My favorite "Gotcha day" videos

When adoptive parents are finally given their child it is often called "Gotcha Day." There are countless "gotcha day" videos on You Tube, and I must confess, I watched quite a few of them. The one I posted today is one of my all time favorite. This is a Korean adoption and gives you a pretty good idea of what we will experience when we recieve our baby girl. The Korean woman holding the baby is the child's foster mother. It is definitely a bitter sweet moment.

What I'm Reading

I’m currently reading the book entitled Putting Amazing Back Into Grace; embracing the heart of the Gospel by Michael Horton. I consider this an essential book for all Believers because it takes you back to the Biblical foundations of what it really means to be saved by grace alone. The back cover gives an excellent summary of the book’s premise. It says, “(This book) reminds you of the Reformation's radical view of God and his saving grace, the liberating yet humbling truth that we contribute nothing to our salvation. In it, Mr. Horton makes many noteworthy points." Here are just a few excerpts.

“Some argue that God created humans because he wanted to have creatures who loved Him of their own free will…Once again the Psalmist offers the Biblical answer to that central question. In the last two lines of Psalm 104:31 it states, ‘May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works.’ This is the purpose behind our creation and our daily existence. For the same reason an artist takes pleasure in his masterpiece, God takes pleasure in His works. Thus, the purpose of our creation is the pleasure of God. It is not for our happiness or pleasure that we exist, but for God’s.”

“Instead of withdrawing from society, then, holiness embraces the world. Instead of viewing the world as the source of sin, we begin to recognize that the world itself is only a reflection of the brokenness we all cause. 'Christian' cars emit exhaust fumes too. Once we see that sin is not ‘out there’ but ‘in here’ we begin to lose our self-righteous distance and we can be agents of reconciliation. ‘For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.’”

Click here to order or read more.

A Great Song

This is one of my new favorite songs...which as you've started to notice, changes weekly! The video isn't the greatest, but it serves the purpose. Enjoy.

365 days later...

Today marks one full year waiting for our referral. Yes, that’s 365 days. I would like to say were close, but to be frank, I have no idea if we are or not. Things have changed so much since we first applied its really hard to say at this point. First, the wait times have consistently been growing longer. What used to be a 10-12 month wait for a referral is now a 16-24 month wait. (I believe some agencies are quoting a two year wait at this point.) Second, domestic adoption in Korea is growing, which is a good thing, but this also complicates things on our end because there are not as many children available for adoption and the few that come available typically have some type of medical problem…most being minor and correctable. The reason this complicates things is if you haven’t agreed to accept a child with a certain need, then your homestudy will be passed by for someone who has. This could be good or bad as we were open to many minor conditions. There is really no way to say how this will affect our wait, its just another factor. With all of these unforeseen complications, we find ourselves in place where we truly don’t know when we will be matched with a baby. It could be tomorrow, next month, this winter, or worse case scenario; next year. Who knows.

Here is what I do know; I do know God’s timing is best. (I don’t like it AT ALL…but I know that.) I do trust that whatever He has planned is for our good because He is always good. I know He is faithful all the time. But right now, today, I don’t like this place. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. I see no end to this wait, and its incredibly frustrating as there is nothing you can do at all and nothing tangible to grasp. God is certainly teaching me to hope solely in Him; to not allow anything to steal my love for Him. It’s a hard lesson, but one I’m slowly, and painfully learning.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself. -2 Timothy 2:13

A Prayer by John Owen

“Holy Spirit, please handle this request gently. I know you will. It feels like a risk, but I can hear myself whispering this prayer, ‘I pray with all my heart that I may be weary of everything else but…communion with Him.’ I think you are already answering that prayer. Pleasures that used to excite me greatly, now excite me less. I’m feeling more empty, more often.”

-John Owen (Puritan theologian 1616-1663)

Visiting Family!

We went to visit my brother-in-law and his family who live outside Oklahoma City. While there, we visited the Murrah Federal Building Memorial. The above message was spray painted by firefighters after the blast. The chairs below represent the people who died. The small chairs represent the children who died. Each one had the name of the person who died.
This is the reflecting pool that runs the length of the park.
We didn't only visit the memorial, we hung out by their GREAT pool! We had such a nice time and the weather was perfect!! I don't know whose feet are sticking out of the round tube?! Humm... I wasn't very observant. (We're all alive!)
We fell in love with their little dog named Winnie! She was darling!

Thanks for the great time! We can't wait to see you again!

New Photos!

Great Quote!

"I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful; but I have never read in either of them: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden."

-St. Augustine

God's Love

I read this post over at 1517 by Todd Pruitt and felt it warranted repeating.

Martin Luther struggled many years to believe that God loved him. As he considered his sin he concluded that a righteous God could not possibly love him. After his discovery of the Gospel of God’s grace he would still struggle mightily against the temptations and accusations of Satan. Luther, famous for his battle with the ancient foe, once wrote:

“Because you say I am a sinner, I will be righteous and saved…I fly to Christ who has given himself for my sins. Therefore, Satan, you will not prevail against me when you try to terrify me by telling me how great my sins are…On the contrary, when you say I am a sinner, you give me armor and a weapon against yourself…for Christ died for sinner…You do not terrify me but comfort me immeasurably.” –Martin Luther

A New Favorite Song

I found this wonderful song by Watermark on itunes, and its now my new favorite! Enjoy.

Hope

We are familiar with the slogan, "No pain, no gain." That is true. But the reverse is true too. If you can't be sure there is going to be gain, you won't endure the pain of obedience to Christ. That is where the Word of God becomes absolutely essential; because your own feelings and all the wisdom of the world is going to tell you again and again, it isn't worth it—

· being a pastor isn't worth it;
· being a wife and mother isn't worth it;
· being honest at work isn't worth it;
· spending evenings at the mission isn't worth it;
· working in the nursery isn't worth it;
· teaching this class of boys isn't worth it;
· staying sober isn't worth it.

That's what your feelings will often say, and that is what the world will often say. But it is NOT what the Scriptures say. The Scriptures say:

Deuteronomy 6:24
The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always.

Deuteronomy 10:12–13
And now, Israel, what does the LORD require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I command you this day for your good?

Jeremiah 32:39–41
I will make with them an everlasting covenant and I will not turn away from doing them good . . . I will rejoice in doing them good with all my heart and with all my soul.

Mark 10:29–30
No one has ever left house or brother or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time . . . with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

Obedience is always worth it!

Copied from, "How Can I Keep on Hoping? The Scriptures!" - by John Piper. Click here to listen or read this sermon in its entirety.

The Zoo

God Has a Sense of Humor!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't care for pets in my home. I don't hate animals, I just don't like them in my house. In spite of this, I have an evil cat, my parents dropped off a dog which still resides in my home, and now.....(drum roll...) I have a salamander. I think God is going to keep sending me pets until I learn to selflessly love them. This situation is quite laughable... if you're not me! At any rate, Drew was mowing the lawn and found this little salamander crawling around in the yard. He put him in a bucket and I didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't keep it. (He was SO excited!) So now my son has a salamander in his room. (and guess what it eats? ....worms & crickets! Seriously...God has a sense of humor!) Here is a photo of "Hydra" the salamander.

....I've learned my lesson...Please no more pets!