Adam
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
10 year anniversary
Today marks the 10 year anniversary for Heather and I. I just want to put it out there that I am a blessed man. Heather is a gorgeous wife, beautiful, full of passion and grace. She is a wonderful mother to our three children (soon to be four) and is always a giver. We have had grown closer and closer each and every day. She is my best friend. I couldn't imagine tackling life's hurdles without her. She is always striving to have the heart of Jesus. She is my support. I love you Heather.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Fast: Last day!
We are coming to the end of our rice and bean fast and what an amazing experience it has been.
God is GOOD.
He has taught us so many things over the week. We have learned to rely on Him more.
God provides.
We have been eating roughly 1100 calories daily, and maintaining our "normal" life. I have rarely been hungry. Though, now at day seven I can feel myself losing some energy I know that God is providing me with what I need.
Changing my eating routine has been one of the hardest things for me. The other hard thing has been that I am REALLY bored with rice and beans. Yet, I have the luxury of getting to eat something different tomorrow. A HUGE majority of the world does not have that luxury that you and I have. They look forward to rice and beans today (hopefully), tomorrow (hopefully), and a year from now (hopefully).
This week God has laid it on my heart to read all of the passages in the Bible that relate to the poor and the hungry. This took a while as there are a LOT!) You know what it means when something is repeated over and over again. IT MUST BE IMPORTANT. Let me share a few of these with you.
Proverbs 21:13
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
Proverbs 22:2
Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.
Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. Notice the command in there. It is not an option for us as followers of Christ.
Isaiah 3:14
The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses." This judgement is against His own people. We are His people as well, let us take this to heart.
Matthew 25:40
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Luke 4:18
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Also found in Isaiah 61:1-2. This is the scripture that OUR Jesus used to describe himself and to proclaim His ministry. If we are to be Christians and to follow Christ, we should follow his example.
I pray that these will change you.
They have been changing me.
What is really important in this life?
We are the rich ones in the Bible.
Let us be openhanded towards the poor and needy.
It is not easy.
Following Christ is not supposed to be easy.
God is GOOD.
He has taught us so many things over the week. We have learned to rely on Him more.
God provides.
We have been eating roughly 1100 calories daily, and maintaining our "normal" life. I have rarely been hungry. Though, now at day seven I can feel myself losing some energy I know that God is providing me with what I need.
Changing my eating routine has been one of the hardest things for me. The other hard thing has been that I am REALLY bored with rice and beans. Yet, I have the luxury of getting to eat something different tomorrow. A HUGE majority of the world does not have that luxury that you and I have. They look forward to rice and beans today (hopefully), tomorrow (hopefully), and a year from now (hopefully).
This week God has laid it on my heart to read all of the passages in the Bible that relate to the poor and the hungry. This took a while as there are a LOT!) You know what it means when something is repeated over and over again. IT MUST BE IMPORTANT. Let me share a few of these with you.
Proverbs 21:13
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
Proverbs 22:2
Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.
Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. Notice the command in there. It is not an option for us as followers of Christ.
Isaiah 3:14
The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses." This judgement is against His own people. We are His people as well, let us take this to heart.
Matthew 25:40
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Luke 4:18
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Also found in Isaiah 61:1-2. This is the scripture that OUR Jesus used to describe himself and to proclaim His ministry. If we are to be Christians and to follow Christ, we should follow his example.
I pray that these will change you.
They have been changing me.
What is really important in this life?
We are the rich ones in the Bible.
Let us be openhanded towards the poor and needy.
It is not easy.
Following Christ is not supposed to be easy.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Well, day three of our rice and beans fast is done!! We are almost half way there. The past few days have been challenging, to say the least. But, in a good way. I think that not being able to run to the refrigerator when hunger pains strike or exhaustion sets in has allowed me to be completely dependent on God. I'm experiencing first hand that He is our ultimate provider! It's really incredible. This afternoon I was completely spent. I had gotten past the hunger, but just felt drained of all energy. But as I began praying, and asking God to sustain me, and fill me up with HIM, I felt a surge of energy coarse through my veins, and I was no longer tired. In fact I find myself running to Him throughout the day, almost as though we are having a running conversation.
