boys will be boys

10 things I now notice since I have had boys…

1. “Scoops!!” (back hoes on the side of the road)
2. “Mac’s!!” (Mac Trucks)
3. the picking of and eating of boogers
4. anywhere outside is a good place to pee
5. train tracks “where trains live, mommy” and “choo choo Trains”
and “freight trains”
6. going outside requires covering yourself with something that would require a
bath when you come back inside
7. hugs leads to wrestling
8. worms, bugs, ants, anything that moves
9. anything with cheese is better
10. there is no such thing as “good shoes”

I love my little boys!

my colorful God

ever since i was a teen i wanted babies from all around the world of every different color. i always thought it would be such a beautiful picture of our God. i have loved traveling all around the world and worshiping our God with friends of different cultures….

dancing around the wooden pews at a church in Ghana, clapping and chanting in their language and then in ours “Jesus is the winner man!”, then in china all sitting and kneeling down in an apartment singing fervently, then in india with the benjara people …. and so many more beautiful memories..i have seen just a small glimpse of heaven. i want my all my children to realize the beauty of every culture and color and that God created each of us unique and beautiful.

in tonight’s adoption class they spoke of the possible hardships my ethiopian baby girl may face if we raise her in america just because of her heritage and color. they spoke of how people may assume value or treat her differently, they talked about things people may say, things she may struggle with growing up in a family of a different color, or growing up as a minority. my heart saddened as I realized more and more how evil our world is.

(p.s. have you ever noticed walmart’s doll aisle is pretty scarce of asain, hispanic, and african babies, and even the christian books stores are lacking greatly too.)

as I am thinking about how I am going to answer different questions my little one may have or comments from other people…i remember hearing someone once say that they were colorblind…but maybe there is a better term.. because we don’t want to be blind to the beauty of the color and cultures that make up God’s beautiful creation we need to appreciate each one. we are all different..no one really is exactly like you or even your exact color… if mary kay were to really get it right she would never be able to carry all the different colors of foundation. and yes…. i am not going to know how to do her hair, but for goodness sake I don’t even know how to do mine!! and don’t worry she won’t be lookin’ all nappy, i got some friends that said they will hook me up when the time comes.

my prayer for all my children is that they will be surrounded by people of every color who will see their value. that they will each see themselves through God’s eyes and not listen to the cruelty in this world. and for my beautiful little african baby girl, that i have yet to meet, that she will see that she is priceless and that her color and heritage are just a few of the many things that make her so very special.

i welcome any ideas of how i can prepare for my little one and/or suggestions on how to respond to randoms we may face...

God provides

Today is the day I send my eldest to the Honor Academy.… well okay he doesn’t really belong to me.

Though Tony has only lived with us for 2 weeks I somehow feel a responsibility for him. As I was pushing my way through the school supply aisle the other day at wal-mart I felt an overwhelming sense, like I am sure most moms feel, of pride and yet sadness to see him go.

Tony grew up in Baghdad, Iraq and doesn’t remember most of his childhood. In his early teens he helped American soldiers with translation, as a messenger, and much more. Because he served the soldiers he and his family began to get death threats from terrorist. He fled to Amman, Jordan where a friend brought him to our partners that work among Iraqi refugees there. It was the first time Tony ever heard about Jesus and he immediately recognized God’s love for him and ask Jesus to be Lord of his life. He began to attend our partners school. They saw Tony’s passion for God and helped him get to the states to finish highschool education. We meet Tony in Amman and have been connected to him ever since. We know he has God’s grace is on his life.

He came to our house a turning point in his life, not sure what God had for him next. He has always felt like God would have him in a ministry of some sort and has a servant’s heart. He talked about getting a job to get some money or joining the army but he knew neither of them is what God really wanted. We had been praying for him and prayed with him. The following days we began to share with him about the Honor Academy. He had heard Ron Luce speak at a Creation Festival and met him. The Honor Academy is a one year internship with Teen Mania Ministries, I went there when I was 18. It like have 4 years of spiritual and emotional growth packed into one with Bible, life, business, and mission training. It cost $8,400 for the class, room, food, and travel.

