Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Weekend with family
We had a fun filled long weekend in Mississippi with my brother and his family. All the kids got along wonderfully. It was such a blessing to see little ones from Ukranian and little ones from Ethiopia playing together, being family. We went in to New Orleans briefly for dinner at my favorite restaurant and then to Cafe du Monde for Beignets and coffee. We went to a USM football game, Beniam is photo'd above jamming. Sunday we went to church to hear my wonderful brother preach. Great weekend. Met some wonderful people. Need to rest up now:-)
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The critics
From Brenan Mannings book, The Signature of Jesus:
Only when we clam the love of the crucified Christ with heartfelt conviction, this love that transcends all judgements, can we overcome all fear of judgement. As long as we continue to live as if we are what we do, as if we are what we have, and as if we are what other people think about us, we will remain filled with judgements, opinions, evaluations, and condemnations. We will remain addicted to the need to put people in their place.
Yet to the extent that we embrace the truth that our core identity is not rooted in our success in ministry, or in popularity with kids and parents or with power in the local church, but in the passionate, pursuing, infinite - what GK Chesterton calls "Furious" love of God embodied in his crucified Son - to that degree we can let go of our need to judge our friends, spouses, children, pastors, gays, straights, Asians, Caucasions, and the sin- scarred wino on the street. We can be free from the need to judge others by claiming for ourselves the truth, "I am the disciple whom Jesus loves."
Only when we clam the love of the crucified Christ with heartfelt conviction, this love that transcends all judgements, can we overcome all fear of judgement. As long as we continue to live as if we are what we do, as if we are what we have, and as if we are what other people think about us, we will remain filled with judgements, opinions, evaluations, and condemnations. We will remain addicted to the need to put people in their place.
Yet to the extent that we embrace the truth that our core identity is not rooted in our success in ministry, or in popularity with kids and parents or with power in the local church, but in the passionate, pursuing, infinite - what GK Chesterton calls "Furious" love of God embodied in his crucified Son - to that degree we can let go of our need to judge our friends, spouses, children, pastors, gays, straights, Asians, Caucasions, and the sin- scarred wino on the street. We can be free from the need to judge others by claiming for ourselves the truth, "I am the disciple whom Jesus loves."
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sold Out
The following is a quote from a pastor from Zimbabwe found in his office after his martyrdom for his faith:
I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit's power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made - I'm a disciple of his. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions are few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I can not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached till all know, and work till he stops me. And, when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me...my banner will be clear!
I encourage you to read this aloud to someone. Amazing.
I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit's power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made - I'm a disciple of his. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions are few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I can not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached till all know, and work till he stops me. And, when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me...my banner will be clear!
I encourage you to read this aloud to someone. Amazing.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Be the faith
James 1:21-22 "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Sacrificial giving
We have been going thru quite alot internally. I say we, my family, but I guess honestly I have been going thru it and brining it to them. A couple of weeks ago we heard a sermon at church on giving. Not, giving out of abundance, not giving the 10%we don't even miss - giving sacrificially. Not just of our resources either, but of our time.
We have been attending a new church and haven't really plugged in anywhere yet. When mulling over volunteer commitments in my mind I was thinking of the things I could do that involved the least ammount of, well, me. Maybe I could be a once a month greeter, or maybe I could work serving coffee one Sunday morning a month. Really I am a sacrificial kind of person right?....wrong:-(
These thoughts led me to an inventory on idolatry in my life. What are my idols, I wondered? Vanity - not for my abundance of beauty, but rather my desire to be and feel beautiful. Could be an idol. Then my mind started looking at other people's idols. Food? Naw I think, not me. I'm just a teeny bit overweight. It's the obese who have a food idol. Right???? Wrong again. All it took was reflecting on where I spend my money and the things I "Love" - food.
Where does that lead me?
Well first of all, as far as giving financially we are doing what we can. We give our tithe and the rest, when there is a rest, goes to our adoption.
My time? I signed up this week to work with middle school stundents. This is something I have long thought I'd be gifted at and I am very excited.
