Tag: prayer

Posted in Adoption Journey

any news?

Posted on by Wick

I love getting this question.  I also hate it.

We’re surrounded by so many amazing people in our lives, who’ve connected themselves with what God is doing in and through our lives.  I know that so many of our friends and family carry the burden with us, and bring it to God on a regular basis.  I’m reminded of that every time someone I haven’t seen or spoken to in a while asks, “any updates on Phoebe?”road

Or the even funnier question we sometimes get, “So do you have her home yet?”  Ouch.  That’s right, we’ve been traveling this road since March 2012.  Over 2 years now.  It’s possible to see people we don’t see very often, who honestly think “surely they’ve got her by now.”  So many of you have been on this road with us.  So many of you have given, way more than we could ever have anticipated/expected/asked.  We’re humbled as we are constantly reminded how “not alone” we are.

We know that national attention is being given to so many parents who’ve completed the adoption process, and still are not being allowed to bring their children home.  I can’t even imagine what that’d be like.  But I know I’d love to be in that stage.  I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating.  I had no idea how much simply the journey of adoption itself, would make an impact on our home, our family, and our community/relationships.  My children will not only remember the fact that our family was involved in adoption…they will remember how we prayed and waited on God for years as a part of this.

I know it could have been faster.  There are plenty of countries in suffering, where children are being adopted and brought home.  We celebrate whenever we hear of a child finding a home.  But this was the road we followed God down, and even though it seems like a really hard season to travel…we know that as we’ve offered each step to God, He’s brought purpose and redemption to every moment.  We are not waiting to bring Phoebe home, safe and sound, before we declare “Look, this was indeed the call of God and He has provided!”  We are declaring it even now, even when the road ahead is still long, and the dust gets in our eyes from time to time. 

Because that’s our story as God’s people, right?  That God isn’t waiting until it’s all “made right” to bring His redemption and life-transforming purposes.  The formative years of our home, are being wrapped around having to trust in God.  Our relationships are being flavored by prayer and honest burden-sharing.  Our marriage is strengthened by the mutual “labor pains” of bringing our daughter home.  Children and families in the DRC are being prayed for, conflict/wars are being prayed against, and support is becoming connected to an area of the world that has been desperately needing it for a long time.  Our story is just a small part of that bigger story.

A lot of this came to mind, as I heard a song earlier today that I’ll share the lyrics from as I close:

“We found hope on this long and dusty road
at the table we were fed as he broke the bread
We found hope on this long dusty road.

We found hope on this long and dusty road
In His presence we found truth, that we bring to you
We found hope on this long dusty road.

We found hope on this long and dusty road
He’s alive and brought us peace, now we gather to feast
We found hope on this long dusty road.” – Von Strantz (free download here)

So keep asking us if there are updates. We may initially struggle with getting our answer out…but it’s worth contemplation…:)

 

Posted in Uncategorized

Temptations of Jesus, Pt. 2

Posted on by Wick

So here we go into temptation number two. Satan doesn’t give up reaching out for a foothold in the life of Jesus. He doesn’t give up easily on us either. If we succeed in choosing God’s will for one area, evil isn’t walking away sulking. There are plenty of places in our lives that evil would love to get a foothold…just one place to begin chipping away at what God has offered to do in our midst.

And so we see the same happening to Jesus in the wilderness. Satan takes Jesus to Jerusalem, the holy city, and places him on the pinnacle of the temple. As he’s looking out over the city he loves, Satan even tries to use scripture for his own purposes.

Recently our home group was reminded by John Ortberg in our Bible study, that Satan often works this way. That he doesn’t usually try to tempt us to do a complete 180 from what we believe. Often it’s just a slight change in direction from where we were originally heading. Just a small amount off course…something we may not even notice if we’re not paying attention.Jesus_Satan

Jesus was filled with God’s love for the city of Jerusalem. For the people of God living there. To be standing on the pinnacle of the temple, surrounded by the city God Loves, must have filled Jesus with large amounts of emotion. Pride. Confidence. Love. Joy. Hope for what God has in store. And it’s while He’s standing there, taking in everything around Him, that Satan whispers… “Go ahead, God has promised to take care of you no matter what…you think the joy you’re feeling now is cool? Just wait until you feel the rush of angels protecting you from the fall!”

