So that others may live....

I made a decision two years ago this month to shut off our T.V. and limit our family to DVD’s. I liked the fact that we didn’t have a constant distraction and that I was 100% in control of what the kids were watching. I also didn’t mind the fact that we saved $80 dollars a month! The point of my rambling: Well when my kids are around a TV they are stuck like glue and so was the case one evening at my grandparents home a few weeks ago. They were so cute all of them spread out across Poppy’s bed watching cartoons. (Poppy is what Maddie named my Grandmother when she was a baby ) So what’s a mom to do, I went to my Granddaddy’s bed and flipped to a more grown up show. I came across a movie called "The Guardian" staring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. I had seen it before but it had been a while and sure enough I caught it right in the last five minutes. As tears rolled down my cheeks at the very end of the movie the words SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE flashed across the screen. I was struck to my core!!!

Matt and Jill Ross are an amazing couple, words will fail me as I try and share the honor I feel that God would grant Craig and I the privilege of being their friends. I have never in my life met a man with such a giving heart. Matt time and time again has grand ideas about how to make life better for someone else, but what I admire more is that he acts on them. I was at their home one day sewing with Jill when a mutual friend of our was returning a car she had borrowed from the Ross family. You see the roads were icy and dangerous but this friend HAD to be on them for work reasons. Matt had noticed that her tires were bald on her mini van and he refused to let her leave until he had moved all of her travel baggage into his Volvo and handed her the keys. It was inconvenient for him not to have the Volvo over the next few days but that didn’t matter to him he cared more for her safety. Now I could stop right there and you would know how remarkable he is BUT he lives by the words of his wife “Go big or go home.” While on her trip Matt drove that mini van into town to the local tire shop and had 4 brand new tires put on her car. That is more than an act of kindness it was the act of a servant's heart.

Jill has an incredible job, and it keeps her very active but allows for a flexible schedule. This women gives and gives and gives of herself. In the back of my mind I tried to keep track of all the hours she spent helping us fund raise. We made bows, we made dresses, we made t-shirts, we made onsies, we have face booked, blogged, emailed, fun runned, made purses, cooked, cleaned, made phone calls, written letters and plenty more. Needless to say I lost count of the hours. You might say well, that’s her dedication to you because she's your best friend. NO would be my answer. That’s her dedication to the Lord and the way she uses her time here on earth to not live an ordinary but an extraordinary life with no time wasted!

When they returned home from Ethiopia this couple had a lost heart. So much JOY was sitting in their laps here in the states. Holding little Ellie close to her heart was a bitter sweet reminder of so many lives left untouched back in Africa. So giving up everything but her job, her family, and God she and Matt created No Longer Orphans. Like Dolly Parton before her, she popped her acrylic nails off, rolled up her sleeves, and dove into this lifetime commitment to serving others and creating families.

With out Matt and Jill, Craig and I would not be submitting paperwork this week on S and R. We would have never known them, loved them, held them, fought for them, cried for them or prayed for them. But because of No Longer Orphans, because of the obedience of a lifetime from Matt and Jill to the callings God has placed in their hearts and because of the awareness they have created in me - my life and the life of my family is forever changed. I find it no coincidence that this couple met at the Coast Guard Academy, I know that God had a purpose for moving them time and time again building relationships across this nation and I was not shocked that when I read the words on that TV screen SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE first Christ on the cross hit my mind followed by Matt and Jill Ross.

I try and live my life by those words now SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE…… If I buy these cute new heels is it so that others may live? When I choose an off brand of mac and cheese to save money it’s so that others may live. Wearing hand me downs instead of buying new is so that others may live. When Craig and I see our babies in Ethiopia I know that all the hard work of friends, church, family, No Longer Orphans, and God will be SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE and the beginning of others started with MY KIDS!