God Moments

Okay, this is gonna be one wild ride, as you read through this blog entry. I've rewritten it for two days now. So, please bear with me. I've found myself spinning my wheels as I try to get this entry started. So, I'm stopping right now to pray that God will give me clarity and will share His message here.

....I remember a couple of years ago in our Ladies Bible Study group, listening to one of our ministers speak about the "God Moments" in his life that led him and his family to mission work. These were moments in time where he felt absolutely directed by the Lord. He was able to trace God's Hand so clearly as he spoke to us. And, I remember sitting there in the audience, praying silently that I would be able to look over my life and distinctly recognize God Moments of my own...moments where God was so clearly guiding my path and directing my steps. All of us have them: the moments we clearly felt God nudge us toward something. Sometimes we listen and sometimes we don't. And, then, sometimes God doesn't give you a choice in it.

I believe Mark and I have most certainly experienced a God Moment in the last few weeks. He has physically surrounded us in indescribable ways. He has spoken to us every single day, and we have been desperate to hear His sweet voice directing us, guiding us, comforting us.

But, these moments began even before we lost our sweet Chase. There have been specific times over the last two years where Mark and I have felt our hearts stirred, and we have been left wondering what exactly He was planning to do with us.

Although I won't go into all of them here and now, I want to share a couple of these instances that have come through books we've read. (Like I said, bear with me!) One of these moments was New Year's Day 2008, as we drove to New Orleans for a football game. I read the book "Same Kind of Different As Me" out loud to Mark the entire trip, and we found ourselves unable to stop talking about the passion we discovered in that story. Passion for reaching the helpless, the poor...passion for being Jesus to the world.

When this same theme was continued through other conversations we had, speakers we heard, Bible studies we did, we began praying about what this meant for us. We were becoming quite sure that God was calling us. But, we didn't know how or when or where. After reading the book, we didn't want to be just a suburban family with spoiled children who never left our comfort zone of our Christian church, Christian schools, and Christian nation...and never reach those who desperately needed what we had to offer: the good news of Jesus. We did not got instant clear direction from Him though, as much as we wanted it...we thought maybe we're supposed to adopt a child from a third world country? Maybe we're supposed to provide foster care for children right here in our own city who need a loving home? Maybe we'll end up supporting a specific mission that He will lead us to? Maybe He wants us to just focus on raising our children and will fulfill His call to us in future years?

We continued to pray, and I continued to find other books to read. :) Two other great ones I began were "Dangerous Surrender:What Happens When You Say Yes to God", by Kay Warren and Discerning the Voice of God, a Bible study by Priscilla Shirer. The same message was throughout both of these. It was about God Moments, where His voice is clear and is calling Christians to live differently. And it was a whole lot about sharing our abundant blessings with a world who is in desperate need.

Then, during all of this searching and reading, I got pregnant. NOT what we were expecting Him to say, but we thought this must be what He had in mind! I remember talking this over with a couple of friends, saying "I still can't shake the feeling that God is preparing us for something!" I was worried that maybe this preparation I felt was for a child with special needs, or a birth defect of some kind...some new cause that I would be a part of. Little did I know that God was preparing me then, and still is.

Our good (and very wise) friend, Jo Lynn, who has suffered through grief of her own, sent me this note in a card two weeks ago. And, it says in one sentence what I've just attempted to say in 14 paragraphs:

"What a blessing to be loved by a God of preparation! You may never be aware of all He had set in motion to prepare your family to walk through this. But be alert to His workings -- someday you'll have quite an inspirational story of God's mercy, love, peace and sovereignty that will comfort, sustain, and empower you through this season."

Perfectly said, He IS a God of preparation! And, we are watching Him work...and are standing in astonishment as He continues to speak through our God Moments.

So, fast forward to our next God Moment. Monday, October 5th. Just five days after we met our beautiful baby Chase. We were handed a note from a dear friend, whose family had decided to support a child every month through World Vision. Little six year old Godson shared a birthday with our Chase. They did this in Chase's honor. And, this is the response I sent her that evening...

Sweet friend, I wanted to give you some background about how the Lord used you by deciding to adopt sweet Godson... Mark and I had just had the conversation on Sunday night that we just want God to use us...to use our Chase...for something bigger. Not just to show others how to grieve with hope, although that is so important. And, not just to give Him glory in our immediate family for the way He provides, although that is our daily prayer. But, we also want to be used by Him to reach further and do more than we would have done before this happened. We DON'T want to go back to our "normal life" and not have been changed by Him.

