Generosity.

We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you... Colossians 1:3

15 days ago, we had only raised around $4,800 and I had decided to change the amount we needed on the fund raising thermometer to $15,000 to be more realistic.

Today, $8,706 is our new total raised! I also changed the total needed to the actual $37,000. Why? (You did ask, right?)

Because even if we don't raise it all... even if I can't picture us coming close to the total needed... I don't want to put a limit on what God can provide. Not that I could do that with a silly fund raising thermometer anyway!! :) It's just a visual of what God has done... not what He hasn't done.

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Generosity - Realizing everything I have belongs to God and using it for His purpose.

We've been memorizing character traits in our house for a few years now. It's been good for the kids. Sure. But mostly it's been good for me. Yep.

For most of us, if we were asked to define generous, we would say giving money or things to people in need. This type of generosity of the people around us has blown me away. Raffle tickets for the crossbow. T-shirts sales. Puzzle pieces. Stevi B's. Yard sales. Donations of clothes and time. Change jars.

As I have looked and studied the operational definition of generosity, I have realized that it means so much more. I'm going to break it down here for me to revisit later. I hope you get something from it too.

Realizing... Comprehending COMPLETELY. No room for doubt. It's real to you.

everything I have...  Material things and money. Absolutely. But to me lately it has been so much more than that. What else do I have? A listening ear. A shoulder to lean on. Laughter. Prayers. Knowledge. Time. Love. A helping hand. A family. A heart. All of me.

belongs to God... It's His. Not mine. I wouldn't have it anyway if He hadn't blessed me with it in the first place. On top of that, when I read belongs all by itself, I think of "goes with." Like popcorn and movie. We were made for Him... by Him too.
 and using it..  Money doesn't do much good in a mattress. Food rots away if it isn't consumed. Muscles weaken when they aren't used. An empty house isn't a home. I must allow myself and my belongings to be used.

for His purpose.   His thought are higher than our thoughts. His ways our higher than our ways. His purpose is higher than our purpose.

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Ways you can help.

     1.  Pray.
     2.  Buy/sell raffle tickets for the crossbow and tell your hunting buddies.
     3.  Share our blog.
     4.  Pray.
     5.  Check out our fundraising tab.
     6.  Pray... I think I mentioned that already.
    
Some exciting things are coming on top of our current fundraisers.

We have been chosen to do a BOTH HANDS FOUNDATION project! Check it out!  Please pray we find the right widow(er) and that we assemble an enthusiastic team. Pray about joining with us to live out James 1:27 as a community and maybe even taking on a leadership role.

We have applied to be a featured family on the Give1Save1 blog. Their verse is 1 Timothy 6:18. Our self recorded video has been edited by Nazarite Media for FREE (thank you David Paul!) and been submitted. Pray with us that we be featured and soon. We may only have 2 to 3 weeks notice before heading to Uganda and this blog has been very successful at drumming up support for adoptions! Here are some photos taken during our kids during their outdoor part of the video.

Is that a ninja?? Hmmmm. Maybe.