Meet Camille

I would like to introduce you to Camille. Her 4th birthday is coming up but unfortunately she will have no reason to celebrate. You see, she lives in an Eastern European orphanage, and she has special needs. This means that when she turns four she will be transferred to an institution where she will be expected to do nothing but disappear and die alone. I don't know if you have read "The Boy From Baby Houe #10" or seen his story on Dateline, but if you have then you understand my despair. Camille, although she is 3, is the size of a one year old (a small one). She cannot walk or talk or even sit up on her own. She is one of the forgotten ones in the "lying down rooms". She never leaves her crib. The people around her don't see a precious child of God. They see an "imbecile", a barely human not worth my time lump of flesh. Remember all the uproar over the Romanian orphanages in the early 90's? Well guess what? Nothing has changed. There are still rows upon rows of babies in iron cribs who lay silent because they have learned to expect nothing. I have a picture of her (that I don't have permission to share) during one of the rare times she is out of her crib. She is being held by a lady in a group photo. I see something in her that hasn't given up. Her little face is turned to the worker, looking up at her, almost willing her to notice, to see that she IS SOMEONE.

Well, I am NOT going to be silent. I am going to speak up, and possibly even scream about this until... Until what, I don't know. And I hope you will join me. Here is the link to Camille's Reece's Rainbow page :http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=camille . I know I rant and rave about the millions of orphans in this world all the time. I know I can't save them all (people are very kind to point that out). I know she is one tiny child in a sea of tiny children who will go to bed motherless tonight. Why am I now ranting and raving about this one girl? I don't know. All I know is she keeps me up at night. I have to do something. So, I am begging you - all 3 of you who read this blog! - to help me help Camille. Go to her page and donate if you can. Help her family bring her home. Pray for her, for her little body to stay strong, for her heart to feel God near. Then pass her along. Send her link to anyone you can think of who might be willing to help. She is alone and fatherless in a crib, and she has learned to expect nothing. I am surrounded by friends and family and am a daughter of the King of Kings, and I am expecting great things.

SADHD = sad head

I want to share a little of what God has been telling me these few weeks since the retreat. When I got home I learned that I would have to be much more intentional about shutting out the other voices and seeking to hear from Him. But what followed was such peace. I began to soak up His presence. I was so excited to get into His word, and I realized how seldom I have read the Bible just to get to know more about my Saviour. So often, I am embarrassed to say, I would run to the word when I needed something - an answer, a healing, a sign. But now I run to the Word because that is where my Lord is waiting for me. No agenda but communion. No striving unless it is after my Jesus. I'm thinking I need to begin a personal study on the "rest" that is talked about in Hebrews 4. So often I feel burdened. I ache for the millions of children who go to bed tonight with no mommy to tuck them in, or I ache for the one child who grabs my heart and I pray. But Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Perhaps I am carrying what should be His? Then in Galations Paul says we are to bear one another's burdens. How do we bear them? Is it right that I should lay awake at night wondering about these children, this child? Should I place them at the foot of the cross and say they are Jesus' responsibility, or has He asked me to be burdened on their behalf? If so, for what outcome? More action? More prayer? ...More Price kids? And then my SADHD (spiritual attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) kicks in and I am back striving, wondering - no, more like wandering. How I love Haiti. How I love orphans. How I love the kids at my church. How I love my family. HOW do all of these things fit together into ONE vision? Because sometimes I feel like an octopus with a hand in every direction, but going no where. And once again I am right back where I started. Be still. Be quiet. Shut out all but Jesus. Listen and wait. Because I see other people with a vision. One true vision statement. And they are able to move forward, and actually accomplish things. I am praying for the Heather Price, Inc. vision statement to fall from the heavens. And then I am praying for God to give me some serious side blinders so that I can move forward.

Retreat

A week ago I went on a retreat. I go every year and look forward to this "date" with the Lord. I just get really quiet and soak Him in for a solid 24 hours, and I come home filled and renewed. This year was different. I went with no agenda. You know what I mean right? When you already have something in mind that you expect or want to hear from Him. Well, this year in the week leading up to the retreat all of my time with Him I was told to shut out all other things and just listen to Him. I needed to shut out all the other voices, and boy were there alot of them. Blogs, facebook, devotional books, sermons, friends, etc. None of them in and of themselves bad, but all of them crowding out the ONE voice I needed to hear. So, I promised the Lord that I would try to make everything else just hush for a while so I could hear from Him alone, and as if He knew I needed help He completely shut out all hearing from my right ear. I seriously couldn't hear anything out of it and my own voice in my head was crazy loud and my ear was ringing so it was very difficult to have a conversation. It was funny, but it also actually helped to remind me throughout the week that I needed to focus. And the Lord met me in such a powerful way. The Holy Spirit was working in a beautiful way. I felt overcome with gratitude in a new and precious way, for my salvation. And with no agenda of what I wanted to hear from God He had His way and spoke into my heart in ways I can't even put into words. I came home literally giddy over my saviour. Renewed in my desire to share Him with the world. I am keeping myself on a "blog fast" for a while so that I can just be with the Lord and listen for His guidance. He is working something out in me and I just want to be with Him. I may not be here for a while...