Our Shoes For Orphan Souls drive

Our sweet little church's adoption and orphan ministry shoe drive ended last week.  We rocked the house this year!  Last year was our church's first Shoes For Orphan Souls (SHOES ) drive and we collected 52 pair of shoes.  Honestly, I was bummed.  It seemed small.  However, it was a start.  My goal for this year was to just beat last year's number.  We blew last year out of the water!  The church collected 128 pair of new shoes and 60 pair of new socks to send to orphanages all over the world. You know what kills me?  The sweet little princess tennis shoes that I know are going to be worn by a little girl who is nobody's princess.  Know what else?  The big man size tennis shoes that are going to be worn by almost grown teenage boys living in an orphanage.  Did you know that boys(especially dark-skinned ones) over the age of 5 are almost impossible to find adoptive families for. 

And, while we are on this topic, my friend R. is on the plane to Ethiopia to pick up his and J.'s new 4 children!!  The sibling group is 3 boys and 1 girl ages 13, 12, 8, and 4. I was blown away by what he wrote on his blog.  I don't have permission to share their blog, so I'm just going to paste an excerpt that totally spoke to me! 

I want people to think we have it together. But we don't. None of us do. We're a mess and yet God loved us where/how we were. He is the One to right the wrongs, fix the shortcomings, and repair our nature.
I want people to think we're not crazy. But we are crazy. What we're doing is not complimentary to the American dream. It's counter-cultural. It values children over homes, cars, jobs, money, success, etc. It measures happiness on a different scale. Our Father was crazy to sovereignly adopt us into His family as His children. That's nuts! It's a messy family. Ours will be too.
I want my kids to be smart, funny, happy, successful, etc. But they may not be. At least not according to the world's standard. God values our holiness above our happiness; I want our values for our kids to align with His values for His kids.
I don't want to elevate comfort and niceties over Christlikeness and Kingdom treasure. Actually it's my nature to do so. I want to. I want a better everything. I choose to fight that desire for the sake of the gospel. To show Christ's all-suffieciency I will try to fight my nature while the culture feeds it.
To my fears, people have offered that God is always with us, never leaves us, works all things for good, etc. I don't doubt any of this. I believe it. But where my belief ends and my unbelief begins is a thin line that says "He's there, but He's not enough." Truth mixed with lies, just like in the garden. "God, You're all I need plus my salary." "God, all I need is you plus _____." What would you fill in the blank with? Money, health, kids, friends, happiness...the list of things we need lengthens.
I want to believe He is all I need. So I war. War with me. Give yourself away for the sake of others. Give away your stuff for the sake of the gospel. At the end I believe we will find God. And that He is all we need