One of our visits took us to hear a message that God has been telling us for a while.

This church visit was great! They had a great area for the boys. T went into his classroom and loved it. Caleb, well, he’s Caleb – he cried and finally went into his classroom. Andon hasn’t found a nursery he didn’t like yet – so it was great for him!

We are finding that with summer visits, churches are a little off their regular pastorial schedule. We heard an associate pastor speak, which was fine with us. The message he had was exactly what God wanted us to hear, no doubt.

The message was talking about truly listening to God and acting upon His words. I mean, we all hear Him if we listen, but do we always do something with what He tells us?

I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t. I want to be close with God, but if He is telling me to come out of my comfort zone, then I’ll try to reason with Him. Um…you can’t really reason with the mighty I Am. I know, but I suppose it’s like the boys trying to reason with me when they have been told something – you gotta try :)

Anyhoo, they brought up a young couple who felt led into missionary work. I was blown away at their testimony and story that took them to the place of the calling. Seriously, they are courageous and I am constantly amazed at those who are in missions. It is definitely a special call, and it takes someone who is willing to listen – and obey – God’s Will.

Now, I didn’t get that God wants us to be in missions. But, I did hear the message again that he has been telling me for a while now.

Earlier this year, during Women of Faith ^[1], I was introduced to a group called World Vision ^[2]. They are an organization that seeks sponsors for children in various countries. After that conference, I felt called to support a child. I said I would come home and allow the boys to choose their new sibling that we would sponsor. I wanted it to be a family event.

Well, that didn’t happen.

Then, I saw and read Angie ^[3] and Robin ^[4]‘s trip to India for Compassion International ^[5]. I was moved to support a child, once again. And, once again, I wanted the kids to be involved to choose their new sibling. I really wanted us to be prayerful about the child that we began to support. It’s not about throwing money to a place, it’s about praying – the greatest gift we can truly offer.

And, again…that didn’t happen.

I could share several other circumstances when God called me to move on this. Seriously, a few more have happened and I just wanted it to be a family thing. Honestly, it never seemed to be a priority to get the boys together to choose their new sibling.

Until that message.

After the sermon, I told Paul all of this and he agreed. We needed to listen to God. This was a time that we heard a message and I was going to LISTEN to God! I not only want to listen, I want to do something!!!

And, we finally obeyed and did something!

Since I feel both organizations are just as worthy, our family chose to sponsor one child from each! Now, we have 7 members in our family with the addition of Yhoselyn and Douglas. Yhoselyn is from Peru and she is 4 years old. Douglas is 10 and he is from El Salvador.

When I spoke to T about sponsoring these kids, I shared that he may need to sacrifice something so we can give to them. Or, even better, he could set some of his allowance aside so that can be part of the monies for his new siblings. Although, I really need to get better about actually giving him his allowance now because I want him to see the giving aspect in this. I want him to know that through this giving, God’s work is being done thousands of miles away – so that these kiddos can have a brighter future.

One last thing. I’m not a recruiter for couponing – I’m a helper. I feel called to do this site as a ministry to help others. But,if people never see the value in couponing, I hope they know that my savings not only helps our families, but it can help with missions here, or even thousands of miles for children. Saving money here is allowing them to have a future. I thank God for showing me this way to save.

I will be sharing a few more church visits in the days or weeks ahead. So many more to share.