"Can't" is going down.

Today I found myself thinking, "I can't do it." It doesn't matter what "it" was I thought I couldn't do, what matters is that I realized there was a limitation I had placed on myself. When I thought more about it and the many things I have done that I thought I couldn't, I understood that this was just another situation where I had a choice. The choice has always been this: stay where it is safe and only mildly stressfull OR go where you are unsure of yourself and your abilities. How many times in our lives have we turned aside from something that we knew would be difficult and thought, "I'll do this when..... when I'm stronger... when I'm older... when I have more money... when my life isn't so crazy......the list goes on and on.

 At the bottom of all these hesitations is a fear that we won't be good enough. So, today I decided "Can't" is going down.
     I won't stop just because I don't do something the best, or the fastest.
     I won't stop just because I hear 100 times how bad it was when someone else tried to do it.
     I won't stop just because I don't yet know how to do it.
     I won't stop just because I make mistakes and have to re-do it.
     I won't stop just because others have given up.

So, what is IT that you think you can't do?   Is it selling your house and moving, going back to school and getting a degree, writing a book, running a marathon or maybe adopting a child? I challenge you to take the first step toward "I can." This Sat. Nov. 23 is National Adoption Day and I will be taking a few hours to do what I thought I couldn't.  Join me?

"If God is for us who can be against us?"

New Beginnings

    

       "May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance." 2 Thes. 3:5

My oldest son was married last week and I spent a lot of time thinking about parenting him and how quickly the time went by. It seems but a few years since he was in little league, or sitting at our table learning his multiplication. Everyone told me that the time would go too quickly and I tried to heed their advice and enjoy every moment. I have no regrets as he begins his new life with his bride.

I say this because when some people think about adoption they think that they are too old or have waited too long to begin with another child and I want to remind them how quickly the years go by. There are many older children waiting for a family; children who are 8, 10 or older.  They only have a short time left before they will be adults, and right now they don't have anyone to show them what having a family means.

If you are reading this and feel God nudging your heart, take the next step. Search the web for an adoption agency and begin asking questions or go to rainbowkids.com or adoptuskids.org and look at the list of children who are waiting for a family.

Be The One

Use Your Opportunities

"Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ...Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should." Colossians 4: 3-4

     When Paul wrote these words in his letter to the Colossians, he was in chains; yet, he was still looking for a way to share the Gospel of Christ. He had "poured out his life," and could have rested at this point, but he knew that there was always one more person who needed to hear the message of grace and forgiveness. Someone near him needed to know about the free gift of eternal life.

                          This is exactly how I feel about the message of  
                                    Adoption. 
There are families out there that could open their hearts and homes to one of the more than 13,000,000 children. They need to know that the obstacles can be overcome. They need to hear that it doesn't matter how old they are or how much income they have. If God is in it, nothing is impossible.

I would like the churches to know how they can help families reach these kids by starting an orphan ministry.

I would like businesses to know how they can effect a positive change for an orphan in their community.

Friends, I can't do this alone. I need you to share this message so that people begin talking.  If we want to reach these 13,000,000 we can't rest. We must pray for opportunities and we must pray for the ability to clearly state how we can bring these children home.

If you, your church, your organization or your business are concerned about orphans, let me come and speak. Give me an opportunity to share what I believe is the heart of God.

        Be The One 

Nothing To Lose

  
  Who has the most joy in their life; the person who has everything to lose, or the person who has nothing to lose?  When an individual has many possessions and is comfortable, he or she has a hard time making any kind of change in their lives. They are afraid to lose everything. Compare this to someone who has decided that they don't need everything and that God knows better what is required in their lives.

     There is a secret to having Joy in your life and it does not involve possessions, careers, money or feeling busy. On the contrary, it often involves losing all of these things, not because they are bad in themselves, but because they create the idea that a person has done something themselves and God can not work through someone who is leading their own way.

     There is a line in a song by the Newsboys that says, "you say I'm living like a beggar; I call it killing the fool."  I love this line because we must all constantly "kill the fool." The fool is the part of us that wants to look like "someone," the person who wants to be noticed either for who we are or what we've done. When we get rid of the fool, we are open to whatever God wants to do in our lives. We have gotten rid of all our expectations of what out lives should look like or what we will become. We have nothing to lose because we have already laid it at the foot of the cross.

     When God puts a call on your life, can you easily say "Yes, Lord," or do you argue and tell him why it is impossible? I encourage you to get rid of all the superfluous parts that have no eternal value and become a person who has nothing to lose.

                 BE THE ONE

The seed, the plant and the fruit.

    

       
                "May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants." Psalm 144: 12     

      I've been in the garden a lot this summer with my adopted son. He loves growing plants. He loves the planting and the picking and even the weeding. When we first started showing him how to garden, he was amazed that the little seeds ended up to be big plants. The kernels of corn grow to ears with silk attached. Radishes are small specks and grow quickly. Flowers are the same way. A small hand is large compared to the tiny grains of life that develop into beautiful colors.
   
