With This Ring...

Yesterday was a day filled with surprises, emotions, tears, humbleness & thankfulness. It was a day that I am sure I will not forget.




My dear friend sent me an update to her blog, the title read "Would you give your wedding ring away to save a life". The minute I saw the title, I did something very Godly, I shut it off!!! I wasn't not going to read that, I didn't want to be convicted nor did I feel like my wedding ring needed to be a part of this equation. I have already given SO much Lord!

Later I was burdened to read the post and returned to the screen once again, against my better judgement. It read something like this:





This picture at left that was featured in Monday’s post on http://rememberthepoor.info/ is real. The girls are real. It’s not posed or photo-shopped. It was taken a few weeks ago in Uganda by friends of ours. The girls are real, and they are eternal.

The picture of this diamond ring is also real. But it is not eternal. It can be lost, stolen, or lose its value, and will definitely be left behind when we leave planet earth.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal. 2 Cor 4:18

This is where the surprise comes in. I was not expecting what came next. My friend featured a ministry called "With This Ring". A lady was challenged with the question "What can you do to change the world". The only thing she could think of was to sell her wedding ring. She had a worlds of wealth on her finger. She did just that, then she donated her money to a ministry who was digging wells in Africa, to save the lives of the villagers.

After I looked at her web site carefully, I was convicted beyond conviction. This is what the Lord showed me.

"Andrea, you have challenged all your friends and some strangers to give like they have never given before, are you willing to give what I ask you to"? I felt like he was saying "Andrea, I am going to bless you, but first I want you to be obedient".

Now in all honesty, please hear me, this HURT. I love my rings, they are priceless to me. They symbolize so much. I love my husband, he gave me these rings! I DID NOT WANT to give my rings away. Then this question was posed "would I give them if I knew my own children were starving, or in need of water or in need of...."? Of course I would!! All of Gods people are eternal, not just mine.

I began to cry. I knew that the Lord was calling me to something that was going to cost. I believe he calls us all to something that costs, we are just not used to hearing that part of his voice. Cost, HURTS! Sure I have been giving of my "first fruits", I had given my grandmothers diamond solitaire. I had gathered lots of gold, that I didn't wear and that I could part with, BUT this was different.

I called Bryan and asked him what he thought and again, Honestly his first reaction was "you are not selling your rings". See, to Bryan they are VERY important, for the same reasons but even more so. He had to get off the phone and told me he would call me back later. I prayed. Once he called me back, I told him the whole story and his response was wonderful. "Andrea, we must be obedient, that is what we are called to do, we will not tell God no"! He asked me how I felt and I told him that my flesh said NO, and my spirit said yes. He said, "Well, then tell your flesh to SHUT UP"!!

Yesterday, I took both of our wedding rings (the very top picture) along with ALL my other priceless jewelry of my moms and grandma's to our jeweler. I thought that my rings would cause me the most grief, but I was wrong. I held so many memories in my mom's jewelry. I was wrestling with God, this was more then I wanted to give up. I sat with tears streaming down my face as I watched the jeweler look and access all of my precious jewelry. I felt foolish as I cried, but the tears were real, not fake. I was giving up so much of me and my mom.

My jeweler finally looked at me, as I am sure he was feeling uncomfortable, and I told him simply "I am selling my possessions, according to scripture, to give to the poor". I told him that I know it may sound crazy, but that is what I am doing. I told him, I am crying because it costs, and some of this was my moms. After awhile he offered me a price, not as much as I could get if I sold them all myself, but he promised me that they would not move on e-bay the way I would like them to. I accepted the price, THEN GOD happened!! He was speechless, he leaned back in his chair, put his head back and laughed a nervous laugh. He said " I can't believe you are doing this, What do I say to this"? I didn't know what he was talking about, because I didn't say anything. Then he said, "The Lord to me, I need to give you MORE", "How do your argue with God", he asked.

"MORE"? He did just that!! THEN I told him my story!! He loved it, he quoted some scripture to me about our treasures, and told me that none of this was worth anything in God's Kingdom!!

