Perfection

02 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Lori in Missions

After purchasing 2 buggy’s worth of groceries/items at Sam’s Club yesterday, a thought hit me. So many of us have empty pantries, because we desire perfection in our cooking habits. The media is pounding us with diet and exercise routines. We are afraid we are exposing our kids and families to way too much trans fat and sugar. Perfection is what we desire. So what do we do? Spend money eating out. Hamburger Helper and Shake ‘n Bake Chicken is more than what the typical third-world family eats in a week.  

The American Dream is a beautiful meal, on a beautiful table, with a beautiful spouse, with beautiful clean children, in an organized house, and smiles all around. It is about time and not about perfection. I am a recovering perfectionist. I know.  You would think a perfectionist would have the beautiful house, the perfect word, all her ducks in a row, etc. Nope. A perfectionist has a cluttered house, a stack of unread books, a pile of unwashed laundry. Why start if the end result is not perfection?

Why exercise if I can’t look like Angelina Jolie in one week?

Why clean house when tomorrow it will look like a pig pen?

Why spend time with my spouse, when all they want to do is watch the ballgame?

Why spend time with my kids, when I do not have all the “right” activities lined up?

Why pray, when it will not come out all beautiful and poetic?

Why read my bible, because the commands in there are so overwhelming?

One reason I go on mission trips is to be able to unplug from the American Dream. No one expects me to be perfect. My job is to love people. My team. The Honduran people. That is it. Not saying I necessarily do that well. I don’t. But that is OK. All the trappings of the world are removed for a week. We work hard. We get dirty. We stink. We eat what we are given. We love each other unconditionally.

I am borrowing this verse from one of our missionary’s Facebook post this morning (Mike):

Romans 10:14-15 ESV How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

 

 

 

Provision

27 Jun 2011 2 Comments

by Lori in Provision

I heard the most wonderful sermon yesterday by Jim Beam-Ingram at Wesley United Methodist Church. He revisited Genesis 22, when God told Abraham to take Isaac up the mountain and sacrifice him. Jim’s big point was that this is NOT a story about Abraham’s faithfulness. It IS a story of God’s provision. How, quite possibly, the lamb was there the whole time, and Abraham did not see it until the angel stopped him from sacrificing his son.

Whoa. Are we not looking for God’s provision? Sometimes to accept God’s provision, we have to be willing to put to death the ideas and the plans we have for ourselves. Switch our focus if you will. That can be extremely hard. Abraham was not perfect. He made several mistakes in his life while trying to provide for himself. He finally learned to trust God and had to make the hardest decision of his life.

God’s grace. God’s forgiveness. God’s provision.

I also heard a sermon by Steven Furtick this morning. It was one in a series called “Mr. and Mrs. Betterhalf”. In trying to find a mate, some overly worry about “choosing wrongly”. He reiterated that God is so much bigger than that. I worry about making the wrong choice in so many aspects of my life, even if I feel led by God. He is so much bigger than that. He has a plan for you and a plan for me. If my plan is not of God, it will fail. It may be painful, but His will WILL be done.

Genesis 22:13-14 NLT Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the LORD will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

Proverbs 19:21 NLT You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.

Reunion

25 Jun 2011 Leave a comment

by Lori in Adoption, China

This weekend is my 20-year high school class reunion. As I listened to former classmates talk last night about back problems and teenage kids, I thought “man, I am getting old”. One of my translators in Honduras last week asked me how old I was. When I told her I was 38, she said that her mom is 38. Ouch.

And here we are with a 6-year-old and 2 almost toddlers in China. Some days I feel old. Most days I feel like my life is just starting. A new life. A new chapter. Honestly, God hold of me again once I started reading the bible every day (at the urging of my sweet friend Patty). 1/1/10. Unbeknownst to us at the time, it is our Chinese son E’s birthday. I guess you could say it is my rebirth day.

I am now a more devout Christ-follower, an athlete (sort of), wife, and mom of 3. Sometimes I laugh. Like Sarah in Genesis 18. Verse 12 says that Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Then in vs 14, “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?…”

We had a birthday party our friend’s adopted daughter today. She turned two this week. I look into EG’s beautiful face and know that God has a plan. For EG. For our friends (one of whom graduated high school with me). It has very little to do with our age and more to do with God’s will. It is best.

Psalm 84:10 (ESV) For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Tease

23 Jun 2011 3 Comments

by Lori in Adoption, China

Here is me trying to blog more often (especially because I need to explain the “tease” I mentioned yesterday).

Yesterday, we received an email from our adoption agency. It did not say “you are ready to travel”. It said, “China has received your dossier copy on Z (our second Chinese son), and it is logged in”. A dossier is the mountain of paperwork that tells China everything they need to know about us. Ugh. I thought they had already logged it in. Bill emailed our adoption agency today and asked what we are looking at in terms of wait time. Everyone is asking. EVERYONE is ASKING!They said, “Oh, the next step is to receive the acceptance letter on Z from China. Then your travel will be approved 2-4 weeks after that.” Not encouraged. Sigh.