This fast has definitely had it's challenges though. For one, feeding my kids is beyond difficult! The smell of pancakes and syrup this evening had my head spinning and my mouth salivating. Plus, there have been a couple of times where I have almost forgotten all about the fast and (almost) licked my fingers after making the girls peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Some of you might be wondering what we have been doing with ourselves during our fast week. Well, for me it is virtually impossible to "relax". Relaxing to me means kicking back with a homemade frappe. But, since that's not happening, I find it difficult to sit down. Adam started his weekend at the beginning of our fast (on Wednesday) and in that time we have been on a canning frenzy! We have picked peeled and canned over 160 jars of apple pie filling, apple cinnamon syrup, pizza sauce, grape jelly, salsa, tomato paste, and stewed tomatoes. We plan to sell most of this at our next produce sale (Sunday Oct. 3). Please continue to keep us in your prayers over the next 4 days as we continue our fast!
This fast has definitely had it's challenges though. For one, feeding my kids is beyond difficult! The smell of pancakes and syrup this evening had my head spinning and my mouth salivating. Plus, there have been a couple of times where I have almost forgotten all about the fast and (almost) licked my fingers after making the girls peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Some of you might be wondering what we have been doing with ourselves during our fast week. Well, for me it is virtually impossible to "relax". Relaxing to me means kicking back with a homemade frappe. But, since that's not happening, I find it difficult to sit down. Adam started his weekend at the beginning of our fast (on Wednesday) and in that time we have been on a canning frenzy! We have picked peeled and canned over 160 jars of apple pie filling, apple cinnamon syrup, pizza sauce, grape jelly, salsa, tomato paste, and stewed tomatoes. We plan to sell most of this at our next produce sale (Sunday Oct. 3). Please continue to keep us in your prayers over the next 4 days as we continue our fast!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Fast- Day One
We are coming to the end of the first 24 hours of our week long fast eating only rice and beans. What an experience we are in! It is so awesome to rely more on God, feel the prayers of others and struggle though something that is really not easy.
Let me answer some of the questions that we have been getting.
Heather and I felt God tug at our hearts to do this fast independently. We then came together a couple of weeks ago with the same idea that eating rice and beans would be something that we could do to save some money for our adoption. It is amazing how God works! We had just finished reading another blog that has inspired us so much. Check out the blog Amazima on the left.
One of the really cool things is that we are not doing this by ourselves. God was tugging at the heart of one of our friends to take this journey with us. How awesome is that!
Why are we doing this? It is threefold really. One, God asked us to do it. Two, to give us a glimpse into the lives of others that are not as fortunate as us. Three, to save some money to help bring our baby home.
What have we leaned after one day. Rice and beans plain sucks! Black beans are not quite as good when they are not wrapped in a burrito smothered with guacamole. The hardest thing for me is to change my habits. I snack all the time and I love sweets. The hardest thing for Heather is knowing that the next meal is going to be the same.
Yet, we know that there is an end in sight. There are millions living in this world right now, eating less that we have been. There is no end in sight for these. As Christians we are called to feed them. We need to be doing more of this. We are filthy rich compared to others. We need to start comparing ourselves with those less fortunate than us rather than comparing ourselves to those that have more than us.
Heather had a great quote as we tried to eat our lunch. "We are eating to LIVE, rather than living to EAT!" It is a different thought process. We live in a society that revolves around indulging ourselves with food. How often do we buy more than we can eat or cook more than we need? We need to stop doing this. I love good food and I believe that it is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us. However, we need to be liberal with our giving and limit our wasting.
Okay we are done preaching for the night, but stay tuned. Wait until I have gone 5 days with only 1000 calories a day!
Let me answer some of the questions that we have been getting.
Heather and I felt God tug at our hearts to do this fast independently. We then came together a couple of weeks ago with the same idea that eating rice and beans would be something that we could do to save some money for our adoption. It is amazing how God works! We had just finished reading another blog that has inspired us so much. Check out the blog Amazima on the left.
One of the really cool things is that we are not doing this by ourselves. God was tugging at the heart of one of our friends to take this journey with us. How awesome is that!
Why are we doing this? It is threefold really. One, God asked us to do it. Two, to give us a glimpse into the lives of others that are not as fortunate as us. Three, to save some money to help bring our baby home.
What have we leaned after one day. Rice and beans plain sucks! Black beans are not quite as good when they are not wrapped in a burrito smothered with guacamole. The hardest thing for me is to change my habits. I snack all the time and I love sweets. The hardest thing for Heather is knowing that the next meal is going to be the same.
