Thank you for my toenails

Recently adoption has been heavy on my heart. My wife's post at carneyadoption.blogspot.com has stirred me up to the point where I'm about to burst. Sometimes its hard to believe that there actually children out there who have no family. They have no mother, no father, no grandparents, no love.......nobody. A single human being, made in the image of God, abandoned, alone, and lost. The closest person they have is a woman who works in an orphanage for a paycheck. Now don't get me wrong, I praise the Lord for what these women do everyday. I guess you just have to go there and see it for yourself to really get a grip on it. It's not exactly roses and cupcakes.

I'm not exactly sure what happens to an orphan in Moscow. It seems like I remember hearing that once they turn 14, they are booted out to fend for themselves among 11.2 million others. I can only imagine what a neglected, unloved 14 year old does in a situation like that. Regardless of the outcome, it is reality for far too many.

I have some good news for you this evening, there is a three year boy snuggled up in his warm bed in my house that will never need to know what he needs to do in that situation. He has come home. I wish I knew the exact process in which God works these sort of things out, because there were 70 more just like him in that orphanage alone. Although I cannot give you the play by play, I can tell you that through much support from our church and our family, and a ton of prayer, Hudson Luke Carney, previously Makhmud Zurabovich Mamadrizobekov, is safe in loving arms tonight. I would lay down my life this very night for that boy if that's what it came to and I know his mother would to.

I have never prayed about anything so much in my life as I did for that boy. The weird part about it was I didn't even know him. I had never seen him, heard him, or touched him, yet I prayed for him constantly. I'm talking about for two years I prayed for a child I had no clue about. For one of those years he wasn't even born yet. For about three months, I was praying for someone who had not even been conceived. We prayed every single night together for a young, healthy child.

Just eight short years ago I was Hudson. Of course I wasn't an infant and I even had parents, good parents that love me, but I was an orphan. It's funny how that works. I had parents but I was an orphan and didn't even know it. You may be an orphan right now and not realize it, I sure didn't.

I hate to tell you this but someone has to before its too late. You have been seperated from your Father. He didn't put you up for adoption or abandon you at birth like Hudson's birthmom did, but you sinned and that put a barrier between you and your Father that you cannot tear down. OH how we try so hard......working, fighting, banging on the outside and perhaps even scratching, kicking and screaming on the inside.....just trying to break through the wall on our own but it is just too thick. It is too big. It is fixed. It is solid. It is there forever. You are on your own in a world of 7 billion people fending for yourself, or so it may seem.

I have some even better news for you this evening. There is a man named Jesus that walked this same earth as you and I two thousand years ago, whose safe, loving arms are wide open, waiting for you to come home. He has already laid down His life for you. At a place on the other side of the world called Calvary, Jesus was crucified on a cross. He had to die on that cross because someone had to break through that barrier that we made when we sinned. He did that by living the life that we couldn't live. He was perfect, never sinning at all. He kept the entire law of God. He took yours, mine, Hudson's and everyone else's punishment for our sin up on that cross. The whole wrath of God was poured out on Him.

It sounds cruel. It sounds almost like Jesus had to rescue us from this terrible Creator that made us so He could take pleasure in destroying us. Let me tell you that it's not like that at all. Jesus did not rescue us from God, He rescued us for God. We did not adopt Hudson to save him from that day when he would be turned out on the streets to fend for himself, although we did do that in the process. We adopted Hudson because we love him and he was not made for that. He was made to be loved and to show love, not be abandoned and calloused. Although Jesus does rescue us from the very fire of hell, that was only something that He did in the process. He rescued us because He loves us and we were made to be in a relationship with God, not seperated from Him. If Jesus rescued us from anything besides hell, He rescued us from our own self destruction.

With great joy, I can tell you again that I am Hudson tonight, adopted by God through Jesus. I placed my faith into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of my sins. I have committed my life to avoiding sin and following Jesus. I am striving each day to become more and more like Him. I am a child of the Living God. No longer alone, no longer seperated, no longer deserving a place the Bible calls "hell." A member of the family of God. Revived, redeemed, and reconciled by Jesus to the great I AM. Thank you Jesus!

Every night at bedtime, we sit together as a family on Hudson's bed and read a book. It is always a story from the Bible. Sometimes, but not everytime, we sing a song. After the book and song, we pray. With Hudson in mommy's arms and Hollynn in mine, we worship our Savior and approach the throne of grace. Tonight was a night when we sang. First, Lindsey read a book about Noah and the ark. After that, we sang "How Deep the Father's Love," (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV2zMZ-nZ7k) which is one of Hudson's favorites. When it is time to pray, we all take turns. Hudson always goes first, usually followed by mom, and then me. Usually Hudson will say something like, "Thank you Jesus for today. Thank you for Hoss. Amen" or sometimes he will add in a thank you for mommy, daddy, and/or Hollynn. Sometimes, he even adds in little Jordin, our new house, or his toys. After we sang "How Deep the Father's Love," this was his prayer, "Thank you Jesus for today. Thank you Jesus for loving us all the time." I teared up with great joy in my heart and completely out of my character, I busted out with a loud "Amen!" I guess he thought that meant I was ending his prayer because he said "amen" also. Not five seconds later he says "and thank you for my toenails."

Thank you to anyone and everyone who has invested in Hudson Luke Carney's life. I'm not only talking about financially but spiritually also. You have made an eternal impact on one of God's abandoned children, and for that I commend you. I also challenge you to not let him be the last. There are many more children waiting patiently, but desperately longing to go home.