I Press On...

Summer Fun II is coming, but I had some things on my mind that I wanted to share first. I am reading the book Radical by David Platt right now. It has a very convicting message. Back in the fall, God gave both Brent and I the word "Radical." This was before we knew about the book coming out and before we were even serious about adopting. When we began to really pray and seek about the whole adoption thing we began to connect some dots. Maybe this was part of the "radical" God was calling us to. However, after reading this book, I am not sure it ends there. The question David asked last night was, "Do we believe the reward found in Jesus is worth the risk of following him?"

As I was thinking about how this relates to our adoption, the radical that God has currently called us to, I wanted to clarify some things. I know that many think we are crazy. Many have told me to my face and many more, I am sure, have talked behind our backs. We have been asked about how they will adjust, about their past and how emotionally hurt they have been. We have been asked about how we will communicate with them. Others have asked if we are worried about bio kids and how this will affect them. I was asked how we would pay for their college and if I could afford them. Many, many of you have just asked why? Why would you spend thousands of dollars and bring two possibly troubled children into your perfect little family? The short answer is...Jesus!


I am not going to pretend that I have all the answers and that I do not fear. I have had MANY fearful moments these last couple of months. There have been lots of moments where I ask myself, "what have we done?" However, I have an overwhelming peace that cannot be explained apart from knowing our Lord. When I study the word and Jesus' life I am encouraged that we ARE in the center of God's will for our life.


Many in America, even some of the largest TV evangelists, will tell you that you can know you are in the center of God's will for you life when things are going good for you and you are prospering. I am sorry, but that is NOT what the Bible says. Jesus sent his disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead and cleanse those who have leprosy. In other words, they were to go where nobody else would and put themselves at risk of disease. He also sent them out to be "sheep among wolves." He told them that All men would hate them because of Him. This doesn't sound like the prosperity gospel to me!


I want you to know that we do not expect all to be a fairy tale with this adoption. We know we have some tough days ahead. We do not want you to think that when the tough days come, that we are assuming that we made a mistake and maybe we misunderstood our calling. We are 100% sure that this is what God wants us to do. We are confident that what God has called us to, He will give us the the strength to walk through.


The question then is: What is God calling you to do? Not everyone is called to adopt, but we are all called to care for the poor, the sick, the orphan and the widow. I know that there have been MANY missed opportunities to serve God in my life. Far too often I choose to serve myself. I know that this adoption is a very small sacrifice compared to the others around the world who have given their lives and maybe even their family's lives for the gospel to be spread. I am not pretending to have the answers or that I have figured it all out. I struggle EVERYDAY to deny self and some days I succeed part of the time and many days I do not.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers (& sisters), I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But, one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philipians 3:12-14

The scripture above is my prayer. I may have failed in the past (maybe even this morning:-), but I will continue to press on and not give up. This was a hard post to write, but it has been weighing on me. I hope it spoke to someone. Even as I was writing it, God was speaking to me! Have a great weekend! Summer Fun II is coming soon....