Okay, not to drag this on. But I gained a little perspective, I was mourning the loss of MY Possessions. Possessions, that if I had died in a car crash on the way to the jewelers, I would have left all behind. I WAS SELFISH, I WANTED MY STUFF MORE THEN I WANTED MY GOD AND OBEDIENCE. I can't believe it! I needed to ask for forgiveness. I am still married, the ring is only a symbol. I think it is far MORE romantic, especially on Valentines Day, that we have both given up our rings in the Name of Christ and have in invested in something that moth and rust will not destroy!! Also, my moms memories are in my heart, not in a piece of jewelry. My mom sits with JESUS, she was probably the biggest advocate of giving it away, because she sees with eternal eyes!!

In 1829, George Muller said, “A servant of God has but one Master. It ill becomes the servant to seek to be rich, and great, and honoured in that world where his Lord was poor, and mean (of humble origin), and despised.”

And this is how he lived it out.
November 1, 1834. “Today, our means being completely gone, we had them supplied in the following manner:–some time ago some silver spoons were given to us, which we never used, from the consideration that for servants of Christ, it was better, for the sake of example, to use cheaper ones. And for that reason we had sold our plate at Teignmouth. Yet up to this day those spoons remained unsold. But now, as we wanted money, we disposed of them, considering that the kind giver would not be displeased at our doing so to supply our need.”

Friends, WE HAVE the means, the tools and the money to supply those who are dying, who are diseased, who are hungry, who thirst, who are in prison, who are fatherless. God has GIVEN to us SO GRACIOUSLY. Lets not sit back and watch or talk about it LETS DO IT TOGETHER!! Will you ask God how he wants you to serve Him today to further His kingdom!!

Yesterday, I mourned the loss of earthly possessions,

Today I am "Ringless in Christ"

Beans & Rice Week, Here We Go...

I was talking to my son this morning about Rice and Beans week. He is such a great kid, he asked a great question, "Why"?

Why would we give up eating our normal food and eat only Rice & Beans when we have all this other food? My answer, what would you say if one of your friends came up to you and told you their Nana died? That is all it took!!! He got it. But of course I didn't stop there. I asked him " what if your friends house burnt down"? He said, "I would feel bad, but I wouldn't really understand because I have never experienced that". (Thanks Cindy May for the idea).

He understood that we have never experieced starving or not having variety, we have so much, how could we understand.

So, even though most people start things on Mondays, we are not most people, we will start in the middle of the week! Great fun! We will be praying for the poor, asking God to intervien with His people that he has blessed to be a blessing, (that is us, the belivers who have much). We will be doing this for our sister in Christ, Katie who is living out servant hood in Uganda to a bizillion children and only eating "beans and rice". http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

We will be doing this for the our brothers and sisters in Uganda http://rememberthepoor.info

We will be doing this in the name of Christ who says: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?… But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow… Matt 6:25-33

If you would like to join us on yet another challange, please let me know we can share our testimonies together when we are done. Better yet, we can share the answers to prayer that obediance brings!!

God does not expect us to argue with Him when He tells us to do something. He doesn’t expect us to apply human logic to our circumstances. He simply expects us to obey and trust Him. I have found that whenever we step out in obedience to God’s voice, miracles follow~ Brother Yun, Living Water

So here’s the Rice & Bean Extravaganza of Love: Eat rice and beans, and drink water only, at every meal for a full 7 days. Here’s the top 10 reasons to do so:

10. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality.* 2 Corinthians 8:14

9. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:12-13

20 pound bag of rice- $8

8. Giving is fun. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35

7. I (Jesus) have compassion on the crowd…and I am unwilling to send them away hungry… Matthew 15:32

6. And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 2 Corinthians 5:15

5. We will likely Remember The Poor every time we eat. Galatians 2:10

4. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13

3. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Corinthians 4:17

2. Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord. Ephesians 6:8

1. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love on another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”John 13:34-35

We will be starting on Saturday!!

The ULTIMATE Adoption....

