Author Archives: admin Alright–I have an AMAZING, CRAZY…blow your socks off God story…BUT–I can’t share it YET. It’s still in the works–and the really, super, duper, cool thing IS…YOU can be a part of it. Right. Now. As most of you know–Richard and I are in the process of adopting from China. The Lord has provided for our […]  In the last week or so, I’ve been in lots of communication with Labstone’s wife…a dear friend of mine…by the name of Sarah. It’s hard for me to grasp what she is going through…losing a husband–having 3 small children left at home to care for…and as IF that wasn’t hard enough…the culture in Zambia makes […] Andrea, I have been so convicted lately to care for the orphan AS WELL AS the widow. So often we leave out the latter, when God doesn’t! Thanks for sharing and compelling me to do more. Thanks for once again opening my eyes! I am in tears for this sweet woman and her children. What a blessing you are to so many! I would live to travel to Zambia one day! I.had.no.idea. I am sitting here stunned. I knew it was hard. I thought I understood…but this just leaves me floored. Makes me so mad that the law allows for family to treat family that way. It is just unfathomable. Well, even though I’ve never met the Chanda’s, they are part of my eternal family. We can do more. My two year old does not need a new Halloween costume this year when she could honestly care less and just wear one of her older sisters’ and that money can go to something far more valuable. Consider it done. Oh, I am praying for Sarah and her children. Sounds like she is a very strong and wise woman and the Lord is showing her His care for her already. Will continue to pray that He will make beauty rise from this pain. Andrea, i’m heartbroken to hear of the travesty of your friend..i’m unable to donate, because i live on a limited income of disability, but if there is anything, anything i can do to be of service, please fill me in…my schedule is pretty much free due to my back injury…but i can go places and do things, so let me know if i can be of any good service…love you bunches and miss you dear…arlene jennings Just realized how the verses I’m currently memorizing I can pray over Sarah! God is always amazing me in how He constantly ties things in together like that. “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!” Ps. 30:11-12 This is just unbelievable…my heart is hurting for Sarah and all widows in Zambia. Thank you for shedding light on the unjust reality. Praying for Sarah. I love her idea about the restaurant! Thank you so much for posting this. My heart breaks for Sarah and her sweet children and all the other widows. I am hopeful that your post will encourage some to donate to the Chanda Fund! I heard this story time and time again when we visited the widows in the compounds, and in visiting with Kunda. So, so sad. Thanks for articulating it in a way that helps people to understand it–and calls them to action. Praying for Sarah and those precious kiddos. Inspired by Sarah’s desire to not only find a way to support herself and her family, but to find a way to do it while serving and changing the lives of other widows. It just breaks my heart that such cultural horrors continue to occur in this beautiful land to oppress and abuse widows & their children. There should be an organization to store a few valuable posessions 1 month after husband’s death to thwart this unjust system. Wishing organizations would apply pressure to the government for this law to be changed. He will look after the orphans & widows in their distress. We will be praying for many, many to come to her aid! We will donate more! thank you so much for sharing this and opening my eyes even more. Thank you for keeping us updated. That just makes my heart sad! We will continue to pray for Sarah and her children! I kept re-reading Sarah’s story. I just don’t understand how that is the way things are done. It is so unfair. Thank you for sharing and opening my eyes. Oh my…no words…gut wrenching…really…so awful. I don’t know how she even has the strength to stand up and move on. Thank you for sharing…and for jolting me out of my own pitty party I was having today. Unbelievable! Donated last week, and I am continuing to pray for this precious family! I cannot even imagine. I know God is good and He has a plan for Sarah and her children! I would love to connect with you. In a nutshell, we have sold everything and are trying to get on the mission field in Kalomo Zambia with a small organization called Africa’s Child. We are so not funded yet but we are not discouraged. We believe God. Please keep writing and know that I am in prayer for you everytime I read. Andrea, this is so sad that the family would come in and just take the possessions(esp. with young children). So sad AND hard to grasp. Is it just because they too are in such need? This is truly one of those situations where we need to continue to TRUST GOD and know that he is in control and has a plan. Praying for this beautiful family! Thank you for sharing that gut-wrenching story and jarring me out of my comfort zone!! I would like to be involved and will go immediately to the web-site! Thank you for sharing this gut-wrenching story and for jolting me out of my comfort zone!!! It is hard to conceive of such misery!!! I will go immediately to the web-site and share this with anyone who might have a heart for this ministry. I could not read this whole post because it was too hard for me. I am praying for Sarah and her family. I have felt such a pull towards orphans and widows lately. What a horrible feeling it must be.  