Thursday, August 20, 2009

Grateful/Thankful Thursday

The below two quotes are from two blog posts at Building The Blocks...

"We can’t further His kingdom when all we care about is ours. We need to be willing to invest ourselves and our lives into others whether Gods asks us to do that through prayers, words of support, giving of our time, or financially."
You can read the rest of this post here .

"By teaching our children to serve and to put others needs first-we are giving them the tools of success- as parents, as spouses, as citizens and as employees. Yet even more importantly- we are teaching our children to appreciate what they have instead of constantly longing for more. Children who are starving in 3rd world countries would consider themselves blessed to be served a warm diet of beans and rice daily- and these children are just as important to God as we are. There are so many ways we can teach our children to give of themselves- and to make this world a better place because they are in it.

"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6)"
The rest of this post is here.

PLEASE, PLEASE take the time to read them both. Amy's passion is contagious.
Why am I putting her post here on my Grateful/Thankful Thursday post?
I have been blessed to have grown up in a family that was passionate for the LORD, missions and a desire for others to hear about the precious love of the LORD.
My parents and other family members have always supported us with their love and help as we have journeyed to each of our children. I have always been so thankful for them! (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD...YOU REALLY ARE MORE PRECIOUS THAN I CAN SAY).
However, as Steve and I grew more passionate for orphans and felt that the LORD was telling us to bring another little one home, we seemed to loose friends. Not intentionally really...it's just that we were getting a little to "different".
So, today, I am grateful for this funny little world of blogging where I have found kindred spirits, made friends that "get" me and share my "radical" ideas. I am grateful to have "met" so many of you who challenge me, inspire me, accept me, and encourage me. I'm grateful to have found others who are living lives of love, dedicated to their families and to God's leading.
I love you all and am so glad that God brought you each into my life! Thank you!!!

15 comments:

  1. Shonni ~

    Other people may not "get you", but I do! I, too, am so thankful that I stumbled into this world of blogging b/c I get inspired every single day by Christian women with large families like yourself! Sometimes I think that when people don't "get" me, that's a good thing! I don't want to conform to this world's "normal". We continue to be in prayer about which direction God has us going next!

    Thanks for sharing your sweet heart!

    Be Blessed ~ Dardi

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  2. Amen!

    I, too, LOVE my bloggy friends. In our small town, we are definitely the "not normal" family ... yet, in the adoption bloggy world, we fit right in.

    Hoping to meet many of you this fall as 6 of my kids and I head out on a cross-country road trip. Your family and the Block family are definitely on my list of bloggy friends to meet.

    mama of 13

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  3. Shonnie - I love you and your heart! It is so hard to loose friends and family when they think we are too "radical" for Jesus and what He has called us to do. I too am thankful for my new "friends" and pray that we all get to meet face to face someday!

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  4. I "get" you, and He does too:)
    I am so ecited about your newest addition. I love watching you live out the dream and desires He has put into you and your hubby and I love to watch Him work through you.
    Your family is beautiful and doesn't need to conform to this worlds standards of normal.

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  5. You continue to bless me, dear one. ANd fuel my hope and passion for a large family, raising a mighty warry of righteous children for His battle.

    Besitos (little kisses in Spanish),
    Sarah Dawn

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  6. Oh yes, kindred spirits in the Lord! Something to be very thankful for!

    Blessings,
    Sarah

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  7. Oh I am SO PROUD of how 'different' you are willing to be!! I have always heard that if you are living the kind of life that everyone agrees with then you are probably not living your life for the Lord. I look at your big, BEAUTIFUL family and I just want to stand up and shout for joy! I can see HIM in each and every one of your faces. You are living your life for things that truly count. You keep bringing those babies home, you keep getting more and more different- because YOU are the light in this world that so many need to see. LOVE YOU GUYS!!! Amy

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  8. Oh dear friend--I am so thankful for YOU! You inspire me to be a better mommy! Your passion is truly contagious. I only wish every one of your blog readers got to meet you in person too :)

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  9. It truly is a blessing to have bloggy friends with whom we share a passion. Most of us have had comments shared, and/or friends or family lost because of our passion for orphans.
    1 Cor. 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
    I'll find my wisdom in the Lord, thank you!

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  10. The support, wisdom, and encouragement from this world of "bloggy friends" is a blessing that I will be forever thankful for! Thank you for sharing! We have lost friends too... and family... and it is sad. But we are pressing on and bringing our girls home! I praise God for hearts like yours!!!!!

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  11. Shonnie, I ran across your blog link from another's blog and was so intrigued by the photos of your beautiful family, I had to stop in and read a few of your posts. You write so beautifully...it's been a blessing to read your words and find yet another family who shares being "different" due to all the blessings of adoption. Loving also the references to CO...born and raised there, I am WAY too far from home out here in DE. God Bless, Jennifer

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  12. Shonni, I would love to meet you someday! I love that you are "too different" because you are trying to live out what Jesus tells us to do! I love reading your posts and "getting to know" your family, and praying with you for your next little one! You may lose friends because of your obedience to God's call on your heart, but what you are gaining is so much more valuable! Keep on storing up treasures in heaven - and someday, if we don't meet here, we will all get to celebrate our friendships in heaven!

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  13. Wonderful post Shonni! What a blessing to have parents that support you and your growing family!

    We have found ourselves t be an island apart from others because of our choices. We wouldn't do it differently but friends have been a casualty of adoption at this point in our lives. We have also found great love and support among the adoption loving, Jesus loving, homeschool loving bloggy friends. I personally really need the support!

    All glory goes to God! I am so very gratetful to him!
    Blessings,
    Jean

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  14. Hey- can you email me? Block amy at hotmail dot com. THANKS!

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  15. Shonni,

    I think it's amazing just how different you are!!What a blessed world it would be if everyone were as different as you. We've emailed eachother a couple of times when your camera was lost.I hope I get to meet you and your beautiful family one day. I have 6 kids, one adopted and I pray the Lord blesses us with another child. I feel different and I only have 6 kids!! I'll never forget the first day I took my daughter to church how nervous I was because of the fact that no one in our church community has adopted. That makes me sad. At times it gets a little lonely because I feel so passionate about adoption and doing God's work and I don't get that same feedback from other people.But thank God there is a community of people like you out in the blog world that inspires me and encourages me.
    In His name
    Sophie

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