These are the "hats" I wear;
I am the mother of 4 beautiful children, two born of my womb and two of my heart! I have the awesome privilege of being a stay at home Mom! I also am the highest paid volunteer for Martine Consulting, LLC. To add to those hats, together Doug and I have joyfully served as America World's Senior Texas Associates since 2007. I am on the Board of Directors for America World Adoption as well, we both serve on the Board of Directors for the amazing ministry, Visiting Orphans. Together, we also carry the high honored role as the CarePoint Sponsorship Coordinator's for "Warancha" CarePoint in Awassa, Ethiopia through Children's HopeChest. Life is busy ... but we are truly BLESSED!
I have been married to the most amazing man since March 14, 1998! When we married, Doug had his life all neatly planned out before him. He was a Construction Science major from Texas A&M University and quickly moved into leadership roles in the company he was working. Like a road map, he had his future all worked out ... where he'd be in 10 years, moving up the company latter and into retirement and more. THEN the Lord grabbed a hold of his heart, taught him what it meant to truly follow in his footsteps and sent him into a journey that we continue to pursue. Needless to say, each day we truly are "following his lead". My once, structured husband and my well planned life ceased to exist when Doug left the company he knew to pursue his own business in Construction Management and Development. In 2006, Martine Consulting, LLC was birthed.
Today we continue to live daily by his bread crumbs and his lead. It's definitely full of excitement but one I wouldn't give up.
The Lord first opened my eyes and my heart to his desires and calling towards orphans during our first adoption of our beautiful little girl, Maliah, from China. It was during that journey that I received his heart for the fatherless and learned where I fell short in giving him my own heart. It was definitely a journey that I will never forget and one that I am constantly still pushing through. While I learned through our journey what a divided heart looked like ... and that I too had a divided heart, I continue to walk daily in working out what it means to give him my WHOLE heart! Simply obeying and following him at any cost!
The Lord called us again to adoption in 2010. This time he told us we had a son in Ethiopia. After another long and beautiful journey, we brought home Zebene Levi Martine on February 10, 2011. The transition into bringing home an older child hasn't always been an easy one - but one we would do again and again and again.
After two adoptions, we feel the Lord is turning over to the next page in our story. We have learned over the past 8 years that the orphan crisis won't be resolved through adoption alone. While we most certainly are proponents of the gift of adoption, we have seen first hand that it isn't the entire answer ... and many children will never find homes. True orphan care is much like an octopus with many tentacles. Through this website, we pray we can give you a glimpse into a few of the tentacles He is allowing us to play a part in. Of course, one of those is the ongoing life of raising adopted children. The other 3 include, continued adoption work/support for families, sponsorship of children in Ethiopia and being a part of the commandment in James to "GO" and visit the orphan in their distress.
Keep checking in with us and follow our journey! Better yet, join us as we GO and as we Follow His Lead ...