Just got back from a weekend with family at my brother-in-law’s parents beach house. (Thank you Helen and Phil for this treat! It was such a FUN weekend with family!) My grandparents, who live in Fairhope, came to join us for the day–and it was so fun to get to spend a day with them […] Commented to my hubby this morning when I saw your pix on FB – “How can they be in shorts, bathing suits, and enjoying SUMMER in OCTOBER when we are freeeeeeezing.” =) Beautiful family photos – all of them! So happy you got a weekend away.  Just wanted to say…I’m so encouraged by so many of the comments left on my last blog entry. It is so refreshing to hear that so many of you are in a similar place and have the same thoughts and feelings. Thank you for taking the time to share your hearts and encourage me. How […] The first pet we “acquired” when we got married and lived in CO….was a llama. We had so much fun the first few minutes we had him. It was downhill from there. He actually had “bazerk male syndrome” (yea, a for real llam condition) and we had to put him down. Llama’s are a lot more fun in petting zoos! I think that precious one you are petting is actually an alpaca….which are a lot smaller and more gentle. They are precious and soft! I started to write this blog post the other day–and then I completely erased it…feeling like anyone who read it might think Momma Young is…well–different. Or worse…not understand it and be offended by it. SO–if you get offended easily–please don’t read this and just get the supplies to make the cute candy corn tree I […] love this post. I can relate. I feel this tug & pull too. Praying & waiting for the “Go” along side you!! xo kristen Your post (sort of) reminded me of this from Michael Youssef: http://www.leadingtheway.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sto_UltCitizenship09 Our ultimate citizenship IS in heaven. I have to remember when dealing with fun immigration stuff, right? ;o) But seriously … I think about this kind of stuff frequently. So your post very much resonated with me. :o) Oh, sometimes I think you read my mind. I just stayed up way to late to post some similar thoughts on my blog–thoughts that I just had to get out of my head so that maybe I can sleep a little more peacefully. You are right. There is no balance between fitting in and giving it all up for Jesus. We need to remember that we are His followers and He DIDN’T fit in and He gave it ALL up, so at least we know we are not alone in this battle. I feel your pain. Oh do I ever feel your pain- and I live overseas!! I am a miss*onary, which should be “good enough” right??? I mean, I made the sacrifice, I left our home and our family behind- isn’t that enough??? Yet, God CONTINUES to chip away at my selfish heart and reveal new ways I can sacrifice and serve those around me. I just finished “Kisses from Katie” and I am blown away by how amazing my house overseas is (which was a major step down from what we left in the States) and how much “stuff” my kids have (which had to be scaled down in order to fit in our suitcases to travel!) I live with the constant tension you are describing- so you are not alone, I feel ya. I am thankful for these times God gives me to wrestle through these things so I can draw closer to Him and learn new sides of His heart and character. Thanks for sharing your heart with us! Love this, all of it, and praying for you in all areas of your life happenings. Love this. Struggling with where I fit in to how I feel God has changed my heart when now is not the “go” time for anything yet that He’s put on my heart. But I am reading Katie Davis’ book and I loved how she said every morning she just prays, “What do you want me to do today, Lord? Who do you want me to love like You would?” And in the every day, hands open and surrendering, He will lead and He is pleased. Praying for you today, Andrea, and knowing that even though you may not be able to do all for His kingdom in this moment that you wish you could, He is also using you to help others make these radical choices and decisions and encouraging so many around you as well! Andrea, You are not alone. I am there in my mind, and I haven’t even been to Africa yet. Every thought that I have is filtered through the mindset that there’s got to more than this. I am so thankful that there is!!! And we were made for it. Andrea, It seems you are not the only one!!! A few months ago when