Yet, we know that there is an end in sight. There are millions living in this world right now, eating less that we have been. There is no end in sight for these. As Christians we are called to feed them. We need to be doing more of this. We are filthy rich compared to others. We need to start comparing ourselves with those less fortunate than us rather than comparing ourselves to those that have more than us.
Heather had a great quote as we tried to eat our lunch. "We are eating to LIVE, rather than living to EAT!" It is a different thought process. We live in a society that revolves around indulging ourselves with food. How often do we buy more than we can eat or cook more than we need? We need to stop doing this. I love good food and I believe that it is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us. However, we need to be liberal with our giving and limit our wasting.
Okay we are done preaching for the night, but stay tuned. Wait until I have gone 5 days with only 1000 calories a day!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Fundraiser
We need prayer!
We have come up with another way that we can save some money ourselves and put a little bit more into the adoption fund this month:) We are SUPER excited about this but a little anxious as well. Here is what we are going to be doing. Starting next Wed, for one week, we will only be eating rice and beans two times a day. We are going to take the money saved from our normal grocery bill and put it towards our adoption. It has been on our heart to do this for a while now and we are looking forward to being able to fast in this way. The reason we choose rice and beans is that it is a staple for poorer people throughout the world. We are going to allow ourselves one luxury though....COFFEE! (Coffee or tea is a staple throughout Africa as well:)
The reason that I am posting this right now is because now that it is out there in internet world we are a LOT more accountable to it:) We ask for your prayers to help us get through the week, especially while I (Adam) am at work as I think that that will be the hardest for me.
We are having another fundraiser veggie/bake sale this Saturday at our home from noon to 4pm. Today, we were very busy making 12 batches of marinara sauce, and tomorrow we will be making pizza sauce as well to sell. We have tons of tomatoes, a huge variety of veggies, as well as cookies for sale. Another new item that we have for sale are some t-shirts. I will post a picture of them soon, but they have the picture of Africa on the front and the definition of Adoption on the back.
We want everyone to know how much we appreciate the support that we have been receiving. It is AWESOME seeing how God has been working through friends, family and strangers.
We have come up with another way that we can save some money ourselves and put a little bit more into the adoption fund this month:) We are SUPER excited about this but a little anxious as well. Here is what we are going to be doing. Starting next Wed, for one week, we will only be eating rice and beans two times a day. We are going to take the money saved from our normal grocery bill and put it towards our adoption. It has been on our heart to do this for a while now and we are looking forward to being able to fast in this way. The reason we choose rice and beans is that it is a staple for poorer people throughout the world. We are going to allow ourselves one luxury though....COFFEE! (Coffee or tea is a staple throughout Africa as well:)
The reason that I am posting this right now is because now that it is out there in internet world we are a LOT more accountable to it:) We ask for your prayers to help us get through the week, especially while I (Adam) am at work as I think that that will be the hardest for me.
We are having another fundraiser veggie/bake sale this Saturday at our home from noon to 4pm. Today, we were very busy making 12 batches of marinara sauce, and tomorrow we will be making pizza sauce as well to sell. We have tons of tomatoes, a huge variety of veggies, as well as cookies for sale. Another new item that we have for sale are some t-shirts. I will post a picture of them soon, but they have the picture of Africa on the front and the definition of Adoption on the back.
We want everyone to know how much we appreciate the support that we have been receiving. It is AWESOME seeing how God has been working through friends, family and strangers.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
As of Friday the 3rd, we are officially DTE (dossier to Ethiopia!) Our dossier is currently flying right now over the Atlantic enroute to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:) Our next step is to wait, and wait and wait. During the waiting process we will continue to do some fundraising, applying for grants and getting our babies room ready:) Thanks for your continual support and prayers.
Monday, August 30, 2010
This week in my quiet time I have read this passage over and over. I think that it is incredibly powerful and thought that I should share it.
Pause and let it speak to you.
1 John 3:17,18, 23
If anyone has material possessions (yes that is all of us here in America) and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (18) Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (23) And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
Adam
Pause and let it speak to you.
1 John 3:17,18, 23
If anyone has material possessions (yes that is all of us here in America) and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (18) Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (23) And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
Adam
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