I love when God takes ahold of my iTunes. Today, instead of listening to the radio at work, I played my iTunes on shuffle. As I was reading these emails and getting discouraged, the songs playing on my iTunes shifted. Rather than jamming music (which is most of what I have), the mood changed over several songs to more contemplative, soothing tunes. Most of which had a “God will help you through” theme. When I finally realized what had happened, the song playing was Steven Curtis Chapman’s ” I Will Trust You”. Here is just a part of it:

God I trust You

I will trust You

I know Your heart is good

I know Your love is strong

And I know Your plans for me

Are much better than my own

Then peace.

Shortly thereafter, we received an email from our adoption agency reassuring us that their representative on the ground in China has spoken with the China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) about our case. The CCCWA is aware of our situation, and hopefully will “speed” up the process.

God is so good. May these empty cribs be filled soon.

  

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Heart and Soul

22 Jun 2011 Leave a comment

by Lori in Adoption, China

I just returned from a mission trip to Honduras. God’s perfect timing. He knew my spirit needed to be with fellow believers for a whole week. Truly being the Acts 2 church. We loved the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. We are back spirit-filled and physically/mentally exhausted.

Acts 2:44-47  And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Next step for us, China. We received a teaser email today. We are desperately waiting for our travel approval. Sometimes (many times) it is overwhelming (like today). Our hopes up, up, up. Then crash! Think of the best gift you have ever received. Go ahead, close your eyes and think about it. Now imagine that instead of receiving the gift, you received a picture. The gift was actually halfway around the world, and you could not get it until certain people did certain things. You could not go get it early. You had no control over when you get it. That’s us.

People ask if we are excited. Yes, but it is not like the excited of having a baby. Our babies are born, and we are separated from them by many many miles. ALL I want to do is get to them, wrap my arms around them, tell them how much I love them and how much God loves them. There are lots of preparations that probably need to be done, but I cannot focus enough to take care of them. I feel I am in the middle of a whirlwind. Life, questions, tasks, work, etc. Right now, it is taking all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength to stay focused on the One who is in control.

It is where I am.

Waiting. Again…

05 Jun 2011 1 Comment

by Lori in Adoption, China Tags: , ,

Well, our Dossier Copy has been sent to China for Z. We have our travel visas in hand. Now, we wait. Again…

I have talked about waiting before. Waiting is good. This is a time to get prepared. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually. Financially.

The next step is getting our travel approval from China. Travel approval means that China has all the paperwork for both boys, and they are ready for us to travel there and pick them up. Right now, Z’s paperwork and E’s paperwork is not together. All the paperwork must come together. Then, China has to coordinate getting the boys together (as they do not live in the same city) and to us once we arrive in the Henan province capital city of Zhengzhou.

As part of preparing, we had a garage sale yesterday. Money to go to China. De-cluttering our home. A cluttered home yields a cluttered mind and spirit. How did we accumulate so much stuff? Would Jesus want it this way? I don’t think so. If I have a lot of “stuff”, I am not free to move when God says move. If my money is tied up in possessions, I cannot give when God says give.

OK, this is me practicing inserting pictures:  The picture is D’s rendition of a Chinese lion. E is inside the lion suit controlling it. D is on the left. Z is on the right. Also, he drew the Chinese symbol for family himself.

Acts 2:45 And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.

What is tying you down do you cannot move for God?

Double portion

21 May 2011 Leave a comment

by Lori in Adoption, Miracles, Prayer

It has been a while since I blogged last. A lot has been going on in our lives over the last few weeks. More about that in a bit.

Our process of adopting from China has been a long road. God put it in our hearts in 2006 to adopt from China. We finally got up the nerve to begin the paperwork process in 2007. Our dossier (the mounds of paperwork that we have to send to China that has every bit of information about us) was “logged-in” on March 30, 2008. After that, we have been waiting. For a girl. One girl.

In February this year, we had to update our Home Study (a written report about our family compiled and prepared by a social worker). The line for a healthy baby girl from China is soooo long. God put the burden on our hearts that there are children in China now who need a forever family. With that in mind, we asked our social worker if she would amend our Home Study to say we would adopt a boy or girl up to 4 years old and would consider a Special Needs/Waiting Child. We also said we would be willing to adopt 2 children.We filled out a medical checklist with our adoption agency and waited.

China opened a new program on September 1, 2010. The new program is called the Special Focus program. The Special Focus children are children whose profiles have not been taken by an adoption agency in 2 months or more. They are on a shared list between agencies. These children usually have more Special Needs, may be older, and are mostly boys. Special Focus children may be adopted by a family who has already adopted from China within the last year without the family having to start over with the dossier process. Also, families who are already matched to a child may adopt a child from the Special Focus list and pick them both up with one trip to China.

