He Gives And Takes Away...

Job, probably one of the most afflicted men in the bible, never ceased to praise the Lord. "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of The Lord" (Job 1:20-21).

Paul, learned what it meant to be content in the Lord, no matter what the situation looked like, good or bad.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content" (Philippians 4:11).

We know that God is in control of all things, and He is absolutely perfect. So whether we are glowing on that mountain high experience, or trudging through the depths of the valley, we can rest assured our God is in control!

This past month, the Lord added greatly to our home...8 children within about a week.  How exciting it was to see these beautiful new faces and watch The Lord begin to work in their precious lives. Obviously going from 4 to 12 children was a bit of a challenge, but nevertheless, a huge blessing.

Just as the Lord has the freedom to add children to our home, He can also allow some to be removed, which is what has happened. The mother of the 4 siblings (Gael, Myra, Pablo and Adrianna) decided to take her children back. Over the short time they were with us, we had a number of meetings with the mom, sharing the Lord with her and our commitment to help care for and minister to her children. She was torn of wanting to have them with her but knowing she couldn't care for them properly.  It became apparent though, that she was changing her mind and really wanted her kids back.

We did our best to fight for the children, believing that truly the best place for them was in our care.  Unfortunately, the mother saw things differently and because she is their legal guardian we released the kids back to her.

This has been difficult, especially knowing that the children are being left home alone, and some of them are not going to school.  However, we don’t lose heart, only because we know that God is constantly working behind the scenes.  He loves those children more then anyone.  I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I do know how big of a God I serve, who through whom ALL THINGS are possible.

The 4 children left our home on a Sunday and then God brought us another young boy the following Sunday.  Truly He does “GIVE” and “TAKE AWAY”.  When we came back home from church this past Sunday, Aron’s mother was there, with her cousin Yvet and her little son Jose Antonio Diaz.  Yvet had heard about the orphanage from Aron’s mom and she wanted to bring Jose to us.  Similar to a lot of our children, Yvet is a single mom, trying to work, raise kids, etc.  She to has a desire to see Jose have a better life then the one she can give him.  So, within an hour our so, we had processed in this young boy, our 9th child. Lord willing, Jose' little 6 year old sister, will be joining us as well within a few weeks!

Brothers and sisters, there may be times when the Lord gives, and there may be times when He takes away.  May we always seek and desire to never cease to praise and bless His holy name!

Jose Antonio Diaz, 9 years old...

Jose Antonio