“Hope and despair are not opposites. They are cut from the very same cloth, made from the very same material, shaped from the very same circumstances. Most of all, every life finds itself forced to choose one from the other, one day at a time, one circumstance after another. The only difference between the two is that despair shapes an attitude of mind; hope creates a quality of soul. Despair colors the way we look at things, makes us suspicious of the future, makes us negative about the present. Hope, on the other hand, takes life on its own terms, knows that whatever happens God lives in it, and expects that, whatever its twists and turns, it will ultimately yield its good to those who live it well. When tragedy strikes, when trouble comes, when life disappoints us, we stand at the crossroads beween hope and despair, torn and hurting. Despair cements us in the present; hope sends us dancing around dark corners trusting in a tomorrow we cannot see. Despair says that there is no place to go but here. Hope says that God is waiting for us someplace else. Begin again.”

Amazing! I love his heart…such powerful words of truth. I’m choosing Hope! Let’s choose hope together, to send us dancing around the dark corners into a future where God is very present!
You are loved, so very much, by the God who fashioned you with his very own hands….giving you the promise of a great hope and a future in Him!

You’re loved.

You have a purpose.

You’re not alone.

Sometimes we forget those words in the middle of the busy or the hard things. So, here I am, reminding you, along with myself that these words are true and that God’s love for us never changes.

Sometimes it is easy to lose the sense of awe of how amazing our God really is. Sometimes it is hard to remember that He knows us better than we know ourselves…and we have nothing to fear. He loves us and sees us through the eyes of grace…unconditionally…as a father loves his child.

Psalm 139

1 You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
photo credit
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

I’ve included a beautiful song in this post called “You know me.” I hope that it encourages your heart today, as much as it’s encouraged mine. Please click on the link below (“You know me”) and you’ll be able to hear it.

I love you…

You know me

He Saw You
What an incredible journey Jesus made;
what an overwhelming expression of love He undertook;
what an awesome purpose He had in mind.
You were on His heart.
When He left His home in heaven, He saw you;
when He became a man on earth, He was seeking you;
when He stretched out His hands upon the cross, He was reaching out to you;
when He returned to His Father, He was preparing a place for you.
You are the sheep He has come to shepherd,
to guide, to feed, to protect, to shelter, and to carry.
You are the one He calls His own.
—Roy Lessin

Proverbs 24:12 tells us that”Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows we know and holds us responsible to act.”

You  know.

I know.

It’s our job to make sure others know too….and it’s our job to act!

My heart aches and is so burdened for God’s people to realize the responsibility we have,  not to just “talk” about caring for the orphan but to really step out and to choose that this day will be the day we actually do it.  When I’m made aware of one more child whose been abandoned, orphaned, sexually abused, sold into sex slavery or even killed, my heart just breaks. I wonder why more isn’t being done by God’s people? What is is going to take for our eyes to truly be opened so that we will act and not just think about how sad all the little orphan stories and pictures are….. and then go about our day?

I believe that the majority of the Church does care, sometimes they just don’t know where to start. Some however, keep putting the stirrings of Jesus off….thinking they’ll take those steps when the time is more convenient, when there’s a little more money in the bank account…. when they aren’t so tired and busy.

There’s a quote by an anonymous person that says this. “Sometimes I would like to ask God why he allows poverty, famine and injustice in the world, when he could do something about it, but I’m afraid He’ll ask me the same question.” Scripture is clear that we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the orphan and the widow. Even I, as a recently widowed woman with 12 children (10 adopted) am not off the hook. He still expects me to act and to do my part to help more orphans and other widows, in whatever ways I can. There are millions of orphans around the world who have absolutely no hope. Jesus expects us to act! It’s not optional…it’s God’s mandate.

Some of you are not able to travel to another country to see for yourselves the reality of the suffering these priceless children go through. You might be thinking that orphans only exist in other countries around the world, so that gets you off the hook (said with respect). Did you know that there are hundreds of thousands of children who have been abandoned, abused, uncared for and left alone, in our U.S. Foster Care system?  To adopt out of your state’s foster care system is free!  There is no reason why God’s people should not be stepping up to the plate, taking these children in and making them a part of their family, or, facilitating help for those who are taking children in.  I don’t believe that everyone is to adopt. But, I absolutely believe that everyone is to help in some way.   You will need to pray about what that all looks like for you.

There are families I know of who are in the middle of trying to adopt. They need help with finances, so that they can save a child. Maybe you are called to sew into their adoption costs. Do you know of anyone who has already adopted… someone who lives near you? If so, they will need help with your time. All of that counts to Jesus, as doing your part.

A child suffering may break our hearts but the truth is, unless we come face to face with that suffering child, unless we walk in their ‘shoes’, unless we experience some of their pain-we often times just go on living our lives, feeling bad for them, but not really knowing what to do. I’m imploring you to let this be the day that you will take that big step, with God’s help to make a difference in the life of at least one child.

If any of you would like to give financially to families who are in the process of adopting, but need financial help to do so,  please let me know. I would love to pass their information on to you. These families are amazing and have already adopted many children. Their hearts are to walk out James 1:27 in the most radical ways and I love that! Please, I ask you to not walk away from this post thinking…Oh wow, just another person wanting my money. That’s not what this is about. It’s about you making a difference in the life of a child,  by helping families who are reputable and who are really using that money to put towards the cost of saving a life.  By helping these families, you will be the hands and feet of Jesus, rescuing a child who is God’s child…priceless to Him in every way. For information on how you can help these families, please contact me at reneeloux@orphanjusticecenter.org. Thank you so very much!

I want to stand before Jesus one day, knowing that I did my part. I know you do to.

God bless you!

Much love in Jesus,

Renee’

“Sometimes working in a Third World Country makes me feel like I am emptying the ocean with an eyedropper. And just when I have about half a cup full of water it rains:: more orphaned children from the north migrate to where I live, more abandoned and dead babies are found, more people are infected with HIV.  It is enough to discourage even the most passionate and enthusiastic person……love is the reason I just keep filling up my little eyedropper, keep filling it up and emptying my ocean one drop at a time. I’m not here to eliminate poverty, to eradicate disease, to put a stop to people abandoning babies. I’m just here to love.”
~katie davis

~katie davis

Wilferd Petersen

Click below:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2946323n%3Ftag%3Dfacebook

Even more troubling is that the orphanage storeroom was well stocked with food and brand-new clothes, yet the staff was allegedly selling these items to local markets instead of providing them to the children.

Sadly, it’s just another example of the exploitation and abuse that can occur in government-run orphanages, especially those in poverty, disease and war-ravaged countries where accountability is non-existent and corruption is extreme.  Below, are photos and they will shock you. I think sometimes it’s good that we are shocked into the reality of what’s going on in our world. We, as the church are going to have to rise up and walk out what we are “preaching.” Christ is the only answer for these horrifying injustices. We must link arms together to bring awareness, to give financially and through our time, to be the hands and feet of Jesus to these ones who are His priceless children!

Please don’t turn away, thinking there’s someone else out there who will act….let this be the year that YOU will act.

Instead of writing anymore, I’ll let the photos and captions speak for themselves…

“They thought they were all dead, so they threw a basketball to try and get some attention, and actually one of the kids lifted up their head, tilted it over and just looked and then went back down.”

- Staff Sgt. Mitchell Gibson

“I saw children that you could see literally every bone in their body that were so skinny, they had no energy to move whatsoever, no expression on their face”

- Staff Sgt. Michael Beale

“The kids were tied up, naked, covered in their own waste – feces – and there were three people that were cooking themselves food, but nothing for the kids”

- Lt. Stephen Duperre

“There was a boy with thousands of flies covering his body, unable to move any part of his body. We had to actually hold his head up and tilt his head to make sure that he was OK, and the only thing basically that was moving was his eyeballs.”

- Staff Sgt. Mitchell Gibson

“There were hundreds (of flies) in his open mouth. They were crawling out of his nose and ears and anywhere they could feed on his flesh and bloody, open sores from sleeping on the concrete, in what appeared to be the last few hours of his life.”

- Staff Sgt. Mitchell Gibson

“The smell was so bad, that you could smell it from outside in the street. It even overpowered the smell of the food cooking in the kitchen.”

- Anonymous soldier

“How could you take the most vulnerable children and subject them to such torture?”

- Lara Logan, CBS Correspondent

“Two women working there posed for pictures in front of the naked boys as if there was nothing wrong.”

- Lara Logan

“I can only imagine they (the caretakers) thought this was absolutely normal. Or that these special needs boys, who could not talk or communicate properly, were not human to them.”

- Lara Logan

“Violence is creating widows and orphans on a daily basis, many of whom are left to struggle for survival. Iraq’s children, already casualties of a quarter of a century of conflict and deprivation, are being caught up in a rapidly worsening humanitarian tragedy.”

- UNICEF

I’m writing a book and would love your prayers!  I have someone collaborating with me on the project. Her name is Bette. She is wonderful, amazing, funny, deep  and very “real.” It was refreshing to hear her heart and I love it that we’re on the same page with the things that definitely matter the most!

Bette wanted to know what I would like to accomplish through my book?  My answer was this.  ”People are sick of religion. They are broken and desperately hurting and some of them are at the end of their rope. They want to know why we, as Christians, are offering Jesus to them as the answer? I want to give them a million and one reasons (through my story) of why Jesus is the answer and yet I want to be gut level honest and real with them.  Jesus can’t be put in a box. Bette and I discussed the fact that He does not always “feel” safe. He doesn’t particularly feel comfortable all the time….and He is not always predictable! I lost my father (he was only 57), my son (at 2 and 1/2) and my husband (at 37). I still don’t have all the answers to the “why’s, but I have a story to tell of God’s grace that has not only carried me but given an amazing hope for mine and my children’s future! I want to share that hope with you.

Now on to the subject of Religion vs. my Jesus….I hurt for those who are bound by religion and for those who feel they have to be religious for God to love them. I found that in reading the Bible, Jesus reserved his harshest words for religious leaders. Jesus reprimanded them for falling short of the standards of God’s Kingdom.  Jesus pronounced “woes” on religious leaders like the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees and Sadducees. While he labeled these religious leaders as blind guides and hypocrites, he mingled with tax collectors, prostitutes and others that he considered the very worst of sinners.  I love that!!

Jesus was tough on religious people because he was NOT one of them.  Jesus placed Himself and His new way of relating to God far beyond the reach of “religion!” Religion kills! Religion likes to wage war. Religion traffics in power plays, discriminates and promotes slavery.  Organized religion comes up with hoops that we are told we have to jump through for God to love us…produces rules, rules and more rules about how we should dress, who we should get to know, where we should sit to be seen and known by the “who’s who” crowd.

I’ve found that my beautiful Jesus is a very glaring contrast to everything religion stands for. Amazing isn’t it that the Christian religion has itself become as Anti-Christ as any man made system can be?  Religion is a barrier and a stumbling block in getting to know Jesus. Jesus came not only to save us and to set us free from our sin, He came to break the chains of bondage that religion has held over our lives.

I’d like to share a portion of Bette’s email to me.

“The Christian walk is one of mystery, of balance, of patience. It is not one of manipulating God to do as you wish, or of “ten ways to transform your husband,” “Nine ways to deepen your walk with God.” My walk with God (now more than 37 years) has been both rich, and terrifying. It has been at times, lonely, confusing, and difficult. I’ve had health issues, depression, and marriage troubles (big ones), and yet, I can say with confidence that I have come to know how much I don’t know about God. And yet I follow him.

I don’t really believe that being saved will rescue you from all your deepest difficulties. In fact, it seems to me that being saved most often drops you over the edge — into territory where the difficulties aren’t “out there” but rather in your face — or worse, in your soul.

I am awed by the passage in Exodus where God leads his children down a blind alley. In the text, it says clearly that he led them to that place where the Red Sea was in front of them and their enemies were behind them. It was intentional. He did it. It must have been terrifying — both in the outward (what if they get us?) but also in the inner man (what kind of God have we decided to follow? Can he be trusted? If he led us here on purpose, what ELSE will he do to us?)

We Christians tend to look at God as some benevolent old man, that we can understand, control, explain, and perhaps worst of all, write about and sell to the masses.

I’m a doubter (by nature) in that I doubt people’s explanations for God. I stick to the text (Bible), but I don’t have much faith in charts, and liturgical explanations. But at the same time, I’m a server in my deepest heart. The Lion of Judah must be respected, obeyed, whether we understand or not. He wants us to know him, as much as we are able in this life. As much as an ant can know the man who builds his house on his nest, perhaps. But we will never ever completely explain him, or understand him. Nor, will we ever direct him.

He is God, after all. All we can do is to try to love him back.”

Thanks Bette, for letting me share this portion of your email! I love how real and honest you are!

God is beautiful and limitless! It will take all of eternity to continue to get to know the beauty and majesty of who He is. His love for us is outrageous…seriously outrageous!

You are precious and priceless to Jesus, no matter where you’re at. He loves you and wants you to get to know the fullness of His amazing love for you…a love that drove him to the cross to set you free. It would be pride for you to think that any sin you’ve committed is too great to be forgiven. There is no sin too great that He is not there waiting for you, to bring you freedom but most of all to say, “I love you.  Let’s run this race and finish it together!”

Much life and hope for you today, through Jesus’ most committed love for you!