Classic Re-post: One Small Act

Classic re-post from March 2011.....A look back at our journey to Ethiopia....

One comment that we’ve heard over and over by people as we’ve told them about our plans to adopt, is, “Wow!  What an awesome thing you are doing for that child!”

Years ago, I would have thought the same thing.  After all, isn’t it noble to provide a home and clothing and food for a helpless child without?  Isn’t it admirable to love on “the least of these” as Jesus commands?  Isn’t it the responsibility of the church to “help orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27)?  While obviously, all this is good, I am struck by the fact that it is a view that places us as the rich westerner riding in on our white horse to “rescue” some poor, helpless, forlorn child from poverty and what we deem unacceptable.   In reality, instead of God using ME to “rescue" this child, I believe that God is using THEM to rescue me. 

Rescue me from what, you ask?  The idols of materialism, “The American Dream”, etc…  Their presence in my life and in the lives of the people they touch, is doing much more for us, then we could ever possibly do for them.  Already I have seen how God is using this one child, a child whom we have never met….a child whom may not even be born yet, to impact a community.  To stir hearts.  To change lives.  This child, by simply being whom God created him/her to be, is allowing us to catch a glimpse of Jesus. 

Now, understand when I say, that adoption is a beautiful thing.  It is a beautiful picture of how God has rescued us all from our spiritual “orphanages” and made us a new creation in Christ.  Just like a bride and groom depict Jesus (the bridegroom) and the church….or how the love of a parent for a child models the agape love that God has for His people.  Adoption portrays how God has loved us, pursued us, and given us an inheritance far greater than what we were destined for.  It is a picture of the place we hold in the family of God.  But God is at work, and He is doing something even bigger.

So how did we get here?  Honestly, we just felt that God was calling us in this direction.  We felt that we wanted to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.  Right now, there are 145 MILLION orphans in the world.  We are hoping that when we return from Ethiopia, there will be one less.   But sadly, that will still leave 144,999,999.  We are but one.  And so, some may wonder (quietly, to themselves), “So, what’s the point?”  The point, for us, is to in some way inspire others to follow God’s leading.  That may look differently for you, than it does for me.  God may not be leading you to adopt at this time.  But certainly He is leading you somewhere?  How can we climb out of our comfort zones to truly be the hands and feet?

Many of us are looking for Jesus in the churches.  We are looking for him in Christian books and theology.  In worship music and Christian radio.  And while all these things are well and good (and necessary!!), I can’t help but to remember that that is not where Jesus hung out.  He hung out with the prostitutes…the tax collectors…the blatant “sinners”.  He was more commonly found amongst the poor and the needy, than the rich and the affluent.  So while I do recognize that adoption is a beautiful thing, a noble act that mirrors how God has taken us, and adopted us as His sons and daughters and bestowed upon us all of His inheritance, I see how this “thing” is so much bigger than us.  It is so much bigger than this one simple act.  God is using it, and HAS used it already, to reach others.  To show His glory.  And He’s doing it through one small child.

I’d love to hear how God is revealing Himself to you.  How is He using “the least of these” to make Himself known to you?  God is constantly at work…often times we are too busy doing “His work” to notice though.  But HE is there…in the face of a homeless man who climbs into your dumpster at work to collect scrap metal…..in the face of a single mother who is working two jobs to support her children….in the face of a small Ethiopian baby who has already captured the hearts of so many.  He is there.  Will you see Him?  Or will you walk right past?

So what small acts are YOU doing today??  Might I interest you in running/walking a 5k and/or a 1 mile walk to raise money that will build an orphanage in Kenya??  My parents and brother are heading there in a couple months with their church to do just that.  They'd LOVE your support!  Check out the link here to register for this event.



Visit here to register.  Scroll to 4/14/12 - Jamison, PA: 5k for Kenya Kids and 1 mile walk for more details.

                                                             

And.....here is Kaya working on one small act of her own.....



Joining us for a girls-night-out to help sew dresses for little girls in Kenya.  So proud of her!!!



Right now as I type, a group of guys are playing poker to help us raise money for our adoption. I have said it before, but we are truly blessed with some GREAT friends. 

So, SO many ways to get involved and create some small acts of your own.  What is God laying on YOUR heart?? I guarantee that what you intend as a small act to bless someone else, God will use to bless YOU. 




Kirsten                                                  

A Look at What's on my Nightstand These Days...

Last weekend just begged of me to start a new book.  It snowed.  Yup, snowed!  I know it is only the very beginning of November and the leaves are still on the trees and all, but it snowed just the same.  About 5-6 inches!  Isn't God so amazingly creative AND powerful to make both leaves AND snow fall at the same time???

So, what did I do?  I cuddled up next to the fire with a cup of hot chocolate and I started this book:

Order your FREE copy HERE

 

K.P. Yohannan, the author of No Longer a Slumdog, is the founder and director of Gospel for Asia, a non-profit organization that reaches out to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the slums of India.  It is sure to make you think.  Check out their website if you are looking for any Christmas gift ideas apart from the norm this holiday season.  So many awesome things to choose from!!!

Up next on my nightstand???  This book:

I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS ONE!!!  I have been literally waiting since the author, Katie Davis, first announced on her blog that she was writing a book.  Katie's blog was what first inspired us to adopt.  It was her stories and her pictures that caused me to fall on my knees and beg of God to use me in some way.  The book takes place in Uganda and is about Katie's real-life testimony of leaving her middle-class, suburban life to serve orphans halfway across the world.  50% of the proceeds from the sale of this book, go to help fund her ministry, Amazima.

One more to share with you.....



