THANK YOU FATHER FOR TODAY.
THANK YOU FOR MY FAMILYAND FRIENDS, FOR THOSE WHO KNOW YOU, THAT I CAN REJOICE WITH THEM. FOR THOSE WHO DON'T, THAT I CAN PRAY FOR THEM.
THANK YOU FOR MY WIFE, WHO ENCOURAGES ME TO LOOK MORE LIKE JESUS EVERY DAY, AND LOVES ME ENOUGH TO TELL ME WHEN I DON'T.
THANK YOU FOR OUR LEADERS, THOSE I AGREE WITH AND THOSE I DON'T, FOR THEY ARE ALL PUT THERE BY YOU.
THANK YOU FOR HEARTACHE, THAT YOUR LOVE AND GRACE CAN BE DISPLAYED.
THANK YOU FOR MY CHURCH, WHERE I CAN WORSHIP YOU IN PEACE AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SON, WHO DIED FOR MY SIN, THOUGH I STILL CAN'T COMPREHEND THAT KIND OF LOVE.
THANK YOU FOR MY FAILURES, THAT YOU CAN TEACH ME THROUGH THEM NO MATTER HOW PAINFUL.
THANK YOU FOR MY SUCCESSES, THAT ARE NOT ACTUALLY MINE, BUT YOUR MAJESTY DISPLAYED.
THANK YOU FOR THIS NIGHT, THAT I KNOW I REST SAFELY IN YOUR ARMS.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Weekend without Mommy
I just saw my beautiful wife off to Arizona to see our new twin nieces. I am going to miss her, but I am really glad that she gets to go visit for a few days. Have fun, hot stuff. We will be waiting for you!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Why I write
This is my first attempt at blogging, so it may be a little bumpy. I have been following my wife and her blogging world for several months and have threatened to write one myself for awhile but I've always found ways around it. Tonight I am finally going to follow through, not because I think I have wonderful things to say, but because I serve an amazing God who deserves to be praised on every platform. He is awesome. I could never say enough to do justice to what my relationship with Jesus Christ means, but I suppose no one who knows him can. So I write... to try to put the impossible into words.
I am not sure where to start, but all good stories start in the middle, right? Well, mine does. Several months ago my wife and I started to feel God was beginning to show us a bit of what the people in Africa, especially the orphans are going through. As we learned more of the horrific conditions that the majority African poeple live in, our hearts were broken. The hardest thing to grasp was the almost unbelievable number of orphans. We began to pray andask God what we could do. I fgured we could sponsor a child or two, support a local ministry, maybe even go on a mission some day. God's answer came, but it was much more involved than I had ever imagined. So I asked... again. And again He answered, clearly. But once more I had a hard time with his answer, it just wasn't what I was looking for. But God, in his amazingly patient manner, just kept on answering, "it's so simple... just adopt". He was not asking us to just throw money at the situation that was so heavy on our hearts. He wasn't asking us to simply give a portion of our time or money and then go on with our lives as if we had really made our mark in this world. He was simply asking us to do for others exactly as he had done for us, to bring them into our family and make them our own. Simple. Adopt.
I would like to say that we jumped in head first as soon as it was clear, but that's not quite how it went. However, through many questions, doubts, fears, concerns and just plain stubbornness we slowly began to see that God's plans are always better than ours. (What a hard lesson to have to relearn all the time.) And so here we are six months later bursting with excitement and eagerness to see who He has for us. We are still in the early stages, and nothing seems to be going fast enough now. (Patience- just another lesson I'm still learning.)
Through all this I realized that my response to His prompting us to adopt was how I had been living most of my life, for me. When Shauna and I decided to quit balking and just obey I made a commitment in my own heart as well, no more questioning God. No more hearing from Him and doing nothing because I wanted a different answer. Better yet, no more not hearing from him at all because of being too concerned about myself and what I wanted. No more living halfway for God, it is all or nothing. No more "lukewarm".
I am far from perfect. In fact I don't think I can even see it from here, but I know one who is. And He is where I draw my strength from. He is one I turn to after I fail at the same things over and over again. He is my rock, my first love. He is my savior. He is Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords.
God is awesome and I am not worthy of His grace, but He gives it anyway. I don't deserve His blessings, but He blesses anyway. I fail to hear Him call, but still He calls. His love is immesureable. His patience, unfathomable. His blessings, unmatchable. His grace is perfect. My God deserves all praise and Honor. Praise Him, praise Him!
I am not sure where to start, but all good stories start in the middle, right? Well, mine does. Several months ago my wife and I started to feel God was beginning to show us a bit of what the people in Africa, especially the orphans are going through. As we learned more of the horrific conditions that the majority African poeple live in, our hearts were broken. The hardest thing to grasp was the almost unbelievable number of orphans. We began to pray andask God what we could do. I fgured we could sponsor a child or two, support a local ministry, maybe even go on a mission some day. God's answer came, but it was much more involved than I had ever imagined. So I asked... again. And again He answered, clearly. But once more I had a hard time with his answer, it just wasn't what I was looking for. But God, in his amazingly patient manner, just kept on answering, "it's so simple... just adopt". He was not asking us to just throw money at the situation that was so heavy on our hearts. He wasn't asking us to simply give a portion of our time or money and then go on with our lives as if we had really made our mark in this world. He was simply asking us to do for others exactly as he had done for us, to bring them into our family and make them our own. Simple. Adopt.
I would like to say that we jumped in head first as soon as it was clear, but that's not quite how it went. However, through many questions, doubts, fears, concerns and just plain stubbornness we slowly began to see that God's plans are always better than ours. (What a hard lesson to have to relearn all the time.) And so here we are six months later bursting with excitement and eagerness to see who He has for us. We are still in the early stages, and nothing seems to be going fast enough now. (Patience- just another lesson I'm still learning.)
Through all this I realized that my response to His prompting us to adopt was how I had been living most of my life, for me. When Shauna and I decided to quit balking and just obey I made a commitment in my own heart as well, no more questioning God. No more hearing from Him and doing nothing because I wanted a different answer. Better yet, no more not hearing from him at all because of being too concerned about myself and what I wanted. No more living halfway for God, it is all or nothing. No more "lukewarm".
I am far from perfect. In fact I don't think I can even see it from here, but I know one who is. And He is where I draw my strength from. He is one I turn to after I fail at the same things over and over again. He is my rock, my first love. He is my savior. He is Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords.
God is awesome and I am not worthy of His grace, but He gives it anyway. I don't deserve His blessings, but He blesses anyway. I fail to hear Him call, but still He calls. His love is immesureable. His patience, unfathomable. His blessings, unmatchable. His grace is perfect. My God deserves all praise and Honor. Praise Him, praise Him!
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