8 things I'm passionate about:
1. My relationship and faith in God
2. My DAZZLING wife
3. My family and friends
4. Our adoption
5. The country of India
6. Promoting adoption
7. My church
8. Sports
8 things I want to do before I die:
1. Live in India for a while and work in an orphanage
2. Meet Jancy - our sponsored child in south India
3. Send our parents on an awesome vacation
4. Give a load of $ to people and ministries that I love/support
5. Travel the world (visit Israel and revisit Hawaii)
6. Adopt another baby from India
7. Learn to play the harmonica
8. See a basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke)
8 things I say often:
1. I love you!
2. What would you like to reset your password to?
3. Did you backup your data?
4. What’s up beast?
5. I could tear up so food right now!
6. Thank you Lord!
7. Weekends go by too fast!
8. Are you serious?
8 TV shows you love:
1. American Idol
2. Almost any football or basketball game
3. Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives
4. Top Chef
5. Man vs. Wild
6. Survivor Man
7. Mythbusters
8. 24
8 Things I learned in 2007:
1. How truly amazing our Pastor’s are
2. To walk in a deeper level of trust
3. That God is stirring up a desire in us for something bigger than us
4. That coaching Upward basketball is fun
5. That you can be in love with a baby across the world that you have never met
6. People definitely misunderstand adoption
7. How much God loves adoption
8. Wiring up a building with network cable is tedious
Who am I gonna tag?
Everyone who reads this!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
American Mentality
What is it that as Americans, going about our day, doing what we do, living comfortably in our homes with our families, and having plenty to eat, causes us to often forget that there are literally millions of people around the globe who have absolutely nothing? I’m not entirely referring to worldly possessions, although that goes without saying. I’m also referring to hope, peace, joy, love, sympathy, the feeling of worth, and the list continues into an endless catalog of things that can only come from One who is higher than we.
Now, after posing such a loaded question, it should be known that I am as guilty as anyone for having this casual mindset from time to time. As Americans, we are free people living in a country that allows us to worship as we wish, take on the career of our choice, marry who we decide to, and establish a surplus of wealth if we so choose. Obviously, all of these things are great and God has allowed us to be a part of this amazing nation, but why? Why did God predestine us to live in such a blessed and prosperous country? Why did he sanction us to such a life of peace and opportunities? Was it so that we could live in a proverbial box and live our lives as comfortably as possible? Was it to establish a routine that prevented us from seeing the needs of others as we maintained our “crucial” schedule?
Being a part of adopting a child from the absolute opposite side of the earth is beginning to open my eyes and heart to a fresh way of thinking. Not exclusively in terms of adoption, but in seeing the bigger picture of life and God’s purpose. Too long have I maintained an American mindset where everything I worry about and am concerned with lies inside my precious little box. Too long have I not looked around and contemplated what it is like to have no family, no food, no shelter, no peace, no income, no love, and no hope.
It is my desire that this nation, especially the people of God, break off the mentality of selfishness and egocentricity. Throughout scripture the topic is touched on over and over again concerning the needs of others. For example, James 1:27 says this in the Message translation, “Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world”. I understand that we have our own set of problems that must be dealt with; however, no matter how big your problem appears to be, there is someone who is skirmishing with difficulties ten times worse than yours.
I just read this morning that 80 percent of India’s population lives on the U.S. equivalent of 50 cents per day! 80 percent! 50 cents! Now, it is easy to look at the condition of the world’s population and become overwhelmed at the endless number of people in dire straights. However, I don’t think God intended for one person to help every person on earth. I believe He is simply asking us to reach out to our neighbor. By neighbor I don’t mean the person who lives next to you necessarily. By neighbor I mean anyone you cross paths with who is in need, physically, emotionally, financially, etc. A neighbor could also include groups of people or a foreign land.
I have had those, when I express the needs of the people of India, tell me this: “Well those same needs are right here in this country and in this city”. They are correct and are telling the truth (even though they are doing nothing in the way of meeting those local needs), but why are Americans afraid to acknowledge needs that exist elsewhere? It appears that in the conversation I had, the American mentality really shines through. It becomes visible, that in some cases, Americans think American lives are more important for some reason. This same mentality is brought to light through the topic of international adoption. Some people don’t understand why people adopt from foreign countries when, “we have American children that need to be adopted, why would you adopt from over there”. My question to them would be, “Does it make a person anymore of a child of God based on where they were born?” Just in case there is any question, the answer is NO!
