dwelling

my heart is so incredibly full already. and i haven't even left for ethiopia yet.

*this may wind up just being a rambling tonight....a way for me to record what God is up to over here. it's big stuff though. for me anyways.*

i have been praying about how to prepare my heart. how to help haley prepare hers for what God has in store for us in just a few weeks. it feels like a big job... to lead her by example in this area.  to not just go and do this and experience that.... but to have a posture that is willing to not only go and do, but to hear and see all that God wants to teach us... to not just be a hearer that forgets, but a doer that puts action to what she has heard from the Lord... and that makes room to be able to see and hear in the first place.   so... i've been reading, watching some  videos about some of the places we're going, and most importantly, diving into the Word.  

so here is where i am these days. pondering.  camping out on several passages. abiding in these Words. dwelling on them and what God is saying. 

Deut.14:28-29

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut.%2014:28-29&version=ESV 

Deut.24:17-22

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut.%2024:17-22&version=ESV

Is.58:5-8

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=is.58:5-8&version=ESV

James 1:25-27

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=james%201:25-27&version=ESV

i love it when God stirs within us, a deep passion to obey His Word. when He gives us a holy passion and consciousness that beckons us to action. it's a beautiful thing. however, so many times in the past that i can remember, i have heard that same beckoning. the same promptings.  but i have been what james calls a forgetful hearer who never put  action to that faith. to what i heard. i guess i was that  "religious" person with worthless "religion."  i heard and didn't act. i saw and chose to look away.  

the word religious means "manifesting faithful devotion." manifesting is a verb...action.... active....practicing....doing. 

there are so many different ways across the board that i, as a Christian, a follower of Christ, can respond to these calls from God's Word. when i have seen specific opportunities, some have made my heart jump....some have made it sink....  some that used to make my heart sink, somehow, now it jumps at even just the thought!  

God knows what those things are that i currently have a heart sinking bend towards, and He totally has me knee deep in them... and i'm pretty sure it's to totally refine me....to really get down to the gritty, grimy part of my heart....to show me whether my "religion" is true.... to show me where my motivations  are.... to shine a light on where i lack faithful devotion... to teach me that loving others as i love myself is sometimes pretty difficult... to have me in a place where all i can do is be patient and wait for His perfect timing...it's just funny cause, He's been trying to get me to this place of willingness for years and now i'm ready and He says "wait."  but oh how i trust Him! His plans  and timing have always been way better than mine and i don't want to get ahead of Him!  

so whether my hearts bend is to sink at the call or to just jump in and swim for it.... here's some perspective.

"what seems a drop in the bucket to you is a sip from the wellspring of life to someone about to thirst to death. let's muster the courage to ask Him to show us who to help and how. true religion is all hands on deck and all heads out of the sand. the mystery is that, there, we often find our own healing and fulfilling."  quote from James~Mercy Triumphs

i'm praying that God adjusts my heart to have a perpetual bend towards compassion...mercy...empathy...action...no matter what that looks like.

our children have been such huge instruments of the Holy Spirit in our lives recently. their childlike faith in God and their love and heart for others in need have spoken loudly to dell and i and we are looking to the Lord to lead us as we seek to obey His Word.

God is revolutionizing the way the ledbetter family views "true religion." the way we view action and what action really is. the way we view devotion. 

i'll leave you with a cute video i caught of jacob worshipping in the bathtub.... please pray with me that we will be not only hearers, but doers of the Word and that we truly will be willing to follow Him in whatever He leads us to.

7 weeks!!!!

It's hard to believe that in just 7 weeks, Haley and I and our team will be leaving for Ethiopia! We are so very, very excited! So expectant! God is doing big things in our hearts and I know it's gonna get even bigger once we are there. So many questions already fill my mind......

-Will I just go back to my normal, blessed way of life? God forbid.. I pray not... but what does that look like? To be face to face with desperate need, poverty and countless, father and motherless children that desperately need and want love, and a forever family. To then return home.... To comfort. To excess. To stuff.

- How will this change Haley? Her world view. Her young and tender loving heart. Will this be a catalyst that thrusts her towards loving Jesus and others more?

-What does being changed forever, through and through, even look like? What will it look like for the Ledbetter family? 

-What's next? We have always had a heart for an even larger family and adoption...Dell and I. We already feel called to fostering children here in Wisconsin and already have applications and paperwork filled out. What and who and how and what do we choose? 

