Fireproof

  I'm sitting at work,on Christmas Eve,missing my family. Katy is home with her hands full. Tons of holiday baking , three kids, house work yet to do, not to mention all the Christmas "stuff" to do. I wish I could be there to help. We have kids that are willing to help when asked most of the time. Katy is a wonderful mother and wife. She might get stressed, but she always gets the job done. I am so blessed to be married to her. I am watching Fireproof. If you have never seen that movie, I recommend it. I think for men, it is an example of how a man should treat his wife, and a very good demonstration of God's intention for marriage. For women, it is an example of how they should be treated. I love Katy, and she deserves to be shown that everyday. I pray for her in my quiet time. I pray for her as the mother of my children. and as a wife, and that God will teach her to put up with me.

      So, how you ask does this at all apply to our adoption blog. Well, I hope to pass down to our kids an example not only of a marriage that puts God first, but a marriage that exemplifies God's love for us. Including the new little one who will come soon.

                                  Ephesians 5:25- Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave Himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water, through the word and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as christ does the church- for we are members of His body. Ok...here is the application...v.31- "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery- but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. For the entire scripture see; Ephesians 5:22-33

           I have know idea why I was compelled to write this today. Maybe someone reading it will be blessed by it and God will use it. Anyway... Katy has her meeting coming up with Marcia, then she will come to the house. I asked Emily the other day, "If Marcia asks what kind of punishment do you get when you get in trouble?" Without hesitation, she says, " A karate chop." I had to laugh out loud!! When the kids are pushing my bottons, I will hold up my "karate chop" hand, and point to the pinky side and say, "Who's name is written right here?" They know it's theirs, and they laugh because they know I would never really do it. So pray for us that the meetings will go well, and that God would continue to be present an glorified.

      So I leave you with two things. One..is a challenge. Take the opportunity to tell someone the true meaning of Christmas. They may need to hear how much they're loved.
     The other is a scripture that will help you do number one.(no, not pee)

                             But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were
                            yet sinners, Christ died for us.
                                                                              Romans 5:8


P.S. Tell your wife thank you and that you love
her.She deserves it.
                                     

As I Was Saying!!

     I want to take a moment to give credit where credit is due. God is good!! " Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously, will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."
      We experienced this first hand this week, and at the same time God confirmed for us that our adoption is in line with his will. We have some friends of ours that are very generous people and have been away caring for others because God called them to do it. They sold much of what they owned, and on faith, went to the other side of the world to love others in Jesus' name. They are back and experiencing a financial hardship. We were convicted to help them and gave what we felt like God was leading us to give. The next day we were given a $500 donation by some friends. I truly believe God, blessed our friends through us, then blessed us in return because we were faithful. I have said before that God is in control. He is.Jesus lives. He is present and living in me. Glory be to you Lord. You are Holy and Your word is Truth. Thank you.

     

        

      

At Rest...

       I serve an incredible God!! Lately I have been discouraged about our fundraising...almost afraid. That is so stupid!! How big is my God? God has reminded me over the past couple of days just how big he is. I have trusted that adopting from Ethiopia is what God wants us to do. At times I feel so overwhelmed even though deep down I know that's really dumb. I have been reading two books lately that have really convicted me about my fellowship with God. One book is called "Kisses from Katie." It's about a nineteen year old women that moved to Uganda to care for orphans and their families. She did it because she was convicted that it was Gods will for her life. She lives in filth and poverty simply to love,because Jesus loves. She wants nothing more than to show them Jesus by loving them. She completely trusts God to meet all of her needs, and He does time and again. Something she says in the book reminds me of some people we know who were less than supportive of the adoption. I think because they didn't believe this is what God is telling us to do. She writes: "God taught me over and over, that it did not matter what the world said, that it did not matter that almost none of the people closest to me believed in what I  was doing or believed it would succeed, that it did not matter what they said was impossible, because God did this, and He was going to continue doing it." In the end it only matters what God is going to do through me if I allow Him to. These children in Ethiopia belong to Him, and he will bless us with caring for one of them.He will provide. I believe that.

       I have been listening to and reading books from Charles Stanley. I think he is really blessed by God and very convicting in his words.In this book, he is talking about God accomplishing His purpose in you when you trust Him. He gives three truths apply to our adoption. God is perfect in His love-He always does what's best for you. God is infinite in wisdom-regardless of what our circumstances God  knows the optimal course of action in every situation. God is completely sovereign in His control - He has absolute authority over everything in creation. I claim these truths and refuse to let doubt hinder what God has planned for us. I will be at rest...

         A note about a childs heart-My daughter Emily has a wonderful heart. She is a normal kid, gets in trouble and keeps us on our toes. I see so much compassion in her. More than I see in most people. I really believe God has a hold of her heart. She had an opportunity to get alot of really great gifts from her classroom with some "money" she worked really hard to earn. She bought lots of great things...and gave them to her brother. She takes joy in seeing happiness in other people. I'm very proud of her. I pray she will grow in the Lord, and He will do many great things through her.

Lucky Man!!! (I'll praise Him in the storm)

    So far Katy has not written a blog here. This is our new blog I created so we could keep people who are interested how we're doing in the adoption process up to date. We had our first of four meetings yesterday with Marcia our social worker. I thought it went well. She was very nice and helpful and seemed to tolerate our crazy sense of humor. We gave her a little peek into our crazy lives.After we left, I was thinking about what we talked to her about. We talked about Katy's and my parenting, future plans for the kids, and our marriage, specifically our conflict resolution and details of our relationship. I was thinking about how lucky or better yet, how blessed I am. I am married to a beautiful, godly women. We have such fun together all the time. I'm not sure Marcia believed us when we told her we rarely fight, and when we do, it's resolved quickly. We don't sweat the small stuff. We pray together, and praise together. I am so happy to bring home another child and share that experience with Katy.(Love you darlin').

        We have three meetings left. We will each make separate meetings with Marcia and then she will come to our house and meet the kids and give her stamp of approval on the house. After those meetings, she will send the home study to court and to IAN, our adoption agency to get their approval. We still have the dossier to do. I'll be sooo happy when it's all done and we're on the waiting list for a referral. We have alot of online education to do as well.

        Some people have been responding to our please for fundraising donations I'm pleased to announce. We have so far to go yet. I decided that we are going to praise God whether the money is pouring in or, we feel nervous about the enormous cost. $25,000+ is a big commitment. I think adoption is way too expensive, but you can't put a price on a child, born into poverty, who needs a forever family. Total, we have raised about $1070.00. That's less than half of one plane ticket.*sigh* I will praise Him in the storm.He is in control .Thank you Lord.

          

      

    

The No Funds Fundraiser

      So don't get me wrong. I know God is going to provide for our adoption, but this puzzle fundraiser has been a bit of a disappoint. We have had the puzzle for two weeks and have sold...ready for this...wait for it...wait for it....1 whole piece. I know. I'm sorry for the sarcasm. I feel sad.I even feel alittle scared.  This is not a pity party. I read other blogs about people who have ultra supportive families, and raise a ton of money. We had two very successful garage sales thanks to our dear friends and small group friends(family really). We are having another sale soon if you're interested. I am also selling 3 month passes to fitness works for only twenty dollars. This is just in time for new year resolutions.Please don't feel like I'm pushy. I don't want people to think fundraising is all I ever talk about. We just want to give a little one a forever family.