So, on Monday morning, Mark left the radio off after dropping Kendyll off at school and just began praying for the Lord to speak to Him about a way we could begin to make a difference. He said he immediately had the image of Atsupuhi come to his mind (who is our sponsored child through Compassion). He also said he remembered the words of Chris Seidman from his sermon last Sunday about how God has provided the resources to meet the needs of hungry children everywhere, but we haven't used the resources the right way (this was in his sermon about "Everything Happens For a Reason" which we have listened to since we lost Chase, and it was GREAT!). Anyway, Mark felt like God was telling him that there are so many children dying for no reason except that they haven't been provided the most basic of needs and that Chase's life can bring life to other children He started praying that God would show him how to help those children and somehow honor Chase through it.

Then, within 30 minutes of that prayer time in the car, he was dropping Abby Kate off at school. And, you handed him the packet about sponsoring Godson that brought him to tears in the car. He called me crying and told me the whole story. Amazing hand of God to have that all happen in that way!

We have already begun preparing ourselves for what God has in store through this. We're hoping our entire family will do this in Chase's name! We have also adopted our own boy, Edward, also from Tanzania, born September 30, 2003 in honor of our baby boy.

We are so fired up about this, and it has given us such hope that we can be a part of something bigger than us, to help those who can't help themselves, and who just need so little to survive. So, thank you for being a vessel for the Lord's work, and for being a part of God's message to us in such a timely way. I'm always amazed to watch Him work, and to hear His voice when we are ready to hear it. AMAZING!! And, He used you to speak!

Thank you so much for your sweet heart, and for doing this in Chase's honor. It means so much. And, we pray that it was the first step to something so much bigger.

Since then, we have had other books join our "stack" that have even deepened our passion for helping children in Chase's name. Five days after I sent this letter to our friend, Mark's parents attended a silent auction for Christian Works for Children, where they were able to listen to Pam Cope speak about her life journey. Through the loss of her son, God has led her to help children literally around the world, who so desperately need someone to stand up for them. Of course, Cheri bought me Pam's book that evening, knowing I love to read, and knowing our stories share the common thread of finding God in the midst of grief. Since then, Mark and I have both read "Jantsen's Gift" and are absolutely blown away by the Lord's nudging. :) A family helping give life to children around the world, in honor of their son's life...

The next book we started (and Mark is alot further than I am) is written by the CEO of World Vision, Richard Stearns, entitled "The Hole in Our Gospel". Again, we have been floored by God's direction...one of the best quotes in reference to getting out of our American comfort zones and giving life to those who need it, is this: "Love God. Love your neighbor. That's it. That's the "Bible for Dummies". It's simple, really. But, it's taken our loss for us to see what we have to share.

We want to love our neighbors, and not just the ones in our suburban cul de sac. We want to love our neighbors--especially the sweet children--who live in shacks across the world, who don't have a chance to survive on their own. We don't know where God is leading us, or what all He has in store as we walk this new road since losing Chase. Honestly, right now, it all feels quite scattered in our minds, as to be expected. But, for now, we want to offer a simple challenge to our friends and family who have so graciously walked alongside us so far.

We're humbly praying for even more families to join us in helping others! Help us honor Chase...or someone in your own family...by giving life to other precious children who need food, clothing, shelter, and, ultimately, need Jesus. It costs so little to help, and we have all been blessed so abundantly. For the price of a family dinner at Chili's or a trip to the movies, a child can be fed, clothed, sent to school, and loved for a month! We have started a list in the sidebar of our blog of the newly sponsored children and their names and countries we have already received, and we're so thankful for those who have begun a new sponsorship on behalf of Chase!

If you'd like to learn more about Compassion International, World Vision, or Touch A Life, click on their links for other ways to help. Look at the faces of these sweet children. Read about their stories! Help by giving care to pregnant moms who don't know the importance of caring for their unborn child. Give vaccinations to infant children who don't have a chance of suriving otherwise. Buy a one time gift for a family or village, including options like a goat or chicken, a soccer ball, a fishing pond, or clean water! Give a sponsorship to a family member for Christmas this year. Honor someone you love by selecting their birthdays or a certain country or age of child. Most of all, pray that these children will be blessed.

If you'd like to share, we would love to hear about the children you support and the way you choose to do it! So, comment here on the blog, or send us an email to mcjacobs4@gmail.com!

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Matthew 25:35-36

If you've read this whole thing, thank you for sticking with me. And, thank you for continuing to pray, as we continue to cling to His comforting voice and seek His continued direction for our family. We miss our Chase every day, but we also have peace in knowing his life has already brought life to other children. And, may that only increase from here!