Increase our Faith: God has a plan for you

It has recently been made clear to me all over again that God is at work among His people. As Mr. Beaver might say, "Aslan is on the move." You can feel it in the warming wind. See it in the greening wood.

Imagine it being always winter and never Christmas.

Well, that is not too hard to imagine for some folks. For example- orphans in Ukrainian orphanages. They can imagine always winter never Christmas. Or, North American Christians...our hearts are heavy and stiff with the cold of spiritual stagnation...always winter never Christmas.

Even Christmas isn't really Christmas in our souls. Every year we long for more...we try to create magical holiday things to fill our longing. But all we really end up doing is spending a lot of money and energy without the true joy of Christmas dawning in our souls. We end up with lots of clean up and garbage and maybe some extra fat from all the treats and goodies. But in the end it was winter and never Christmas.

But like I said, I have seen that Jesus is on the move. That means that we can expect to have Christmas this winter! We can expect to hear the sleigh bells of Father Christmas in our hearts. We can anticipate the joy of the Gift we will receive. I can assure you it will be just what you've always wanted, always needed. It will be just what you need to get you through this adventure of your life.

But, like the children in Narnia, we have to trust the message that Christ is really on the move. We have to obey Him and take some risks in order to find Him. We have to follow a talking beaver we just met (hearing the Holy Spirit and following His direction can be a lot like following a talking beaver- you keep wondering if this is really real and if it is wise to take advice from such a person). We must resolve to not be distracted by luxuries and lulled to indifference and ultimately disobedience.

Our family heard from the Holy Spirit in October 2011.  I clearly heard that Christ was coming this Christmas if we would open our hearts and home to an orphan from Latvia. We were about as confident as the Pevensie's, we truly felt like children in a strange land following a talking beaver. But the reward was amazing. Christ came at Christmas! Christmas morning dawned in our hearts that winter. Now we know what it's like and we can't get enough of following the Holy Spirit any direction He takes us, because whenever we do, we see Christ. The real Christ, bringing spring to a winter landscape. Thawing our hearts of stone and giving us hearts of flesh.

And then, over the last few years, I have watched the Holy Spirit speak clearly to people who have not heard so clearly up to this point. People who are called by His name who were nonetheless stuck in winter with no Christmas. And it all comes from hosting orphans. I have seen God do BIG THINGS with folks as soon as they start to follow the iffy directions of the Holy Spirit. Did I really hear that? Was it really from God? Is this really the best way to spend my hard earned money? Is this really good stewardship? Is this going to harm my family? Those doubts and more plague every one of us who have followed the lead of the Holy Spirit. But the reward is Christmas in your soul. That lasts all year, even longer!

That's why I want to write this post. I want to somehow let you know that YOUR SOUL stands to gain or lose a lot, based on your willingness to listen for and follow the call of Christ in your life. And I just have so many AMAZING God moments and Jesus magic to share that all revolve around hosting orphans. Obviously, there are lots of ways to hear and follow God's Big Plan for your life, but hosting is way that I have seen with my own eyes the way God works in the hearts of those who say yes.

I've got names and numbers of lots of folks who have said yes to hosting and now know Jesus as well as if they had met Him in the woods and walked miles by His side.

I will tell you those stories, or let them tell you through guest posts so that you can get the idea.
If your heart longs for Christmas, truly joy-filled and lasting, listen closely to their stories and listen carefully for the Holy Spirit to guide you into a magical land....where Christmas comes and warms the heart like springtime.

The Worthington Family! October 10, 2014: Increase our Faith: Hosting O

 

The Synborski Family!October 13, 2014: Increase our Faith: Hosting Reno

The Dawson Family! October 15, 2014: Increase our Faith: Hosting Boys

The Burkhardt Family! October 21, 2014: Increase our Faith: Hosting Zi


(picture soon)
The Riedl Family! October 23, 2014: Increase our Faith: Hosting? Who?

Jennie Allen sums it up in three lines:

"The only exercise that works 100 percent of the time to draw one close to the real God is risk...
...To risk is to willingly place your life in the hand of an unseen God and an unknown future, then to watch him come through. He starts to get real when you live like that.” -Jennie Allen, Anything

That's what hosting an orphan does- it willingly places your life in God's hand.

