Mercy

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

 

But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said to Jesus, “Lord,  remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

  And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

                                                               -Luke 23:39-43

Sweet Chubby Cheeks

I can't get YOU off of my heart. 

        But why would I ever want to?

                                              I'm praying beautiful, OH am I praying...

Meet Mercy

For nearly a year I have been visiting Reece's Rainbow gazing upon the face of a sweet little girl named Mercy. She is currently orphaned in an eastern European country. 

I emailed RR last night asking if I could advocate for Mercy and within what seemed like a minute (It was so fast! I could not believe it!)  

Andrea Roberts- the Executive Director of RR emailed me back: "Absolutely you can share her!" and she sent along 5 additional photos of her. 

What a blessing to be a voice for this treasure-- Thank you God!!!

Mercy has major medical needs. 

She was born with spina bifida which is dear to my heart (for reasons I hope to share in the near future. :) She also has flail legs, optic nerve atrophy, congenital hip(s) dislocation, and clubbed feet.

Can you see the little heart imprint on her onsie? :o)

 She is perfect.

She is beautiful.

She needs to know these things.

She needs a forever family. She needs a mom and a dad. A couple to kiss those cheeks of hers and call her daughter.

Look at those cheeks! I had to zoom in... scroll down for the full picture of her sleeping, oh so sweetly...

She needs a bed of her own and someone to read her bedtime stories and tuck her in at night.

Sleeping beauty

She needs surgeries and someone to be by her side through it all.

She IS a CUTIE!!!

BUT above all. She needs HOPE. She needs to know Jesus. She needs someone to tell her about Him! She needs to know that she was made in His image and how she was created was by no mistake. She needs to know that God has a special plan for her life!

This 4th of July baby girl will be 3 years old this year. So for years she has been in an orphanage... waiting. 

I DON'T want to see her become a statistic for a child being transferred into an eastern European institution. 

She needs a family.

So I am desperate!

 PLEASE would you consider helping?

I have been praying.

I have been dreaming of her.

And I know that we serve a BIG God!

The One who rescues!

The One who heals!

The One who gives HOPE!

There are families who would like to adopt and help children like Mercy, but it comes down to money. Simply put. Adoption is very expensive and so is the surgeries that these children often need.

RR has an account set up for her and for the longest time it has had only $120 in it. That's it.

Dear friends, I come in urgency asking for you to please help her.

 Would you consider giving to help Mercy. Even $5? If you feel it upon your heart to do so, you can: Donate Here!

You giving truly makes an eternal difference for this one little girl! 

ABOVE ALL- she needs prayers!!!

Please join me in praying for:

 the right forever family for her, 

for her to get the medical procedures that she needs,

that people will have it laid upon their hearts to give, 

and...

that she will have HOPE 

by knowing the love of Our Heavenly Father.

Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you in advance!

I can't wait to see the mountains God will move on behalf of this orphan through the body of Christ.

Thoughts from a 2-year old

 Anyone who knows me... knows that I love kids.

I love to imagine and dream with them.

I especially love to teach them.

How fun is it when little ones discover things for the first time?! There is a wonder for everything, especially nature.

And the faith of a child... WOW it is great! They are trusting. They simply believe in God and what He can do!!!

Way, way, way (out of this world) greater is the faith of a little one vs. an "adult/educated" mind who reasons everything and can't accept miracles.

I am a nanny for two children. Two boys. The little one (for internet safety since this is a public blog we'll call---Little J)... anyways Little J loves watching a particular movie: the Veggie Tales version of Jonah.

About 3 weeks before I was to head to Haiti last year, I went to Tuscon with the family, and on that trip- he would keep asking me "Why didn't Jonah want to go to Nineveh?"

Back of Little J's head at the zoo looking at a real crocodile

He's 3 now, but when he said it he was only 2! So the word "Nineveh" coming out of a 2 year old's mouth is kind of funny to hear.

I had thought the answer was merely because Jonah was afraid to go. Then when I came back and (a God-story in itself) got into Moody Bible Institute. One of my professor's had the class study Jonah in-depth, VERY in-depth for 8 weeks. (That was no coincidence.) Of course the answer to Little J's question doesn't require much in-depth studying to see... but I was still amazed to discover how there was much more to what I originally thought.

Jonah was afraid that God would be merciful to the people of Nineveh, if they repented. In the true story, the people of Nineveh do repent and God was merciful to them by saving them from punishment.

As many of you may know, Jonah sulked and was oh so VERY angry that God would be merciful to the people of Nineveh. What he was afraid would happen in the first place did! God showed great mercy to them. (After all Jonah thought they should be punished!.... That they deserved it!)


Jonah had JUST been saved by God for his own disobedience when he got angry about this! We can all be sad about the way he acted, but have you looked at yourself lately? When I was studying it, God showed me somethings. Ouch.

Do you want mercy withheld from anyone? Are you struggling to forgive someone?

Forgive them today! (And ask God to forgive you for holding that against them too... no matter what it is!) Right now--- truly don't delay. It's a simple choice that we make into a difficult thing, but it is a choice, don't be deceived. We drink our own poison and expect the other person to die, but we end up just hurting ourselves by not forgiving.

God used a then 2 year old to remind me once again...


Luke 6:35-36: "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.  Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."

I am so undeserving of His mercy, but from the mercy He has given me... I've learned how to be merciful to others who don't deserve it either. 


Mercy is showing compassion or forgiveness towards someone whom you have the power to harm or punish. 

It's not because you pity them. 

Nor is it because they deserve it. 

It's a choice. It's a free gift. Just like He gives beautiful, free, undeserving mercy to us, daily.

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Jonah is a short book in the Bible, so I encourage you to read it if you never have before! Even if you have read it before, God says so much within those few pages... He could show you something that speaks to you today.. you never know ;)