A Love Letter

My Child,

You may not know me, but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live.
Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4

And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you.
Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you.
1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me.
1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7

I have always been Father, and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad, Almighty God

Father's Love Letter used by permission Father Heart Communications
© 1999-2010 http://www.fathersloveletter.com/



A House and Book for Vika

Today, I had the great privilege to buy a house for Vika.  NO, it is not the kind of house you are thinking of.  She does have a HOME already, but we bought a house for her today.  We bought this house as a very special memory of those that have had a part in bringing Vika home into our family.  We were able to buy this beautiful house fully furnished that looks like new it was previously loved from a very nice family, who did not need it any more.  We had prayed for us to find such a house, and God provided in a beautiful way.  Okay, now that you are curious, I will reveal what I am talking about.  :)

We thought that we would get Vika her very first "toy" that is all her own (although I am sure she will share).  We want this dollhouse to become unlike any other dollhouse ever made.  With your help, we want to fill this dollhouse with furniture and people that have your names, who had a part in bringing her home.  This house comes with a big collection of furniture and people and seven steps on a staircase, and what we would like to do is put your name on one of these pieces as a memorial of your love for Vika.  Now, there are a LOT of individual pieces here as well as the parts that make up the house and rooms.  We would love to have a name on everything!

You will find a "Chip-In" button on the bottom of this post and also on our sidebar where you can donate to our adoption fund set up through Reece's Rainbow.  All of the money you contribute through this chip-in will go directly to our adoption fund for Vika and will be used for the sole purpose of paying for our adoption expenses.  All donations are also tax-deductible.  When you contribute through the Chip-In, please make sure you put in the comments that the donation is for Vika for the Koenig family.  Anyone who donates $10 or more, please send me the name you would like us to put on the piece of Vika's house, and if there is a special piece you might want us to put it on, and you will become a very special part of Vika's dollhouse so she can forever remember how much she is loved.  If you want to contribute a larger amount, we will put your name on the dollhouse itself. 

We are also putting together a photo book for Vika of the people that had an impact in bringing Vika home.  If you would like to be included in this album, please email me a picture along with your story and how you had an impact on Vika's homecoming-this can be prayer, financially, advocating, etc.  We would love to include all of you as you are very precious to us and through your love for Vika and our Saviour we are all connected to each other in a special way. 

Finally, as you can see, I have placed a fundraising thermometer on the right side of our blog.  For every $500 mark we meet, we will send the person who puts us over that $500 mark a very special 10 Commandment print (Size 8x10).  The photograph is of the Pensacola Bay Bridge.  If you would instead like to purchase a 4x6 card of this print (these are limited), you can do that, too.  Just make a donation of $10 to our fund and email me your name and address, and I will mail it to you. 

Thank you so much for helping us bring Vika home!  We know that God will bless  you above measure for the impact you had on her life!  There are more fundraisers coming very soon including some giveaways, some very YUMMY food ordering and one very special giveaway, which will be completed while we are traveling. 

My email address is caekoenig @ gmail . com

Blessed

Some days, I feel like I just want to stick my head under water so that somehow all my problems disappear.  There have been times over the past few weeks, that I have felt completely overwhelmed and yet blessed beyond measure.  The past few days have been filled with preparations for bringing Vika home including finishing up all but two documents needed for our dossier.  Yes, isn't God AWESOME!!!  Thanks to a wonderful friend, who has been putting up with meticulously notarizing our thousands of documents, our awesome social worker, great doctors, a lot of answered prayers, and many people willing to complete our forms the way they need to be done, we are getting very close to bringing Vika home.  Our I600A is on its way, and we are pushing for very fast approval to be submitted as soon as possible.

As you can imagine, there is a lot that is involved with an international adoption.  There have been many times, when I just want to say, "It's too much!  I CAN'T do this!"  Then I am reminded that I don't have to do this.  God is doing it for me. I just have to let Him handle it.  Because we are getting very close to bringing Vika home, we also have very little time to raise the money we need to be able to do that.  Yes, there is not a price you could ever place on a life.  But there is a price to redeem a life.  Jesus paid the greatest price to redeem us so that we could be adopted into His family.  God has blessed us with a grant that was already raised on behalf of Vika by some wonderful families who loved Vika before we ever knew about her.  Because of these precious families, we only have about $15,000 left to raise.

Now, you can argue and say that this is a lot of money to raise in ONE month, but I beg to differ.  Take for example the average money an American spends for one drink at a very famous coffee chain:  $4.05.  Now,  this coffee chain sells approximately 4 million coffee drinks a day (If you don't believe me, get the facts here).   If ONLY 4,000 people gave up that one coffee drink and instead gave it to redeem a life, we would have raised all of what we needed!  And surely, we can all live without one cup of coffee.  :)  For another illustration how a little can make a big difference you can read this little story.  Before you argue that your $5 can't possibly make a difference, it does make a difference to the one that you give it to.  Whether that is to the big coffee chain or to one little, precious girl who is completely dependent on someone else to advocate for her.  Just this weekend, some very precious friends of ours gave us $500 toward our adoption fund.  We are so overwhelmed by their selfless giving! God is so amazing! 

God can make what appears worthless

We have been working on preparing several fundraisers, but we also want to give you an opportunity to be blessed how the Lord blessed us.  We have met and made wonderful new friends as we have shared what God is doing in our lives.  It has been amazing how much we have been able to share our faith with complete strangers because of our girls, who will tell anyone who will listen about Vika, our adoption, and the Lord.  During our years of infertility, I begged the Lord to give us children so that He could be glorified in them.  I never imagined how God would answer that prayer.

...into something beautiful

I had no idea what the Lord was doing in the years of praying for our first child.  God often works very "quietly" in our lives.  God placed everyone of us here with a very special purpose.  As Christians, He wants us to glorify Him in everything that we do and say.  1 Peter 3:15 says, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."  God has opened an opportunity for us to do that because of a little, precious girl named Vika.  If you would like that opportunity and want to make a commitment to raise a certain amount for bringing Vika home, please email me at caekoenig @ gmail. com [take out the spaces].  We have put together a fundraising "package" with ideas for fundraising and information and pictures on Vika and Reece's Rainbow (where people can make a tax deductible donation to our adoption fund), etc.  We will be posting about our fundraisers very soon so that you can participate if you like.

Wait for It!!!