Our journey is beginning...

I’m getting married in six weeks…43 days to be exact.  So I should be thinking about white dresses, flowers, and dances, right?  Now don’t get me wrong they have been a part of my time, but right now my mind and a good chunk of my heart are half a world away.  I can’t stop thinking of Ethiopia.  So I decided maybe its time to share how the adoption journey began.

Throughout my teenage years, my youth minister and his wife shared a heart for the world with me over and over.  Their home always seemed to have an open door for anyone who needed a listening ear or a place to stay for the night.   They are also amazing parents who helped me see what it meant to raise a child who loved God and his promises. 

However, it didn’t stop there.  I remember sitting in the kitchen of their home one day when Sarah asked to pray for a little boy in Africa.  Little did we know God was preparing to move in this child’s life.  Now, many years later, he is playing soccer at an academy in Philadelphia.  His mother is one of my mother’s best friends.  His father coaches soccer, and he is thriving in an incredible family.  And who is to say that those prayers didn’t play an integral part in that story. 

God has continued to place these stories in my life.  I have watched one of my favorite youth sponsor couples get married and adopt their son through foster care.  God placed me in a church in rural Ohio where I was blessed to watch two amazing middle school girls thriving in their homes.  God had started an adoption journey in their hearts.  Their journey has affected my journey.

Then the amazing man I get to marry soon joined the journey.  As you may have gathered, I have known for a long time that I am called to adopt.  I still don’t know all the details, however I can not ignore that calling.  The only way I can explain it is, have you ever done something, maybe a hobby or a class or a career and it just felt right?  This is how I feel about being a wife and a mother.  Because of this, Tyler and I began talking about adoption about two months into our relationship.  That conversation has grown and progressed continually since then. 

For us, adoption is not a plan B.  It is not because we have had any type of fertility issues or been told that we can not have children.  We have chosen adoption because God has called us to do so.  Adoption is our first choice in how we will grow our family.  Please come along side us.  Pray for us.  Pray God will help us build a strong foundation in our marriage.  Pray for the children God is preparing for us.  Pray for their birth family.  Pray for those who are caring for our children now.  Pray about whether or not God is calling you to be a part of our journey.  Pray about whether God is preparing you for an adoption journey of your own.

Oh and if you want to hear more about our journey, ask.  I love talking about how God is moving in us, humbling us, teaching us, and changing our lives.

Contentment

Contentment. Certainly I'm not the only one struggling with this, right? Yes I know we are called to be content with what we have. We are called to be good stewards. We are to ward off greed. I understand all that...at least my head does. But for me, contentment is bigger than that. Its not about the house I live in or the car I drive or even how much many is in my bank account. Those are not my areas of greatest struggle. I am happy to say that I am greatly blessed. I like where I live, I have a great car which I enjoy, and God has given me more than I need. No, for me the struggle with contentment is dreaming big. I was taught very young to dream big. This was followed up in my teen years with the concept of "Dream Big. Pray Big." After all, we serve a big God, right? Too often, dreaming big leaves me trying to live my tomorrows today. I want to plan out every step. I want to jump ahead. I want all of that now. In my big dreams, I forget that God is working right now, right here, right where I am. I forget that my tomorrows may depend upon what I do today. I get lost dreaming instead of doing what I am called to right now. I forget that being content may mean just being...right here, right now, being who God has called me to be, being obedient to Him. I certainly don't want to stop dreaming, but I also don't want to stop living. Today, I am struggling, but I yearn for contentment.

Are you part of the seven percent?

I very rarely post on this page anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm not writing. I just often find that the topics I have to write about are more suited to our KidMin blog. You can check that out at kidworkz.blogspot.com