It's like when I was trying to describe to some folks about getting more Holy Spirit in your life. Well, this is a loose analogy, so don't analyze it too closely, but your life is like a car. And you have a choice. You can let it sit in the driveway, or you can start driving down the road. The Holy Spirit is the gas. If you just have your car sit in the driveway, God will give you enough gas for that. And you'll look at the gas gauge and say, "well, I can't go anywhere anyway, I hardly have enough gas to make it out of the driveway." But, if you are willing to maybe drive around the block, you find that there is always enough gas to get you where you are supposed to go.

Hosting an orphan is a drive around the block. It shows you how God supplies all your needs. It shows you how real the Holy Spirit is, how real God is. Like what Jennie Allen said in three lines.

XO

#'s 10 and 12 from left are kiddos who changed my life...and whose lives have been changed. Talk about setting the lonely in families...Yeah. Hard to be lonely with Joe's family. :)

Forever family is a gift only God can give.

Increase our Faith: Hosting Zi

Thank you to the Burkhardt family for sharing their story! Just in case any of you are wondering about the connection here, my family had the joy of hosting Zi this summer. God is good, and sets the lonely in families, sometimes not the host family!
(Joce)
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In the beginning of Luke 5, Jesus uses some fishermen in an unexpected way. He preaches from a fisherman’s boat, then tells him to launch out into the deep to catch some fish. The fisherman was no rookie; he was seasoned and knew fish. Furthermore, he had just been fishing all night and knew there were no fish in there. He began to argue with Jesus, but then made the profound statement, Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will. Jesus blessed his obedience and filled his nets to bursting. I have heard Jesus through this telling me that same thing: Launch out into the deep. I have questioned His request. In fact, others have too.

“You’re adopting.” They say. “Doesn’t that cost a lot of money?” Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.

Says another, “We don’t think we should give to just one child as a ministry.” Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.

“What about the language barrier?” Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.

“Aren’t you a little afraid to bring someone that old into your home?” Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.

“What if he brings a disease into your home?” Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.

Many of these have been questions we have had to answer. We have to be honest and admit we have had our share of fears throughout this journey. But faith and obedience go hand in hand. God said to launch out into the deep.

We ask, “How deep, Lord? Aren’t we already giving and doing enough?”

He answers, “It’s not about you; it’s about showing you what I can do.” We obey, fearful but excited, scared of the unknown. He opens the windows of heaven and showers down everything we need.

Last winter, I met Jocelyn at a friend’s house. My husband and I had been discussing hosting. Through conversation, I found out Jocelyn had hosted and adopted, so I began asking questions. Winter and spring came and went, and the topic of adoption was still on our hearts. We didn’t know where to begin, so I decided to get ahold of Jocelyn and ask which home study agency they used. Through our messages, she discovered our desire to adopt and mentioned Zi.

Our idea of adoption was a young 2- to 3-year-old boy from the Philippines with minor special needs. I even stated to a friend, “We don’t mind a special needs child, but not one with something like cerebral palsy.”

Jocelyn asked if we’d like to meet Zi; she told us he was eight years old, from China, and had mild cerebral palsy. My immediate thought was, OK, Lord, this was not what we had in mind. Being able to meet Zi was of the Lord, especially for our ten-year-old son, who was very apprehensive. After that day, my husband said, “Let’s take the next step.”

We contacted CCAI and started launching into the deep. We found out another family had pulled his file; I was fearful. We waited all day to hear from the agency to see if they were interested in Zi; meanwhile, I prayed. I poured my fears to him, and when I was done, I submitted and said, Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will. I have never looked back. Just as the fisherman said those words in Luke 5:5 he let down his nets and, “they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net break.” The Lord has provided every payment, has allowed every document to be on time, provided us with the right home study agency, and the material things that we needed for when Zi gets here all for free. We have been shown over and over what HE can do when you have faith and obey. Has it been a sacrifice? Yes! Have we experienced resistance from unexpected places? Yes! Have we and our children had to give concessions so that we could move forward with the adoption? Yes! But eclipsing all the doubts, fears, obstacles and resistance is the attitude that the Lord impressed on us: Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.
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I, Jocelyn, like to add a fundraising link for each of these families who are still in fundraising stages...these families have not requested that I do this, I go find the information on my own and add it in here...I do it in case any of you readers are so moved by these stories that you want to participate. 
You know- Give This Christmas Away! :)

Fund the Burkhardt Family adoption of Hudson

XO
Joce

To read more Increase Our Faith stories, please go here.

D- a real boy

D, $1250.00 Scholarship

Hi guys! We have a situation, here- thanks in advance for your prayers!