we came back from Africa I was on fire and didn’t care what others thought. Then I let that old complacency settle in. Just in the past couple of weeks has God really been stirring in me and awakening me to my lethargy. Thank you for your post. Just this week God has pressed upon me to prepare… Not sure when He will open the door for us to return full time (my hubby too is waiting on God), but I want to be ready!!! Blessings… Oh yeah and I think Need to Breathe sums it up well in “Outsiders” Oh Andrea, I love this post. I had many of these same thoughts after receiving some resistance at our announcment we were adopting, I still get them when I am fed up with my job or bills or car problems. I get them when I look at our friends who are so sweet but happy just where they are and comfortable in there “normal” family. In the midst of the frusturation and questions it is so comforting to know this life is a blink compared to eternity in heaven with our Father. You are not alone in your thinking, love and hugs from Indianapolis 🙂 I am so glad you are able to put words to what so many of us are feeling, going through, and processing ourselves. This is a post I would’ve wanted to write…so many of your conversations with Rico Suave sound like the ones my husband and I have here. Your heart and God’s really shine through in this post and I totally “get” you, even though we’ve never met in person. And if you get to go to D-land soon (oh I hope you do!:)) know that we’ll be cheering you on there too…and if you move to Zambia same thing…because this life is temporal and we’re living for Someone greater. I get it. I really do. Oh, Andrea. Tears are just pouring down my cheeks. You put the words to my heart. I get all of this. Thank you for sharing, thank you for being brave and hitting publish. I need to know that I am not alone in these thoughts. It can get so lonely and discouraged feeling like an outsider – even among Christian friends. Just thank you. Be blessed. Praying for the wiphan ministry. Thank you for being real…and being bold for Jesus. You draw me to Jesus!! I love to see how God takes us to different ends of the world for His Glory…and look forward to the day you post…”Going to Zambia” xoxo Thank you for your words today and PLEASE know you are not alone. The conversations you are having with your hubby are the same we are having way up here in Pittsburgh! I love coming in contact with other believers who have the exact same outlook on life….Kingdom Living….amazing, yet so hard at times. But it’s all so worth it! This might be for you today, from Ann Voskamp’s website, which I was originally introduced to by YOU, thank you so very much! you aren’t alone! thanks for processing with us! You are so very articulate! You put into such beautiful words exactly what I feel and know to be true. Praying for strength and boldness to live it out…and waiting with an eager heart to hear the “Go!” Sister I love you and I understand this. xoxo I feel like you have just written what is in my heart.. like others have said you are not alone.. and it is so hard to understand why when we say lord send us we’ll go he doesn’t always send us right away.. but each of us is on a journey and patience is part of growing.. oh how I hope I get better at patience 🙂 Oh, Andrea, I SO get this!!! You wrote it beautifully. My husband and I often have this exact conversation. I am glad you shared. Blessings to y’all:) Andrea, we are right there with you. I could have replaced my name for yours and my DH’s for Rich’s. I can identify with Every. Single. Word!!!! Praise God for waking us all up. He is so good! Be blessed sister! Oh… and yes, clear out that blogroll, I did, and you are one of the few left! Oh yes, Andrea, I definitely “get” where you are…we’ve been feeling so many of the same things for quite a while now. Thanks for sharing your heart, Sister! Sweet Andrea! Thank you for writing this! As so many of the others have commented, You have given words to what is on so many of our hearts! It is so hard not to get caught up in the here and now and forget the amazing plan God has for our lives if only we would surrender our lives completely to Him! I am so thankful to have friends like you who understand and give a voice to what us Mommas are battling against every day, to live in this world but not of this world! (: Thank you so much for this post! You’ve put into words what I haven’t been able to many times over. So many times I struggle with living IN this world but not OF this world. For example, I see friends with closets full of shoes and for a moment I envy those shoes…and then I remind myself I have sufficient shoes and there are others in this world with no shoes, and instead of dropping $100 on shoes…how would God want me to use that money…having uber pairs of shoes is not important…I won’t take them with me to God’s kingdom. From now on, thanks to your post, in those moments like the one described above I will remind myself “heaven is my home” and ask myself “Does