However, today my heart is heavy with a topic that is very dear to me. Those of you who know me, know that I am passionate about foster care and adoption. I credit a lot of this to many of my youth leaders growing up. They were passionate about these things and that passion just overflowed from them. Mike & Annie have adopted a child domestically. He is a great kid who is thriving in their home. Shawn & Colleen adopted one of their sons internationally. Tony is an amazing soccer player, great brother, and happy to be loved. Mike & Sarah have four children of their own, but that has not changed their passion for adoption. If they could fit a few more bunk beds in their home, I'm sure they would be thrilled to add to their family.
From a young age, this passion for adoption was stirred in my heart. This love and passion has only grown over the years. However, more recently I have found myself believing that the church is falling short in this area. This Friday, thousands will gather in Washington, DC on the anniversary date of Roe v Wade calling for laws regarding abortion in the United States to be overturned. Yet, in the United States alone there are over 100,000 children already waiting for homes. If laws regarding abortion are repealed this number will only increase. James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress."
Jesus himself saw that the government was often not the answer to many of this world's greatest problems. We have the ability to change the system. Imagine living in a country where there were no orphans. Imagine a place where rather than thousands of children waiting for homes, there were thousands of homes and families waiting for children. What love that would show. What an example of Christ this would be.
"If only 7% of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a single orphan in distress, there would effectively be no more orphans." I read this statistic for the first time this past Sunday. I can't seem to get it off my mind. 7% seems like such a small number. It seems so easily achievable. Yet, I know as some of you are reading this, you're going, "That's not me." I'd like to challenge you to ask yourself, "Why not?" Or maybe you're saying, I care about adoption, but I can't bring a child into my home right now. There may be many reasons for that to be true. So I would ask you to consider supporting those who can. Educate yourself (and others) on adoption. Promote its value to those in your family, church, community, circle of friends. Offer support to those who are pursuing adoption. They will need a community around them to help support emotionally, physically, and most of all prayerfully. Consider supporting adoption financially, whether by supporting a family who is adopting or an organization promoting and facilitating adoption. Stand beside those families who have brought a child into their home. They need you too.
Or maybe God is stirring your heart. Maybe He is calling you to be part of the 7%. Let me celebrate with you. I know He is calling me to that. I don't know what that looks like. I don't know how it will play out in my life. However, I am excited. I am so thankful that He is choosing to use me as an instrument of His love in the life of a child.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." -The Lorax

I run because...

So in America we have this weird tradition of setting goals and deciding to be a better person on New Years. I guess it is because it is a very poignant reminder of a fresh start. As 2011 began to draw to a close, I began to plan with some friends a trip to NYC to watch the ball drop and visit the wonderful Fulgenzis, who we hadn't seen since graduation.
Those plans didn't quite pan out the way we imagined. Instead of spending a few days in New York, those same friends were helping me pack and prepare to take a leap of faith and move to Gallipolis, OH, where I would soon begin working at Gallipolis Christian Church as the Children's Minister.
Through all of this hustle and bustle, I made a resolution of my own. I decided that before 2012 ended, I would complete a 5k. I didn't want to walk it. I wanted a decent time, and something that would require some effort. At that time, I'm not sure I had any idea what that would mean over the next 8 months. For any of you who don't know, my parents were told when I was born that I would never walk. I've had three knee surgeries as well as physical therapy and chiropractic care for most of my life.
Toward the end of February, the craziness of moving started to calm down and at a time when most of us have given up on our resolutions, I was reminded of mine. I decided if I was really going to do this, I knew I didn't have the motivation to do it alone. So I asked a friend to run with me. This began the process of preparation.

I knew that preparation would mean walking, jogging, running, working out, etc. And there were a few set backs along the way. A busy summer schedule, severely broken toe in June, and developing shin splints about a month ago all tried to keep me from reaching my goal. However, reaching my goal hasn't only been about the exercise. It has also changed the way I think about my free time. It has made me way less stressed. (Running is the biggest stress reliever I have ever experienced). It changed the way I eat and the way I take care of my body. And it has taught me about perseverance.
So today I ran 3.1 miles in 33:25. I am thrilled with that. But I am even more thrilled that God placed a goal in my heart and used that goal to change my lifestyle.

I run because...I like dessert.
I run because...its cheaper than therapy.
I run because...I like accomplishing a goal.
I run because...I've chosen to be healthy.
I run because...it gives me energy.
I run because...it improves my mood.
I run because...I believe my body is a temple.
I run because...of all the people who told me I couldn't.
I run because...of the people who have believed in me along the way.
I run because...I have an awesome God.
I run because...I can.
I run.