We have all watched a miracle of God unfold as in a little over a week God has provided… $4,330 plus a $1000 scholarship, miracles with his paperwork, shots, health insurance and a doctor appointment. It is no doubt that this is God’s doing and God wants Tony in Texas!

To read a story a local paper wrote about Tony:http://fcobserver.com/183/news/never-afraid

To watch a video about the Honor Academy:http://vimeo.com/10877368

If you want be on Tony’s prayer email update let me know. If you want to give go here and enter Tony’s code: 2624300

seeds

i was talking to one of my dearest friends in CA and we both ordered the same cds and got them in the mail yesterday within hours of our conversation - without even talking to each other.

If you want to hear of mom adventures on the west coast check out her blog.

great minds think alike! and they are already my favorite! seeds is kids' music that sings scripture. Highly recommended! :) click on my "i insist" list for a link. :)

Is He my reason for living?

I remember a cassette tape being passed around when I was in my late teens between my friends and I. It was a worship service where the pastor was talking about the martyrs, the countless men, women and children who have given up their lives because of their belief in Jesus.

I remember the pastor talking telling a true story of little girl that was dragged out in a roman theater where tens of thousands of on lookers were watching as hungry lions devoured her because she would not deny Christ. He talked about what it might have be like in heaven to ask that girl why she did it. He voiced what her response might be… “sure I was scared...all those lions... and all those people...but it was worth it because you see...He was my reason for living”.

As I am helping my husband put together a power point for a conference he is sharing at this week on “God’s call”.. that voice keeps ringing in my ears. “He is my reason for living”

We often talk about the cost of obeying God, of believing God is who He says He is. What will it cost us? Our comforts, our pride, maybe our friends, or our family, maybe even our lives… like it did this week for a 21 year old son of a man that was about to speak before Jonathan at this conference. He and his team were killed by terrorist in the middle east this weekend. But my question is not how much it cost but …

Is it worth it?

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. Philippians 3:7-9

Luke 14:33 The same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

John 12:23-25 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

jealousy

so many things to write about but this one keeps lingering in my heart. as i have been reading through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations and now onto Ezekiel i see a repeating theme. my all powerful God endlessly loving His people, His people repeatedly betraying Him with other “lovers” (putting other things, people, gods, etc. before God), my jealous God’s heartbroken anger, and then His massive mercy as He rescues His “bride” (His people) and forgives over and over. betrayed by His lovers actions… as over and over she “prostitutes herself out with many lovers” (Jeremiah 3:1) and then comes back to God when all her lovers fail her. she is married to the almighty God who has shown her His endless love over and over again yet she leaves His deep endless love for the “lovers” who do not care.

she sobs through the night; tears stream down her cheeks. among all her lovers, there is no one left to comfort her. all her friends have betrayed her and become her enemies. Lamentations 1:2

reading through this so reminds me of myself. i have access to the almighty God and yet over and over again i put “things” before God; my agenda, my husband and children, my thoughts, my desires… God wants all of me not the sloppy seconds/thirds extra. He wants to be number one… He wants to be the first one i run to when i am happy and when i am sad, He wants to hear my voice all throughout the day, He wants me to ask Him what His will is and watch me walk out His will. He wants my time, my thoughts, my all. He wants to be my center.

He is a jealous God and it breaks His heart as He hears me say with my mouth “I love you, Lord” and with my actions…ignore Him. it angers Him. He knows who He is and what He deserves… yet His all powerful love and mercy takes me back again and again through His own sacrificial gift of Jesus.

what “things” have you been prostituting yourself out to. what other things have you put before the almighty God.

you must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.

Exodus 20:5a

Prayer: this past week a family i know from my texas years suffered a great tragedy. one brother gave another brother 2/3^rd of his liver in order for him to live. the surgery went as expected until the brother that gave the liver went into cardiac arrest and went brain dead from lack of oxygen. he left the world a lot earlier than his family, wife and three young children expected. please pray for the arnold family. the wife and children, the brother that received the liver and his family and all the others. though they know he is with Jesus, there is much grieving for the sudden loss.