A Little News

Okay, not really, but it was a more uplifting title than no news!
We actually did hear from our agency in a group update. The Peruivan consejo meets once or twice a month to place children. This time around no one from the United States was chosen! We will possibly wait a year. This okay with me. I do know that God has His timing, so it could be early than a year, but let's face it, Abraham waited 13 years to have Issac!! It could be longer. I am okay with God's timing. I do not feel impatient right now. I do think God has lots to work on me before a child comes to our home!

Sometimes the adoption can consume our entire world. Our thoughts, financial decisions, our conversations, this blog, etc. Other times I feel like any moment now, we will just say "Suprize, haha, just kidding, we are not really adopting!" What I mean by saying that is, sometimes it doesn't seem real that there is a little girl or boy somewhere in Peru that is coming to our home some day. It seems more like a dream. I think, this is for "real" adults, people who know what they are doing and have children, (even though adopting a baby is way different than having a birth child - so I've heard! ha!) or people know more and have prepared more, something!!

We have friends who have adopted or are in waiting, like us, but I do wish they were closer. There are several churches around our area who have adoption support groups, however we are so busy at our church, we have not taken the initiative to get connected to a support group. I think I would like for us to do that soon.

Plus, I thought the other day that while I'm glad we have chosen to adopt a boy or a girl and are approved for 2 children from the ages of infancy to four, I have no idea how to get ready. What size clothes should we buy, what type of toys, bottles or sippy cups, pink or blue, baby blanket or toddler bed, and the list goes on........ According to what we have seen, there is only about 30 days from the time of acceptance to travel to country! 30 days to get physically ready for 1 or 2 more lives in our house! WOW!! :) But God makes all things possible, so I don't think I'll worry about that, until the day comes!

We have been busy the past few months. I counted the other day and between now and January, we have 2 weekends where nothing is scheduled! I hope to post a little more often and a little less serious!

My fantastic sister-in-law, April, is pregnant! May 20 will add another niece or nephew to our family! They are super excited and it is so fitting that she is pregnant at this time. I am so glad for her!

Well this is far too long. Gotta run.....leave some love!

Well I've been reading David Platt's new book, Radical.
You have got to read. He reminds me of Francis Chan and his book Crazy Love.

Did you know there are at least 4.5 billion people on the planet who do not know Jesus? Again that is 4.5 BILLION. We've got to work harder, Christians! Seriously is our pettiness really worth someone's eternity? There was music minister in the church I grew up in who used to say "it's all gonna burn." I love that quote and use it from time to time. Nothing will last, except a person's soul. Forever. Heaven or Hell.

The chapter in which I am currently reading deals with those who have never heard the name of Jesus and whether or not they will go heaven. Platt has great thoughts on this question.

He also talks about materialism and how we have Americanized Christianity. We sit in plush and polished, church buildings that cost millions of dollars and yet give only $5000 to a mission in Africa for clean water (which by the way is an illustration he uses - so I didn't just make that up).

God has blessed us so that we can use His blessings to bless others and for His glory.

He talks about the adoptions of his sons.

This is a summer must read. Enjoy!

www.radicalthebook.com

Dream a little dream......

"Dream a little dream, dream a little while, dream with me of how you think it might be....." (words from a song by Avalon)

Sometimes I like to think about what might be going on in Peru.
Because somewhere, a million miles away, there is a little boy or girl who will be coming to be apart of our family in a few months! I get excited when I think about it. There are a million possibilities of what that child could be doing. Running around and chasing another child, eating with the hopes of being done before the food is taken away, maybe they have been stapped in a chair or left in their crib for hours and hours, maybe someone is holding them and singing to them or perhaps they are laughing at toy. Maybe there will be two! Who knows!?! God does! He's getting everyone ready for transition time! Even it takes months and months.

Keep praying everyone!

It takes a villiage to adopt a child. Thanks for being apart of it!

