The devotion I have shared recently from Shaohannah's Hope concludes on day 14, I thought I would share it with you all.
Day 14: The cost of Adoption
" God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ... and it gave him great pleasure... He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son..." Ephesians 1:5,7
Our adoption by God cost us nothing. However, it did cost God something; it cost
HIM HIS SON. The high fees and costs for adoption today are indefensible, but they are not inconceivable.
Adoption is costly. Whether in the realm of finances, emotions, relationships, time,or effort, adoption will cost. But think of what it cost God, and yet He was willing to undergo that cost, and not simply to undergo it, but to undergo it with joy! It gave Him great pleasure! What kind of upside down world is this? What pain and loss God must have experienced, and yet he delighted in bringing us into his family! In our world of risk-averse, safety-first, immediate gratification, we often lose sight of the truth that some endeavors are worth the cost.
The adoption journey is not easy, but every hour of toil, every obstacle encountered, tear shed, every sleepless night, are all but a shadow of the price that God paid for us. Jesus came to be a ransom for many(Matthew 20:28), and if God was willing to pay that ransom for us, how much more will He be willing to lead us in ransoming His beloved children from their state as orphans? And it is His love that compels us onward in obedience, whatever the cost, for He who calls us is faithful. Our God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who is rich in mercy and grace, who generously provides for all that we need, this God knows the costs we will incur, and promises to be with us and every step of the way. This is about faith in action. This is an invitation to experience God in ways we've never experienced Him before.
In Matthew, Jesus says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." God's heart is invested in adoption. Let us view the costs, both known and unforeseen , as an invitation for us to invest our resources, and therefore our hearts, into things of God. Don't be afraid to ask others to join you in your adoption journey, supporting you financially, and personally, for the body is made up of many parts, and we all need one another. Let others have the opportunity to invest in the things of God as well. "Carry one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).
What are some of the costs that are related to adoption that I can meet with the joy of Christ? How am I affected by the truth that God purchased my position in His family with the blood of His son, Jesus? What does this mean for my life?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Going on Faith / Dossier fee
We received today a bill from our agency, Holt International. It is the Dossier fee for $2795.00. As most of you know we are going on faith with our adoption related expenses and have committed not to go into debt. So we put before God and all of you this need. Holt's mailing address is Post Office Box 2880, Eugene Oregon, 97402. I imagine the agency could be contacted directly by any interested donors and of course you can contact us directly. We know God will find a way to meet our needs. God bless.
Worth the Wait
We finished the 14 day devotion that Shaohannah's Hope sent us. I wanted to share day 12 with everyone, its message meant a lot to us.
Day 12: Worth the Wait
"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope." Psalm 130:5
While at a Steven Curtis Chapman concert highlighting the need for adoption, a security guard backstage excitedly approached me and said, "I want to share with you what God did for my family through adoption." "Over thirty years ago," he began, "my wife and I wanted to have a child, but we were not able to biologically. We then prayed about adoption and felt led by God to adopt a little boy from South Korea. However, after filing our paperwork, we found out that because my wife has been a type I diabetic since her childhood, we were disqualified from adopting due to current regulations. We were not only emotionally crushed but also confused because we really felt that God had said that there was a little boy for us in Korea. What was God doing? Had we heard the Shepherd's voice rightly?
"Several years later the adoption agency called and said that the regulations had changed and they had a little boy that we would be eligible to adopt from Korea if we were still interested. Of course we said yes, went through the process, and adopted him. "Thirty years after the adoption, my wife became terribly ill from kidney failure. Every family member was checked to find a match for a kidney transplant, but none of us were close enough. Due to my wife's condition and age, she was so far down on the list of priority there was basically no chance she would receive a stranger's kidney.
"Our adopted son then asked to be tested as a possible kidney donor; however, knowing that he was adopted, the hospital refused. Determined to find out whether his blood type was even compatible with that of his adoptive mother's, he went to the local blood bank and gave blood. And only as God's sovereignty could design, not only was our son a blood match, but in fact he also passed all the hospital tests and miraculously ended up being his adoptive mother's kidney donor!
"Looking back at the wait and setbacks we had endured to adopt our son, God's timing could not have been more perfect. God knew exactly how to connect us to the child he created for us. My wife used to become saddened knowing she had never experienced carrying a baby in her womb; however, after her transplant, she told my son that her greatest joy is that for as long as she lives, she will always carry a part of him within her." "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12).
