Behold, Children are a blessing from the Lord...

Psalm 127 says to Behold, that children are a blessing from the Lord. There are two dominating prayers of my life. I mean thoughts that keep me awake at night. Thoughts that the moment I begin to dwell on them bring tears to my eyes. Dreams that I don't need someone to stir me up to believe in. If I could sum up my life in a sentence it would be this: I want to build the House of the Lord bringing Him day and night worship to usher in His return throughout the nations of the earth, and I want to fill it with once orphaned children. The Bible says that this is true religion, to care for widows and orphans. Sometimes I believe that we think of ministry in a wrong sense. Ministry is not solely a platform. In fact I'd go as far as to say its not primarily a platform. More often than not I think we're not called to platform based ministry, and yet to most of us ministry equals platform. And we're missing it.

I do think that God says true religion is to care for widows and orphans because when we do we look like God in the earth. Derek Loux, a man who has impacted my life, says of adoption "My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him." I want to give the church a vision for adoption. I want to spend my life inspiring the church to care for widows and orphans. I want a ministry of my own one day. I want a huge ministry. But I can do without the platform. I can do without the green rooms and the entourage. I want ministry to look like 20 kids in my house. Kids who have disabilities, kids of other races, kids of my race, kids with disfunction, kids who take up my time, my money and my effort... I want my ministry to look like a life laid down for those who have nothing to give me. I want the world's children. If the world doesn't want them, I do. If you don't want them, I will take them.

I think we've been given a great opportunity by the circumstances of the world we live in. The world has given away there children. And if we don't take them and care for them and raise them in the presence of God, someone will take them. I am not saying that everyone has to have 20 children. But what I am saying is that we need a change of mindset. From an American culture christianity to "whatever you want God". He doesn't need much. Simply willingness. He can do wonders with that. It's expensive, but He will provide. He will feed every mouth he sends. It is hard, but He will give grace. It is taxing, but He is the rewarder. I once began to tell the Lord of all the things I wanted to do, of all the nations I want to go to and all the churches I wanted to build, all the people I wanted to heal and sermons I wanted to preach. And He said to me "Missy, let me show you the greatest worship leader on the earth. Heaven's perspective is not not earth's perspective." And he began to show me a picture of a mom who was teaching her children "Jesus Loves Me" before bed. And as simple as it sounds, Heaven stood in awe.

My dream is this: Every child a loved and wanted child. I want God to use my life. I want Him to make me willing. 80% of children diagnosed with down syndrome in America are aborted. That s outrageous, yet are we willing? There are more african american babies dying in America than are being born. That is outrageous, yet are we willing? There are thousands of children trapped in the sex slave trade who will come out with disfunction and wounds. That is outrageous, yet are we willing? There are currently 130,000 children (give or take some) available for adoption in the foster care system in America today. There are 300,000 churches in America. If every other church in our nation adopted a child we would have no more orphaned children in our nation. I think we can do this. I think God, in His great mercy, wants to give us an adoption movement. He wants to answer the shedding of the blood of 50 million babies with an adoption movement IF the church will be willing. We have no grounds to contend for the ending of abortion if we aren't willing to become the answer to our own prayers. If we say yes we can shape the world, one child a time.