Prayer request, action item....usually one and the same, right? So, I don't want to make the story drag, but there are some details you need to know as you pray and seek God's will. Last fall, we signed up to host Z from China. He is a little guy, around 7, with mild CP. China got a new minister of orphanages, or something like that, and he put a hiatus on hosting. I never felt released from my obligation to Z. I love that little man and did not move on. I have continued to pray for him, and my heart squeezes every time I see his picture. Since then, the summer hosting opened up and we chose D, a 13 year old boy from Latvia. He likes to fish and play basketball. He speaks English pretty well and is a really nice kid. His mom died 2 years ago and he is now in foster care. We didn't want to let another hosting opportunity go by without ministering to a child, so we signed up! We were moving through our paperwork and making payments to host this awesome kid. And then I got an email that Z is now available to host for the summer! So now we are invested in both these boys, and we had a decision to make. For various reasons, including recently finding out that my almost 13 year old daughter is ummm, how shall I say, boy crazy, I think our dream resolution for this situation is for our family to host Z and another local family to host D. If that local family was willing, Joe would happily pour into D's life with lots of fishing trips and basketball trips to the park, and I certainly would like to have him come and hang around here and eat cookies. He and Anastasija can have happy Latvian conversations, under my direct supervision, LOL. And Z can live with us and play with our boys and annoy our girls and get my hugs... and cookies. And we could take him to Chinese buffet a lot. Even if he doesn't really recognize the food...I bet we'd still enjoy ourselves. We know He has a great plan for hosting for both Z and D. And He has a great plan for our family and Z, and your family...and D? He has plans to prosper, and to give a future and a hope to both D and Z. Pray, and listen. :)

I would like to ask that your family consider hosting D. If you are wrestling with all kinds of doubts and fears, that's really normal. I actually blogged about that just a little while ago: http://jubbyplace.blogsp ot.com/2014/03/an-accidental-matthew-bible-study-on.html

D is 13, likes basketball and fishing, and is from Latvia. He lives in foster care, and his biological mom died a couple of years ago. He is a very nice boy, I talked on the phone to the lady who interviewed him and she said he's by far her favorite child available for hosting this summer.
Joe and I really really like him, but as I said, Anastasija gave us some red flags about having a 13 year old boy in our house this year.
And, you know about Zi. So why would God give us a love for D and not have a plan for us to host him? I think it's because He wants a local family to host him so Ana can speak some Latvian and Joe can take the dude fishing and to the park to ball.

We would be willing to help you in every way, including having him visit as often as you need supervision for him due to work schedules and stuff.

Please seek God's face on this. It is so life changing for the child, and for the host family. What an awesome opportunity for your family...your kiddos... to do international ministry this summer. It opens their eyes to God's work for the lonely and forgotten, for those who don't know God, and it matures their faith in a way that only hands-on service and relationship can do. It opens their heart for making personal sacrifices for the good of others.

So there it is. I have now made my plea, and I am turning it over to God.
HAHA! Cuz God'll getcha. :) Whoops, did I write that out loud?

Pay close attention to how God speaks to you through His word, how He speaks to you through your brothers and sisters in Christ, how He speaks to you through the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit, and through an inner assurance of peace.

Want to find out more on how to find and follow God's will?
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/what-gods-will-my-life

Want to see D's full color pics and read his bio? www.p143.org Click on 'Host' and select 'photolisting registration'.

May the Lord grant you a heart of flesh, His Heart, for the least of these.

Peace.


 

Good news!

Good news here!

God provides, that's a fact, and here's an example:

 

Donate to our host fund for Zi!

Last year, we decided to host Z from China for Christmastime. Then, China closed hosting indefinitely. So, we decided to host Davids from Latvia this summer. We started the application process and paid a lot of the fees, and then we learned that China had opened hosting for this summer and Z was still available! AHH!

So we prayed and God led us to host Zi, and that He has a good (currently unknown to us) plan for Davids' host family this summer.

One of our faith-stretchers in this situation is that we already paid $1250.00 in fees for Davids, and that money stays with the child as a scholarship.

But, good news, someone has offered to do a matching grant to make up that money. So, all donations this week, up to $625.00 will be matched!

Please consider donating this week to help us catch up on our fees for Zi.

And, please pray that the family God has in mind for Davids will open the ears of their heart and take the leap of faith to commit to hosting this awesome guy this summer.

