Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Orphan Sunday is coming up....If you have not heard about it, check it out. There is still time to have your church get on board. What an awesome and simple concept. Wow, we really are busy in life aren't we? Just missing the boat it seems on God's kids that have been left behind. Time to step up...All of us and give these children a voice. It is no longer an option to ignore this crisis. And for those of us doing something, it is time to do more....I am clearly speaking to myself here! I need to think more along these lines every day. When I think I am starting to "do a good job" at this whole effort...is when I am the most jacked up! It is the tip of the iceberg. The time is now...Time is wasting, but more importantly, children's lives are being lost...senselessly. And there is love that needs to be poured all over so so many children all over the world.
Please be in prayer about what God is calling you to do to see change for these 147 million...

2 TOPICS: AWESOME FRIENDS....GETTING MORE DISTURBED

We have just had the most awesome people come into our lives over the past years. God has so hugely blessed us with people who"get" us and really, I think there is no greater feeling to know you have people like this in your life. Our friends Stacey, Gracie, and Ty came to visit a few weeks ago and what a ball we had. Gracie and Solie were in the same orphanage in Ethiopia together and Stac and I used the same adoption agency, so we became good buddies during our process. God gave us such an above and beyond gift when he divinely organized our pick up trips for the same time. When I finally met Stacey in person, it was crazy awesome. Eric and I just loved Stacy and her husband Mat and we spent some life changing moments together in Ethiopia.
I feel like they are our family and Solie and Gracie will grow up loving each other.
Thank you Stacey for spending time with our family. We were blessed to spend time with you!!!
When they were here best bud Cheri came over and took some pics to celebrate our time together, so below are some of the pics.

God is like over the top good. I still dont really get it.
We have been so challenged lately to live larger....for God. It is scary...and wonderful, and more exciting than I could imagine.
How do we know how much to give? Can we ever outgive God? What do I do with all of the good stuff God has blessed my life with? How do I best share what God has given me? What does it REALLY mean to serve "the least of these"? How disturbed should I be in life? Will God protect us when we step out and do something no one else around us understands?...Okay, I have already tried this one more than once and I know the answer!
I am just messed up with so much right now and just done with all of the lack of action on my part. Sure, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I step out on occasion, but I am seeing clearly, that is has been NOTHING like what God is calling me to in life...All of us I guess as Christians. Today at our church an awesome series just finished up called "Disturbed"....and I am! I keep thinking about the words, FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD....
Really...
I live so extreme sometimes. When I know I am supposed to do something I typically do it, no matter the feedback I receive...But lately I have been having these BIG thoughts come up of things I should do, and so quickly I change my own personal channel, because it feels scary and way outta momma's comfort zone.
I am being exposed to some people who are loving LARGE for God and I am floored. Speechless really.
So no clue where this is headed, but I had to get it out.
The challenge is on...for life!

Just look at these girls! They deserve a life full of love and I want to grow up knowing what it looks like to LOVE EVERY PERSON.

Check out this wild crew! Becking girls, Stacey and her kids Gracie and Ty and of course Malaena Sloan made it into the pic (cheri's daughter)

Little adorable Gracie! We love you!

Could she be any happier?

3 Little girls that love each other..and one that looks alot like Michael Jackson here...but dont worry, it is not him...Just Bianca..."Who's Bad?"

Becking Babies Love to Jam!

What cracks me up is how much these chicks love music! They both already have their own style, and who am I to INFLUENCE their music love???? ha ha
Bianca and Solie are growing like crazy and their little personailites are unstoppable! Here are a few bits of the love!
In honor of the first week of Dancing with the Stars, here are the Becking girls rockin it out! Check it out!