I finally decided what I would like to name this blog, RAW.
I would love to be able to layout all the details of our life and what's going on...really going on the inside of us. My friend Angela always asks, "how are you doing...really?" I love that. She wants to get the very heart of a person. None of us are doing fine, really. But we say we are because maybe we don't want everyone to know what is really going on or how we feel or maybe that we failed in some way. It's a mask. As my personality test told me - i was wearing a mask when I took the test. I am a firm beliver that people were meant to share lives with each other. We learned that so well in seminary. Life can be horrible and wonderful. If we don't share it, we are never going to know that maybe someone else has the same stuggles or joys. We connect so deeply on some levels with people only when we share our lives.

Now being careful of who you share life with is essential, but not sharing it with anyone and not being honest is another.

I will most likely not name this blog RAW. Somethings are not meant to be written for the world to see.

But I will tell you that I learned a few things about myself this week (again with personality test! AND....it's not first one I taken!) haha! Okay - back to what I was saying! On Wednesday I got to take a half day off. I had a few errands to run and during all this running around, I realized something about myself, that Brent had been telling me for a long time, was true! Only I guess I didn't want to believe it. I am not even sure what to do with this realization. Thursday that realization became even more true! We realized a few things that are a result of our adoption. Not bad....just reality. And I never knew how much I wanted to change some things until I couldn't. I can't do anything about it. God has it all in place, so we at least take comfort in the fact that we are in God's will because we can't change anything. And I know that God is not going to change it, but He will change us.
You may wonder how I know He won't change, we know this because of the way of adoption. I know - it's all vague - but it makes sense to me.

That same night, Brent spoke at the high school baccalaureate. When he spoke, he was talking to himself and me. Kinda of ironic. I don't know if the anyone else need to hear that, but we did. We thought it was great that God gave Brent all these words that was intended for graduating seniors and we were the ones that needed to hear the most. That's how God likes to work. He's so creative.

I kept up the week with new realiztions about myself and ended the week being grateful for my friends and family. If you truely knew me, you would not want to be my friend. I don't know if I would be my friend!!

Thank you Jesus for Your ever abundant grace, mercy, and love and that You are changing me daily to be like You!

My sister-in-law went out on Friday to eat and get a pedicure. We never made it to the pedicure (that is for another post!) But she said in her times with Lord is has been a lot of trials. She was wondering what is coming. I remember before we left Texas that was the same for me. We heard Tammy Trent speak and then Steven Curtis Chapman's family lost Maria that May and he did a concert at the church we attended later that July. All these things I kept learning were about trails and bad things.

The hing I remember most from Tammy Trent and SCC was that they were able to praise the Lord. Simply because He is YAHWEH, JEHOVAH. He is God and He does not change. It matters not our struggles on earth....we can still praise Him for He is GOD.

"YAHWEH" - by Tal and Acacia

Gaze
I want to Gaze at you
Soak
Soak in all you do
Sit
so simply at your feet
Listen
To your voice so sweet
And Let time Pass Away

(Chorus)
As I simply Praise
Yahweh
My Lord I cry
Jehovah Elohim
The Lord Most High
and When my hands are raised
My Knees they fall
As I simply Praise
Jehovah

Cry
As I see your blood stains
Overwhelmed
As I see your pain
And I'll dance, dance, dance
Because I am set free
You are my conqueror
Jehovah Nissi
And Let time Pass Away

(Chorus)

Do I believe that you're my God
That You're all I need That you're all I need
Do I believe that you'll sit down
and be crowned my king for eternity
Do I believe that you're my God
That You're all I need That you're all I need
Do I believe that you'll sit down
and be crowned my king for eternity
Do I believe that you're my God
That You're all I need That you're all I need
Do I believe that you'll sit down
and be crowned my king for eternity
So Let time Pass Away

(Chorus)

My Daddy, My Abba, My Best Friend
YAHWEH

Back Stories

So I have recently become very interested in all the back stories in the Bible. Take Mark - he is writing the "memoriors of Peter" or so that is what the history section of my Bible tells me.
Mark uses the word immediately, a lot. It's actually pretty funny. Do you think he or possibly Peter wanted things to happen quickly all the time - do you think one or both had a touch of ADD? Does Mark have a short attention span - he jumps around so much? Or could it have been that Peter was so excited and just loved following Jesus so much that he told Mark his thoughts in "stream of conciousness" mode?