Let’s break out of the small town America mentality and understand that the world is bigger than our box. Let’s begin to look at what God says about loving our neighbor as ourselves. Let’s consider how blessed we are and determine in our hearts that we are going to make a difference in someone’s life today. Sponsor a child, go on a missionary trip, give someone a hug, complement somebody, do something. Let’s eliminate the American mentality and take on God’s mentality.
Now, after posing such a loaded question, it should be known that I am as guilty as anyone for having this casual mindset from time to time. As Americans, we are free people living in a country that allows us to worship as we wish, take on the career of our choice, marry who we decide to, and establish a surplus of wealth if we so choose. Obviously, all of these things are great and God has allowed us to be a part of this amazing nation, but why? Why did God predestine us to live in such a blessed and prosperous country? Why did he sanction us to such a life of peace and opportunities? Was it so that we could live in a proverbial box and live our lives as comfortably as possible? Was it to establish a routine that prevented us from seeing the needs of others as we maintained our “crucial” schedule?
Being a part of adopting a child from the absolute opposite side of the earth is beginning to open my eyes and heart to a fresh way of thinking. Not exclusively in terms of adoption, but in seeing the bigger picture of life and God’s purpose. Too long have I maintained an American mindset where everything I worry about and am concerned with lies inside my precious little box. Too long have I not looked around and contemplated what it is like to have no family, no food, no shelter, no peace, no income, no love, and no hope.
It is my desire that this nation, especially the people of God, break off the mentality of selfishness and egocentricity. Throughout scripture the topic is touched on over and over again concerning the needs of others. For example, James 1:27 says this in the Message translation, “Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world”. I understand that we have our own set of problems that must be dealt with; however, no matter how big your problem appears to be, there is someone who is skirmishing with difficulties ten times worse than yours.
I just read this morning that 80 percent of India’s population lives on the U.S. equivalent of 50 cents per day! 80 percent! 50 cents! Now, it is easy to look at the condition of the world’s population and become overwhelmed at the endless number of people in dire straights. However, I don’t think God intended for one person to help every person on earth. I believe He is simply asking us to reach out to our neighbor. By neighbor I don’t mean the person who lives next to you necessarily. By neighbor I mean anyone you cross paths with who is in need, physically, emotionally, financially, etc. A neighbor could also include groups of people or a foreign land.
I have had those, when I express the needs of the people of India, tell me this: “Well those same needs are right here in this country and in this city”. They are correct and are telling the truth (even though they are doing nothing in the way of meeting those local needs), but why are Americans afraid to acknowledge needs that exist elsewhere? It appears that in the conversation I had, the American mentality really shines through. It becomes visible, that in some cases, Americans think American lives are more important for some reason. This same mentality is brought to light through the topic of international adoption. Some people don’t understand why people adopt from foreign countries when, “we have American children that need to be adopted, why would you adopt from over there”. My question to them would be, “Does it make a person anymore of a child of God based on where they were born?” Just in case there is any question, the answer is NO!
Let’s break out of the small town America mentality and understand that the world is bigger than our box. Let’s begin to look at what God says about loving our neighbor as ourselves. Let’s consider how blessed we are and determine in our hearts that we are going to make a difference in someone’s life today. Sponsor a child, go on a missionary trip, give someone a hug, complement somebody, do something. Let’s eliminate the American mentality and take on God’s mentality.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
The List
Now we’re getting somewhere! We’ve received a great little Christmas gift called spot number seven on the referrals waiting list!
Check out the significance of the number seven…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_(number)
Now let’s pray for some movement so that we can escalate up the list to numero uno (that’s #1)…
Blessings!
Check out the significance of the number seven…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_(number)
Now let’s pray for some movement so that we can escalate up the list to numero uno (that’s #1)…
Blessings!
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Waiting List Awaits Us!
Ok. So right now Amy and I are waiting patiently (AHEM) as our Indian Dossier (dossier [‘dosiei] noun, a set of papers containing information etc about a person or a particular matter) makes its way to our adoption agency today. This is it for now. We have completed every task required of us thus far. The last task was to have multiple documents apostilled at our Secretary of State office in Montgomery. Those were sent back to us with the appropriate signatures and seals. We then turned around and added copies of a few other documents and forwarded the bulky completed package to the Adoption agency on Friday.