Back to our process. After our Home Study was updated, my husband was scrolling through the profiles of waiting children online. A sweet little face popped out at him. After much prayer, we decided to pursue the adoption of a little boy that we will call E. A boy. A BOY! Not girl. Really?!?

So then, a few weeks later, our adoption agency called and asked if we would consider adopting a child off the Special Focus list that we will call Z. Prayer, prayer, and more prayer. Research, research, and more research on his Special Needs. Our immigration status had not been officially changed. (Many thanks to the friends, federal workers, and politicians that helped push our immigration status and fingerprints through.) Our immigration status change finally came in, and yes, we are approved to adopt 2 children up to 4 years old of either sex.

We are currently pursuing the adoption of Z as well as E. They are 3 months apart. Twins, if you will. They live in cities right beside each other. We can send them care packages and pictures. Hopefully, we leave in a couple of months to get our boys. If you want excitement in your life, come to our house!

Whew, when God moves, He moves!

Isaiah 61:7 (NASB)  Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs.

Waiting…

17 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Lori in Adoption, Prayer Tags: , , ,

This past Wednesday, my husband and I went to the USCIS (immigration) to have our fingerprints taken. Again…We are told that it is a 75 day wait for someone to even look at our file. Waiting is not new for us. God told us to look toward China way back in 2006. The difference is we have a child (Di Di) waiting.

Now, let’s take a different look at waiting. Yesterday, our first child “D” decided he wanted to color a picture for Jesus. He wanted Jesus to come get it. Well, we had a discussion about why He could not come get the picture, but He would see it. He would see it before D even colored it. We talked about how Jesus would come back one day. D started to cry. He wanted Jesus to come now. We are all waiting. Waiting for the second coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. No one knows except God when He will return.

Waiting is hard. Waiting has a purpose. What purpose does waiting serve?

  1. Waiting develops patience.
  2. Waiting develops endurance.
  3. Waiting develops character.
  4. Waiting prepares the way for what is to come.
  5. Waiting softens our hearts.

What do we do while we wait? Well, while the disciples were in the upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit to come, they prayed. Not for a minute. Not for an hour. They prayed for days. DAYS!

Isaiah 40:31 ESV. But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Other versions replace the word wait with trust. If we wait and do not give up, it shows that we trust that what has been promised will come true. What do you do while you wait?

Holy Ground

07 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Lori in Prayer

Over the past week, many of my friends have had close family members pass away. Some deaths were unexpected and/or tragic. Some deaths were so peaceful and calm that time seemed to stand still. Almost as if you should take your shoes off, because you are standing on holy ground. Why can’t all deaths be this way? Short answer, so that God may be glorified.

A pastor friend and I were talking about death, and how at that moment the veil is lifted between the world of the flesh and the world of the Spirit. This side of heaven, prayer is the closest we can come to seeing behind the veil. Another pastor that I follow said that he often prays, writes, and preaches barefoot.

There are several prayer postures that I know of:

  1. Kneeling
  2. Bowing
  3. Folded hands
  4. Raising arms/hands
  5. Prostrate
  6. Shoes off
  7. Eyes open or closed
  8. A sweeping of arms, almost like the person is trying to bring a sweet fragrance to their nose

The next time I go into my prayer closet to pray, I believe I will take off my shoes. Hmmm, not sure I will try it at church yet, but I might!

Exodus 3:5. ESV. Then He said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

1 Corinthians 13:12. ESV. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

What is your favorite prayer posture?

Miracles

04 Apr 2011 2 Comments

by Lori in Miracles

I believe in miracles. Where you from. You sexy thing…

Yeah, I am talking about real miracles, not the song by Hot Chocolate. There have been many miracles in my life. Meeting my hubby, the adoption of our first son, the pending adoption of our second son, etc. Mark Batterson of National Community Church says that everybody wants a miracle, we just don’t want to be in a position to need one. Ain’t that the truth? If God would just lay His great plan out there, life would be so much easier, wouldn’t it? But would it be as exciting?!?

Several things have been on my mind and heart about miracles:

  1. No one wants to need one.
  2. Everyone wants one.
  3. To get one, sometimes you have to be willing to look different or silly, risking rebuke/ridicule (like the Israelites marching around Jericho in the book of Joshua)
  4. Marching around the city one time might not be enough.
  5. Sometimes you have to praise God for the miracle, before you see that your prayer was answered. In other words, God can answer your prayer and not tell you for a bit.
  6. You will see miracles everywhere, if you are open to them and look.

Joshua 10:13.  NLT.  So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies.

Praise God!

When have you needed a miracle and God came through?

Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries