Late Night Thoughts

Late last night {well actually in the wee hours this morning} everyone was sleeping, even Ruby was crashed 
beside me on the couch.
I had been up working on web stuff for
I should have been so sleepy, but instead my mind 
was bouncing from idea to idea, 
racing almost faster than I could keep up.

{In fact this morning Dw said that when I finally came to bed and fell asleep, I was moving about so much he couldn’t sleep! Yes, my brain and I guess my body were both racing.}

Yesterday we had a day of prayer and fasting.
As I prayed, I kept asking the Lord,
What will it take for people to get serious
 about getting involved in the orphan crisis? 

Why don’t most people care enough to do something? 

How can nice, well-meaning people close 
their eyes and pretend that
163,000,000 
orphans just don’t exist?
What can we personally do to shrink that number?
What can International Voice of the Orphan do 
to shrink that number?

Give me ideas Lord, give us ideas, please, I’m listening!
The other day when I was doing my early morning Bible study, when my eyes fell on Deuteronomy 10:18:
“He executes justice for the 
orphan and the widow”
As I read those words, they stood out in a profound way.  I have read through the Bible many times before, but never had I noticed that all the way back near the beginning of recorded history {actually when the ten commandments were just coming down to the people} God’s deep love and care for the orphan and widow
 was clearly being drawn attention to!
Orphans and widows is not a ‘new problem’…there need was recorded in history and God’s care, love, mercy and justice for each orphan and widow is being mentioned right alongside!
How then can we ignore the cries of 163,000,000?
What more can we do?
Because frankly sweet friends, at the end of our lives, 
there will be so much regret about:
*how we spent our time*
*what we placed value in*
*what we focused on*
*how we spent our resources* 

But it’s not too late to do more!

I was talking to a dear friend of mine yesterday.  
Sharing out hearts and how as we look back 
over the years pondering the seasons where 
 we often did ‘nice things’… but
so much of those ‘nice things’ just didn’t really, 
truly matter when it was all said and done.
Time spent frivolously will accomplish frivolities. 
Time spent doing nice things will 
accomplish nice things.
Time spent radically investing in what 
matters to God’s heart,
{like orphans and widows} 
will always reap eternal rewards,
rewards that do not create regret.
There is an old saying that I memorized 
when I was a little girl,
it went like this:
Only one life t’will soon be past.
Only what’s done for Christ will last.


Lord, show us how to better be the voice….
shouting their needs from the rooftops…
Please Lord bring others to join us…
because a group shouts so much louder 
than individuals…

23 thoughts on “Late Night Thoughts

  1. AMEN and I say again AMEN!! Open our hearts Lord…make us broken for the orphans…convict us Lord, humble us, strengthen us for the cause.. Yes Jesus…Yes to you in what truly matters.

  2. Linny, I'm coming out of "lurkdom" just to comment on this. 🙂 Your blog has spoken to my heart SO many times, I LONG to somehow be God's hands and feet towards all of these children without families. I'm not sure yet what that will look like for us, right now it's "only" through prayer, but I hope that soon it will be more. Keep up your good work, you are an AMAZING voice for the fatherless. <3

  3. I love shouting out about the cause of the orphan!!!

    Hey, thanks so much for the day of prayer yesterday! I know God is working hard to get our little one home and on top of that God gave me the answer to something this morning that I have wondered about for 5 years now. The answer is a little overwhelming but truly makes me smile!

    I also can't tell you how good it was just to take a day praying for everyone that had posted. I can't wait to see more people tell about how their prayers were answered.

  4. I am de-lurking for real this time, not just to enter a contest. 😉

    What you said about time spent frivolously and time spent on "nice" things really resonates with me. This has been an ongoing struggle for me, actually. I feel like there is a continual war in my heart over this issue.

    See, there is a part of me that is in love with life and all the little beauties therein. I love twirling carrot ribbons into garnishes on cakes, and tasting the millions of heavenly varieties of tea in the world, and going to see musicals, and creating art, and I could go on and on about the completely endless list of beautiful things to pursue and enjoy here.

    But there is another part of me that grieves over the tremendous, excruciating heartache in this world. My heart aches over loneliness and starvation and ugliness and disease and loss, and I yearn to give and give and give, of myself, my time, my money. My heart is not satisfied merely to pursue the most beautiful life I can for myself.

