I began this day with nervous anticipation, and I am ending it with a heart of praise. The Avengers are assembling, and the villain isn't so daunting and scary now.
Come to think of it, the Avengers concept isn't an original idea at all. The Apostle Paul brought it up, in different terminology in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12. Here is a passage of scripture I will never read the same way again after this experience:
"Avengers, fight as one!"
For the girls who are reading this who, like me, have never ever cracked open a comic book and couldn't explain the difference between a DC and a Marvel super hero if their life depended on it, let me explain the Avengers' appeal. The Avengers are an unlikely team of super heroes who come together when the earth is in grave danger from an extra terrestrial bad guy who is too powerful to be defeated by just one of them. They join forces as a team, laying aside their differences, and use each of their own super powers in a collaborative effort to beat the bad guy, impose justice, and restore order.
Today, I feel as though I have seen a glimpse of my own team of super heroes coming together to join in my fight against a villain that threatens to overtake me. Along with our adoption calling comes the daunting task of raising an estimated $38,000.00. To even officially get started with an agency, we have been advised to have $10,000.00 in-hand to pay for the initial costs associated with the home study and the paper chase (assembling all the documents required to apply to adopt.) Those numbers may not seem like much to some people, but to us, they are a lot! Left to my own devices, I can't even imagine saving up that much money, at least not before the boys are twenty-five. The numbers themselves have become my nemesis, my arch enemy if you will, which sometimes threaten to overtake me with paralyzing fear. But Steve and I are the stubborn sort, and we're not known to let little things like insurmountable obstacles deter us for long.
We have been telling the boys that we are expecting God to do miracles. I explained to them the other night that God owns it all, and that this isn't really a challenge for him. He called us to the journey, and He'll provide the means to accomplish it. After confidently telling the boys all of that and saying their bedtime prayers, I went back to my room and prayed from the depths of my soul that God would help me believe with my heart what I could so convincingly say with my mouth, and put this fear to bed once and for all. And amazing enough, He's doing it!
Today is Orphan Sunday - a day when Christian churches remember the plight of the fatherless. I was blessed with the opportunity to share with my own church about our calling to adopt. I told them that the call was somewhat of a surprise to Steve and me, although in hindsight, we can see how God has been preparing us for it for years. I talked about how we had helped, and continue to help, with fundraising efforts for friends and family who were adopting, and how through that process God started teaching us to love children we've never met in places we've never heard of, and to fight for them. I told the congregation that Steve and I had been to prior Orphan Sunday services wherein we didn't yet feel the call, but that we each prayed that we were willing, and if it was God's desire for us to adopt, he should tell the other one and make it clear. (He did.) I told them about doing the "Not a Fan" Bible study this spring and sensing God's voice telling me something big was coming and to get ready. (He had started that conversation with Steve while I was still pregnant with Trenton, but I wasn't ready then.) And I told them how I was filled with fear the day I worked up the courage to talk to Steve about it, and how God gave me not one, but two signs in one day affirming the call, and that we were all in. I concluded by telling our church that this journey is exciting and terrifying, and that we will need their help and encouragement along the way.
We brought with us a stack of books and Christmas cards to make available after the service. Many of them went home with new owners, several of whom deliberately overpaid for them. We had others tell us they'll be purchasing from us in future weeks, and some even asked about buying copies my CD that we sold as a fundraiser for other adoptions a couple years ago. One woman told us that she doesn't even attend our church regularly, as she bought three books and paid us for four. It was a blessing!
But the blessings didn't stop there. We went out to lunch with friends who have connections we didn't even know were available locally until this week. They are creative and energized and have the ability to help us with a fundraising project we had abandoned that we are extremely excited about! After church tonight, another couple made their way to us with really encouraging words, and offers of help in the exact areas where I need it, and I intend to take them up on all of it. A card found its way into my purse with a generous gift we were not expecting, which led us to have to explain to the boys what tears of joy are (this was very confusing to them).
As of today, Steve and I are officially out of the red and into the black. We have recouped what we invested into getting the books and cards printed, and the account is growing, and we are feeling strengthened, blessed and encouraged. I began this day with nervous anticipation, and I am ending it with a heart of praise. The Avengers are assembling, and the villain isn't so daunting and scary now.
Come to think of it, the Avengers concept isn't an original idea at all. The Apostle Paul brought it up, in different terminology in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12. Here is a passage of scripture I will never read the same way again after this experience:
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Thank you, God, for being bigger than my little imagination can comprehend. Thank you to all of you who are following our journey and who have supported us in any way. As I told the congregation this morning, "We love you, we need you, and we are grateful for you.""Avengers, fight as one!"
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