We're Excited

While waiting on an adoption (or two), and waiting on the LORD to provide for our mission trip, God has sent a sweet smile to us. I am excited for my girls. First, you see, we're going here on Saturday:

The girls have been saving birthday money and Christmas money. Rather than buying a new toy for the house, they are spending their money to help pay for the hotel room and tickets to see the University of GA's gymnastics team in the Regional Meet.

If that wasn't exciting enough, a sweet young lady sent posters to our girls today. The posters were signed by the girls on the Gym Dogs team.

And...if that isn't sweet enough:

The same person sent me a text today that read, "If you can be here early on Saturday, I can take your girls to meet the team in person before the meet!"

I'm soooooooooooo excited...almost as much as the girls. I love sweet surprises from Jesus.

Call to Prayer

AN URGENT CALL Please join others in a day of pray to take place on Wednesday as well. A very critical situation. If you believe the LORD would want you to help intervene on behalf of orphans, please visit Linny's blog, (Click here.) and see what her call to fasting and prayer is about. The lives of children are in the balance. We must carry these children to the feet of Jesus! And, as you pray, please continue to pray for us as we seek the LORD's face and His provision for our mission to orphans in South Africa.

The Next YouTube Sensation!

So, I had Ellie on the potty last night. We were minding our own "business." And, out of the blue she says...........



I hope you laughed as hard as I did! Pass it on if you liked it.

You Gotta Love This New Shirt

It's finally here! The new youth shirt for spring, and it's available for purchase from adoptive families. Thank you to Gwen and Suzanne from 147 Million Orphans!

It was just released today! Here is the description I received in my inbox today:


This faded red shirt will be a huge hit with both boys and girls.....Kids can send a big message about the orphan crisis with this shirt.

I will be placing my first order for these shirts this weekend. Sizes available are Youth XXS-L. Click the donate button on the blog and donate $20 for each shirt purchased. List the size and New Youth Shirt in the "Send message to seller," box. If you'd like to purchase shirts for multiple children and/or grandchildren, send me an email at rbmattox@bellsouth.net , and I'll be glad to give you special pricing on larger orders.

Please add $2 shipping fee for each shirt if you don't live near us, and I need to mail them to you.

I think the shirts would make GREAT surprises in Easter baskets.

Let's help our children share the MESSAGE!

Why Have They Not So Much As Heard?

I've spent much time seeking the Face of the Father today, seeking to know His will, seeking to know His path. I began reading through portions of the book of Acts, hoping to learn from the apostle Paul, and how He knew the paths God would have him take, when I came across this statement, "We have not so much as heard." While the Ephesians were referring to their knowledge of the Holy Spirit, I wondered....

How many people in our churches would say that about the orphan crisis in our world today? Why is is that so many people stop me when I'm wearing a 147 Million Orphans shirt and ask, "Really, are there that many orphans in the world?"

Why have they not so much as heard?

Are we sharing the message?

If you are a "frequent flyer" on our blog, you know. Many of you reading this post today knew before you visited our blog. You have already responded, through adoption, through sponsorship, through your love and support of our adoption.

But.....so many people, Christian people, still don't know!!!!

Now, if you're still reading.......I have yet another confession to make:

Another Confession

As the time for our mission trip draws nearer, my faith is truly being tested. We need over $10,000. We have just under $8,000. I say, like the father of the boy with an unclean spirit , "LORD, I believe. Help my unbelief."

So, allow my to ramble a bit through my prayers of the day.

Why does their seem to be a hindrance to the raising the funds needed for our mission to South Africa?

Is it to draw me nearer to Him? If so, praise the LORD! I will thank Him and do thank Him, for I have had some sweet fellowship with Him in the last 3 weeks, 3 days I have devoted to prayer. How great is our God, how loving and gracious, to desire for us to spend time with Him.

Is it because it is not His will for us to go to South Africa? I'll say again I can't find peace with that thought. Everywhere I look in scripture, I see His commandments to visit the orphan, to care for their needs. I read where He commands us to go into all the world. I have yet to read in His word anything that leads me away from our committment to South Africa.

Is there a stronghold resisting the work to be done? How can we come against it? I have put on the whole armor of God. I have claimed the authority God gives us over ALL of the power of the enemy.

Then, I began my study of Acts today. Three verses have begun to ring over and over in my heart and mind.

12:2 But, prayers were made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Again, I ask you to join me in prayer. Pray that the LORD would make His path clear for us. Pray that any stronghold of the enemy would be torn down!! Pray for every member of the mission team. Pray for God's miraculous provision.