I am feeling a little surreal about where we are at this point. Anyone who has walked this road before will be able to tell you just what is involved in the process and for us to be where we are right now is amazing. God has been so faithful throughout these last nine months. He has gone before us and prepared the way and has given us favor with every person we’ve had to interact with. People have been so helpful to us and have gone out of their way to make sure we have gotten everything we need. From our bank to our doctors, they have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Amy’s doctor even left her typical office to walk downstairs with us to an area that had a notary. She patiently signed the requested documents and allowed the notary to do her work and maintained a great attitude and Amy even shared a hug with her. Thinking back on moments like that is very humbling. We get to see how much God cares about what He has called us to do.
We should find out today or tomorrow from our adoption agency where we are on the referral waiting list. I can’t wait to see how much information they give us relative to where we are on the list, who we are behind, the gender that others are waiting for, etc. We shall see!!
I am feeling a little surreal about where we are at this point. Anyone who has walked this road before will be able to tell you just what is involved in the process and for us to be where we are right now is amazing. God has been so faithful throughout these last nine months. He has gone before us and prepared the way and has given us favor with every person we’ve had to interact with. People have been so helpful to us and have gone out of their way to make sure we have gotten everything we need. From our bank to our doctors, they have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Amy’s doctor even left her typical office to walk downstairs with us to an area that had a notary. She patiently signed the requested documents and allowed the notary to do her work and maintained a great attitude and Amy even shared a hug with her. Thinking back on moments like that is very humbling. We get to see how much God cares about what He has called us to do.
We should find out today or tomorrow from our adoption agency where we are on the referral waiting list. I can’t wait to see how much information they give us relative to where we are on the list, who we are behind, the gender that others are waiting for, etc. We shall see!!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Home Study Approved! Sent to Immigration!
Ok. So I guess I’m going to be posting about once a month. Oh well. However, I had to post something today. I’m really getting excited about our adoption. Amy called me today to let me know that the state has approved our home study and has forwarded a copy to Immigration in Atlanta. Man! The whole adoption process is beginning to really feel real at this point. Now, I am trying to hurry up and get my renewed drivers license so that I can get my passport. Unfortunately I had to discover that my driver’s license had just expired while sitting in the post office passport room filling out paperwork to obtain the passport. That’s ACE! Anyway, we’re trucking right along. Praise God!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Be Exalted Today!
Oh Lord, be exalted today. I lift up my head to You and admit with full sincerity that I am in need of You today. I am in need of Your presence. I am in need of Your love, Your mercy, Your peace, Your forgiveness, and Your strength. You are so powerful and mighty, yet gentle and merciful. You hold the whole earth in the palm of Your hand. You are majestic and beautiful. Your beauty and Your faithfulness are beyond comprehension. They stretch out through eternity. You are the everlasting Father. You never fail and You never waiver. You are the Oak of Eternity. The Strong Tower, The Ever-Present One, The Rock of Ages, and The Lion of Judah. Lord, thank You for life and the wonderful blessings You have graciously poured out on us. I take time now to acknowledge and thank You for it all. I love You Jesus!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Bizarre, yet Beautiful
It has now been a few months since my wife and I have begun the process of adopting our child from, India. The process has been a relatively smooth one thus far, “Thank you Jesus”. Things are really beginning to fall into place and progress is being made. I just need to share a few things that have been happening to us since the process was begun.
My personality is such that I am not easily “freaked out” or emotionally charged. I usually don’t get overly hyped about neat things, nor am I unimpressed about things. I just generally take things as they are. However, since our adoption process has begun Amy and I have seen some crazy things take place that I cannot deny are COOL. This week, during a couple of brief stints at our local Publix supermarket, the cool factor went to another level.
To fully understand the situation, we live in a pretty large city in North Alabama. Yes, this town is pretty culturally diverse, but it is still a city in North Alabama. From the beginning of the adoption my wife and I have seen several families and individuals of Indian descent, way more than usual it seems. There are plenty of races and nationalities represented in this city, but the ratio of people from the Indian descent that we are coming into contact with is very obvious to us.
My wife has decided to log every occurrence like this that we have experienced since the process has begun. We thought it would be great to share these occurrences with the child once he/she is older. She is even listing reminders such as Indian news headlines that pop up on the front pages of MSN or Fox News. The list is already an impressive one. It’s really neat stuff. After this past week and weekend she has a couple of new ones to add to our list.
