YES!

The Holy Spirit prompted what Christmas day was to look like in our home. This year we were to bring gifts to Jesus, just as the wise men once did.

In the hussle and bussle of getting ready for Christmas, I remembering wondering "what in the world am I going to bring to the King, who has everything?". I then started creating one gift when the Holy Spirit prompted me to give another.


Our family had a sweet time opening stockings, playing games and just being together centered in love and laughter. It was one of our favorite Christmas'.

Then the time came ... in order to open our gifts, we had to surrender our gift to the Christ child first. Even with the confirmation of knowing we loved one another, and we weren't to judge one another ... the act of giving to our Savior was very hard to do. We had to remove ourselves, and reveal our vulnerability.

Duane removed the family portrait and brought it in. He mentioned how much he valued and loved his family, and has learned that he can't protect it enough, and needs Jesus' to take his family and care for it the way it needs. God does it better, and Duane will follow His leading to be the husband and father he is called to be.

Katie and Courtney shared poems. One a poem of how she sees God and who He is. Another a poem of brokenness and surrender of where she is at in her walk with Him, but a love just the same.


Lindsay brought a necklace that was once her best-friends. After two years of grieving her best-friend (who died from cancer), she has finally giving Jesus what she held most valuable: her best-friend.

When it was my turn I swallowed my embarrassment and gave my gift ... the gift of "YES". I was shown how my words are willing, but my actions aren't following my commitment. In other words, I have been a hypocrite. I told God I would follow through and act out in YES, and not doubt and question. God has given me doors to walk through and I have found comfort in the waiting for those doors to open, that I haven't walked through them as I should. God in return gave me a promise as He extended His hand and showed me TOGETHER we will walk through the coming open doors.

The Christmas gifts are all put away, the tree is taken down and the decorations are stored. However, I still see my gift lying at the manger, and my heart still giving it today. "YES!" I will not be led by how I feel, but trust God fully and TOGETHER we will walk through many open doors in not only this coming year, but the years to come!

"And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"

Isiah 6:8.

Freely you have received, freely give.

There are times God lays things on my heart.  I love to give; whether it being gifts, words of encouragement or even just time.  However, the financial strain we have been has allowed Satan to come in and plant lies that I don't get to be part of God, because we can't afford it.

All I have to say is "HA!!!" as I have stomped on that devil's lie!!!

God has taken me on an adventure the past few weeks, and has shown me that the giving He has laid in my heart is from Him and has shown me exactly how to do it.

He gave me water to give a "cardboard traveler" in the hundred degree heat.

He gave me promptings to give financially to the missionaries, and a promise He will take care of the rest.

He gave me a heart to start serving at our church in a few different areas.

He continues to allow us to provide for the children we sponsor each month, and we get the joy of sharing our lives with them as we hear about their lives in another country.

He has given me relationships to pour into.

And for the past few months he has put two things on my heart, perhaps because it hits so closely to home.  One of the things I have been doing once every month - that is donating platelets at Children's Hospital for the children their who are going through chemo.  I get an opportunity during the two hour ordeal to pray over those platelets that leave my arm and get ready for someone else.  That God will lift their burden and free them from their illness, that peace will flow through their veins and they will know the presence of God. 

Today, I get to finally do that last thing He laid on my heart ....

donate my heart to Locks of Love!!!

Today I pray that once my hair is used for a hairpiece for someone who is battling a disease that is robbing them of their confidence and such that once the hair is placed on their head...God will use it and heal them, lift all financial strain and pour life into theirs. 

God is good and has allowed me to be blessed in the all the giving.  I pray for this adventure to continue.

Don't miss out, search God and find what He lays on your heart.  Through Him He can do great things!!!

For those of you who would like to know more about giving platelets or donating your hair, please see the attached links, and please share your testimony!

http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html
http://www.thechildrenshospital.org/give/blood/apheresis.aspx

 

No man should come before the Lord without a gift.  Each of you must bring a gift that will show how much the Lord your God has blessed you.

Deuteronomy 16:16b-17

Happy Father's Day My Dearheart

Our message to our girls this past year has been they don't have to spend money for a nice gift. It's a hard message to teach and learn when sales for the coolest thing are all around you, or when you hear of what so and so has bought their father, or even when you have a heart that it would just be nice to provide for Dad once, the way he has provided for you countless of times. It's just plain hard. But we went beyond the storebought gift, and created something that spoke to Duane's heart this Father's Day.

The gift that made Duane's heart overfill (please turn music off at the bottom of the blog) ...

And with a heart filled with love we all took him to the mountains for his favorite things to do...hiking with his family.

And with that Duane had the best Father's Day yet! And the girls so understand, it's giving from the heart that makes a difference. And to my Dearheart, you are such a great Daddy - because you look to the Greatest Father of them All. We love you so very much!

