One of my biggest faults is that when I get myself really deep into thought about something, I forget to also pay attention to what is going on around me at the same time. This seems to be happening alot lately, and I feel terrible saying that it actually happened this Sunday in church. My family recently started going to a new church, and I LOVE this place. The Sunday however, I was reading an article about adoptions in Africa, and learned that in several African countries, the minimum age for adoptive parents is only 25! No, most of you are probably thinking, ok, what does that matter? If you know me at all, you know how bad I want to adopt a baby. I have been talking about it for as long as I can remember, and have even said no to some relationships simply because the other person refuses to even consider adoption as an option. Plain and simple, adopting a child is not something that I am willing to give up in my life. Most countries have crazy age requirements for adoptive parents, BUT, because I would like this to happen sooner rather than later, the 25 from Africa thing really had me thinking.. (insert not paying attention during sermon) about how I will be 25 by the time I return from the race, and that dream of my mine may actually become a reality!
In between all of my thoughts of what it would be like to fly to Africa and bring home a little baby and raise it within my family, I heard the pastor start talking about dreams. God's timing is so funny sometimes. The sermon (or the part that I heard) was pretty much about how as humans, we often limit our dreams to what we think we are able to accomplish instead of dreaming as big as we possibly can. We as a whole need to stop dreaming and thinking about life this way because even though our dreams may seem out of reach from a human perspective, NOTHING is out of reach for God. God can make even our wildest dreams happen inelvesto worldl an eye, so why should we limit ourselves to smaller accomplishments when God is opening up the door for us to do whatever we can dream of. Pretty cool, huh?
Lately, one of the things that I have been spending alot of time thinking about is obviously the World Race, everyhting I need to get done in the next 8 months, everything that will happen while I'm gone, and of course, that dreaded word, FUNDRAISING. When I signed up for the race, finding the money to pay for it was not something that I was concerned about. I believed then, and still believe now, that I am supposed to go on the race, and that God will provide all of the funds necessary for me to do so. As time goes on, however, its natural to have those moments of 'oh my gosh what did I get myself into' 'maybe this was too big of a dream to actually make happen' and 'where on earth is all of this money going to come from?!?' Honestly, thats how I've been feeling lately, and honestly, I don't like it. But you know what? God doesn't think that this is too big of a dream. $15,500 is just a drop in the bucket to him, and I KNOW that he will provide all the funds I need to make this trip (and eventually that adoption :)) a reality.
With that being said, I have raised approximately $1,500 to put towards my World Race fund so far. I am thrilled, but that also means that I still have about $14,000 more to go. If you feel called to give to this cause, you can do so one of three ways:
1) Use the 'Support Me' link on the left side of this page
2) Mail a check to Adventures In Missions
PO Box 534470 Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
3) Mail a check directly to me
My address is:
Ashley Loeb
268 Lesher Rd
Bernville, PA 19506
Thank you xoxo
Ashley
