The heart of a child....

Today I'm going to do something different, and I'm going to tell you about a beautiful girl named, Annie.  She is 7 years old, and she is the daughter of Kristi, one of my of my dearest friends from college (go Asbury!).  Annie (along with her parents and two younger brothers) lives in Kurdistan (Northern Iraq).  

Toby, Kristi, Annie, Tim, Jesse

They moved to Kurdistan in May of 2009 and never looked back.  Annie's mom is one of those awesome women that tends to just go with the flow wherever she is, and she is a complete hoot.  Somehow, somewhere along the way, we started calling each other, Fatty.  Don't know why, but I DO know that we're the only people we can say that too, and we think we're hilarious when we do.  Ah I miss laughing with Kristi.

Before they left for Kurdistan, God gave me a picture of Annie.  She was dressed like some kind of Samurai princess.  She was holding up a big Samurai sword high in the air, and she was standing on top of a mountain, looking over all kinds of valleys and mountains in the distance.  I knew then that God was saying that this little girl would be a warrior for the Lord, and that she would be a defender of the weak and of those who have no voice.  She was bold, and had now fear.  Wow, right?

Beautiful Annie.

Well this little girl also has a hugely generous heart.  One day in home school, Kristi was teaching the kids about Ethiopia.  

She told them that Wes and I were adopting twins from Ethiopia.  When Annie heard that Wes and I were raising money to help bring our twins home, she wanted to help.  Apparently she ran into her room and came back with all the money she had and declared it was going toward bringing Alex & Eliana home.

 Yeah, I had a pretty good cry after I read that post.  It was so humbling, and wow, it seriously touched our hearts in a big way.  I pray that our children will grow to have generous hearts like Annie's.  Annie's money was one of the last contributions that helped us get fully funded.  How special is that?  Awesome.

Those eyes and that smile show so much beauty, kindness, and generosity.  Love it.

 So just for fun, I thought I would do a little interview with her.  I sent her a few fun questions, and she gave her real and honest responses.  I love it!


What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a famous artist. I love drawing and painting. I would paint pictures of my house and Kurdistan! It would help people who have never been to Kurdistan to see how beautiful it is and then maybe they would come here and help tell about J.sus!

What is your favorite food?
I love Kiri. It’s a kind of cheese that you can get here. It’s salty and soft…like cream cheese.

What's your favorite thing about Iraq?

I love the big tree that we can see from our house. We call it the Tree of Life. We love to go there for picnics and adventures. One time I went there to draw it for art in home school.

What's your least favorite thing about Iraq?

I don’t like that there are scorpions, centipedes and cochroaches here. We have had all of those in our house before. Mostly scorpions.

Why did you want to give money to our adoption fund?

I wanted to give my money because I just wanted to. I felt the need to give it to you. In my heart I guess I just felt J.sus wanted me to give it to you.

If you could be any super hero, who would she be?

When I play dress up with my brothers, I am “Super Star”. I flash my light on bad guys and they would be blinded for a little bit and then I would punch them out.

 

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?

I would give half to you and keep half for us and buy a bicycle, a scooter and a car since my parent’s car is broken down right now. It would be my car though and I would drive my parents around in it if they needed to go places. It would be a black mini-van!


You are beautiful girl, Annie!  The Lord is growing you up to be a strong, beautiful and bold daughter of God!   

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*And just a side note.  It's 4 days until we leave for Ethiopia!  Gulp!  All bags are packed and ready to go!