-Am i ready? For all the work God's gonna do. For all the overhaul I know He's bringing to our life. For the changes that are imminent. For the refinement.

God is up to big things, and Dell, in such a cute and sweet way, has made some predictions..or maybe they're even prophecies. WE~as a couple~ as a team~ as a family~ are so excited and ready for whatever God has in store for us all and I am so thankful for this man God has gifted to me....this leader...this friend....this dad and shepherd of our family! 

This life is such an amazing journey, and it is unbelievable, unfathomable, how God orchestrates and moves and works and brings these divine appointments and assignments into our lives at just the right moment and precise times. 

~Prayer requests~
 -Haley and I have appts on Tue. to get information and receive some of        our vaccinations. The others will hopefully be ordered and received ASAP.

- For the financial end of things to come together. *if you feel led to partner with us in this way, please follow the link and instructions at the bottom.*

-For the continued health of our team.

-For relationships within our team to continue to grow and deepen with each other.

-For Haleys passport to get here soon!

I'll leave you for now with Ephesians 4:14-21. What a great, big, mighty, loving, righteous, all-powerful and knowing Lord Christ that we serve and what a gift our Helper gives...His Spirit that dwells with us... in us. I pray that this will be the prayer of your heart tonight, for your life, wherever you are at in your journey.
" For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and  to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."














www.hopechest.org
Give
Trip payments
Reference # ET130302T
Notes Field: Heather and Haley Ledbetter

Ethiopia

                                          March 9-17,2013  

Greetings!!!!

It's been a VERY long time since I posted anything on 

this old blog! But God's doing big things this year in the

Ledbetter family,which we can't wait to share with you in

the months to come.

But here is a little start!

We have been praying about a very meaningful way to launch

Haley into her teen years; a life changing and shaping experience 

that will greatly impact her life and would, simultaneously, be of

ministry to others. The answer, to our great surprise, came in the 

form of an opportunity to provide ministry to orphans and vulnerable

children in Ethiopia, with Children's HopeChest, in March.

We will be going with several others from our church and meeting

up with our leader and translator in Addis Ababa. From there, we will go

to established orphanages, as well as visit ones that, even yet, still need

sponsorship and funding. We will have the great blessing of leading 

activities and classes for the children, serving and supporting the 

orphanage staff in whatever capacities they need us to, and sometimes, just holding the children and letting them braid our hair. We will be taking the

orphanages live goats, which means, a very special feast for those children!

Some orphans get phased out of the orphanages as early as 13-14 years

old. This sets them up for a hard life. They wind up poor and on

the streets, and all too often, as prostitutes. We will also be going to a home that takes in these children that have "phased out" of the orphanages. They further educate them and teach them life skills and a trade so they have the hope of a better life and share with them the HOPE OF LIFE~ JESUS!!!

The cost of this trip, is by far, the most daunting part; a great test of

faith for me personally. But God is bigger than any fear or apprehension!

He has placed a very great, expectant excitement and desire in both 

Haley and my hearts and so we are doing a "trust-fall," and committing to go and believe Him to be our great, Jehovah Jireh!!!

will you consider partnering with us?

 Our prayer needs are great:

health, safety, visas, an ever-increasing heart burden

and love for those we'll be serving,finances, for lives that will never

be the same, family logistics.

Pray against:

fear, apprehension, illness, injuries, spiritual attacks.

If you feel led to partner with us financially, you may give to us directly at:

8660 HoneyRock Rd. Three Lakes, WI 54562

OR

for a tax deductible donation(HopeChest will send you a receipt)

go to: www.hopechest.org

Choose: GIVE

Trip Payments

Reference # ET130302T

Notes Field: Heather and Haley Ledbetter

* If you choose the latter support option, please accept

our heartfelt gratitude in advance for partnering with us! We so appreciate your gift! HopeChest protects their donors confidentiality, so we will be unable to access donor names and therefore, will be unable to send a personal "Thank You."  God knows who you are!!*

Finally, we would LOVE to share with you the WORD God has given

us for this time and trip.

Micah 6:8 "He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you? To DO justice and to LOVE mercy and to WALK humbly with your God."

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to VISIT orphans and widows IN their affliction and to keep oneself unpolluted from the world."

Deut. 6:5-7 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Thanks for checking in! I'll be posting more as we get closer!

Love and Blessings~ Heather and Haley