it's kinda, long and wordy, but it's where my heart is this adoption month...

...Let's Help One More...


"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as ou wish." - Mother Teresa

So real, so true, convicting, challenging, and overall, hard to wrap your head around...

It punched me hard when I read it and I have chewed on her quote daily. This coupled with some other things in my life has been causing me reevaluate priorities yet again.

It is so easy for me to become complacent and begin living my life forgetting that simple decisions I make could be having a lasting, eternal impact.

It makes you ask yourself the tough stuff. Like...when did it become acceptable to live our lives however we want? When did it become normal to look like the rest of society? When did it become okay to jump in and pursue the American Dream?

But wow, my slip and slide into that is easy. I so quickly begin living my life based on how other people are living their lives instead of continually taking it to the Word and seeing exactly how Jesus lived his life.

As I read scripture, I have not found one place that assures me that my life will be easy. That I get to decide how to live my life. That I can dictate how my life will pan out.

I find instead people who lost their lives , who looked odd in the face of their society, who had to live by faith because they walked away from the comforts of their life. You read the Bible from cover to cover and you will find that nearly everyone had to embrace discomfort, embrace humility, certainly lay aside comfort seeking.

Do we question it enough? Or do we blindly accept the goals of the American Dream as our own and spend our lives trying to achieve those goals? Seems like a strange way to live if we don’t want to be conformed to the patterns of this world.

Its tough stuff to chew on. And I'm not suggesting that Christians must live extremely austere and spartan lives. There is a place for the “extras” in our lives – the luxuries that we enjoy. There’s nothing inherently wrong in enjoying the beauty of a nice home, the relaxation of a boat ride, or the satisfaction of successful work. Our family has been blessed to enjoy so many of those luxuries.

But sadly, the “American Dream” has become an expectation of ease and getting what we want, worked for and "deserve", and...getting it now. I want to be more aware of my quick fall into that trap. My priorities need constant tweaking...

...And we Americans find it is easy to buy into the whole prosperity gospel . It fits right into the American Dream. The pursuit of happiness. But is it truth?

How exactly do you take that gospel to the widow in the slums of South American who is prostituting herself in order to feed her children? How exactly do you take that gospel to people in Africa who have watched half of their family die of AIDS? Or have watched their children die a slow death of starvation?

What if we took the opening comment to heart and started really evaluating how we are living our lives. Make frugal and wise choices - not because we necessarily have to but because we want to make our lives count!


It is not easy! I tend to be quick to judge others. And while I am busy judging how others are living their life I become discontent.. Because I am looking at others instead of my Father, I become disheartened and disoriented.

If I keep my eyes on Him, keep pursuing His heart, keep looking for ways to live with an eternal perspective instead of a "now" perspective I walk in peace. As soon as I fall into judgment of others I lose that contentment.

I am getting to the point where I am more comfortable with the fact that our life is going to look crazy to other people. That we are mis-understood because we added more children to our home. That we will be a spectacle when we go anywhere. That our life is always going to be more complicated...

Lots of heavy thoughts...but in closing...

We again encourage people to go ahead and take the chance,... the risk of opening their homes and lives to one of the 147 million orphans of the world!!
You may adopt a child in your own community, across the country, across the world.

And if you really feel like you can't bring a child into your home I implore you to do whatever you can to sponsor a few children. Maybe limit the amount of times you eat out in a month. Maybe stream-line your clothing budget. Get creative! Get your kids involved. If they work a job ask them to chip in some money. Let's help one more! Each and everyone counts!

Promise!!