Thoughts on Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is nearly here! Sometimes the busyness of the holiday season causes me to stress out, worry about money and forget to find peaceful moments to spend with my Jesus. This Christmas has been different than all others, and this is why:

Somewhere in world there is little boy or girl, made in the precious image of God, my Father, spending another Christmas without a mommy or daddy. One day, he or she may be ours. I can't do anything else but pray when the reality of that sinks into my heart. Heavy stuff, I know!

Over the last four months my little ones have learned to open their hearts to the needy and orphaned in this world. Hannah and I sit together and look through agency sites at the dear little faces looking back. We choose one that speaks to us and we all start praying for him/her and speaking as if they will join our family shortly! We rejoice (and cry) when we see their picture with a "my family has found me" label.

This is what the Gospel is all about! The Good News that God loved us so much that Jesus came to earth as that tiny, helpless babe, lived a perfect life for me and died a sacrificial death so that I could be called a child of God. To be adopted by the Father of Creation, made heirs with Christ, loved eternally and given a glorious home! It is the story of Christmas, and adoption.

It is my story, and I hope it is yours!

Merry Christmas, friends!

Thank You, Father

A poem, by John Piper

Thank you, Father, for my life.
Thank you for my precious wife.

Thank you, Father, for my girl.
Thank you for this deep-sea pearl.

Thank you, Father, for my sons,
Fathers, wives, the little ones.

Thank you for the church I serve,
Staff and friends I don’t deserve.

Thank you, Father, for my birth,
Who can measure parents’ worth?

Thank you, Father, for the schools,
Mental tools, and passion fuels.

Thank you, Father, for my eyes,
Wonders of the earth and skies.

Thank you, Father, for my ears,
Priceless music through the years.

Thank you, Father, for my friends,
Comrades, care, and common ends.

Thank you, Father, for the books,
Deeper currents, distant looks.

Thank you, Father, for my home,
Sweetest pocket of shalom.

Thank you for the maple tree,
The swing, the yellow canopy.

Thank you for the neighborhood,
The interwoven bad and good.

Thank you, Father, for the tears,
Dying darkness yet appears.

Thank you, Father, for your word
Silver, honey, eaten, heard.

Thank you, Father, for your Son,
Stripes, the bruise, the mission done.

Thank you for the Spirit too,
Wak’ning, filling, giving—You.

Father, Father, can it be?
Thank you for adopting me.

Depraved Indifference

I feel as though I have been asleep. I have been a Christian since I was eleven and am only now starting to understand a fraction of God's love and mercy for the world. I praise Him for waking me up and for showing me that I have a part in spreading His glory and love to people everywhere. My heart has been broken over and over again as I finally see, to a small extent, what He sees as He looks at the millions of people who are without His love and mercy and salvation.

My Father has opened my eyes and my heart to the orphans and widows, to "the least of these" in our world.

For so long adoption, poverty, homelessness, has been around me, crossing my path at different moments in my life. I've looked, shed an honest tear and then moved on with my comfortable life. I've thought that helping "the least of these" is a calling for certain Christians...."oh, isn't that great they're adopting, I could never do that!"

No more!! If I am a follower of God, then His words to me are clear and true and strong! And they are for all of us!

"Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow"

This is just one of so many times that God directs us to care for the oppressed, the fatherless, the widowed...

I have so much more on my heart concerning all of this, but lest I make this post into a book, I'll continue at a different time.

This video challenges, encourages and moves me to action.

Valentine's Day

I can't believe its been almost 2+ years since I have written here. Its Valentine's Day and amid all the chocolate, paper hearts and sappy jewelry commercials, I am feeling so very grateful for those I love. I can't elaborate right now. We need to finish school, its a balmy 70 degrees today and the park is calling our names. Hopefully I'll be back ( but no promises) soon!