    And yet, I have a couple problems. One, I know that God originally designed this world to be beautiful and good, to be explored and discovered and savored and enjoyed, and that the desires in my heart to explore and enjoy are not evil in and of themselves. Intellectually I know this, but my heart is lost in confusion.

    As it so happens, the post you wrote that inspired me to subscribe to your blog in the first place was about wanting to buy a bag for some reason, but hating to spend money on that instead of the orphan, and as it turned out, you found a lovely one at a thrift store for $2. It's been so long since I read it I'm not sure if I have all my details right. Do you recall the entry I'm referring to?

    As soon as I read that I knew I wanted to subscribe to your blog. Somebody understood this dilemma!

    My heart wrestles over buying clothes, even very inexpensive, culturally-deemed "necessity" clothes. It wrestles over wanting to pursue different art forms and yet being daunted by how expensive art supplies are and then deciding not even to bother. Today my particular struggle is that since one of the seed varieties I planted failed I want to buy a different variety to replace it. After all, the soil is tilled and weeded and just begging for something to be planted there. But in my heart I wrestle over even spending a measly $2 for seeds, because I know that that $2 isn't measly to many brothers and sisters of mine around the world.

    I've gotten to the point where I feel guilty buying anything for myself at all, regardless of how exceptionally good a bargain it is and what good use I could put it to. And it discourages me. If I am to live like this, giving it all up for others, some days I just wish I was actually over there with them in India or Africa or South America. I wish I was experiencing their poverty first hand, and then I couldn't help but joyfully give up jeans and facial cleanser and body lotion and vegetable seeds. But right now God hasn't put me there, and I struggle to live in a decadent world and deny myself what, in our culture, are tiny, itty-bitty priveleges. But I want to devote all my money to God.

    Do you have any wisdom and advice for me? I would love some encouragement.

    ~Brittany, age 23, Tucson

  5. I am de-lurking for real this time, not just to enter a contest. 😉

    What you said about time spent frivolously and time spent on "nice" things really resonates with me. This has been an ongoing struggle for me, actually. I feel like there is a continual war in my heart over this issue.

    See, there is a part of me that is in love with life and all the little beauties therein. I love twirling carrot ribbons into garnishes on cakes, and tasting the millions of heavenly varieties of tea in the world, and going to see musicals, and creating art, and I could go on and on about the completely endless list of beautiful things to pursue and enjoy here.

    But there is another part of me that grieves over the tremendous, excruciating heartache in this world. My heart aches over loneliness and starvation and ugliness and disease and loss, and I yearn to give and give and give, of myself, my time, my money. My heart is not satisfied merely to pursue the most beautiful life I can for myself.

    And yet, I have a couple problems. One, I know that God originally designed this world to be beautiful and good, to be explored and discovered and savored and enjoyed, and that the desires in my heart to explore and enjoy are not evil in and of themselves. Intellectually I know this, but my heart is lost in confusion.

    As it so happens, the post you wrote that inspired me to subscribe to your blog in the first place was about wanting to buy a bag for some reason, but hating to spend money on that instead of the orphan, and as it turned out, you found a lovely one at a thrift store for $2. It's been so long since I read it I'm not sure if I have all my details right. Do you recall the entry I'm referring to?

    As soon as I read that I knew I wanted to subscribe to your blog. Somebody understood this dilemma!

    My heart wrestles over buying clothes, even very inexpensive, culturally-deemed "necessity" clothes. It wrestles over wanting to pursue different art forms and yet being daunted by how expensive art supplies are and then deciding not even to bother. Today my particular struggle is that since one of the seed varieties I planted failed I want to buy a different variety to replace it. After all, the soil is tilled and weeded and just begging for something to be planted there. But in my heart I wrestle over even spending a measly $2 for seeds, because I know that that $2 isn't measly to many brothers and sisters of mine around the world.

    I've gotten to the point where I feel guilty buying anything for myself at all, regardless of how exceptionally good a bargain it is and what good use I could put it to. And it discourages me. If I am to live like this, giving it all up for others, some days I just wish I was actually over there with them in India or Africa or South America. I wish I was experiencing their poverty first hand, and then I couldn't help but joyfully give up jeans and facial cleanser and body lotion and vegetable seeds. But right now God hasn't put me there, and I struggle to live in a decadent world and deny myself what, in our culture, are tiny, itty-bitty priveleges. But I want to devote all my money to God.