First NEW Family Photo & Deep Thoughts

Here is our first official pic of the whole NEW and improved Becking crew. Again, thanks Cheri! This was at her son Brock's graduation party. I need to put this out on the table fellow bloggers....I have had a tough time blogging lately. Not because I have not been inspired or moved lately. Most of the time I am sure I sound like an over the top broken record here, but hey, it's my big love blog, so I guess I will continue to write what I am feeling.
It seems like God continues to show me unprecedented levels of faith in people in and around my life. Last week a family in our community tragically lost their 20 month old son in a drowning accident. I cannot begin to comprehend that loss...not even in the smallest way. The faith that God gave the mom was and still is astounding to me. I am completely blown away and very humbled. While thousands of people prayed for their child, what God did through this mom has changed people's lives. It is not my purpose to talk about details of this family's loss, but I do want to say that I praise God for their faith through this time of such loss. I have grown so much through the words of this mom in the past week. I have been challenged in my own faith and I am in awe of what God has done for the good through this terrible accident.
In addition to this, I am continually reminded something about my girls....That they are not mine, but God's gift to me for a time. I am so thankful to be able to be in their lives and I don't want to miss any moment of either of their lives- because my mind and heart are elsewhere...Stressed, frustrated, overwhelmed at times with momhood, being selfish, apathetic, bored with life....These are things that creep into my mind at times and want to be more and more mindful of it.
What a waste of time when we dwell on things we cannot control. Money, work, family problems, illness...the list goes on.
What REALLY is God calling each of us to do? For me, I mean for real, WHAT is it? How uncomfortable do I need to be to be in the right spot? Why does it have to be so scary?
I never thought of myself as the motherly type, and now I have 2 of the most awesome little humans in my life, and I wonder what more is in store there. Could I handle 4 or 5 kids in my life? Sometimes I think YES! and others I think, heck no! Wild to think about what God is calling us each to step up and do....I know one thing, I am supposed to DO something, ALL OF THE TIME! Instead of getting in my own little comfort zone where everything is nice and cozy and...BORING!!!
So, here I go into a new endeavor....A College girl's Small group! Yep, I said it! Stay tuned!
I also realize I have not been my usual comedic self lately, and it is not for a loss of laughter in our house, but some stuff just hangs heavy in my mind and this is a good place to get it all out!
Peace Out!

Crazy Love & Get Disturbed

Okay, so I am reading this AWESOME book (Thanks Cheri) called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It is a rockin' my world....I actually might complete this one! For those of you who know me well, you are very familiar with all of my "projects" I start and never complete...even worse with books!
I have to share this part of the book, as I am shocked out of my good old comfort zone...It is nice in the comfort zone. No major worries except about wanting "stuff". The comfort zone, for me, while pathetic, protects me at times from the REAL WORLD...And while I have seen a good amount of the real world in my travels I too easily forget when I get back home to all of my dearly beloved "stuff".

Here is a bit of what he writes:

If one hundred people represented the world's population, fifty-three of those would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4000 a month, you automatically make ONE HUNDRED TIMES MORE than the average person on this planet? Simply by purchasing this book you spent more than what a majority of people in the world will make in a week's time.
Which is more messed up-that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don't think we are rich? That on any given day we might flippantly call ourselves "broke" or "poor"? We are neither of these things. We are rich. Filthy rich.

Does it make sense? Can you even wrap your head around living on $2 a day? I know I have blogged about this before, but I will be honest...I have NO concept of this...NONE...And unless you have lived in a 3rd world country you likely cannot grasp it either.

So, this is just the tip of the iceberg in my thoughts these days.
Last night Eric and I were asked to speak to a group of people about adoption, (Which you know I LOVE!!!) And again another statistic that I talked about came up that I think about daily...and I MEAN DAILY.

This has been misquoted many many times, so let me make sure I get it right.
To preface, let me just post that there are around 145 million orphans in the world today...All with wonderful faces and hopefully most with names. Kids who have a heart, need to be loved, protected, and cared for.

IF ONLY 7% OF THE 2 BILLION CHRISTIANS IN THE WOURLD WOULD CARE FOR A SINGLE ORPHAN IN DISTRESS THERE WOULD EFFECTIVE BE NO MORE ORPHANS.

There has been controversy over this piece of info, and while many of these 145 million children cannot for various reasons be adopted, they STILL need to be cared for. Adoption is not the heal all, fix all...The key words in this statistic for me at least are, "care for"....And that can mean a thousand things. Bottom line, as humans who have so much, we have no excuse not to stand for those who cannot stand for themselves. I do not budge on this issue. What can we do? How can we do more to be more effective to make change?
These kids are counting on us....and the statistic of 7% of Christians....How crazy is that?
Every child out there is someone's son or daughter...What if it was your son or daughter? That would never happen in the US! No one would stand for it...
And still these are lives being lost every day because they have no voice to speak for them.
Get disturbed. If you don't like what I have written, likely a good thing. We all need to be messed up a bit.
This is what we are about, it is what Room for One More is about and it is what every child deserves. Please join us and get involved, somewhere...anywhere that is making a difference. We don't have all of the answers, but we are moving in a good direction.
Much Love
Chantelle