Family Mission Trip to Liberia

November 1, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

My sisters and I send our love to each one of you, and are thankful for each one of you in our lives.

We have already finished our first quarter in school. And as always, we are looking forward to the coming months as we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas…and of course, having some time off from school. Our school has a mission statement: To be boldly Christian, academically equipped and globally prepared. I have realized how much I have taken for granted; simply by attending a Christian school throughout our lives. I am thankful I have been able to. I see how our school is not only giving me the academics needed to go to college but is also a place where I feel safe to represent Christ freely and give Him all the glory He deserves. As I look back on my education I see how my school has given me a foundation in Christ and an education to prepare me to go out into the world.

For the past 2 yrs and 2 months we have been waiting for my brother, Elijah and my sister, Ruthie to come home. Through this waiting time my sisters and I have prayed and learned about Liberia. Our mommy got to go to Liberia at the beginning of this year and we have been able to see Liberia through her pictures. In this time we have developed a heart for the country that our brother and sister call “home”. We wanted to make this Christmas special. So with that, we decided to go to Liberia and bring Christmas not only to Elijah and Ruth but also the other orphans in the home.

My Mommy and Daddy have work to do for our adoption agency as well. You see, the agency just got finished completing a new orphanage which has classrooms in addition to the bedrooms. They need to help train the nurse how to do some paperwork and also help set up the classrooms. They also need to help the workers develop a routine. My sisters and I would like to do a VBS, as well as bring some Christmas cheer to their lives. We want to meet the Liberian people and experience their culture. Through a lot of prayer we have seen God open a door for us to go.

My sisters and I have sold several locker shelves that my Daddy has made. That has only been a small start to the funds needed to travel. We are hoping to be selling note cards and t-shirts soon. But still in spite of our efforts to raise money, we still need your help. We need to raise 15,000.00 in one month. That seems impossible to me but I am reminded in Phillipians 4: 13 “I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me”. My family and I are expecting to see God do something great!

We are asking for your help. If you are able to help provide towards our mission trip to Liberia we say THANK YOU! Please send your provision to Archibald Family. Our first request for our mission trip is God’s provision and all the details to simply work out. We are in the process of gathering our prayer supporters and be able to send our requests out to our team. Please be part of our team, and email us at archiengirls@msn.com. We will also be posting on our family’s blog.

Thank you for your support! We all look forward to sharing with you everything God is going to be doing in the next few months.

In Christ’s Love,
Lindsay Archibald

Thankful for a visit that brought healing....

I can't believe it has been over a month since I posted last! So much has been going on, and there is so much to share. Our life remains full of school activities, church and just plain life. Juggling the five of our schedules is a full time job in itself.

Since I posted, I celebrated my mile-stone birthday...one I'm still in denial about, but was surprised when I awoke and felt "normal" as any other day! It was an amazing thing! Our family kept my celebration quiet and simple. As I opened my cards from the girls, tears began flowing for they each recognized my role in their spiritual walk. I hadn't a clue that I was able to help them in ways I hadn't realized, but felt God's hand upon me as I read each note. Duane's gift took me by surprise. Duane realized how much I have missed my friend, he has observed that when we do get a chance to talk, we talk for 1 1/2 hrs or until the battery dies...which ever comes first. He knows the heart we share. He knows how hard it was to leave California leaving her behind. He also knows that the grief we both share over the loss of her daughter not only has been heavy in our hearts, but also another thing that has kept us apart. So his gift for me was great...sending her out to visit. What I don't think he knew was how much healing was going to take place in four days.

Janette, my friend came to visit. We had the ultimate sleepover for four nights...hardly any sleep, so much talking, some eating and much more talking...tears and laughter were shared. I anticipated her visit to be one of healing, and now I am so thankful we had that time. This was our first visit that it would only be the three of us...Janette, me and Lindsay; it had always been the four of us...Janette, me, Rachel and Lindsay. Since Rachel has left to be with our Maker she took so much of our hearts and we simply miss her so much. But our friends here in Colorado, just haven't been able to comprehend our loss. You see they think they have seen all of me and Lindsay, but in reality they hadn't because Janette and Rachel are so much apart of who we are, that they haven't seen the complete picture. We were finally able to reminisce, to tell stories, and just simply let our hearts go. Rachel came back alive as we continued to reminisce, and though we shared so many tears, healing came as each tear flowed.

One of the memories we share with Janette and Rachel is hosting the children from the Children of the World Choir when the school would bring them in for a concert each year. It was Rachel's desire and inspiration that drove her family to host some children in her home, welcoming them into their lives and sharing not only her home but her heart. This is one of the ways she demonstrated Matthew 28: 19-20; going out into the world and shared Christ by being the child of God she was. So in memory of Rachel we brought the Watoto Children's Choir to Resurrection Christian School. No one knew why we did what we did, but we knew having a choir there would bring healing to Lindsay, to me and would very much please Rachel. We hoped that the school would enjoy it as well...and to our amazement they did. So please enjoy this snippet of our gift to Rachel...