     I realized recently that we are the same way with out children. We see them when they are small and we think we know what they will look like when they are grown.  We see a bean seed and think we know, "our child will be a bean, of course."  However, God has the blueprint and often what our children will become is not what we image. Over the last 22 years of being a parent, I have been amazed and surprised to see what my children have developed into. Their interests are varied: from hockey and calculus to dance and Shakespeare. From journalism and baseball to horses and soccer.
   
     As parents of children we haven't birthed, I think we do more watching than expecting. We don't have genetics to go from, so we pay more attention to their interests. Sometimes we, knowing their past, try and steer them away from certain things.  We need to remember that their interests come from God and he is the one growing them. We can never truly know what the final result will be: what God is creating for His glory.  

     We must remember that God uses everything. He uses the earthworm and the rain, the sun and the minerals from rocks to raise up for himself  "well-nurtured plants." We then only need to tend them; to make sure they get enough water and that the sun does not wither them. We need to keep out the harmful pests and sometimes stake them next to a strong support so that they will grow tall
 
      Once the plant is grown, there should also be fruit; however, sometimes the fruit takes years to grow. The apple tree planted won't produce fruit for many seasons. The watermelon may look ripe on the outside but on the inside it is still undeveloped and needing many days to ripen. It takes patience to be a gardener and it takes patience to be a parent especially an adoptive parent. Praise God that he is patient with us and that he is not finished with me (or the children given to me) yet.

                    Be The One

God will bring it to completion.

  I was reading out of the Gospel of Luke recently about the temptation of Jesus and I noticed something new. It said, "he (the devil) left him (Jesus) until an opportune time." Often we think of the temptation of Jesus as being a 1x thing, but it was ongoing in his ministry. Jesus confronted Satan often. It is the same with us - Satan comes at "opportune" times when we are at our weakest, when something is at stake, or when we are ready to move into something God has for us.

     I recently realized, as I was having a lot of difficulty with one of my adopted children, that Satan was using  the difficulty to try and ruin my credibility with adoption. I heard this small voice saying, "How can you advocate for adoption, if your own adopted kid is wrecking havoc on your family?"

     As soon as this thought came into my mind, I recognized it for what it was - a spiritual battle. Praise God that this was followed quickly with a sense of God's strength. I did not have to listen to that lie. I could pray my way through using scripture and remembering God' promises. How one of my children turn out does not prove or disprove whether we should adopt, anymore than what a child born to you becomes can prove or disprove whether you should have kids. I don't have to make it work. I only have to be obedient.

     I didn't ask for adoption anymore that I asked for birth children. They are a part of my life, a blessed part, and I will train them up under God's guidance, but it is God who will bring them to completion.


              BE THE ONE

The Albaster Jar

God showed me something today. I was reading a book in which the author reviewed the story of the woman breaking her alabaster jar and pouring the expensive perfumed oil on Jesus's feet. This author asked several questions which really made me think and I wanted to share some of my thoughts because often when we come to the question of adoption, we ask ourselves How much does God really want us to do? and How much sacrifice is good for our family?

The first question is what is waste?  Both Judas and the disciples thought the woman was wasting the oil by pouring it on the feet of Jesus. One definition of  waste is "to spend or use carelessly or uselessly." What they were saying was that there came a point where giving to Jesus went beyond what was acceptable. Now coming from Judas (someone who did not Know the Lord), this criticism is understandable and most Christians can dismiss it by saying he was greedy. However, it was the rest of the disciples who we should look at. They were Indignant (Mark 14:4). They obviously thought that there came a point where we "waste ourselves" on our Lord. There might be a point where he asks too much of us.

So, the second question is this: When do we think God is asking too much? Do you ever find yourself saying, "God, you know I love you, but this thing is too hard. I will follow where you want me to go, but I've got to draw the line right here___________." Friends, I have thought this. I have thought that maybe God was asking too much. Surely, he wouldn't want me to sacrifice my family, or my relationships, or my health to do this thing. After reading this scripture again, it made me want to cry. How sad that after giving our lives to the Lord and accepting his gift of salvation we still hold something(s) back.

Question three then is this: Do you trust Jesus? If, after going half way on this journey he has you on, do you stop and look back as Lot's wife did, sighing at having wasted something? If so then you have not given your whole heart. Mary did not hesitate to give everything. There was no regret in her actions; only total surrender to the One who had given her true Life. We know God is love and his will is perfect. We also know he never asks us to do something we can't handle (without his help). If we trust Him, we will give up all our worries, anxiety and doubts, and embrace His will in our lives.

Question four: What is in your alabaster jar? or What do you need to waste on Jesus?
Is is a comfortable life, your retirement, your youth or your strength? Could it be your family, your children, your career or your hobbies? Remember Jesus said "no one who has left (broken their jar) home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times (emphasis mine) as much in this present age... and in the age to come, eternal life." (Mark 10:29-30)

My prayer for those reading this is that God will show you (and me) what we need to give up to him who gave his all to us. That we would readily give that thing up and joyfully walk forward into his will for our lives.

                                                           Be The One