During the times of waiting in my life, am I willing to put my faith in God and His plan?
Day 12: Worth the Wait
"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope." Psalm 130:5
While at a Steven Curtis Chapman concert highlighting the need for adoption, a security guard backstage excitedly approached me and said, "I want to share with you what God did for my family through adoption." "Over thirty years ago," he began, "my wife and I wanted to have a child, but we were not able to biologically. We then prayed about adoption and felt led by God to adopt a little boy from South Korea. However, after filing our paperwork, we found out that because my wife has been a type I diabetic since her childhood, we were disqualified from adopting due to current regulations. We were not only emotionally crushed but also confused because we really felt that God had said that there was a little boy for us in Korea. What was God doing? Had we heard the Shepherd's voice rightly?
"Several years later the adoption agency called and said that the regulations had changed and they had a little boy that we would be eligible to adopt from Korea if we were still interested. Of course we said yes, went through the process, and adopted him. "Thirty years after the adoption, my wife became terribly ill from kidney failure. Every family member was checked to find a match for a kidney transplant, but none of us were close enough. Due to my wife's condition and age, she was so far down on the list of priority there was basically no chance she would receive a stranger's kidney.
"Our adopted son then asked to be tested as a possible kidney donor; however, knowing that he was adopted, the hospital refused. Determined to find out whether his blood type was even compatible with that of his adoptive mother's, he went to the local blood bank and gave blood. And only as God's sovereignty could design, not only was our son a blood match, but in fact he also passed all the hospital tests and miraculously ended up being his adoptive mother's kidney donor!
"Looking back at the wait and setbacks we had endured to adopt our son, God's timing could not have been more perfect. God knew exactly how to connect us to the child he created for us. My wife used to become saddened knowing she had never experienced carrying a baby in her womb; however, after her transplant, she told my son that her greatest joy is that for as long as she lives, she will always carry a part of him within her." "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12).
During the times of waiting in my life, am I willing to put my faith in God and His plan?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Easter Sunday
We had an incredible service this Easter. We had whats called cardboard testimonies. I have cut and pasted the youtube link to our service as the church put it on the web yesterday. It shows the power of God and how he can change lives. How he can use anyone and can reach anyone no matter what they have done or where they come from. He can even touch a family in Ohio to desire adopting an unknown child from a far away place like Ethiopia. He can change you too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9-Qd_zCHZY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9-Qd_zCHZY
Friday, April 10, 2009
Why is Church Unfulfilling for so many?
We received a packet from Shaohannah's Hope the other day. It has a 14 day devotion along with other information in it. I thought I would share day 3 of the devotion.
Day 3: Why is Church Unfulfilling for so many?
By Kerry Hasenbalg
" As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:26
In much of the American church today there is a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of fulfillment, particularly among the youth, and I believe this is due in large part to how many of us have missed a major ingredient of Biblical Christianity: caring for the Least.
Throughout Scripture and throughout the history of His people, God has called His chosen ones to spend themselves on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow, the prisoner, and the stranger in the land. Because many in the church have turned inward, ignored the outworking of their faith, and have forgotten the poor and needy, our knowledge of God is to a large extent merely intellectual, and hence our faiths often appear more dead than alive. This certainly is not true of every church, every believer, or every mission, but it is true enough because it was true of me.
I was afraid to be like those who were trying to earn their way to heaven with good works because I rightly knew that salvation is by God's grace through faith alone. But out of this fear, I, like many others, stopped working all together. Somewhere along the line, I unconsciously began living a lie that says learning about God, singing about God, and speaking about God is more important than walking like him.
Like so many well-intentioned Christians before me, I had thought I could live out my Christianity in church buildings, in Bible studies, and among friends. I had anticipated a comfortable future of growing and learning and discussing and growing some more. But as I took small steps of obedience, God kept leading me into the fields of the fatherless and the widow, the needy and the marginalized.
The call to follow Christ and the path of the crucified life is difficult, requiring self-sacrifice and obedience, and caring for the Least, God has given us a social context in which to live out these truths and walk in His love. Much of the evangelical church is longing for a deeper experience of God, and the irony is that it is among those we too often ignore and avoid- the orphans, widows, poor, sick, and oppressed- where God said he would be. There we will experience Him, see Him, touch Him, and walk with Him.
