What a year! I will always remember the year of 2010. Why? Cause this is the year that God has changed my life! I have always been a Christian, growing up in a Christian house with a wonderful extended Christian family. However, this year was different. This year God took some of the blinders off of my eyes that I had on. He has allowed me to see more clearly! My daily prayer has been to "see things as Jesus sees them." As the months have rolled by it has actually gotten harder to pray that prayer. It has gotten harder because it is changing my life. Sometimes, I lie awake at night heartbroken for the lost, the hungry, the orphan. At times it aches me and it is all I can think about. But this has been the best thing that could have ever happened. The more I learn about Christ the more I want to know. I would never want to go back to where I was. Once I started to really taste and see the glory of God there is an overwhelming desire for more.
I am starting this new year as a completely different man than who I was a year ago. Yeah, I look mostly the same, maybe a couple of more gray hairs.
But mentally I am different.
My thoughts are different.
My prayers are different.
The way I read my bible is different.
The way I give my money is different.
The way I spend my money is different.
My conversations are different.
My concerns are different.
The way that I lead my family in Christ is different.
I want my life to count.
I want to live a radical life for Christ in light of the fact that there are billions that do not know Him, and billions living in desperate poverty.
I don't want to waste my time anymore.
There are too many important things to do now.
I am not normally a new years resolution type of a guy, (except for when I gave up soda at work.) This year, my goal is to
BE INTENTIONAL! I want to be intentional about everything that I do.
What an awesome year this has been. I so look forward to seeing all that Christ is going to be doing through this next year.
I hope that you have an incredible year. I will end with a prayer. Ephesians 1:15-21
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may five you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance of the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Now that is one long sentence:)
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
We are so very blessed
WOW!
We spent the day with family celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. All of our kids are fighting some sort of illness, which makes for a long night and day. By the time that we pulled into our driveway to recoup, so that we can celebrate again tomorrow we were beat, and tired. We put the kids to bed, put the presents under the tree and brought the mail in. In the mail today was a stack of Christmas cards, as usual. However, one of these cards had an amazing present in it for us. Somebody sent us a check and a little card with it. What a mood changer! The card said that they had been watching us as we have traveled along on this adoption journey and they have been encouraged and challenged by it. WOW! We don't really even know what to say but Thank you God. All the glory is His!
It is very humbling to know that God is choosing to use us to challenge and encourage others to the point that they give so sacrificially.
We are grateful that God has put this journey before us. We are blessed beyond belief. Back in April, when we started this adoption, we felt God telling us that HE is taking us on a journey. This is only the start of our journey and we just need to trust in Him, follow Him, and he will be with us. So, that is what we are doing. Since then God has taken off blinders that we had on and we see Him more clearly. We pray that God will allow us to see Him.
Our God is good!
Have a Merry Merry Christmas.
We spent the day with family celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. All of our kids are fighting some sort of illness, which makes for a long night and day. By the time that we pulled into our driveway to recoup, so that we can celebrate again tomorrow we were beat, and tired. We put the kids to bed, put the presents under the tree and brought the mail in. In the mail today was a stack of Christmas cards, as usual. However, one of these cards had an amazing present in it for us. Somebody sent us a check and a little card with it. What a mood changer! The card said that they had been watching us as we have traveled along on this adoption journey and they have been encouraged and challenged by it. WOW! We don't really even know what to say but Thank you God. All the glory is His!
It is very humbling to know that God is choosing to use us to challenge and encourage others to the point that they give so sacrificially.
We are grateful that God has put this journey before us. We are blessed beyond belief. Back in April, when we started this adoption, we felt God telling us that HE is taking us on a journey. This is only the start of our journey and we just need to trust in Him, follow Him, and he will be with us. So, that is what we are doing. Since then God has taken off blinders that we had on and we see Him more clearly. We pray that God will allow us to see Him.
Our God is good!
Have a Merry Merry Christmas.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Field trip
Today we took a field trip. I was thinking that it had been a little while since we had used our pass to the SF zoo so we needed to make a trip of it. These kind of days are always the best there. It was cold, cloudy and completely deserted. it is on these days in the winter that it seems like the animals actually move around cause nobody is really watching them. I think that we were the only people at just about every exhibit. We then decided to take the girls for a walk on the Golden gate bridge. We were supposed to do this after Thanksgiving and the girls were kind of bummed when we didn't. To top the day off we watched the sunset at the beach while the girls were napping. (Everybody but Capri, she actually kept pulling their hair. yeah they have it coming.) Then we went to get some Gyro Pitas. All in all, it was a great family day.
Still nothing happening on the adoption front. Pray that the courts start moving people through and the embassy starts clearing children to leave the country. It is causing a back up of children and so no new referrals have been sent out in a long time.
Still nothing happening on the adoption front. Pray that the courts start moving people through and the embassy starts clearing children to leave the country. It is causing a back up of children and so no new referrals have been sent out in a long time.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Rocket ship
Today marks the 3 month mark of being DTE (dossier to Ethiopia.) The average wait time for a baby boy is 4-6 months and 7-9 months for a girl. So I would say we are somewhere in the midway point to getting our referral and being able to find out who our new baby is going to be. We are starting to get more and more anxious as time goes on.