19:2 We have not so much as heard. We must carry the message, we must be certain others hear the cry of the orphan, we must be diligent in our efforts. If you believe your church, your Sunday School class, your small group, your friends, or any others need to hear the message, share it! I would love to be a part.

I decided today that I must become more bold in my efforts to spread the message. How can others help if they have not heard of the need? I'm willing to live foolishly for Jesus, so I will ask you, "Do you know of a group I can speak to?" I am desirous to share the message that 147 million orphans need love, need care, need families. I am ready to share the message, and ask like the woman who repeatedly visited the unjust judge, "Can you help?"

Because of this verse:

19:17 That the name of the LORD Jesus be magnified....

If can commit to fervent prayer for our misison to South Africa, leave a comment or send me an email.

I'm headed now to my prayer closet!

Want to Bless the Gymnast?

I would love to surprise Josie-Tatum! Would you like to help?

Many of you have offered your congratulations here, through email, and on Facebook. I had an inspiration!

How about donating to our mission trip in her honor?

No gift would be too small, $5, $10, $20. (No gift is too large either. Hehehe)

You can go to her blog and click the donate button. Use your credit card or Pay Pal account. You can leave her a message there, too!

So, make her smile bigger than she did when she won the medal! Her heart is so full of compassion.

Click here!

She Did Shine Again!

I think of Toby Mac's song again tonight.

We lose our way,
We get back up again,
It's never too late, to get back up again,
One day, you will shine again,
You may be knocked down,
But not out forever.

My precious daughter, whose comfort is being with her mama, fell hard when she broke her arm. She went through much pain with a bone snapped completely into. She went through much pain after her surgery. Her bones have healed.

So, has her spirit!

She not only returned to the gym. She not only returned to competition. She went to state competition this weekend. It was her first since the accident. And, did she ever shine!!!!!

She has asked me not to share the low moments, so I will honor her request. But, I can say, she recovered from the accident, and she did NOT allow two difficult moments to keep her down. While I sat with her daddy and other spectators, wringing my hands, praying, clutching my seat, she OVERCAME. And, despite two setbacks she came home with:

1 Gold Medal on the vault
1 Silver Medal on the floor
1 Bronze medal on the bars
1 Silver medal for OVERALL

AND.......

She has earned a spot on the STATE GYMNASTICS TEAM!

Congratulations my Baby Girl.

You did shine again!

Manifestations of Glory

When Ellie was facing her surgery 2 years ago, my continual prayer was that God manifest His glory in our family.

He has done far more than I ever could have imagined.

Today has been another fasting and prayer day for us.My intentions have been to pray for our mission trip so South Africa. Once again, God has shown up in ways I was not expecting. God has answered one prayer from weeks ago. A little girl in China, so sick, who I posted about here, has been placed in a foster home where she can receive the medical care she needs until her Forever Family comes to take her home. I learned that today during my prayer vigil.

This afternoon I've had three phone calls from friends. Each of them had been wearing a necklace. Each of them has sold more, 6 more from one, 7 more from another, maybe 10.
Show me your glory, JESUS!

Another friend emailed to say, "Have you seen Linny's post? You must link up with this one."

This is my response.

If you are new to our blog, please click on The Little Emperor's tab. God has moved mountains to be certain our Drew and Zeke joined our family. In November, we weren't planning to adopt, but our Heavenly Father who desired to set the lonely in families, began moving in a way we knew it was HIM.

We had $150 in savings.

REALLY.

He promised us He was going to provide for our adoptions through the body of Christ. He has continued to manifest His glory. In less than 4 months, we have been blessed with over $11,000. If you'd like to join us, if you'd like to be a part of His glorious manifestation, click the Fundraising tab above.

We're also planning a mission trip to South AFrica. I continue to pray God's guidance, and He has yet to direct me away from that trip. He reminds me He is bigger than the money we need for 2 adoptions AND a mission trip in the same year. He reminds me that He said, "Pure religion is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction." If you'd like to be a part of that mission, you can follow the link to Josie-Tatum's mission.

If you're reading about our family for the first, time, I challenge you to go back to the posts since November. If you didn't know the GOD I serve, it would seem impossible. If you know the God I serve, you will see....

Manifestations of His Glory!

I will be back in my prayer closet this evening. I can't wait to see what God has in store!

The Hand of the LORD Hath Done This

More about the photo from yesterday:

The day before we received the SURPRISE photos of our Zeke, I had requested some updated photos of our Drew. We are blessed with a contact in China who is able to update us on Drew's condition, and she is faithful to give us information when we request it.

After adoring the face of Zeke for a day or two, I sent one of the photos to our contact in China. Then she surprised me, too....