 

P143.org

 

 

Anne with an E and ice cream

I guess if I look back at my life, God was shaping me for orphan advocacy from way back. And let me tell you, Anne with an E is my girl. And Lucy Maude is my hero. And somewhere over the years I've become more like Marilla (about whom Joe always remarks, "man is she your mom") than I ever intended, but I digress. (I'm still a lot like, Anne, too. Don't worry, my scope for imagination keeps me close to Anne.)

You see that pic? It was shared on facebook by the (sorry I'm a nerd) Anne of Green Gables fan thingy. Not by New Horizons or P143. And yet, what could more accurately portray the truth about caring for an orphan? I know they are fictional characters, but come along for the ride, won't you?

I doubt Marilla and Matthew considered themselves a good choice to care for a child. Brother and sister, old, busy, introverts, etc. They didn't even willingly choose to have Anne. They were looking for a big boy who they could feed and care for and teach him to help on the farm. But they got Anne. Anne who had never had ice cream. Those of you who know me well are probably laughing a little; my love of ice cream is epic. But that's not the part that hit me hardest. It's that Marilla never would have dreamed that Anne hadn't had ice cream before. And the Sunday School picnic they are about to attend? No one there would realize that someone in their midst was having ice cream for the first time. Marilla and all those good people of Avonlea never realizing that what they had was AMAZING. SPECIAL. BLESSED. And EXCLUSIVE. To them it was normal life, and pretty bland at that, but to Anne it was a dream come true.

I could go on and on here. Seriously, Anne, ice cream, and hosting. Anne's not adopted at this point in the story. She was just 'on trial' at Green Gables. Marilla began to see how real Anne was, and full of hope, and full of life. She came to see that Anne was not just another sad case of lost humanity with no chance for a full life of opportunity. Anne was a real, unique, funny, silly, creative, imaginative, distractible child in need of raising. And she began to see that she, Marilla, was the difference. She stood in the gap of Anne remaining "a perfect heathen" or becoming Anne the friend, Anne the devoted daughter, Anne the wife of a good doctor, Anne the mother of 6 children, Anne the light of all who knew her.

I like this story for orphan care because Marilla and Matthew didn't get a vision from God that they should go 'rescue the poor orphans.' They didn't want Anne. She just showed up by 'mistake.' They weren't qualified for the job. Old maid, old bachelor. No experience. No desire. And yet when God sent them a child, and they saw the need, and they saw the person, and they said 'yes.'

Every single orphan has the need of love and family. Every single orphan is a person.

Marilla saw it. And she said yes. Will you see it? And will you give that kid some ice cream?

An accidental Matthew Bible study on Hospitality and Orphan Hosting

Today I saw a picture post on facebook by P143 that stirred my heart.
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There's no place like home... but for over 100 unchosen orphans on our photolisting, there is no such place. You can change that! HOST an orphan in your home this summer. ADVOCATE by sharing our post. SUPPORT with a donation for a child of your choosing. To see all the orphans available for summer hosting, complete our pre-registration form for the link! www.projectonefortythree.org/host/photo-listing-registration/

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(An accidental Matthew Bible study on Hospitality and Orphan Hosting)

Hospitality

A few years ago I read a great book; Open Heart, Open Home by Karen Mains.

I blogged about it back then, I'm pretty sure...let me check....nope. Can't find it. Well, it's been too long for me to be able to recap it accurately, so I'll just say, it changed me. For the good. It opened my eyes to the fact that my home is not mine. It's God's. I'm the steward and there will be a day when I stand before the Owner and give account for how I invested what has been entrusted to me. I began to think of the great blessing it is to have a home. For all it's imperfections, it is absolutely a blessing beyond compare. And yet, sadly, the norm is to hoard it. Keep it clean, keep it warm, decorate it, bake cookies, serve supper, ALL FOR ME AND MINE.

To the faraway hungry-for-love orphan, elderly person, poor person, "NO SOUP FOR YOU!"

The excuses are innumerable:

"My table is too small" (Mine is, too. We have seven people and 4 chairs and1  bench, which we fill with just us.)

 "My house is not necessarily clean." (Yeah, me too.)

 "My family doesn't always shine with love." (You mean like how Cade just tried to smother Jessup with couch pillows?)

"People might not like my food." (Honestly, serve pizza if you're really actually a bad cook. Or Oreos.)

"We don't have enough bedrooms." (We have three bedrooms; parents', boys', and girls'. And when we have a whole other family stay with us? We cut down to a kids' and a kids'/parents' and the other family can have a room to themselves. "It's just like Little House on the Prairie, isn't this fun?")

