Father's Day Blues?

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat. Mother Teresa

Father's Day can be incredibly painful or a totally blase holiday to those of us who've had deadbeat, uncaring, dysfunctional, irresponsible uninvolved abusive fathers. At a young age I was gifted with discernment. While I desperately LONGED for a loving father figure, I knew not to expect it or desire it from my own. Many of my friends had loving doting fathers to guide them through life and provide for them. At times, it was difficult seeing all that I lacked. I'll never forget meeting him again once I became a grown woman. I was 17 years old, living on my own. I never inquired why he never contacted me or sent ANYTHING to provide for even my basic needs. Perhaps feeling guilty, he felt obligated to offer some sort of an explanation. He told me "I meant to check on you, see how you were doing, but you know, outta sight outta mind. You know how that goes."

Nope, I don't know how that goes. I love my children more than I love air. I can't imagine not being able to see them, hug them, kiss them, watch them grow. I can't imagine life not knowing who these incredible kids are. I can't imagine not feeling my little ones arms around my neck as I carry them to bed or missing out as my bigger children tell me their hopes & aspirations, listening to their giggles and jokes, hearing them pray. Both my father and mother abandoned me. Drugs, alcohol and various other things all apparently way more important than I ever was. Many of you share my upbringing in some way or another. Perhaps you too are among the walking wounded. ;-) Oh how I love the words of David in Psalm 68:5 "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling." Mother's Day is not my favorite holiday either. However, I take comfort in knowing in Psalm 27:10. I enjoy looking at different versions of this passage.

"When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up."
"When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me."
"Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close."
"Aunque mi padre y mi madre me dejaran, Con todo, Jehová me recogerá."

I take great joy in knowing that each of us has a purpose. Each of us is cherished, loved, cared for, ADORED by our Heavenly father. Some of us were nothing more than a brief after thought to our earthly fathers. I grew up feeling "forgotten." NONE of us are forgotten by God! Though your earthly parents may fail to care or meet your needs our Abba Father is the PERFECT parent. He is El Shaddai, the all sufficient one. He can meet every need. He can heal every hurt. Come to Him fill the deepest longings of your heart, the vast void in your soul, your unquenchable thirst for love and acceptance. He'll cleanse the wounds in your spirit and give you perfect PEACE! Happy Heavenly Father's Day.

Isaiah 49:15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! "

Jeremiah 31:3 Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Psalm 139 :17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Now, print this out and give this to someone in your life that is Fatherless.
http://www.fathersloveletter.com/Media/FLL_single.pdf

Father's Love Letter
http://www.fathersloveletter.com/kids/FLLkids_poster.pdf For Children

Video here.
Father's Day Blues?

Tough decisions! Adding Uganda??

I am so thrilled to overflowing and blessed! It is AMAZING to me how the Lord has moved MIGHTILY to bring me nearly all the funds needed to travel! In such a short time. It's quite miraculous to me. When I first sought the Lord about going on a mission trip and after my hubby encouraged me and gave me the go ahead, I was suddenly overcome with doubt! I allowed a few negative people to put doubts of the Lords provision in my mind. What if I shared my goal of going and the funds didn't come in? Wouldn't I look foolish? Wouldn't I be SO humiliated and embarrassed? It caused anxiety even thinking about asking for help with funding. After all, you can't embarrass yourself if you don't step out in faith. It really took me mustering up alot of courage, laying down my pride and getting over my immense hurdle/fear of failure. Many hearts were moved and now I am nearly at my goal! You may say "of course Alida, where God guides He provides." However, though I've walked with the Lord for sometime, I still at times, struggle with trusting Him to provide for ALL of my needs. I also struggle with feeling protected by Him. ( childhood spent in foster care) I sometimes feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop or for some awful thing to befall me, because they do tend to. Rather than seeing all that I go through as things He's rescued me and saved me from, I some times think "Lord what awful thing is next? (even though He has proved Himself to me countless times) This stems from trust issues dealing with my upbringing and abandonment issues I'm still working on. I believe that He wants to radically HEAL, deliver me and give me FREEDOM in this area and wants to use this trip to do it. I look forward seeing how He'll grow and mature my faith in areas like this!

A NEW incredible opportunity has presented itself for Brittany Buttram (AMAZING homeschool graduate/college student) & I to visit ETHIOPIA AND UGANDA to volunteer!! ( a HUGE dream of BOTH of ours) I'm praying the Lord's direction and will AND funds to needed ASAP to travel. Because we'd be visiting two countries we'd need slighly more funding. $3600-3800 instead of the $3200. I'd need about $1000 or so more and Brittany would need about $2000. It's difficult to decide. It's a few days longer but it's the trip of a lifetime. I doubt I'll have an opportunity like this again.
In Uganda, our team would spend one day working at Amazima Ministries with their feeding program and with the children of the Karamajong tribe. We'll meet physical and financial needs by bringing supplies and donations from the U.S. We will spend several days with the kids at Canaan Children's Home and several days at Return Ministries. In Ethiopia we'll work in partnership with Project 61's ministry which reaches out to the children who live and work in the city dump. We will also visit children in orphanages throughout Addis Ababa.

Please pray for wisdom on if we should pursue this route. We'd need funding within the next couple days! Also, if possible, and if you so feel lead, please donate. Every penny over my total goes directly to Brittany. Remember it's completely TAX DEDUCTIBLE! We appreciate it. Thank you, Sincerely,
Alida Rodriguez