Category: Uncategorized

I’m addicted to new.

Not in an unhealthy way, mind you.  I have an appreciation for things that have endured time, but even in these things, I think the best way to treasure something that has been around is to continue to discover new ways to experience/appreciate/celebrate it.

But especially in regards to the “stuff” of God, I thrive on “New” happening.   I think that’s one reason in particular I’m drawn to youth ministry.  New things definitely happen everywhere God is moving.  In every area of Church happening throughout our community, there exists the transformational “new” of God.  But in youth ministry, there exists the potential for God’s “new” so close to the surface, all it takes is a prick sometimes, and it can break through in amazing ways.  Many teens are so close to launching into something new, or hungry for a new Hope on their journey – I love being involved in what God is doing there.

I think some of it can stem from the “New” that was offered to me around those same years.

I can never remember how much of my personal story I’ve share in which venues.  If you’ve shared life with me for a while, you’ve heard it many times.  But if you’re fairly new, you may only know a few bits so far.  So here’s a quick summary.

At the age of 10, life changed dramatically for my identity.  Up until that point, I was being formed as a church-going, middle-to-lower class, class clown.  I knew lots of Bible stories, songs, and verses, and how to make girls laugh at me.  Then my birth-father went to prison.  By the generous providing of God through food-stamps, church donations, surrogate family, and a mom who wouldn’t accept losing control of life – we didn’t slide into a defeated life.  Thanks to God’s Love experienced through a church family, and words of Hope from several sources in my life during my teenage years – I was offered a New Identity.  The labels offered to me by the world were continually losing appeal, and into those years God was speaking “Loved.  My child.  Image-bearer.  Gifted to bring My Kingdom. New Creation.”, and more.

True, during many of those days the depth ran about as deep as a DC Talk song.  But as I continued to step into the unknown and rest in Him, the identity God was offering continued to prove true.  And even today, as our family steps into the unknown, relying on God to provide for our family in large ways – we hold fast to His promise that when we are living “in Christ”, THERE is New Creation happening.  We hope that our home will be so caught up in New Creation, that when God returns to make all things new….we will cry out in a joy that the work is being completed!!!

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.