We have some great news to share. We have been denied the grant that we applied for. This is the only one that we thought that we might qualify for. I know, you are questioning why this is great news. Let me explain. First, this means that there are tons of other people out there that are in the process of adopting. That in itself is really encouraging and awesome. It is also encouraging to know that others that are in the process have a greater need for the grant and are going to be getting it. Second, God is going to allow us to raise the money needed by other means. He could have chosen to let us get this grant, instead He has chosen more personal ways for us. Just this week we were given a huge amount of money by some family who are choosing to live sacrificially. God is good. Finally, God has gotten us this far, why would we ever begin to doubt that He won't provide the rest of what we need? It is encouraging to see the marvelous wonders of God as He takes us on this journey.
What else have we been up to? Well, we are having a party for our Sunday school class at our house on Sat. I am excited, we are having a smoked ham. This "ham" was just running around in our yard a couple of weeks ago. Today, the girls and I made a rocket ship. Why a rocket ship? Well, they had made the space helmets the day before, but this way we can travel the world.
Remember to slow down this Christmas season and reflect on what it is all about.
We have some great news to share. We have been denied the grant that we applied for. This is the only one that we thought that we might qualify for. I know, you are questioning why this is great news. Let me explain. First, this means that there are tons of other people out there that are in the process of adopting. That in itself is really encouraging and awesome. It is also encouraging to know that others that are in the process have a greater need for the grant and are going to be getting it. Second, God is going to allow us to raise the money needed by other means. He could have chosen to let us get this grant, instead He has chosen more personal ways for us. Just this week we were given a huge amount of money by some family who are choosing to live sacrificially. God is good. Finally, God has gotten us this far, why would we ever begin to doubt that He won't provide the rest of what we need? It is encouraging to see the marvelous wonders of God as He takes us on this journey.
What else have we been up to? Well, we are having a party for our Sunday school class at our house on Sat. I am excited, we are having a smoked ham. This "ham" was just running around in our yard a couple of weeks ago. Today, the girls and I made a rocket ship. Why a rocket ship? Well, they had made the space helmets the day before, but this way we can travel the world.
Remember to slow down this Christmas season and reflect on what it is all about.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
My heart is breaking
I guess I should preface this by saying that a few weeks ago in my Bible study group, I asked people to pray that I would begin to develop a bond for our baby.
Okay, so when Adam and I started talking, praying, and wondering if we should start the adoption process, our pastor began a sermon series in the book of James. We believed that this was not a coincidence, but that this was very timely. We have finished studying James, but we still find that many of the sermons feel relevant to us, in our adoption process.
Well, todays sermon was no exception. The passage was Matthew 9:36-38. He talked about the good news of the Bible, and how we often do not act like we really believe it IS good news. We shy away from telling our friends about Christ, we do not go seek the lost. We are content to live in our comfortable house, with our comfortable family and have a comfortable life. But, Jesus never said that we were sent to this earth to live comfortably.
In the sermon, the speaker described horrific conditions for people living in various parts of the world. People using their toilet water to cook, wash clothes and dishes and bathe, and children being sold into sexual slavery. And here we are living our comfortable life. I of course began to cry. I thought of our child, our baby, not being properly taken care of. Not being cared for as well as we care for our dog! (Which trust me, isn't even all that much anymore). I began to think about when we were wondering whether or not God was calling us to adopt. And then I laughed at myself for having even questioned that. Because of course He is! He doesn't care that I don't have it all together. He doesn't care that we are upside down in our finances. He is asking us to trust Him, that He will take care of us and provide for our EVERY need!
After todays sermon, I feel like I have taken a huge step in building a bond with our child. I can't explain it except to say that my heart is breaking that our baby is living on the other side of the world and not being well taken care of. God has answered my prayers though. I can't even talk about our baby without crying anymore but I couldn't be happier :)
Okay, so when Adam and I started talking, praying, and wondering if we should start the adoption process, our pastor began a sermon series in the book of James. We believed that this was not a coincidence, but that this was very timely. We have finished studying James, but we still find that many of the sermons feel relevant to us, in our adoption process.
Well, todays sermon was no exception. The passage was Matthew 9:36-38. He talked about the good news of the Bible, and how we often do not act like we really believe it IS good news. We shy away from telling our friends about Christ, we do not go seek the lost. We are content to live in our comfortable house, with our comfortable family and have a comfortable life. But, Jesus never said that we were sent to this earth to live comfortably.
In the sermon, the speaker described horrific conditions for people living in various parts of the world. People using their toilet water to cook, wash clothes and dishes and bathe, and children being sold into sexual slavery. And here we are living our comfortable life. I of course began to cry. I thought of our child, our baby, not being properly taken care of. Not being cared for as well as we care for our dog! (Which trust me, isn't even all that much anymore). I began to think about when we were wondering whether or not God was calling us to adopt. And then I laughed at myself for having even questioned that. Because of course He is! He doesn't care that I don't have it all together. He doesn't care that we are upside down in our finances. He is asking us to trust Him, that He will take care of us and provide for our EVERY need!
