Remembering Memories We've Made and Making New Ones

I'm so grateful for three of my very best friends: Rachel, Eranda, and Christina. I love these girls so much! They have seen the good and the bad (and sometimes the very bad) of me and they still like me - amazing, really! We met in 1998 in college in Maryland. Rachel, Eranda, and I were all just starting as freshman, and Christina had the . . . um, . . . privilege to be my RA. (And I have repeatedly apologized for everything I put her through!) We hit it off, and in spite of us all living in three different states (soon to be four) and through all the other changes that have happened through college, grown-up life, marriages, babies, and everything else, we have managed to stay close. One of the great things about us is that it doesn't matter if it is two of us, three of us, or all four of us together, we get along great individually and all together. We try to make sure that we get in at least one visit every year, although the more we fit in the happier we are! Every now and then, I like to spend some time going through the pictures we've collected over the years and relive some of the good times we've had. Of course, it is even better to make new memories together, and that is just what we're about to do! We're leaving today to get together for a week at the beach (with our families tagging along). What could be better than that?! Not much!

Baby Steps

With a hop

and a skip

we have moved two steps up!

Two steps closer to getting our referral. Two steps closer to traveling to meet our little boy. Two steps closer to bringing him home. Two steps closer. They are baby steps, but I'll take them!

Not Quite

They might not wrestle, they might not play rough, they might not try to figure out how everything works, they might not be obsessed with a ball or a car, they might not enjoy yelling for the pure joy of making a loud noise, BUT . . .

Here's proof that my girls are not quite 100% girlie girls.

 Obviously, they do like to play in the mud.

A Milestone

Yesterday marked a spiritual milestone for me. Twenty-five years ago, on March 24th, I made the most important decision in my life - I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. Even though it was a long time ago and I was very young, I remember everything about that moment as clearly as if it had just happened. Growing up as a pastor's daughter, I was practically raised in church and knew all the right answers. On that day, however, it all came together. I realized that I had to make a personal decision for myself to ask Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to take charge of my life.

I thank my parents for the role that they played in my spiritual life. Their end goal was not that I become a Christian - that was just the starting point. They modeled, discipled, and encouraged  me to make my faith in Jesus a part of my daily life and a deciding factor for every decision I make - whether big or small. I also thank Andy for being such a spiritual encourager in my life. He prays for me daily and promotes my growth in my walk with Christ. Also, even though they don't realize it, Emma Lee and Kerri greatly impact my spiritual growth. Nothing makes me want to model Christ more than the knowledge that they are constantly watching and learning from me.

Although twenty-five years as a believer should bring great joy and excitement to me (and it does), I have to admit that my strongest reactions are ones of sadness and disappointment . . . in myself. Twenty-five. Twenty-five years of being a Christian. Does my location on the map of my journey with Christ match how far I should be after twenty-five years? I feel like after that long I should be so much ahead of where I actually am. These feelings and a talk with Andy led to my searching the Scriptures to develop a plan for this next year. What spiritual changes do I want to see in my life this year? I don't want to look back in the next year or decade or after another twenty-five years and be in the same place that I am right now.

My number one goal is to become a stronger "ambassador for Christ" (2 Cor. 5:20). Whoever I come in contact with should know (because I make it clear through my words and not just my actions) that I represent Christ. 2 Cor. 5:16 says, "Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh." I must not evaluate people as people but as souls destined for either heaven or hell. I can't meet someone, have a nice conversation with them, and walk away thinking what a nice person they are. I must look past their "flesh" to find out if they know their eternal destination. 

Witnessing is probably my weakest point in my Christian walk. I have met many people who irritate me because it seems like all they do is talk "Christianese," and sometimes it comes off as more of a show than being based in sincerity. Many times in the past, I have used this as an excuse for myself because I wanted to avoid becoming someone like that. I have often relied on the thought, "Well, my actions can show people that I'm a Christian, I don't have to come right out and talk about it." However, if I really believe that I know the only way to be saved and many of the people I come in contact (however briefly) do not have this knowledge, shouldn't I share it with them and not leave it up to their wild guesses or imaginations? I know that there is a balance between these two extremes, and I don't think that with my nature and personality I have to worry about going overboard - it has merely been an excuse. It is my prayer that for the rest of my life God will use me to help lead others to Him.




  

What's a Mommy to Do?

Kerri has so many cute little faces and expressions, and each one is almost impossible to say no to! (The times I do manage to resist her charm, I'm usually having to fight to hold in my laughter.) I have a feeling it is only going to get worse the older she gets!

Why Adopt?

 I recently read through a sermon from John Piper about adoption. It pretty much sums up why we made our decision to grow our family through adoption. The following is a summary (along with a few thoughts of my own) of the parts of his sermon that really apply to the decisions that we have made. You can find the entire sermon here.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. - Eph 1:3-6

Adoption is part of God's plan and for His glory (Eph 1:5-6). God's rescuing us from our sin was not an afterthought. In the same way, adoption has always been a part of our (God's) plan for our family. We are not adopting because we can't have our own biological children (obviously); instead, we feel that it is something that God has called our family to do. This isn't because we are great and extraordinary people. Andy and I are not adopting because we are wonderful or because we are seeking the praise and approval of others. We are adopting for God's glory; just as our adoption into God's family is for God's glory.

Adoption is through Jesus Christ. "We were not cute little orphans that God was attracted to; we were enemies in rebellion against God" (Rom. 5:6; 5:10). Our adoption into God's family is not based on our being worthy or cute or attractive. "It is based on the free and sovereign grace of God planned before the world and bought for us by the blood of Christ." We love because we have been loved. Following God's example, our adopted son is loved freely without meeting any conditions. We will not wait to love him until he obeys us; we will not wait to love him until he responds to us; we will not wait to love him until he loves us; we love him now - before he even knows us or even realizes that we exist.

"We are adopted by God that we will rejoice that God made much of us." Again, it comes back to God's glory. Every believer knows that without Christ our best is merely filthy rags. We do not accomplish things in our own strength but through His. Similarly, in adopting our son, our aim is not to "take a child's low views of self and replace them with high views of self. Rather our aim is to take a child's low views of God and replace them with high views of God."

Finally, adoption must occur with our eyes wide open. (This really relates to adding children to your family through whatever means because certainly problems with children are not unique to adoption.) We understand that there will be pain but there will also be joy. We know that "the grace of God is sufficient for every new day no matter how difficult. . . . His mercies are new every morning and there will be mercies for every weight and wonder on this new path in our lives."

Nothing Says Happy St. Patrick's Day Like Green Food!