We don’t know how much time passes. Whether it’s instant, or whether Jesus does stand and imagine what it might be like to experience this. But we know that the next significant thing that happens, is a response right from the same Word of God that Satan tried to use. A very solid “no”, spoken in a way that practically dares Satan to try it again. Jesus reminds Satan, and us as we read, that the purposes of God’s Holy activities in our midst are not for show. He draws his scripture from the story of God’s people as they’ve finished wandering the desert. They’ve been rescued from slavery in Egypt. They’ve followed Moses, and God has been faithful to provide for their escape and survival. But now they’re thirsty, and ask Moses if God has brought them into freedom in the middle of the desert, only to die by thirst. They reveal that even though God has moved in mighty ways on their behalf in their past, promising them an incredible future – they’re still struggling to trust Him in the present. Jesus had this same temptation, and so do we. Jesus knew about the past of God moving through His people, and prophecies about the Messiah. He knew about the future redemption and salvation that was being made possible. But Satan was trying to get Him to lose sight of His purposes and calling in this moment.

We know God has been faithful. As a people, we all know someone, or have experienced ourselves, the way God can bring life transformation. We read scriptures about movements of God’s Spirit, and know God has moved throughout all corners of His creation. We also believe in a “someday”, when God will bring to completion everything He began with Christ. When heaven and earth will be made completely new, and we will live with Christ forever. But what we’re tempted to lose sight of is what God wants for us today, right now, in this moment. Tempted to base our entire experience of God on what is happening right now. Satan knows he can’t erase the past ways God has been faithful, and He’s pretty powerless to remove the future as well. But if He can just get us to put God to the test in a single moment, sometimes that’s all it takes. This could be less a caution against temptation, and more a reminder of the faithfulness and promises of God. Maybe that’s something you need to hear today.

What are the circumstances of your life this week? What burdens are you carrying? What is happening in your world, that make you wonder if God is even with you? Our reminder is this: God has been with us…and God will always be with us. Most importantly, God is “Immanuel – God with us”, even now. Despite what Satan may have been whispering to you as you suffer. Nevermind how heavy the burdens may seem. God suffers with you, offers to carry our burdens, and offers us a solid Hope for what He has in store…if we will have faith in His purposes through today.

As we prepare ourselves to celebrate Easter together at the end of this 40-day season, it’s a journey that becomes a reminder of how we live. The “40 days” confuses many people, because as we look at the calendar, from Ash Wednesday to Easter is actually like 46 days. But that’s because as the early church was forming this tradition, they recognized that every Sunday – especially the Sunday’s during Lent – stood apart as miniature celebrations of Easter. Existing in “God’s Time”, and not our own, they occur throughout the 40 days of Lent, inviting us to celebrate in small ways, what eventually is celebrated fully. It’s the same in our lives. We experience only glimpses, and places where the Kingdom of God “breaks through”, as the veil continues to be worn thin. But someday we will experience and know fully as New Creation, what today we only see here and there throughout our lives. Will we continue to be faithful from Monday through Saturday, believing that Sunday is coming? Or will we listen to the voice of Satan, that tempts us to test God according to what we think should be happening right this moment?

God is with you, right now.

Stay tuned for “Temptations of Jesus, Pt. 3″…

Posted in Uncategorized

an adoption psalm.

Posted on by Wick

Oh God, I cry out to you. We cry out to you.
In the midst of reccuring needs for paperwork, we’re frustrated.
After far too long with no official update, we’re discouraged.
Aren’t we following your call? Why have you been silent?
Hope seems to tease us over the horizon, and vanishes before the dawn ever comes.
Time stands still, and flows steadily on without us.

Stop. Breathe deep.

I see others following you, Jesus, and doors swing wide open.
I watch those who don’t even know you get what they desire.
I hear others struggling, and praising you for quick response.
Meanwhile your daughter is waiting. Your son is waiting.
Your children are waiting. Will you move? Will you speak?

Stop. Breathe deep.

God you hear our cries.
In the midst of our notarizations and birth certificates.
As we check our e-mail hourly.
As we flood our agency with reminders and requests.
You are near. You have not turned away. You will not leave us.
Hope is not over the horizon. Hope is here in our midst.
Hope is with your children, as they are waiting.

Stop. Breathe deep.

In a last minute late-night e-mail – you are here.
In the potential for immunizations – you are here.
In an overwhelming response to a fundrasier – you are here.
In the prayers of our children already tucked into bed – you are here.
In the transformation of a heart that might otherwise feel too easily contented – you are here.
And there. With her. With them.

And so the Truth comes – as we spend time with you, we are with her.
Lord, come near. I want to be with her.
With you.

Stop. Breathe deep.