My son & daughter-in-law are in the process of adopting a little boy from China. We are so very excited! His name will be Harrison. A big name for such a little boy.
Let me tell you a little about him. Of course, there is a lot about him no one knows. He was abandoned in a train station at the age of approximately 2 weeks. So many of us ask ourselves how a mother could just abandon her child not knowing who might take him. I believe he was and is very much loved by his birth mother. He was born with a condition called ectrodactyly. He has malformations of his hands & feet. I feel his mother was not prepared to care for him, most likely financially. She placed him in a public area where she knew he would be seen and where many law enforcement officers would be present. He was taken to the Child Welfare Center, in other words an orphanage. There he waits for his new parents to come for him. He has just turned 2 years old.
My son is a firefighter with our local fire and rescue department. He also works a second job on his days away from the fire department to help meet their needs. My daughter-in-law has completed law school and has recently started working with another attorney in our small town. Her field of choice is family law. Contrary to what most would believe, her salary is not a substantial one. Like most graduates today, she is paying off huge student loans. They have worked very hard to save for this adoption and have been able to basically fund it themselves. Now as the paperwork is almost completed and the time nears, we hope early 2014, to bring Harrison home, they are facing a deficit of funds. If any of you are familiar with international adoptions, you know how expensive they are. Not included in what they were required to pay is airfare for 2 to China and for 3 from China, as well as the expense of remaining in that country for 3 weeks. This amount is what they are now working on.
Some may ask why adopt internationally and not locally. That is something I believe God puts in the hearts of those who adopt. Just as God has a particular child intended for birth parents, He also has a particular child for adoptive parents. Thus far, God has shown us all that Harrison is a part of our family.
I can tell you that our family is not use to asking for help. My husband was a proud man, a generous one to those in need, but one who did not want or expect things given to him. My son is very much his father's son. However, pride aside for the sake of a child, we are asking for help in raising travel/temporary resident funds. I am attaching a secure sight where anyone who can and would like to can view pictures of Harrison and if you are able and feel led to do so, donate to this fund. Please share the link with your friends to help us reach as many people as possible. Your generosity will be so appreciated and you will be blessed for your sacrifice. http://www.gofundme.com/59qyfc
This is quite a turn from my normal blog posts, but this is what God has given me today to share. My husband went home to be with the Lord on 3/24/2012. He loved children & would have loved to have Harrison ride around with him in his old truck. But I know he is looking down at that little boy and telling everyone in heaven, "That's my grandson!"
Friday, November 15, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Excuses
Several things pinging around my head I want to write about. Deciding which will be first is the great decision. Here goes. Warning! This may be offensive to some.
Does your church have revival services? I know not all churches do, but especially in the south usually a couple of times a year we have at least 4-5 consecutive services with a guest speaker. It is a time for us to refocus, rededicate ourselves to God and to living for Him. We are not a huge church. We have a seating capacity of 665 people, about 200 more than we average on Sundays. So we have room to grow. Tonight we had our last of 4 services for this series. The messages were great. Spirit filled and definitely what we needed to hear.
When I was a teenager (long, long time ago) revivals were popular. The host church had almost all its members present and area churches attended on the nights they weren't having services. At 64 years old, I have seen revival attendance dwindle to less and less. There are many legitimate reasons people miss a service or two. Sickness, work schedule. some who can't get out at night because of age, etc. However, there are many who can attend, but choose not to. For weeks leading up to this series of meetings, we learned of the great revivals in the United States, England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland in the past centuries. Unfortunately, there has not been a repeat of those services for 200 years.
I looked around the church each night, thankful for those who were there and yet wondering where the others were. Again, many had legitimate reasons they could not attend, but what of all the others? I don't mean to sound judgmental, but I was saddened. I thought of all the excuses people use, many I have also used at one time or another myself. So I am not guilt free in this. "I worked all day and I was really tired." "It was so cold I didn't want to get out." (And it was cold the past 2 nights). Can you imagine telling your employer that it was just too cold to go to work? Or that you were out late at a party and didn't feel like coming to work? Feel pretty certain no one would try that. I have a friend that says why not just say "peanut butter, because one excuse is as good as another". He doesn't really mean to use that; he's just making his point. Pretty good one. How many sit on bleachers, wrapped in blankets to watch a football game? How many go out to dinner with friends after a long hard day at work? Do you see where I am coming from? I am not talking to the unsaved. I am talking to people who profess Christ as their Lord and Savior. Do we have the right to ask why our children don't want to go to church, when we don't make an effort to be there ourselves? Please do not think that I believe every wayward child is the fault of the parent. I know better than that. I also know we should take every opportunity to be the example God expects. I think we have a real priority problem. That means there is a heart problem. Not a physical one, but a spiritual one.
I believe the American church as a whole has this priority problem. Churches in hostile nations seem to thrive in the face of persecution. They would love to have the freedom to meet publicly any time they could. We have the freedom but do not exercise it. So until you are willing to truly return to God, back to where it all began, what is your excuse?
Does your church have revival services? I know not all churches do, but especially in the south usually a couple of times a year we have at least 4-5 consecutive services with a guest speaker. It is a time for us to refocus, rededicate ourselves to God and to living for Him. We are not a huge church. We have a seating capacity of 665 people, about 200 more than we average on Sundays. So we have room to grow. Tonight we had our last of 4 services for this series. The messages were great. Spirit filled and definitely what we needed to hear.
When I was a teenager (long, long time ago) revivals were popular. The host church had almost all its members present and area churches attended on the nights they weren't having services. At 64 years old, I have seen revival attendance dwindle to less and less. There are many legitimate reasons people miss a service or two. Sickness, work schedule. some who can't get out at night because of age, etc. However, there are many who can attend, but choose not to. For weeks leading up to this series of meetings, we learned of the great revivals in the United States, England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland in the past centuries. Unfortunately, there has not been a repeat of those services for 200 years.
I looked around the church each night, thankful for those who were there and yet wondering where the others were. Again, many had legitimate reasons they could not attend, but what of all the others? I don't mean to sound judgmental, but I was saddened. I thought of all the excuses people use, many I have also used at one time or another myself. So I am not guilt free in this. "I worked all day and I was really tired." "It was so cold I didn't want to get out." (And it was cold the past 2 nights). Can you imagine telling your employer that it was just too cold to go to work? Or that you were out late at a party and didn't feel like coming to work? Feel pretty certain no one would try that. I have a friend that says why not just say "peanut butter, because one excuse is as good as another". He doesn't really mean to use that; he's just making his point. Pretty good one. How many sit on bleachers, wrapped in blankets to watch a football game? How many go out to dinner with friends after a long hard day at work? Do you see where I am coming from? I am not talking to the unsaved. I am talking to people who profess Christ as their Lord and Savior. Do we have the right to ask why our children don't want to go to church, when we don't make an effort to be there ourselves? Please do not think that I believe every wayward child is the fault of the parent. I know better than that. I also know we should take every opportunity to be the example God expects. I think we have a real priority problem. That means there is a heart problem. Not a physical one, but a spiritual one.
I believe the American church as a whole has this priority problem. Churches in hostile nations seem to thrive in the face of persecution. They would love to have the freedom to meet publicly any time they could. We have the freedom but do not exercise it. So until you are willing to truly return to God, back to where it all began, what is your excuse?
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