She showed Drew the photo of his brother, and she took a picture of Drew seeing him for the first time.

And, my heart melted.

Here is more for you to see and shed some happy tears with me.

There is the possibility of some AWESOME things happening for our boys. Please pray fervently. I will add this to my prayer and fasting on Thursday.

Remember, if you have a prayer request you'd like to share, leave a comment or send me an email.

Join me on Thursday, if you feel led, as we seek His provisions for our mission trip to South Africa, his provisions for our adoptions, and His moving on behalf of our boys while they wait on us.

God is doing GREAT and MIGHTY things. "That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it." Isaiah 41:20

Memorial Box--The Right Moment

I knew Saturday night when this happened....this would be a Memorial Box story. A story of you to hear. A story to tell my children. A story for me to remember that God is listening to our every cry.

We've been blessed beyond measure since our fundraising efforts for our adoption. To think that we started with literally NO money set aside for adoption, and we have $11,000 just 3 1/2 months later is nothing but the will of our Heavenly Father to set the lonely is families. He is faithful.

We've been blessed with much over the last week.

And still, I seek Him and His face.

We continue to plan for our trip to South Africa. I've had a few question, politely and without criticism, but simply question whether we will still go to South Africa when we have felt God calling us to adopt again. I have questioned myself.

We met with the mission team on Tuesday. In preparation, I went through our photos from our last mission trip. My heart yearned to see the orphans again, to hold them, and to tell them how much they are loved. We talked about plans to teach at the mission school and an area outreach.



Then, we talked about money. The price of airline tickets is rising. No one on the mission team has enough money yet to purchase tickets. I began to lose sight of Jesus, to see the storm raging, not the Savior.

On Friday, I committed to fasting and prayer, asking God to make His path clear. Once again, His light shone down brightly on our adoption. We received the recent photos of our Zeke, and our spirits were lifted. I did not hear Him speak about Africa. I did not see the way, but I did not feel He was releasing me from the committment.

On Saturday, I spoke to a precious group of ladies, and they were so receptive to the message that God is calling His people to care for orphans. Their purchase of over $500 worth of 147 Million Orphans t-shirts and Ugandan bead necklaces, along with donations, gave us over $350 to add to our adoption account. God continues to supply every need.

But, we still lack more than $9,000 in our mission fund, more if the price of airline tickets continues to rise.

Then, Saturday night I sat down to prepare for teaching Sunday School. Granted, I should have already prepared. Call it busy. Call it procrastination. I'll call it The Right Moment.

I sat all of my materials on the table. Before I began to study, I opened my prayer journal and recorded some thoughts. I thanked Jesus for His contined blessings on our adoption.

Then I confessed....

My lack of faith....

My lack of trust....

I told God I my faith was wavering. While I don't feel Him calling us away from South Africa, I don't SEE how the money will come. I am discouraged.

Then, I opened my Sunday School material, and read first the key verse:

"For with God, nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:32

The right moment,

His perfect time.

I needed to hear from Him. And, He spoke.

So, in our Memorial Box, I am placing the Memory Verse Make-and-Take. I made one for myself. I am Josie-Tatum's Sunday School teacher, and I shared with her during the lesson how God had spoken to me. I said, "This is going in our Memorial Box, and, when we get to South Africa, we can tell others the story of how God spoke to me with this verse."

Will you join me in prayer? I plan to fast and pray again this Thursday. I will be praying specifically for our mission to South Africa. Would you join us? And, would you give me the privilege of praying for you? If you have a prayer request you'd like to share, please list it in the comments....or send me an email. Together, may we move mountains. And, when we accomplish what He has called us to do, we will be able to say, "To God be the glory...for with Him, nothing shall be impossible!"


And....I told you I had something to share. That will have to wait until tomorrow. But, I'll give you a peek...and you can learn the details tomorrow.

More Surprises!

I have something totally cool to share..............so totally cool.
Only, I have to meet with a group back here at the conference in Stone Mountain.

It might be tonight before I can share......I hope you are excited!

I have a BIG prayer request, too. I don't know when I will have the liberty to share the details, but there is a baby in China who NEEDS medical intervention. Please pray for her AND the Christians who want to help her, that He will make the crooked paths straight and OPEN WIDE the door for their intervention.

And, check back. I really do have something cool to share!

Oh My Stinkin' Goodness

My heart is full to overflowing. Tears continue to well up in my eyes.

We have been soooooo worried about our Zeke. There has been reason to be concerned about the care he has been receiving. I have contacted many trying to find our more.

Last night I felt the LORD calling me to a day of fasting and prayer...about South Africa. God has shown me His mighty ways, answering prayers I haven't even offered today.

