Saturday, July 28, 2012

Made Perfect in Love

"God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them. This is how love is perfected in us..." -1 John 4:16-17

"We trust to love the Lord our God not only as we do now, with a weak though sincere affection, but with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Indeed, we expect to be 'made perfect in love.' We look for power to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything."-John Wesley

Lord, help us to trust in your power and grace. Help us to love you with all our heart, soul, and mind. Grant us the strength to rejoice always and give thanks in everything. You are working and with you all things are possible. Amen.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Orphan Ministry in Haiti

Here is a short testimony about the Life is Hope orphanage in Haiti. I have been to Haiti once and our student ministry may be going there next summer (still working on the details). Another example of James 1:27 being lived out!



Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Adoption/Kenzie Update

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to give you some quick updates:

1. Our daughter Kenzie, who was diagnosed with epilepsy, has now been seizure free for over a year. She is on medicine and has not had any side effects. However, on August 13th her neurologist scheduled an EEG just to get an updated look. Otherwise, she is doing great (except now she is a crazy toddler!) Thank you for your continued prayers.

It's tough living in Florida, but someone has to do it...
2. We have completed our home study paper work and our home study interview went very well. We passed! Now the hard part...waiting. In the mean time we will be looking to raise more funds and checking different places for interest free loans. The good news is that several banks and adoption foundations provide interest free loans. And Florida has a great tax credit after you adopt a child which we will use to pay most of the loan back. Adoption is expensive but we are finding numerous "helps" along the way. Thank you again for your prayers and support. Below is a great adoption verse which reminds us that adoption is at the heart of the gospel.


But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” Galatians 4:4-7


Hide that truth in your heart from Galatians: You are no longer a slave--you are not a slave to sin, you are not a slave to your past--you are a child of God. He is your Abba father. This is who you are and this is what God wanted from the very beginning.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Recognizing Jesus

"Perhaps even his own people...the would-be Christian people of the Western world--have not been ready to recognize Jesus himself. We want a "religious" leader, not a king! We want someone to save our souls, not rule our world! Or, if we want a king...what we want is someone to implement the policies we already embrace, just as Jesus's contemporaries did. But if Christians don't get Jesus right, what chance is there that other people will bother much with him?" N.T. Wright
We always have the temptation to mold and shape Jesus into the image we what. Whether that be a conservative republican, a hippy liberal, or a sweet Mr. Rogers like fellow. The fact remains, Jesus transcends our categories and he can never be placed in a box. He is greater and more wonderful than we can ever imagine. The longer I follow Jesus and the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know.

May we stay committed to studying his word and learning his ways. And may we be given the strength to let go of misconceived beliefs and ideas if needed. Even the beliefs we hold dearly.