7 Years Ago.

I really do not know where to begin. It all started 7 years ago.  June 13, 2005, changed my world. For good.
We were riding in a van in China when received a call that she was waiting for us. For a forever family.  We walked in the civil affairs building, and there she was.  Lost.  Confused.  And beautiful! Yes, this, my friends, would be the child I would be able call my best friend, my snuggle buddy, and my sister. She would forever be a Schumpert! (like it or not;)
I love love love sharing the story of what happened to my life on June 13.  It not only impacted mine and my families lives but also many others.  This was the day that I was able to grasp what it meant to be adopted by God the Father.  You see Caroline did absolutely nothing to become a Schumpert.  We took her in, and her complete identity changed.  Did she deserve it? No. Did she earn it? No.
In the same way, we were once in need of a new identity.  We are crucified in Christ and we no longer live, but Christ lives in us! HALLELUJAH! Did we earn it? There is NO possible way. Did we deserve it? HA! Absolutely not! But it was by His grace that He took us in so that we could cry out to Him, "Abba, Father!"
The doctrine of adoption constantly blows me away. We are loved by God the Father.  It is that simple, but yet so hard to comprehend.  We were once lost and confused, but by His grace we are able to be wrapped in His arms!  This is good good news!
The first time my mom ever held Caroline she was crying tears of joy and saying, "She's beautiful."  I cannot think of a better picture of how the Father holds us.  Can you imagine this? You are held by God, Creator of the Universe, and He says, "You are beautiful and perfect my child."

So much is running through my head right now.  It blows me away! I will be eternally grateful for this day.  Not because of Caroline, but because of the Creator who created Caroline! To Him be all the glory, honor and praise! Forever and Ever!


Happy Gotcha Day!

Anna Lauren

"See you Sunday" -Jesus

This is a story that leaves me speechless every single time.  Be humbled as you journey through the most powerful weekend in all of history!


 ¹ Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; ² and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor.  ³ Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” ⁵ And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. ⁶ The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” ⁷ And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. ⁸ For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."

Jesus before Pilate

 ¹¹ Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” ¹² And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer. ¹³Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” ¹⁴ And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed. ¹⁵ Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people anyone prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶ At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.
 ¹⁹ While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” ²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. ²¹ But the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²²Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” ²³ And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”
 ²⁴ When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” ²⁵ And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

 ²⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. ²⁸ They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. ²⁹ And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. ³¹ After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. ³² As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.

The Crucifixion

 ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, ³⁴they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. ³⁵ And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. ³⁷ And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
 ³⁸ At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Himand saying, ⁴² “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ⁴³ HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.
 ⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.⁴⁶ About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” ⁴⁷ And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. ⁴⁹ But the rest of themsaid, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” ⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. ⁵¹ And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴ Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
 ⁵⁵ Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. ⁵⁶ Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Jesus Is Buried

 ⁵⁷ When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹ And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave. ⁶² Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, ⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ ⁶⁴Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.


Matthew 27

"See you Sunday" -Jesus

Big Change. Bigger God.

So like I said yesterday there were two good good things that happened in my life within 24 hours.  The first being the celebration of one of my friends birthday!  It was such a perfect celebration.  Now second thing... 

First you should know that thoughts are running though my little mind wayyyyy faster than I could possibly piece them together.  So with that being said, hang tight. It's coming.

As most of you know or have read, the past few months have been tough for me.  I have been sick, but through it the Lord brought about one of the biggest blessings.  I have been saying that I will one day share, but I have had to keep it a little secret (which was super hard).  Well, guess what?! Today is the day!

After lots of prayers and waiting....it official! I AM MOVING FOR A YEAR!!! Yep you heard that right. Shocked? So am I, but let me explain.

During the new year the Lord starting tugging at my heart, and I knew something had to change.  I seriously didn't know what or how.  I just started praying for a very very clear sign, but it was not coming.  I remember sitting in Bible study one night and my leader was talking about the importance of knowing the Bible.  Not just reading a little here and there but really knowing it.  She was explaining how so many times we become obsessed with secular books, but we have failed at really knowing the Word of God. So Paige if you are reading this I will never be able to THANK YOU enough for saying those words that night. Seriously. 

After hearing and meditating on those words it became clear to me that I was trying to proclaim and live something I really didn't know.  So what did I do? Pray. A lot.  I was home one weekend, and I started to discuss all this with my mom.  She reminded me of this program that focuses solely on studying and knowing God's Word.  I remember that she had mentioned this to me a couple of years ago, but I just threw the idea out the window.  But this time I listened, and I started to pray.  Soon I could not stop thinking about the possibility of studying the Bible for a year.  

Fast forward a couple of months later, and  yesterday I was sitting in Katie and Elizabeth's room when I received an email.  I had been accepted to attend this school in the fall! Yes! It's true! I will be moving to Lake Lure, North Carolina for a year to study the Word of God!  Does that place sound familiar?  Yep, it just so happens to be the place that I have grown up all my life, and I have dreamed of the possibility of being able to live there one day.  Now that dream is soon to be a reality! Only a sovereign God!

So here I am at a stage in my life that I can't help but praise Him for giving and taking away!  My good health was taken away from me for the past few months, but He was giving and working in all of it! Yes, He is good! 

Stay tune for more about this super exciting new chapter in my life, and I will fill you in on more details.  So just in a matter of months, I'll be blogging from the mountains of North Carolina. YIPPPPEEEEEE!

Ready to sing from the mountain top!

Anna Lauren

Seeing His Glory

It has been a couple of weeks since I have blogged, and A LOT has happened in just those few days.  Don’t worry I have not forgotten about the story of Ruth, but I want to spread it out until Easter.  It is the PERFECT story to journey us through Holy Week, and so therefore I have it planned out perfectly.  Yeah, who knew Anna Lauren could plan?? Now I just have to stick to it!  With that being said, I just wanted to share what the past couple of weeks have consisted of. Nothing over the top. Just the pure sovereignty of God! (okay that alone is over the top!)

So the past few weeks I have....

Cried some. Laughed a lot. Been lazy. Witnessed a very successful Centerpoint Challenge.  Had spring break. Soaked in the sun.  Enjoyed my spring break at home...with my parents.  Seen some doctors.  Got burnt.  Studied a lot.  Loved on some siblings.  Had some trials.  But had some major triumphs.  Struggled.  Been captivated even more by His grace.  Had supper with Tim Tebow.  Gone power walking. Wondered how people enjoy power walking.  Had to stop running.  Missed my family.  Grown even closer with my friends.  Started reading again.  Been heart broken for the 163 million orphans.  Begged my parents for my siblings.  Longed for Peru.  Seen Act of Valor.  Appreciated this country even more.  Voted.  Had some scary moments. Clung to The Father.  Seen beauty from ashes. 

and through it all HE WAS AND IS SOVEREIGN!

Brothers and sister, take a moment to rejoice with me that God has been faithful and sovereign over the past two weeks of your life (actually before you were even formed in your mother’s womb, but lets just talk these past two weeks.)  No matter how great our needs were, His grace was sufficient.  He was and is worthy of our praise over every trial and victory we have encountered over the past two weeks.  This is GOOD GOOD news!

I love Exodus 33:20, “But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man and see Me and live.”  Moses was hungry to see the glory of God.  Earlier he had a glimpse and wanted more!  He longed to see the splendor!  Praise God that we don’t serve a God that just gives us those giddy warm feelings but a God whose glory we cannot even fully fathom and see.  It would simply take our breath away!

Sing and Rejoice!

Anna Lauren

163,000,000. Enough Said.

Oh February 14th.  It comes around every year, and you just cannot avoid. Everyone has their own opinion on it. You love it, hate it, or just wish everyone else would shut up about it. Personally, I have no problem with the day. There is nothing wrong with loving; in fact it is Biblical. Last year I took a different look a this Love Day, and my view of Valentine's Day had never been the same.  What a better day than today to spend praying and making the world aware of those 163 million children that will lay their head down tonight without a forever family?

Yes, you heard me right, 163,000,000. That number is just unacceptable, and it has gone up drastically in the past few years. Now you might be sitting there wondering, "Is it really my responsibility to care for the orphan?" Well glad you asked:) As Christians we are not called to care for the orphans; WE ARE COMMANDED! James 1:27 says, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." Well I could end this right now because there is your answer.  So I cannot help but wonder: Where is the church? 

We do not care for the orphan because it is a "good" thing to do. We do not care for the orphan because they need us. We care for the orphan because HE FIRST LOVED US. We care for the orphan because we were all once fatherless and the Father adopted us as sons, solely by His grace (Ephesians 1:4-5). We care for the orphan not because we are the the rescuers, but we care for the orphan because we are the rescued! 

I find it quite amusing when fellow believers tell me how neat it is that the Lord has given me such a passion for orphans. I can't help but wonder, "are you just not listening or how are you missing it?" This isn't some super crazy passion that the Lord has given me. This is strictly the Gospel. It could not be any clearer. I refuse to water it down anymore and smile and just go, "yes, the Lord has given me a unique passion." Ignorance is just not an option anymore.  As you go on with your day of love, pray about the ways the Lord wants you to care for the orphan. Trust me...there is a way. We must raise our voice as a church and sing LOUD for these children who are long for a forever family.

Singing Super Loud!

Anna Lauren