After todays sermon, I feel like I have taken a huge step in building a bond with our child. I can't explain it except to say that my heart is breaking that our baby is living on the other side of the world and not being well taken care of. God has answered my prayers though. I can't even talk about our baby without crying anymore but I couldn't be happier :)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thanksgiving week!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Every year as the smell of turkey fills the kitchen on Thanksgiving we try to remind ourselves to be thankful for the blessing that we have. Sometimes, even on the day designated for giving thanks we forget.
As Christians, we are called to give thanks continually in all things. It is hard to give thanks to our Lord in hard times. My question is this. Is it even harder to remember to give thanks when all things are going "well?" I know that for myself it is harder to give thanks when things are good due to my own selfish pride. Thinking that it is of my own doing that things are well.
I come from a wonderful Christian family with a great heritage. I am truly blessed. Each year we have a wonderful Thanksgiving meal celebrating together. We have great food, lots of people, so much talking that you better be on your game if you want to get a word in. This year I hope to be different. I want this year to have purpose. I want us to come together as a family in a deeper way as we grow closer to the One who loves us.
So this was my challenge...
I have asked my family to join us in another rice and bean fast for the next week until Thanksgiving day. We start in the morning. I pray that God will use this next week to really draw our family closer to Him. Most of my family is going to join us in this fast. Some will be doing different variations of it. However, we are going to take the money that we all save on food for the week and donate it to Amazima Ministries.
To the family... let's remember to keep each other covered in prayer for the week.
1 John 3:16,17
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the worlds goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Every year as the smell of turkey fills the kitchen on Thanksgiving we try to remind ourselves to be thankful for the blessing that we have. Sometimes, even on the day designated for giving thanks we forget.
As Christians, we are called to give thanks continually in all things. It is hard to give thanks to our Lord in hard times. My question is this. Is it even harder to remember to give thanks when all things are going "well?" I know that for myself it is harder to give thanks when things are good due to my own selfish pride. Thinking that it is of my own doing that things are well.
I come from a wonderful Christian family with a great heritage. I am truly blessed. Each year we have a wonderful Thanksgiving meal celebrating together. We have great food, lots of people, so much talking that you better be on your game if you want to get a word in. This year I hope to be different. I want this year to have purpose. I want us to come together as a family in a deeper way as we grow closer to the One who loves us.
So this was my challenge...
I have asked my family to join us in another rice and bean fast for the next week until Thanksgiving day. We start in the morning. I pray that God will use this next week to really draw our family closer to Him. Most of my family is going to join us in this fast. Some will be doing different variations of it. However, we are going to take the money that we all save on food for the week and donate it to Amazima Ministries.
To the family... let's remember to keep each other covered in prayer for the week.
1 John 3:16,17
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the worlds goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
2 months DTE!
Well, as of today we have been DTE (dossier to Ethiopia) for 2 months! We are moving along in this waiting period quickly! I can't believe that we have been done with our paperwork for 2 months. We still have a few more months of waiting to go before we hear anything from Ethiopia but we are moving along. I really don't expect to hear anything at all until after the new year.
God has been good in the waiting. Our sunday school class at church has been going through Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. This has been a great thing for our class and I am excited to see what God is going to do through it. I think that reading this book a year ago was one of the catalyst that led us down the road we are on right now (to Ethiopia!)
Also, God has continued to provide money for us though we have not really been actively doing fundraisers. One of the ways that we have come up with more money is that we decided to "fast" from grocery shopping for a month. We have 2 days to go. We only bought staple items, sugar, flour, milk, cheese, etc. We have been living out of our freezer and pantry for a month now cleaning it out. Heather has been baking bread and snacks like crazy! (which I love) We have spent about $35 on groceries for the month allowing us to save what we normally would spend. In cleaning out our freezer I have pulled a ham from our pig that we slaughtered a few months back. I can't wait to eat it in a few days.
That is all the news from us right now.
I was able to see both the sunrise and sunset today. Praise God for His beauty! God is Good.
God has been good in the waiting. Our sunday school class at church has been going through Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. This has been a great thing for our class and I am excited to see what God is going to do through it. I think that reading this book a year ago was one of the catalyst that led us down the road we are on right now (to Ethiopia!)
Also, God has continued to provide money for us though we have not really been actively doing fundraisers. One of the ways that we have come up with more money is that we decided to "fast" from grocery shopping for a month. We have 2 days to go. We only bought staple items, sugar, flour, milk, cheese, etc. We have been living out of our freezer and pantry for a month now cleaning it out. Heather has been baking bread and snacks like crazy! (which I love) We have spent about $35 on groceries for the month allowing us to save what we normally would spend. In cleaning out our freezer I have pulled a ham from our pig that we slaughtered a few months back. I can't wait to eat it in a few days.
That is all the news from us right now.
I was able to see both the sunrise and sunset today. Praise God for His beauty! God is Good.
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