Mid-South Love Home: Our God is SO BIG!!

Well, I have been back and forth and back and forth on whether to email updates or post to this blog and I have come to the conclusion that the blog works the best! Thank you to everyone who requested updates via email! I am sorry I am all over the place! That is just the way it is with ministry, though! One thing works and then you try something new. Sometimes it is better and sometimes you realize the old way was just fine! So, I think I am going to stick with the blog! Thank you for your patience with me and most of all, for your interest in what God is doing in and through Mid-South Love Home!

Lots has happened since the last post! I don't even know exactly where to start! Let's just hit a few highlights!

KidsTown chose us, once again, to be the recipient of their donated items and it is such a huge blessing! We had our Summer Reunion 2015 and had 6 of our girls and their babies at the house. It was truly a family reunion and we had so much fun. A couple of mommas and babies like the pool and a few don't! We cooked out and were so thankful to have two of our board members, Tom and Leslie Tunnell, with us! Tom did the cooking because Brad was still in "transport" mode! We had to personally go pick up all the girls and babies and take them home! It took the whole Kimberlin clan working together to accomplish this! Jakira is in Holly Springs and then a couple of the girls live in dangerous areas, so it was interesting getting everyone here and the "pick-ups" took longer than I planned for! Anyway, God was good as always and kept us all safe and Tom jumped in and took grill duty for us! We had a wonderful time together and the evening culminated with the girls getting to go through all the clothes, shoes, toys, and baby items for their kids! What a blessing it was to them! Their children have their fall/winter wardrobe set!! THANK YOU KIDSTOWN!!! (Picture below)

We had another wonderfully successful adoption! Baby Cash was born July 27th and is still in the NICU at LeBonheur. He was born with his intestines on the outside and we are thankful for the care and attention he received throughout his time in the womb! Isn't it so neat how God works?!!? His birth mom had not been receiving prenatal care and that is a requirement for the girls who live here! Because of this, they were able to identify this problem very early and had a beautiful game plan in place for him! The adoptive family was able to be involved through all of that and built a sweet relationship with the birth mom! Everything has been wonderful and God's hand has been seen every step of the way! Again, we are so honored that God has given us the privilege to play a part in Cash's beautiful story!! Plus....HE IS ADORABLE!!!! Look at his little face and praise God that He plucked this baby (very literally) out of the abortion clinic!!!! He is a miracle and forever has a place in my heart!!! (Pictures below)

I received an email today from the couple that adopted our first adoptable baby! When I read this, it just confirmed once again that God does things at a much larger scale than we can even imagine! Who knew that He was planting dreams in a couple's heart that He would answer through a Love Home baby! I have pasted the email here!

"It is hard to measure in words what the Love Home has meant to our family. I will try to express it as best I can.

The Love Home was the bridge that God used to connect us to our daughter. Those words carry so much meaning behind them. Our child. The child we longed for and prayed for ... and the birth mom that we also longed for and prayed for. Our birth mom came to the Love Home - alone, hurt & afraid. And there she found love, family and most of all the arms of God. She started the process of her healing. Six months before we heard of the Love Home we prayed that God would write an adoption story that ONLY He could write. That He would miraculously bring a birth mom to us that needed us specifically - not through an agency but through some series of events that he orchestrated. And tenderly He did just that. Our birth mom needed us as much as we needed her - I believe that.

The Love Home allowed that baby to stay inside the womb and grow to her fullest potential before she was ready to breathe air. Their home cooked meals, the safety they provided, the Love and acceptance that they give is immeasurable. We truly attribute the health of our baby to the environment that the Love Home provided for her birth mom. Through all the ups and downs, we knew birth mom was getting the care she needed to make new choices and change her path. That gave us such peace during a time when emotions can be unsteady. I honestly believe our daughter is a vessel for healing for all who know her. She brought her birth mom to the Love Home - and that place changed her life! The Love Home does the work of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth - "Thy Kingdom come ... on earth as it is in Heaven ..." Jesus said. This is the essence of the Love Home.

Our home is filled with a new Joy because of our daughter. We have never ... NEVER been so in love. She is God's gift. And our family has expanded to include many others ... the Love Home, our birth mother, etc. Adoption is utterly beautiful and it would not have happened without this place.

Thank you to all of the Kimberlin's. Words cannot express our love for you and what you do each and every day for women, children and families. You hold a forever place in our hearts and in our daughter's heart. When we look at our baby we see the faces of all of you who helped get her into this world. We can never express our gratitude!!

The Johnson Family"

As I read this, I am reminded of the hundreds of people who make this ministry possible!! If it weren't for each of you, this miraculous story would not have taken place. I KNOW that God uses His people to accomplish His purposes! Thank you for being used!!! (Picture Below)

Well, today was a wonderful day as a group of ladies from the company ItWorks came over to shower the Love Home with blessings! They took some pictures and did some videoing for their "ItWorks Gives Back" week. I hope to get my hands on it and will share it if I do, but I am so thankful for what they brought us! It is awesome when people do these things for us! If frees up our ministry dollars to pay for the shelter, food, transportation, etc. costs of running this maternity home! These items are necessities and we are so grateful!!! Several of the ladies were my students/cheerleaders from when I taught at SBEC! What a blessing to see the Godly women and mothers they have grown to be! It is so easy to just get caught up in the busy-ness of being a young mother, but they...along with all the other ladies...stopped long enough to look at the real needs of others and did something about it!!! THANK YOU!!!! (Picture Below)

Well, Cash's birth mom is still with us and will begin her FULL-TIME job (Go God!!) next week at Ashley Furniture! We are so excited for her! She went to the Bellevue Mobile Dentistry Unit while pregnant for a tooth that was bothering her and needed to be taken out! It was too extensive of a job for their unit, so they sent us to see Dr. Barrett Sexton. He is an oral surgeon and he removed that tooth today! This procedure should have cost her like $625, but he did it FOR FREE!!! What a giving and generous man!! We are so thankful for the many ministries that we partner with who give and serve because they have an awesome God!!! She is a wonderful young lady with such a bright future! I can't wait to see all the things God does in her life as she begins working, gets her own apartment, and moves into this bright future!

Finally, Medtronics has chosen us as one of the ministries they will support!!! IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO WORKS FOR MEDTRONICS, PLEASE TELL THEM ABOUT THE LOVE HOME!!! I will be working a booth at their charity fair next week. Any employee who gives to the Love Home, their donation will be matched 100% by Medtronics!! That company will give us up to $100,000 a year in matching donations!!! That could totally change the future of this ministry! Please help us get the word out to their employees! We are praying that God will move in their hearts and stir in their spirit and cause them to want to financially support this ministry!!!! Thank you Steve Reece for working so hard to get us in the door! You are amazing!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post so I could brag on God! It is so amazing how He works in every single little detail of our lives!

The Johnson Family Cash