Not mine

Today, God is teaching me a hard lesson. While I'm sure I've heard it hundreds of times, I believe it may be setting in for the first time. Today, God is teaching me that my ministry is not mine. On the contrary, my ministry is His. You see God has given me time, talents, a location. He has supplied me with what I need to do what I do. He has also given me the ability to make my own choices, to screw up, to fall down. Now at first, this sounds terrible. Why would a great, all-powerful, loving God allow me to screw up a ministry that is not mine to begin with, but His. That is the moment where I stand in awe and amazement. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." You see it is in my weakness rather than my strength where God is so often seen. When I mess up, He shows up. And when I feel like its all falling apart, I am finally ready to let go and allow Him to take over. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and I strive to do it with excellence. However, I am human. I will mess up. I will fall down. And there is something amazing and something freeing in the knowledge that when I do, God will still be there. His name will still be glorified. His message will still be shared. And most of all, He will still love me. So today, I am reminded that yes I do make mistakes. However, as I work to fix those mistakes, God is reminding me that He is still King and He is still good.

The Power of Your Words

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about words. Words have a lot of power. In a split second, words have the power to change a person’s mood, day, or even their life either positively or negatively. Proverbs 18:21 says, The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Stanford University recently did a study about the words spoken into the lives of children. On average, in households where parents are professionals and highly educated, 80% of the words spoken by parents to children are positive. Only 20% are negative. Children’s ears are filled with statements about how smart, fast, beautiful, or clever they are.
In the average middle class family, where parents have some form of college education, a child will hear about 50/50 of positive to negative statements. However, in the average lower class family, where there is little education beyond high school, a child will hear negative statements nearly 80% of the time. Only 20% of the things people say around them will be positive. These children’s ears are filled with negativity: you are dumb. You are slow. You are ugly. You are unwanted. You are not enough.
I found this absolutely heartbreaking. This very concept flies in the face of the concept of the tremendous value that God sees in every single one of us. Children who are constantly bombarded with lies that they have no value often begin to believe them. I am reminded of a scene from The Help where Abileen Clark repeats to the child whom she has been hired to care for, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” While her grammar is lacking, Abilene realized the value of speaking truth into this child’s life. My challenge to you today is to break the statistic. Speak truth and positivity into the life of your children and the children who you come in contact with.

Home Team

Recently, I read an article about knowing who your "Home Team" is. The premise of this article was that you can't do everything for everyone, nor should you. However, you need to be able to decide who makes that cut off. Now even as you're reading this, some of you already have a person or two in your head. I know when I read the article, I did.
My best friend. The one who has been there over the past 10+ years through thick and thin. The one who has seen me cry over the stupidest things and been the shoulder to cry on when the not so stupid things came along. When she gets married, I will wear whatever she decides to put me in, no matter how terrible I look. When her kids are born, I will drive however many miles it takes to be there. She is definitely on my home team. She might even be team captain. I'm sure you have someone like that, too.
But tonight, the people on my mind are the ones that seem to sneak in. They appear when you need them most. For those of you who don't know, I've gone through some big changes in my life recently. At the beginning of January I packed up all my stuff and moved from Knoxville, TN to Gallipolis, OH. This wasn't part of my plan by any means, but I'm learning that most of the time my plan is all wrong. God led me to this place and I love it. I am the new Children's Minister at Gallipolis Christian Church (Children's ministry also was not part of the plan...) and I could not be happier.
Moving five hours away from the people who you've been closest to for the past year, if not more changes things. This made me evaluate my home team. And for a while I wasn't sure who that was any more for a while. Its a lot harder to invest in someone's life from a distance, right?
Tonight, I got a glimpse of what my home team is starting to look like. You see, there are some people who are only on the team for a season or two. This doesn't make them bad people. They're time is just shorter. My team has lost some people, but its gaining some new ones. This change isn't easy, but it is beautiful. Yet, I am being reminded that while it is harder to invest in a life from a distance, there are those people who still do. Thank you. There are a handful of you in my life and I hope you know who you are. You have gotten me through some of the most difficult times in my life, and you are the shoulder to lean on in this time of change in my life.
So this post is for all of you who have been a part of my home team, whether for a lifetime or only a season. Thank you. You have helped shape me into who I am. And I challenge you. Who is your home team? Who is the person you can call at 2 am? Who is the one who knows which ice cream to buy after a break up or who knows just the right words to say when someone has let you down? Invest in those people. You don't have to be everything to everyone, but for just a moment, you may be everything to someone.