We have an update on our Zeke! Thank you, Sheri, at Gifts to China with Love.

I can't open the update here at school because I have an older version of word...I'll add that later, but would you like to go ahead and see the photos??????

He looks so happy!!!!

He looks so HEALTHY!

He's grown so much since our referral photo.




Here is our update!
He had the surgery on Jun 2006. He is doing very well after the surgery.
He goes to kindergarten every day .
He likes fruits and sweets.
He likes to play all kinds of children's toys and games.
His schedule:
6:30 am breakfast
12 :00 lunch time
18:00 dinner time


WEIGHT: 20KG 体重20公斤
HEAD C: 52CM 头围52厘米
CHEST C: 67CM 胸围67厘米
FEET LONG: 15CM 足长15厘米
TEETH:19 牙齿19颗
HEIGHT: 100CM 身长100厘米

A Little Update

We've been


BUSY!

We held a fundraiser Friday and Saturday, then left Monday right after school to take Ellie to Tampa. I'll share some details of that trip tomorrow....

But, busy included raising money for both our South AFrica mission AND our adoptions.

We sold 147 merchandise Friday and Saturday. I sold more on Sunday, more on Monday, and then 8 necklackes TODAY.

Take a look at our total thus far. God is sooooooooooooo good!

Do You See Jesus?

I've been doing some soul searching lately....and wanting to be sure I keep my eyes on Jesus in the midst of all that we're doing. I've been seeing Him in some awesome places. I plan to post more about how my eyes are opening.

Check this out first, and tell me if you see Jesus. It's Josie-Tatum's latest blog post. She is excited about the opportunity to go back to Africa. Could I also ask you to go leave some encouraging words there?

Another Miracle of More Moment

This week has brought me to a sweet place of reflection and anticipation. I have been reminded that "The Miracle of More" is certainly the name God Himself would have chosen for our blog. To think that when I started is as Mei Mei Makes Four, we were preparing to be a family of six. Just four years later, we're soon to become a family of NINE + one DIL makes TEN.



I am just loving watching God do more than I could ask or think, just like He promises in Ephesians 3:20.



We held a fundraiser this weekend, just for the trip to South Africa. Josie-Tatum, Joshua, and I joined Jeanne for a pancake breakfast. And, we raised money for our mission trip.



But, God had more planned.



My heart was encouraged from deep within, while I watched so many friends come into the restaurant, coming not for breakfast, but for support. The greetings were loving, the smiles were warm, and the waitress....well she did OK. It was plain fun.



There were those who came to help, not because they are going on the mission trip, but because they want to help us help others. They were there because of love. To watch my Daddy make coffee, prepare and refill drinks, and wipe down tables...

Well, you tell me, is your heart not touched seeing the love in those hands?

I don't have many photos, because, PRAISE THE LORD, we were busy!

And, I've been busy, busy this week, too. I've had three different people call, email, and text. Three different people who together have sold 12 necklaces. Why are they selling them? Because of love. We've been fundraising, but God had the miracle of more in mind. He wanted others to have the blessed privilege of joining us in the work. I wonder how He smiles even now, as I just received a text that says, "I need one more necklace!"

Yesterday, my heart was nearly bursting with joy and and overwhelming sense of support. I had been returning calls, gathering necklaces, and preparing a bank deposit. Over the weekend, a dear friend had purchased two necklaces. I know how much her family has struggled, so much so that I canNOT imagine her pain.

I was probably not the best friend when I used some poor words by asking, "Are you sure you can afford this?" I hope she knew what I meant. (She knows I love her, right?) I wish I had chosen better words. She assured me that with income tax return money, she was planning to do certain things. This was one of them. So, I told her...."I won't rob you of your blessing."

Well, as I was preparing the bank deposit, I was endorsing her check. I stopped and began to cry. She has written it for $100. To some, that might be a small gift, but I know that she could do so many things for her family with that money.

The miracle of more...the gift gave more to me than mere money. The gift reminded me of my own selfishness, reminded me how much He loves us, reminded me that He has chosen His family to meet our needs.

I went upstairs soon after realizing what her gift had been and sent her a messsage, a message of my gratitude for her gift. Her reply reminded me again.

He has promised.

The Miracle of More.

She told me that within 30 minutes of her gift to us, she and her husband received a gift for the exact amount she had written the check over the cost of the necklaces.

The Miracle of More

He desires to add to our family. He desires to receive all of the honor and glory. He desires to use His children. He wants to bless His children for their faithfulness. He wants to do more.

How much more does he want to use you? How much more does He want to do for you?