Also in 1 Peter 3, Peter talks about wives - I know and believe that the Bible was totally inspired by the Lord. But do you think that Peter was directed by the Lord to write that based on his wife, or mother-in-law (see Mark 1:29-31), or maybe he and his wife had some friends where the husband chose to follow Christ (literally when Christ was physically on the earth) by the wife's devotion and actions?
Because Peter was married, he must of had a desire to have a godly marriage and most likely for others who are married to have also have a godly marriage.

So far one of my favorites is the story of Blind Bartimaeus . Can't you picture it? :)
I think it's so interesting that Jesus stood still and waited for Bartimaeus to come to him, or well be helped to Him at least. And then Jesus asks Bartimaeus what he wants Him to do for him. And Bartimaeus doesn't even hesitate - he knows exatly what he wants. He gets down to the very need that hinders him.
I think if Jesus asked me that question - what would I say, would I get down to my deepest need or would I ask for other things?

What would you say if Jesus said: "What do you want Me to do for you?"

Face-lift

I decided while I posted it blog that it was time for a face lift! I have also got to come up with a new name for this blog. Our Journey doesn't fit anymore. So, if you have any ideas, please share.

Thanks!

Random thought of the day: John Wayne was born in 1907. How wierd is that?

There are a lot of things going on in life at the moment. Mostly a few things I am working through and figuring out. Not very pretty either. :) Plus since we do not have internet access at the house, it's harder to keep up with this blog and with facebook for that matter. So with that said I may not be blogging for awhile. But don't give up completely, check back later. :) I might suprise you. If you need to catch up with me, call me. :) I will talk to you later.

6 Words

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I went to a Beth Moore conference in March with Julie, Amy, and Jill. We really had a great time. At the beginning of the conference Beth referenced a blog that her daughter, Melissa, had written on the Beth Moore blog, Living Proof, a few weeks prior to the conference. Melissa's post is called Sum Up Your Life In Six Words. Click Here to see the post.

So, for the conference all of Beth's points were done in the Six Word Summary style given in the blog. She challenged us to sum up our life in six words - no more and no less - and then at the end of the conference to do sum up why the Lord brought you to the conference in 6 words.
One that I remember from the conference that one lady said is: "Came in Pieces, Going Home Whole." Isn't that great?!

At the time I could not think of anything. Occasionally, I am not very good at coming up with things on the spur of the moment and that conference was one of those times. I hate it when the speaker gives you an assignment and you can't come up with anything. So I have been pondering this thought for the past few weeks, pretty much determined to come up with something. I mean 6 words, how hard can it be!! My life in 6 words. Hmmm......
Well last week I finally came up with the answer! But in all honesty it truly is not a summerization of my life, but rather of how I feel at this moment in time.

What I came up with was: I am a toy without batteries. My friend, Bashan, words it for me as: I am a toy without wires.

I don't know how much you are supposed to share of yourself on blogs b/c when you blog you might as well open your home to the entire world, you never know who is reading, so I only try to share things that I would tell or share with anyone. I finally decided that this was okay to share, because I would be interested to know how YOU would sum up your life at this moment in time in 6 words. If you need help check out Melissa's post on the Living Proof Blog.

Let me know what you come up with!
Leave a comment or two. :)

Have fun!

Little Children

The week after Christmas we took some of our youth to the Scott Dawson conference - Strength to Stand. It was a really great time. In fact, it was one of the best youth conferences I've been on in my entire history of youth conferences.

One of the speakers at the conference mentioned the verses in the Bible where Jesus is speaking to His disciples. He's telling them they must become like a little child. I've heard all the analogies about having pure and simple trust and faith like a child and that we should not be childish, but childlike with humble and sincere hearts. I agree with this. But this speaker gave a new thought on it - at least I have never thought of in that way. He said that in the days of Jesus, children were considered insignificant (insignficance - the lack of importance or consequence). So if we are to do great things for the Lord, we (ourselves) need to become insignificant compared to Him and His plans.