The whole food idolatry thing...I'm currently low carb. If you think you have no food addictions (and I might remind you, addictions are never good, though we so oft normalize them) go without carbs for a couple of days. We ARE so addicted! I am again eating a vegetarian diet (not because I think eating meat is wrong. The vegetarian thing is a chapter for another book). My big idea right now is to get rid of all the food in the house. Empty the cupboards and donate the food to charity and buy my food/our food each day. Maybe that would give us some grasp of words like "Give us this day our daily bread." I want to make the decision to only purchase incredients or foods that God gave the earth. Nothing processed, no fast food. If we only had food enough for a meal would we appreciate that meal? Would we give thanks and mean it? Would we spend the time to know that our Creator God gave us food to nourish our bodies. If our bodies were better nourished, would we then have the presence of mind to nourish our souls?
Practically speaking, would our grocery bill go down? Would it go up? Would it matter if we were buying the foods that God gave us and nothing more? Isn't that a more respectable way to spend the money that HE has given us.
The vanity idol - don't have that one figured out yet. I'll let you know when I do. Right now I am resting in the fact that there are bigger issues in the world (and in me) than restling with 10ish pounds of excess body weight. There are people outside our gates who are starving too death, while we get fatter and fatter. There are people who have no homes, while we spend our money and energy decorating ours. There are people outside the gate who have no transportation, while we "pimp" our rides. There are children, children I have met who have on nothing but rags, while America charges its way into great debt for clothes. I don't know about you but this is NOT alright with me.
I have often heard women say "MY husband and my kids are my ministry." Really? I don't feel that way at all. Though I know my salvations was a free gift of grace, it doesn't come without some change in my life and heart. How can we have? and know? and be? and not share. "Our lives are not our own. We have been bought with a price."
We have been attending a new church and haven't really plugged in anywhere yet. When mulling over volunteer commitments in my mind I was thinking of the things I could do that involved the least ammount of, well, me. Maybe I could be a once a month greeter, or maybe I could work serving coffee one Sunday morning a month. Really I am a sacrificial kind of person right?....wrong:-(
These thoughts led me to an inventory on idolatry in my life. What are my idols, I wondered? Vanity - not for my abundance of beauty, but rather my desire to be and feel beautiful. Could be an idol. Then my mind started looking at other people's idols. Food? Naw I think, not me. I'm just a teeny bit overweight. It's the obese who have a food idol. Right???? Wrong again. All it took was reflecting on where I spend my money and the things I "Love" - food.
Where does that lead me?
Well first of all, as far as giving financially we are doing what we can. We give our tithe and the rest, when there is a rest, goes to our adoption.
My time? I signed up this week to work with middle school stundents. This is something I have long thought I'd be gifted at and I am very excited.
The whole food idolatry thing...I'm currently low carb. If you think you have no food addictions (and I might remind you, addictions are never good, though we so oft normalize them) go without carbs for a couple of days. We ARE so addicted! I am again eating a vegetarian diet (not because I think eating meat is wrong. The vegetarian thing is a chapter for another book). My big idea right now is to get rid of all the food in the house. Empty the cupboards and donate the food to charity and buy my food/our food each day. Maybe that would give us some grasp of words like "Give us this day our daily bread." I want to make the decision to only purchase incredients or foods that God gave the earth. Nothing processed, no fast food. If we only had food enough for a meal would we appreciate that meal? Would we give thanks and mean it? Would we spend the time to know that our Creator God gave us food to nourish our bodies. If our bodies were better nourished, would we then have the presence of mind to nourish our souls?
Practically speaking, would our grocery bill go down? Would it go up? Would it matter if we were buying the foods that God gave us and nothing more? Isn't that a more respectable way to spend the money that HE has given us.
The vanity idol - don't have that one figured out yet. I'll let you know when I do. Right now I am resting in the fact that there are bigger issues in the world (and in me) than restling with 10ish pounds of excess body weight. There are people outside our gates who are starving too death, while we get fatter and fatter. There are people who have no homes, while we spend our money and energy decorating ours. There are people outside the gate who have no transportation, while we "pimp" our rides. There are children, children I have met who have on nothing but rags, while America charges its way into great debt for clothes. I don't know about you but this is NOT alright with me.
I have often heard women say "MY husband and my kids are my ministry." Really? I don't feel that way at all. Though I know my salvations was a free gift of grace, it doesn't come without some change in my life and heart. How can we have? and know? and be? and not share. "Our lives are not our own. We have been bought with a price."
Monday, August 24, 2009
donations
If you would like to donate to help us bring our two children home please feel free to use the paypal button to the right. Thank you.
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