Are there people around me who are ignored or forgotten that I can love today? "
As I read this, I was really touched by the phrase where she said, " God has called His chosen ones to spend themselves on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow, the prisoner, and the stranger in the land." This idea of spending ourselves is really something we as Christ followers ought to ponder daily. Are we willing to "spend" our lives for someone else, perhaps who we may not even know? I think in this spending we will find ourselves, and truly have the joy and the peace and the fulfillment that God intends for us to truly have.
How about you?
Day 3: Why is Church Unfulfilling for so many?
By Kerry Hasenbalg
" As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:26
In much of the American church today there is a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of fulfillment, particularly among the youth, and I believe this is due in large part to how many of us have missed a major ingredient of Biblical Christianity: caring for the Least.
Throughout Scripture and throughout the history of His people, God has called His chosen ones to spend themselves on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow, the prisoner, and the stranger in the land. Because many in the church have turned inward, ignored the outworking of their faith, and have forgotten the poor and needy, our knowledge of God is to a large extent merely intellectual, and hence our faiths often appear more dead than alive. This certainly is not true of every church, every believer, or every mission, but it is true enough because it was true of me.
I was afraid to be like those who were trying to earn their way to heaven with good works because I rightly knew that salvation is by God's grace through faith alone. But out of this fear, I, like many others, stopped working all together. Somewhere along the line, I unconsciously began living a lie that says learning about God, singing about God, and speaking about God is more important than walking like him.
Like so many well-intentioned Christians before me, I had thought I could live out my Christianity in church buildings, in Bible studies, and among friends. I had anticipated a comfortable future of growing and learning and discussing and growing some more. But as I took small steps of obedience, God kept leading me into the fields of the fatherless and the widow, the needy and the marginalized.
The call to follow Christ and the path of the crucified life is difficult, requiring self-sacrifice and obedience, and caring for the Least, God has given us a social context in which to live out these truths and walk in His love. Much of the evangelical church is longing for a deeper experience of God, and the irony is that it is among those we too often ignore and avoid- the orphans, widows, poor, sick, and oppressed- where God said he would be. There we will experience Him, see Him, touch Him, and walk with Him.
Are there people around me who are ignored or forgotten that I can love today? "
As I read this, I was really touched by the phrase where she said, " God has called His chosen ones to spend themselves on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow, the prisoner, and the stranger in the land." This idea of spending ourselves is really something we as Christ followers ought to ponder daily. Are we willing to "spend" our lives for someone else, perhaps who we may not even know? I think in this spending we will find ourselves, and truly have the joy and the peace and the fulfillment that God intends for us to truly have.
How about you?
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Its Spring!
One of my flaws is that I love change (maybe its a strength). So since its spring and everything will be turning green real soon I thought I would change our Blogs template for a fresh new look. Hope you like it.
Shohanna's Hope
Well on Thursday we mailed out all of the documents we needed to assemble to apply for a grant from this incredible organization. We are very hopeful that they will award us with a large amount that will enable us to get closer to bringing our child home. Please pray that God will work all this out and we will be awarded a nice size grant. I for one can almost taste all of this getting done. Of course I am not always as patient as I ought to be at times. haha
Friday, April 3, 2009
Referral
We were blown out of the water a few days ago. We actually received a child referral. We are still in the dossier stage and in need of all sorts of documents and then some additional cash (about $2000)just to complete this stage. Then we have the last stage where we need an additional $9000 and thats when you typically begin waiting for the referral. So needless to say we were shocked. It was a for a young girl who is 4 years old. We had stated in our home study we would accept up to age 3 but we really wanted 0-12 months. When the agency spoke to my wife they told her we would have to update our study to include this age. We had just completed our study Feb 14. After days of talking, praying about it and even fasting for a bit, as hard as it was we decided to say no. It was a hard thing to do, to say no to a child. But both Lisa and I had a peace about it and felt like this was not what God had for us. It was still very hard to do. We are now back on the path that we thought we were on and plowing through the paperwork. Pray for us as we are quite busy with life in general and the added demands of the adoption. God will provide the way through though we know.
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