    Do you have any wisdom and advice for me? I would love some encouragement.

    ~Brittany, age 23, Tucson

  6. I think there is some confusion on WHAT folks can do to help.

    Some are called to care for the immediate needs of the orphans. (Food, clothes, medicine, biblical teaching).

    Some are called to financially support the orphan.

    Some are called to bring them home and disciple them.

    All are called to be prayers warriors (that would be ALL of us!).

    Some are called to GO to them and serve them humbly.

    There are so many ways to be involved. Just listen to what you are being called to do!

  7. Yes, so much of what I'm going through right now. I know we must be doing more. Praying for direction. We're starting with adoption, but I know there's more. Thank you, as always, for your words!

  8. hahaha thanks for not calling me out on my video games 😛 uhhh i mean all the important things i did in my 20s. 😛

    and uh Amen? I hate looking back over time at things i thought were so important or fun and realizing that no one gained anything from those wasted moments.

    all those wasted pennies. all those wasted moments. sad. heres to praying my moments are used for the orphan and for the Lord and for eternal purposes!

    Here is to the infection of orphanlovingitis spreads with a rampant fire.

    Here is to the future of IVO, Go teams, OW, EH and other little rubies all around the world. Lets go love on them! Whens the next go team trip? HEHE

  9. Let us lift our voices in a mighty shout! Let us look with eyes wide open, let our hearts ache for the injustice, may our wallets be open, May our ears hear the cries of the orphan and widows. And may our answer be, Whatever you ask Lord! Janet

  10. Amen Friend! I hear and understand your heart. Sometimes I want to crawl out of my skin at the thought of babies I have held and I don't know where they are….. no mommies and daddies to make sure they are ok. God has to show us how! God please show us the way!!!!!

  11. That little poem you memorized when you were a child, I did, too! I haven't thought of it in many years, but now I will write it out on a note card to go over my computer.

    And I was very moved by your prayer asking God to "give us ideas." I will pray that way, too.

  12. Love this post, so much can be done, Praise God for people like you and your family who bring awareness..because of what you are doing We are going on a GO trip in June with Dw and Emma…praise God for calling us to do something beyond us…can't wait to see how God moves on this trip…just maybe he will show us our little E.

  13. This is so funny (in an odd way, not a ha ha way). Earlier today I saw an article on rainbowkids about host families for children from the Philippines and I felt so drawn to that program, despite the fact that we can barely handle the two kids we have now and my husband isn't at all interested in adopting again. I started researching adoption from the Philippines and discovered that I wouldn't qualify to adopt from there anyway, because I have an auto immune disease. I was feeling so bummed all afternoon. But after reading your post I feel so much better, because I can see that there is still so much that we can do even if I can't physically bring more children into my home.

  14. I'm "de-lurking" too, as I've followed your blog for a very long time. Your post is spot on with what I am dealing with. We've adopted two of the sweetest blessings ever and thru that process knew that I was called to do more. While I'm involved and volunteer to help raise funds for the orphans thru our incredible agency here, I still feel there is something more specific I should be doing – I just don't know what that is and have been praying for direction.
    On a separate note I came across this via another blog about a mobile app that makes it so easy to give to some great causes, including helping the orphan. It's called FORGO – http://www.forgo.it – when you are out shopping, you can choose to forgo buying something and immediately send those funds via the app to the cause.
    Thank you for your blog as it is a huge blessing to me!

  15. Hi Brittany,

    I can identify with your feelings – I am the same way. I thought about this extensively several years ago.

    I think God gives us the desire to create things and enjoy beauty. God created the world and all the varieties of plants, animals and different kinds of climates (forest, desert, tropics, polar, etc.). God loves diversity and beauty.

    People are made in the image of God and also have the desire to create things.

    All over the world, people express how they are made in the image of God by creating things of beauty. Every culture has its traditional arts and crafts and music.

    So I would say enjoy gardening and cake decorating and art. And think about how you can share these skills with others.

    Maybe you can give your vegetables from your garden to a homeless shelter? Maybe you could start a community garden in a neighborhood in your town.

    Maybe you can teach cake decorating or art as a volunteer at a youth center for disadvantaged children. Maybe you could sell cakes as a fund-raiser for clean water wells or people's adoptions. Or have you thought about being a Girl Scout leader for a troop that is in a high-poverty area of your city?

    God has given you a love of beauty and art. You can bless others with this.

  16. Hi Brittany,

    I can definitely relate to your feelings.

    Here’s what I have concluded. God loves variety, beauty and diversity. People are made in the image of God and also have the desire to create things.

    God created many kinds of animals, plants and ecosystems (desert, forest, tropics, Arctic, etc.). God is incredibly creative.

    You can see that people are made in God’s image by looking all over the world.

    Every culture has its unique music, arts and crafts. I loved visiting Latin America and seeing the incredible traditional pottery and weavings. People all over the world show they are made in God’s image by creating beautiful things.

    So I would say embrace your urge for art and vegetable gardens and cake decorating and other beautiful things. You are imitating God by creating something beautiful. And think about how you can use that desire to help others.

    For example, maybe you could donate your vegetables to a food pantry? Could you help with a community garden in your city?

    Maybe you could teach cake decorating classes or art classes at a homeless shelter or at a youth center in a poor neighborhood in your city.

    Are there Girl Scout troops in impoverished areas of your city that need leaders? I am sure there are girls from disadvantaged schools that would love to learn these things.

    Could you sell your cakes or art as a fund-raiser for adoptions?

    Our church has an art sale every November of art contributed by local artists. The proceeds go to drilling a well for clean drinking water through Living Water International.

    God has given you this love of beauty and art….You can definitely use it for His Kingdom!

  17. I read this to my dh last night…we are trying to decide if we should switch from domestic adoption (it would be our 3rd time) to special needs China. We have six kids already…and would need an income waiver to make it work. We are so trying to listen to what God wants us to do. Please pray with us – that we hear God loud and clear AND follow what He says.

  18. As an adoptive mom, I so much admire your heart (and those of your readers) for the orphan. It is so important to continue to point light to the orphan crisis.

    He executes justice for the orphan and the widow.

    May I just for a moment, turn your readers attention to the end of that verse. So often in my blog readings I see many (rightly so) pleading for the orphans, but I also often see the last words left out. As a young widow with three children still at home to raise, may I also implore your readers to look around their churches and communities to maybe also find a way to reach out to a widow today, tomorrow or even next week. They are there, sitting by themselves at church, struggling to just get through the day, needing prayer also and maybe just a listening ear. Young or old, their entire lives have been turned upside down and many feel invisible in our culture.

  19. Sarah~

    Thank you for your sweet and thought-provoking response. I like the direction you take my thoughts, to try to brainstorm how I can use my loves and joys to minister to others.

    I want so much to do this, and yet I find that my mind goes into triage mode. Some of the things I yearn to pursue are so good and wholesome, and yet there is always someone out there at the peak of desperation, and when I compare my little joys with that it seems so worthless by comparison. When a family member needs to be rushed to the hospital one doesn't concern themselves with finishing up icing the cupcakes they were making or finishing curling their hair or finishing the chess game they were playing with their brother. Those things become meaningless during the emergency.

    And someone out there is always having an emergency, and I feel like I should be doing something to aid all those someones somehow instead of becoming a better violinist, for instance. And yet, having a mindset of life as a constant state of emergency is so draining! And furthermore it's just not possible. Unless the emergency is staring me in the face, I can't maintain that frame of mind. But then I feel guilty that I can't.

    And so the tug-of-war goes on inside me. I know God uses these happy little things, too. I feel immensely blessed every time I visit a dear church lady's garden. She spends hours daily working in that garden, and I don't sit in judgement of her for doing so. No, rather I marvel over her talent and her simple joy and the love that just spills out of her and overflows into every little thing she does, and I yearn to be like her.

    Neither is it just how I spend my time. There is a voice in the back of my mind saying that spending $5 on any sort of clothing is a horrible waste of money, and I should be content to dress like a frump in the same t-shirt and jeans every day, because why should I have even a so-called "moderate" number of clothing items when brothers and sisters out there are starving?

    I hate this guilt. I want to be free of it. But I also want to be free of pining after fleeting and temporary things.

    Wow, I've rambled on! But it feels so, so good to work through this issue. It's been a burden to me for several years, and it feels so comforting to know that other people have wrestled with these things, too.

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