And true to form we had the privilege to host six Ugandans in our home. We celebrated their culture as we shared ours, and became family as God is the Father of us all. We also celebrated Katie's birthday that evening. What a memory it was for her too!

He is the healer of the broken hearted, our comforter and encourager ... it is He why we are so thankful.

Torn Between Two Worlds

Well, I should be writing you journal, day 3, 4, ect. But time is an issue these days, and frankly, I just don't want to. To sum up all the days I was there...God moved each day. He made divine appointments each and every day, and not just one, but several. We met with congressmen, representatives and the agency even met with the vice-president. What I personally saw was scales falling off eyes, and the truth revealed. I saw many surprised expressions, as well as some faces surprised that we would be so bold to speak the truth. God opened many doors, and was moving. Bottom line, what does it all mean? Do we have a date that our kids will be home? No. But I can and continue to trust that God will have our kids home when He wants them home. And too, I am that much more confident that God has led us to the right agency and has built our agency director for "such a time as this".

The biggest question that I have received from everyone is "Was it hard to leave your kids?". Am I a horrible mother, because I have to say honestly "no"? I had God's peace with me that day. I knew I when I was going I wasn't necessarily coming back with them, I was hoping, but knew during the trip that our home isn't ready. We have more to do to get ourselves ready. I need to prepare and educate our girls more as to how to deal with different scenarios that will arise, so they know it isn't just a brother and sister that is coming home, but a culture too. We have nothing for Ruth, and we need to get her baby essentials, and of course, we want to do what is best for her and her adjustment so we research everything. I was embraced with peace that day, and left in full peace. Peace too that I knew that one day soon, I will see my kids again, and until then they are in a safe and loving environment, and most of all in God's most capable, able and loving hands. Because of that knowing, I had peace!

The biggest battle I have is now. There hasn't been a day that has gone by that I haven't thought about Liberia. And believe me, I have tried. The other day God had laid on my heart to get a certain woship CD to renew our time together. I picked it up at Target yesterday, as I peaked on the back to see the list of songs I saw a song that is sung by the artist and Watoto choir. You see, no matter how much I try God is not allowing "Africa" out of my mind, sight, ears - and now my heart. Yes, my heart. I cried in Target yesterday, and must have been a sight to see. But the burden I carry in my heart for these people, for this country is great. I long to even help, but what can a person like me do?

Each day I get behind the steering wheel. I have the anxiety of getting places constantly on time...sport practice, music lessons, doctor appointments, volunteer work at the school. Each place we are heading is led by the clock. The moment I got off the plane, and grabbed my luggage we were off to get the girls from school and trying to make a basketball game. I just got back from a country that has no concept of time to a country that is purly controled by lack of time and going 100 miles per hour because we fit too much in our days. I hate it! Each day as I get behind the steering wheel, I cry out to God "I know there is more to life than this. I have seen it. I have experienced it. Now what? Now how can I bring the there into here?" I am literally torn between two worlds. I have had a privildge and calling to go to Africa twice. This time returning I have had what many of you would call "culture shock". However, culture shock doesn't involve your heart and has nothing to do with stirring a passion within your soul. When I returned back from Uganda, I did experience "culture shock" and over time was able to accept the American world back into my life, but this time all I can say is that it is different.

I have now held my kids. I have laughed with them, fed them, cared for them, slept with them, even cried with them. I miss my kids! I long to have them with us, in my arms once again. And I am thankful I am not alone, for as much as I am longing to have them home, I know God is longing with me. He sees the big picture, and together we will wait until He says "go and get them", together we will wait, together we will long and together we will miss our kids.

Until they are home, I have created this video of all the pictures I have captured of Elijah and Ruthie while I was in Liberia. Enjoy seeing a glimpse of them, and please continue to pray with us that they will be home soon. (And don't forget to turn the music off at the bottom of the page.)

Nimba County

I have been struggling since before I left what purpose God had for me on this trip. The past couple of days I found peace, accepted that I am here and wether I see it or not God's will will be accomplished.



Today I discovered I am a voice. A voice to bring to America and share with the other adoptive parents as well as the rest of America that Addy's Hope is much more than adoption - this is bringing hope, care and education to the people of Liberia. The parents that can't take care of their children anymore because poverty is oppressing them and they don't know where the next meal is coming from. They desire more for their children, they pleed for hope.



We met some of the birth parents/mothers and handed out updated pictures of their children living in America. We saw tears of joy, dancing in celebration and hearing praises lifted to our God. No one was regretting their decision. The hold onto hope that they will too come back one day educated, and to help their people, and possibly lift the oppression in this country. One of the grandmother's we met couldn't sit still, was praising and dancing to see her grandchildren in pictures. People came to her over and over asking "why are you selling your children?" and she responded "where is the money? I am not selling these kids.", and their response is that she will never again see her kids. Today proved all those people wrong, and she was loud to let everyone know.