this have kingdom value?” Thanks so much Andrea. You are definately not alone! Many hearts, mine including are screaming “amen!” to every every word you have just written. Thank you for sharing! THANKFUL for this post! I live this way often in my small rural community as it pertains to adoption/orphans. I feel so stinkin’ alone much of the time. Yet in reality, we’re never truly alone … I know my Father, the one who opened my eyes to see, my heart to feel and my ears to listen is HERE WITH ME. He knows the battle, He knows my heart … He cares. And for this place in time this is right where He’s placed me. THANK YOU for being vulnerable and sharing your heart. I look forward to seeing what the Lord does in the coming months and years in the Young fam. 😉 Praying for you as you keep looking to Him .. each day … each moment knowing this is not your home and longing to be with your Father face-to-face one day. You are not alone! Thank you for the wonderful and much needed encouragment that I am not alone either. I am completely Blown away at what you just wrote, I actually sat closer to the screen to reread one of the verses you quoted, It was Exactly what I needed today. Thank you for posting, I feel God led me to your blog today. I have been struggling with knowing that God has something more for my family, wanting to do more for the Kingdom. To be smack dab in the middle of his will. But living for ourselves seems to have been our history and God is so sweetly showing me thats its not about me. That his blessings are what I long for, So I will continue to pray that he will show me where he wants me to be:) Beautiful post! My husband and I are young, no kids yet. But we are learning to live like this and want to teach our kids someday. You are such an encouragement! Thank you! Love this Andrea! It makes me not feel like a crazy person. 🙂 I also loved reading the other 29 comments. God is awakening His people. Love you my friend! WOW! Your words hit my heart spot on. I have been saying this same thing (not so eloquently) to my husband and to my closest friend. I have felt such a heaviness and restlessness, not discontent exactly with where God has me, but instead, just restless with our culture (both in the church and in the world) that on the one hand, tempts me….and repulses me. I also get you on the need to “tone it way down” when I talk to people who ask about our adoption, etc. Or on facebook when I can barely keep myself from “sharing” everything adoption related or orphan related…. Hi, Andrea! I am a friend of Kimberly C and even met you one night a while back at a local Pizza place. Anyway, thanks for sharing such a moving post. I can understand your thoughts and questions…some days all I have are questions written in my journal. I love reading your process of thinking about such a huge, deep, conflicting topic. It’s so clear that we are to be different….and if we aren’t, we should be wondering why not. Thanks for sharing so openly! God bless you and your family. |
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by admin
Sweet, sweet Sarah! Praying for her and her children.
I dont know u personally yet..but God is using you via your blog to do some Mountain moving in my heart, Thank you
Hi Andrea, I’ve been reading your blog since the CTC retreat last year but have never commented before. We have 3 kiddos (2 bio, 1through adoption) and are in the process of adopting again, this time from china (our son is at MBHOH)… So of course just LOVE the shirt and the story that goes along with it! Our hearts are there too. Had to order one for me and one for my hubby 🙂
ooooooooh what a blog post full of teasers! I can’t wait to hear what God’s been up to this time for you guys! 🙂 I plan to buy a tshirt after payday this weekend.
My family is praying right along side you for these precious families! Thanks for sharing.
I just bought a t shirt because how could I not when my own son and daughter-in-law are also waiting to adopt, and a part of my heart is in Ethiopia praying for the baby(s) God has planned for our family? Thank you for giving us a way to be part of this other family’s miracle, and I can’t wait to hear the story you have promised us!
Love the shirt – Love the opportunity to give – thanks for connecting us to so many needs/ways to help!
PS – I bought one! 🙂
Thanks for sharing the story and allowing us to help this little miracle happen! Your blog is one of the highlights of my day!
Wendy
Count me in! As you know, I left a piece of my heart in Hong Kong. Heading over to buy my tshirt now. Cannot wait to hear what God is up to!
Love & Blessings,
Kim
I’ve been hoping to buy some cookbooks for gifts! Are they going to be available on the Wiphan website? Thanks!!!
Praying for Sarah and her children. That’s so horrible to lose all their possessions in addition to Labstone. How that must hurt the heart of God to have widows and orphans treated so unjustly!
Just ordered a shirt… love helping others bring their children home from China with us!