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. Ephesians 1: 3-5

It gave God great pleasure to adopt us into the family of Christ. It gives Bryan and I great pleasure to adopt these children into the Thiele Family, in order to imitate Christs love to them, so that one day they will ultimately be adopted into the family of Christ.

C~6, our youngest daughter is from China. We brought her home just before she turned two. She is now three (going on twelve). The other day she was playing around and fell, the old hit your head on the coffee table trick. This was a hard fall, and our tables are marble with sharp corners. You can imagine the scream that she let out once she caught her breath. I immediately scooped her up and held her silently. Don't miss this, when I was holding her while she was still screaming my 3 year old begun to yell, "PRAY Mommy, PRAY!!!"

She has been here only a little under two years, her first reaction was to PRAY!! What a blessing, how can we deny that the Lord isn't already preparing her heart for the ULTIMATE Adoption Day.

"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases Him, and love Him and serve Him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good". Deuteronomy 10: 12-14

We have currently raised $9000!! Thank you for all that have supported us financially and prayerfully this far. We are so excited to see God working among all of us, to bring these sweet children home. One of my friends, posed the question, "there is no urgency is there"? The answer is YES there is!! We should always find urgency in being obedient, because delayed obedience is still disobedience!!

We are one quarter of the way there. We still need $26,000 to reach our goal! Please remember this is not our extravagance, these are God's children. We are missionaries reaching orphans and widows for Christ (the agency we are working with benefits both orphans and widows)!

Please pray and ask God how you can give from your "first fruits" to help bring these kids home. This is in accordance with Matthew 6:19 " Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be".

We are so excited to partner with you, to do what pleases God!! I am sure that Jesus is preparing the hearts of these children and of others watching for the ULTIMATE Adoption Day!! Together we will bring Him Glory!

Blessings,

For tax deductible donations please send your check to:

Kingdom Kids Adoption Ministry
1417 North Lincoln Street

Spokane, WA 99201

USA

Or visit the web:
http://www.kingdomkidsadoption.org/

Please do not write our names on the check, but please DO include note referencing "Thiele Adoption".

Or contact us directly



Note: The children shown in these pictures are NOT adoptable, therefore are legal to post. All photos were taken by Erica S.

Remember the Poor...

If you can find time today, I would suggest you look at this blog. It communicates my heart, and most importantly I believe it communicates the Lords heart so well!!

I have not figured out how to make it a link with a picture or anything yet, but one day, I will.

I pray that the Lord burdens our hearts to start living the way He did. Most of us live the "American Dream". Oh the possibilities of a dream...we have so much, so that we can give much. May we step out in faith and be challenged by living life to the fullest trusting Jesus!!

http://www.rememberthepoor.wordpress.com/

I wish you could see...

Oh, how I wish you could see our Ethiopian babies!!! I just got the pictures of them yesterday that my friend took while in Ethiopia last week, all I can say is beautiful!! I will carry them in my purse, so if you remind me, I will have them to show you. You probably won't have to remind me, I'll show you anyway!! For those of you who live out of town, you will just have to imagine for now, one day soon when they are home, we will have a blog full of pictures!!

Our friends trip was successful, she was able to visit many orphanages, pass out shoes and formula and some clothes, love on children, visit an AIDS compound, pray with a Muslim man dying of AIDS, and much more. Passing out shoes and praying with dying men and women will not change a nation, but God can. These are the hands and feet of Christ! God tells us that He calls people unto Himself, He is the one who prepares hearts, we just need to love with God's love, and share it with others, it is that easy.

Here are some pictures that you can see.

We went to a Russian concert, C~5 had a wonderful time. She remembered some songs and loved being around people from her country. The kids that preformed were around her age and older. Great Grandpa also surprised us with a visit, so we were able to take him along for the festivities! It was her 13th birthday the very next day, so this was a real treat, for all of us. One of the girls that she has a picture with looks like she could be her sister! It was so much fun learning about a different nation.

Aunt Laurel & C~5, Birthday Buddies

The Girls for a slumber party!!

Dad & C~5 doing a Russian Dance!!

Great Grandpa Bill did a surprise visit from Cali

C~5 and one of the Russian dancers