I give these examples with their short responses simply to illustrate that those thoughts are just excuses that can be solved...or ignored completely (and they go away). My solutions might not work for you, but that's not the point. I just wanted to share them to show that a willing heart finds a way.

And let's be straight- I am not in need of any more kids in my house. I don't need extras at meals. We are quite full. I'm often heard to say, "It's always a party with the Rebisz's." But I know that my home is my greatest blessing. It is invaluable to me, and an unattainable, heart-wrenching dream for the lonely.

Home and family- I have it, they need it, so I offer it. And Christ blesses it.

Matthew 25

³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Orphan Hosting

So back to the beginning. There are over 100 kiddos from P143 who have not been hosted yet.

And it makes my heart feel, what, sad? Disappointed? Frustrated? Discouraged? I don't know exactly, but heavy for sure. Heavy that there are ANY kids left at P143 or New Horizons. We should be leaping at the chance to engage our entire family in world missions so easily. There should seriously be a stampede to view the photolistings and the chance to choose a child to bring to our home. We should be honored and joyful and grateful that there such a simple and convenient way to share Christ with those who need Him most. Instead my brothers and sisters in Christ say, "No," over and over and over a hundred times and more.What does that say about our hearts? Stone or flesh?

Ezekiel 11

¹⁹ Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

What a rich promise! What a happy thought! Let's ask anew for this heart of flesh. He'll be our God, and we'll be His people and walk in His statues. What are those statutes?  You're not the first one to ask, actually.

Matthew 19

Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler

¹⁶ Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
¹⁷ So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
¹⁸ He said to Him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ¹⁹ ‘Honor your father and your mother, and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
²⁰ The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”
²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
²² But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.


Most of us have heard this story lots of times. What does it mean for us? On the most basic level it means that we must loosen our hold on our stuff and use our possessions as God would have us use them. I think it's easy to figure it out how to do that, but we don't always want it to be so clear, so we say it's hard. I mean, right in verse 21 Christ says use your stuff for poor people. So there's one way to use your stuff. And just before, He says “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”  So there's kids,  another group we can be sure is important to God. And James reminds us that pure and undefiled religion is to care for orphans and widows. So there's orphans and widows. We can use our stuff for them, then, without having to worry about whether its God's will or not. We can just go ahead and use our stuff for them and follow Jesus.

So now what? Well, I'm pretty sure you're thinking, "Oh, yes. That's all true, but it's just not the time for us right now." Well, I was 7 months pregnant when we hosted Anastasija. And my house was a mess. And we live on one income. And my kids were naughty. And I yell at them sometimes. My family is so far from perfect. The only thing we've got going for us is trying to follow Jesus and obey His commands. Seriously, we are nothing great over here.

 And no family is perfect and no time is perfect, and I'm going with a cliché here:

It's not about you.

Christ laid it out in no uncertain terms:
Matthew 10:

³⁷ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

A Cup of Cold Water

⁴⁰ “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. ⁴¹ He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴² And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

Ask yourself the hard question:
Do you love your home-life just the way it is more than you love your neighbor the orphan? (Or lonely neighbor, or foster kid down the street- there are lots of people to love, I just happen to be thinking about orphans.)

God is the Father to the fatherless. The Help of the Helpless. And we are His hands, His feet, His heart here on Earth. If we don't spread the love, the world stays loveless. If we don't spread the hope, the orphan stays hopeless. If we don't shine the light, we remain in darkness.

I don't know what else to say. How can I get you to break free of the doubts and fears that hold you back from offering what you have to those who need it? What lonely child would not want to be in your home this summer? Honestly, picture your normal life and compare it to the normal life a child in an orphanage and tell me that these children with hopes and dreams and real little bodies that ache for a hug and someone to tuck them in at night don't need your home this summer. This summer. Not some nebulous some-day-in-the-cloudy-future, but now.
A real child. The child who was interviewed and knows that her face and story are out there and wonders if anyone will choose her. Wondering if she's really as worthless as she thinks? 

Anyway, the answer to the above question is that I can't help you break free of the things that hinder you. Only God can do that. So I'll pray. I'll pray that my desperate plea from the depths of my heart will fall on ears that hear.

Believers Are Salt and Light

Matthew 5
¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Shine your light. Let it shine. Set it on the table in your dining room and invite someone in out of the dark. You'll be glad you did, and so will they.