{"id":806,"date":"2010-12-19T07:41:59","date_gmt":"2010-12-19T07:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2010\/12\/advent-day-22-a-longing-fulfilled-is-a-tree-of-life.html"},"modified":"2010-12-19T07:41:59","modified_gmt":"2010-12-19T07:41:59","slug":"advent-day-22-a-longing-fulfilled-is-a-tree-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2010\/12\/advent-day-22-a-longing-fulfilled-is-a-tree-of-life.html","title":{"rendered":"Advent Day 22: A Longing Fulfilled is a Tree of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” – Proverbs 13:12<\/p>\n

This verse always brings orphans to my mind. If there are any people in the world who have “deferred hope” it is those who have lost their parents at the time they need them most.<\/p>\n

And that creates a sickness of the heart that is hard to hide. You see it in their first pictures…maybe the first time that anyone has taken a picture of them and said, “You are going to get a sponsor in America.” <\/p>\n

But that longing is fulfilled when the first letters arrive. And that begins to make the difference. It’s the first corner turned in the maze each orphan must complete to make it to adulthood.<\/p>\n

Thank you for caring for kids this Christmas. Pray that God would inspire families throughout the world to care for orphans through prayer, sponsorship, adoption, missions, and whatever else they have to offer.<\/p>\n

\"ADVENT22.gif\"<\/span> <\/p>\n

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“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” – Proverbs 13:12 This verse always brings orphans to my mind. If there are any people in the world who have “deferred hope” it is those who have lost their parents at the time they need them most. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}