Friday night, we were near the bread section of the supermarket and low and behold there was an Indian family with two little girls in a buggy. The oldest girl was probably 4 or 5 and the youngest was 2 or 3. Well, of course we always look briefly (trying not to stare), especially at the children because they are such a beautiful people. We just don’t want to freak the parents out. Usually they never know we have glanced at them and smiled. However, this time we both looked and the older girl made eye contact first with Amy, then me. An odd feeling came over me. I told Amy later that it was almost like a 6th Sense feeling (if you’ve ever seen that movie). I can’t explain it though. We carried on as always and completed our shopping and chalked it up as another occurrence similar to the ones before, but different.
Sunday night, we decided we wanted some sushi, so we made our way to the seafood section of the store. This time, we walked past the aisle right before the seafood section and there was another Indian family. They were dressed in their cultural garb from head to toe. They were at the end of the aisle headed toward us. They had a few items in their buggy along with a baby. Amy poked me as we walked by and I said come on and lets get the sushi and we will see them as they come around the corner. We wanted to see the baby. Anyway, we spent about one minute at the most, deciding on the kind of sushi we wanted and headed around to see if we could see them. We walked down a few aisles in both directions, and then headed for the front of the store. They were gone! We were quite confused, so we walked the entire store again in an attempt to find them and they were nowhere in that store. For the first time, I was really scratching my head began to think there were more to these meetings than coincidence. I understand how long it takes to walk to the front of the store from where we were and check out. It’s more than a minute in a half to do that, trust me.
So, at this point, Amy and I are praying that we begin to realize what The Lord is trying to show us through all of this. Is it a confirmation that what we are doing is in line with His will for us? Is it something more? We aren’t sure yet but, we pray that these reminders do not stop. It is too cool!!!
My personality is such that I am not easily “freaked out” or emotionally charged. I usually don’t get overly hyped about neat things, nor am I unimpressed about things. I just generally take things as they are. However, since our adoption process has begun Amy and I have seen some crazy things take place that I cannot deny are COOL. This week, during a couple of brief stints at our local Publix supermarket, the cool factor went to another level.
To fully understand the situation, we live in a pretty large city in North Alabama. Yes, this town is pretty culturally diverse, but it is still a city in North Alabama. From the beginning of the adoption my wife and I have seen several families and individuals of Indian descent, way more than usual it seems. There are plenty of races and nationalities represented in this city, but the ratio of people from the Indian descent that we are coming into contact with is very obvious to us.
My wife has decided to log every occurrence like this that we have experienced since the process has begun. We thought it would be great to share these occurrences with the child once he/she is older. She is even listing reminders such as Indian news headlines that pop up on the front pages of MSN or Fox News. The list is already an impressive one. It’s really neat stuff. After this past week and weekend she has a couple of new ones to add to our list.
Friday night, we were near the bread section of the supermarket and low and behold there was an Indian family with two little girls in a buggy. The oldest girl was probably 4 or 5 and the youngest was 2 or 3. Well, of course we always look briefly (trying not to stare), especially at the children because they are such a beautiful people. We just don’t want to freak the parents out. Usually they never know we have glanced at them and smiled. However, this time we both looked and the older girl made eye contact first with Amy, then me. An odd feeling came over me. I told Amy later that it was almost like a 6th Sense feeling (if you’ve ever seen that movie). I can’t explain it though. We carried on as always and completed our shopping and chalked it up as another occurrence similar to the ones before, but different.
Sunday night, we decided we wanted some sushi, so we made our way to the seafood section of the store. This time, we walked past the aisle right before the seafood section and there was another Indian family. They were dressed in their cultural garb from head to toe. They were at the end of the aisle headed toward us. They had a few items in their buggy along with a baby. Amy poked me as we walked by and I said come on and lets get the sushi and we will see them as they come around the corner. We wanted to see the baby. Anyway, we spent about one minute at the most, deciding on the kind of sushi we wanted and headed around to see if we could see them. We walked down a few aisles in both directions, and then headed for the front of the store. They were gone! We were quite confused, so we walked the entire store again in an attempt to find them and they were nowhere in that store. For the first time, I was really scratching my head began to think there were more to these meetings than coincidence. I understand how long it takes to walk to the front of the store from where we were and check out. It’s more than a minute in a half to do that, trust me.
So, at this point, Amy and I are praying that we begin to realize what The Lord is trying to show us through all of this. Is it a confirmation that what we are doing is in line with His will for us? Is it something more? We aren’t sure yet but, we pray that these reminders do not stop. It is too cool!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)