I discovered too that I am a quiet voice for those in Nimba county. You see, the government has made it cleared that we Americans want to adopt children for their kidneys and such. Those seeing their pictures of their children see that these children are ok, they are in loving homes and are being loved. Today was a great start.

I tried to meet Elijah and Ruthie's mother. But because of a misunderstanding I wasn't able to. However, I did see the condition they were brought up in. Today gave me a reassurance and peace.

I am excited to be part of our agency. Our agency isn't just an agency. Those families who are in this agency just to get children are missing out. They are missing an opportunity to be part of a great work God is doing. This isn't just about adoption, this is bringing education for children and adults around the surrounding areas as well as medical attention, this is bringing hope to the hopeless. Does this ministry have everything down to a science? No, just like any new thing they need to iron out some wrinkles, but I see that God is getting ready to blossum what He has planted. I have seen tremendous break throughs during this trip, does that mean that we have seen the fruit of all that is happening? No, but that is where trust comes in. I trust and whole heartedly believe that God hasn't forgotten the orphans, nor the Liberians who live the oppressed life, nor Addy's Hope. God is on the move and will continue everything He is doing even when we leave.

Those of you who aren't part of this ministry please click on their link posted on the side column and keep your eye on all that is going on. Get involved! God is on the move!

Prayer for Liberia

Once again...I have been lost in feeling of impatience, hopelessness and wondering if our journey will ever come to an end. But no worries, when I'm lost I search, when I'm lost I know my God is with me because I know when He says "I will never leave you or forsake you" it stands true today. So I have taken the last week to seek Him. And as always God spoke...

God is not a human being, and he will not lie. He is not a human, and he does not change his mind. What he says he will do, he does. What he promises, he makes come true.

Numbers 23:19

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-3

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

This week we have heard a lot of news with what is happening in Liberia that could get us down, and I confess that I was starting that way. But sometimes joy is a choice, and even in our circumstances we are to be thankful. So when we are asked if we have any news yet...we don't, just more obstacles, more trials...but we are thankful and our joy remains in the Lord. This adoption remains in God's hands and so do Elijah and Ruthie.

Last weekend we had the privilege to lay hands on a container that has been bought through the orphanage project that I have spoken about. The container left this last week and is heading to Liberia, and tentatively will be there by the middle of March. I encourage you to continue to watch what God is doing in Liberia, in the midst of corruption, in the midst of oppression and in the midst of our trials...God is moving and doing a mighty thing! http://www.futurefororphans.com/

The filled container...

We wrote our "well wishes" to those on the other side of the world...And we prayed...

And I wondered...do you think we could just find some room so we can go too? :)

May God's will be done in Liberia. And may all nations confess Jesus is Lord!

Operation Christmas Child

Each year it is a tradition in the Archibald home to make a shoebox for a "needy" child. Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ. It has also helped keep our girls minds that it is truly better to give than to receive.

This year we were extremly blessed. Not only did we make our six shoeboxes but the 5th graders were able to deliver part of the 1006 shoeboxes they were encharge of bringing in and see where they were going, and what would happen from there. There they heard a story from a young woman, 18 years of age, who was adopted from Russia at the age of 10. She received one of these shoeboxes at the age of 8. Her story reminded us of how orphans are so looked down upon in their culture, and the dispair they are in. She told us specifically how candy was something that only "rich kids" had, and how she hated brushing her teeth for the toothpaste tasted horrible. What she remembers most in her shoebox she received, was not the toys and gadgets but some candy and her very own toothpaste. I was reminded once again what we take for granted.

The end of the week, I joined the freshman class and journeyed back to Operation Christian Child's distribution center (who also took the rest of the 1006+ boxes). There we searched each shoebox that was packed so carefully with love and made sure there wasn't things that aren't allowed to be in the boxes. We also were able to add a few things to the boxes. We opened, searched and gave, and prayed over the boxes that were sent once again.

Those of you who want to be involved in this ministry, it isn't too late. Please check out their website at http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/ Get involved, touch a life of a child!

Courtney's journal....

My favorite thing that we did this year was raising boxes for Operation Christmas Child. I like it because a lot of people said we were not going to make our goal. They thought that because our goal was 1,000 boxes. When they kept saying that, I just kept repeating in my head that anything with God was possible. But I was so glad that we reached our goal of 1,000 boxes. Now all the people that were saying we were not going to make it can believe that we can do anything with God and if we put our mind to it. That is why I am glad we have reached our goal.

Each of us, took something away this year. We are thankful that God calls us to give, for it is through giving that we experience the joy and wonder of God's heart. Thank you, Courtney for sharing with us what you have learned and yes. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!