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Today I’ve decided to brag on my wife a bit, and offer what I think is a good feature to include in the design of any home.  It’s not the fireplace, the “Butlers Pantry”, the laundry chute (which is awesome, by the way), or a jacuzzi tub (ha….riiiight).  I’m not even talking about the floorplan or “features” list of your house.  I’m talking about the plan you have for the kind of home your family will shape and be shaped by.

I’ll admit, my wife thinks about this a lot more naturally than I do.  I’ve read books, frequent blogs, and have even gone to hear a speaker or two on the topic.  But she does all this and then some.  Seems to have it naturally flowing through her veins, and I’m continually thankful for the ways that shapes our home.

Over a week ago, she received a  phone call from someone connected to our church that helps organize ministries to the Chinese residents living in our community.  It was brief, explaining that she wanted to host a small gathering of students tomorrow night from the local college to have worship and testimony led by a traveling group of Chinese from Stanford University.  Let me attach a side note here: she received this call while home-schooling our 3 children and watching a friends 2-year old.  Her response?  After texting me to make sure I didn’t have any plans for that evening, she said sure, we’d love to host.

Fast forward to the next night.

We sat toward the back of a make-shift sanctuary located in our very own living room.  There were four rows of metal folding chairs, and a projected image above our childrens’ toys and books.  About 30 of us, all full of great food, and friendly conversation, even if much of it needed to be translated for a few of us.  A piano that I’ve neglected to get tuned for my wife for years now, converted into a source of melody to Chinese hymns we’d never heard before, but hummed along with as possible.  Between songs, the leader would smile, and talk in English about what we’d just sung, and we closed by singing simultaneously in any language, “Amazing Grace”.

Next, came the testimonies of a couple of the student-leaders from Stanford.  They were refreshingly honest and matter-of-fact in their story-telling, the kind of testimonies we American adults have learned to soften or blur.  One young couple being so thankful for God’s work at the foundation of their relationship would’ve been a great video for any pre-marital course.  Finally we joined in prayer and some closing fellowship together.  Mounds of leftover food, and the feeling that we’d experienced something precious in worship that night – reminded me of how blessed a home can be, when it has interruptible space.
🙂

Now that you’ve all gotten some rest from my writing, I’m back. 🙂  It’s definitely been a busy week, too.  It’s hard in many ways, because so much has happened in these past couple weeks.  At the same time, not much at all has gone on that I can share.  It’s all a bit complicated, when you’re adopting from an unstable country (here’s the latest on the DRC‘s conflict with rebels in the East, and connection to other East African countries) and have been asked not to post our specific updates beyond the vaguely encouraging until the dust has settled.

What I can share, is that we’ve finally mailed in our “I600a” to the US Government.  Since being approved by the state, it’s the next stage of getting approved to adopt internationally.  Not sure how long it’ll take, weeks to months.  Included in that was a check for $890, that was largely raised by donations/t-shirt sales of friends/family, a garage sale, and extra odd jobs we were able to get paid for.  Thanks to all who have been supporting us, and helping us chip away at these payments little by little.  We still have faith that as the chunks get bigger – God will open doors!

Meanwhile we wait.  Wait and pray for Baby Anderson.

I took our girls to the zoo last weekend, and it was great weather.  I’m working on teaching them how to move slowly through a zoo, as opposed to rushing through it like a checklist.  Seeing how the monkeys are all sitting or hanging, instead of simply “checking them off a list” as we move on to the next animal.  Sure enough, the monkey decided to lounge in an almost creepy manner, winking at us like it knew exactly what was going on.  As we stopped at the Zebra, we paused to think about our little baby Anderson, somewhere in Africa, and the zebras that might live near her.  (turns out they’re rare in the DRC, but still…..it was a cool moment.)  Each night our girls echo that prayer, as at least one of them lists “Baby Anderson!”, or “Our sister in Africa!” before we pray.

We’ve had several moments in the past couple weeks of praying and remembering why we’ve decided to adopt from the DRC.  God continues to encourage us, and speak His Words of Love for His children.  There are moments where it all seems a bit uncomfortable, and we are reminded that we’ve been called to live a life that draws us to dependence on God.  As President Obama quoted from Lincoln in his speech last week, ““I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”

That seems like a good place to be…and if we aren’t living there, we may want to ask ourselves if we’re paying attention to the world God has a burden to make new.

Okay okay, don’t worry…I’m not losin’ any love for John Wesley. But it’s occurred to me a major difference between him and myself. Wesley traveled all over the place, preaching, teaching, admonishing, launching ministries, etc. To the point where he even authored many things while riding horseback between events in his life. It is a big difference:

I am a family man.

I think the same could be said for *gasp* Jesus also. While there is an incredible amount to gain by paying attention to the life and ministry of both of these men (one more than the other, for obvious reasons), I think we generally overlook the lacking element of being a husband (a decent one, at least, in Wesley’s case) and a father.

Thankfully, I have had some pretty good men in my life. Men who have lived out what it meant to be a good husband and father. Yet still, in Christianity we see Pastors and lay people alike, seeking to reflect the ministry of men like these, as opposed to the heart and Spirit. Plates are full, and we run around trying to make sure every plate continues to spin without crashing; all the while adding a few more here and there.

Would it be more productive to not get married and/or have kids, and be able to devote more of my time and energy to the work of the Church? Yup. For the past 6 years, and the rest of my life, the church I minister among will be forced to recognize I’m a father and a husband. My church does a great job of embracing that role in me, and giving me freedoms to do it well, even if I don’t always seem to.

As Christians, and especially as those in ministry (I know our jobs are extremely taxing sometimes, but I also know we have certain freedoms that assist us in achieving “balance” that others seriously envy.) we need to be husbands and fathers who practice an example of Kingdom work through being spouses and parents. Maybe even by letting a few of the plates crash, or be spun by others, so that we can spend time and resources on our families and marriages.

We’ve been trained that the work of the Kingdom is “saving souls”. When we reduce the ministry to that, then yes….it becomes easy to sacrifice family time for trying to convince one more sinner to repent. But when I view my family and my marriage as a crucial part of my ministry…as one who says with Christ, “follow me”…then I must set marital and familial health as high goals.

I don’t say all of this as someone who has figured it out, by any means. I’m simply giving myself a lecture prior to a busy Fall, and allowing others to hear it; in hopes that maybe someone else needed to hear these words also. 🙂