This book, taking place in China, is all about the underground church.  Although names and dates are fictitious, the story itself is compiled of stories that have happened at one time or another.  (And speaking of nightstands, this particular one is still on mine and is a library book that is now way over-due. :)

So, there you have it.  A couple more books to pique your interest.  Hope you are having a wonderful Saturday afternoon!



Kirsten

My Reading List

Over the past several months I have posted excerpts from a few of the books that I have been reading.  Some of you have asked me to share those with you.  Here is a look at the books that have impacted me the most this year:



 

 

 

 

 

And just for fun....

 

Here's a peak at what's on my nightstand right now....



A memoir.  One couple's journey from infertility to adoption.



and



One courageous woman's personal  look at the HIV/AIDS crisis in Ethiopia.



And no reading list could be complete without my two all-time favorite novels.....

 

and

 

Summer's not over.  Grab a book and sit poolside.  Happy Reading!

Kirsten

Radical

I have been pondering this post by Ann Voskamp this week because it is right where my heart has been for some time.  Those of you who follow either Ann Voskamp or Katie Davis are in for a treat as these two worlds collide!  For those of you who don't, make sure to hop on over to their blogs - they are awesome!!

So what does a radical life for Christ look like?   As Ann posed the question, "Is it even possible to be a radical Christ-follower — and own a mini-van, have more than one bathroom, order clothes from Land’s End, and lay your head down on a pillow when He had none? "  Obviously, we know that it is - and I do!!  But I can't help to echo the question - What then are we supposed to do?? 

As believers, how are we to "go into all the world" when we are wives and mothers with responsibilities HERE!!??!  How are we then ~ how am I then~ to impact this world for Christ?  I believe it is possible, but it will take a radical abandonment to Jesus.  Proximity, after all, isn't always as important as what we do once we're there.  Yes, some of us will be called to go, but others of us will be called to stay.  Not to stay simply to enjoy the benefits of the American Dream however. 

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted much, much more will be asked."

~Luke 12:48



Haven't we been given all we have to turn around and use it for His glory anyway?  Our fancy houses and beautiful cars, our designer clothes and lavish lifestyles.  Even those, who do not have much by American standards, if they have a roof over their heads at night, a means of transportation (including public), clothes and food, they are among the top 10% of the wealthiest people in the world.  I'm fairly certain, that if you are reading (or in my case, typing) this post on a computer, that we qualify. :)  I haven't been blessed simply for my own purposes, but to instead glorify Him, the Creator of all things.  To give like the poor widow in Mark 12, instead of out of a surplus of what is leftover.  That is the kind of heart I desire.  The kind of heart I am praying for.  A heart that is overflowed with love from above, so much so that it DESIRES to give away. 

So what does this look like in suburban America?  Perhaps it is taking a meal to a family in need.  Perhaps it is giving away "stuff" that is simply taking over our houses.  Maybe it is taking another child into your home. Maybe, just maybe, it is freeing up your expenses and living on less, so that we have more to give.  To the widow...to the orphan....to the shut-in....to the single mother of three kids....to the least of these....for His glory.....to spread His fame.

What if as Christians, we lived like THAT, instead of working to gather as much stuff for ourselves?  What if we lived as if none of it were ours anyway?  What if we acquired, only to give it away?  What kind of impact could we make globally?  What if....

In David Platt's book, Radical (HIGHLY recommend this book), he writes,

"The way we use our money is a barometer of our present spiritual condition.  Our neglect of the poor illustrates much about where our hearts lie.  The mark of Christ followers is that their hearts are in heaven and their treasures are spent there."


"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
~Matthew 6:21 

My husband and I have much soul-searching to do this week.  How do we fit into this global mission?  How does God want to use our resources for His glory?  What is He asking us to do for His name?  I challenge you to ask those same questions of God.  What if we all, not only asked those kinds of questions, but then DID what God showed us to do within our own sphere of influence?  What if we, as Christians, chose to live radically, instead of comfortably, even if we weren't the ones necessarily called to physically "GO"?

What if......

Kirsten

Hosea - A Story of Redemption

I just finished reading the book of Hosea.....again.  I can't get enough of it!!  It is a beautiful story of redemption.   A man for his wife.   A God for His people.    Here is a man, whom God instructs to marry a woman named Gomer.  But not just any woman.   Hosea is told from the get-go that his soon to be wife WILL be adulterous and WILL leave him many times and WILL have children with other men.  But in spite of all this, God instructs him to marry Gomer anyway.   To love her unconditionally.   To pursue her each and every time she goes astray.   
And.  He.  Does.  


Wow.   In fact, in the end, when she leaves him again, Hosea buys her back for fifteen shekels of silver.   He redeems her.   Not because of anything SHE has done, but because of who HE is.   And therin lies a picture of our heavenly Father.   A loving, passionate Father who pursues His children even when we are undeserving.   Even when we have gone astray and have been unfaithful to Him.  It is a love that makes a DELIBERATE CHOICE to love, even when the love is unreciprocated. 

Unlike Hosea, we don't know the end of our redemption story.  With all the changes taking place in Ethiopia regarding adoption, it's difficult to know exactly how this story will end.  But we know that God has placed us on this journey for a reason.  And just like so often in life, that reason is not always known until the story is complete.  And so, "we press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [us]" (Philippians 3:14) and we trust that we serve a God who DOES know the end to our story.  The following excerpt came from a friend's blog, Cayte.   Read about her family's redemption story here.  This testimony that she had shared was written by a man named Derek Loux as he was in the process of adopting from the Ukraine. 

Renee’ and I are sitting in the office of a telephone company in Novograd Valenski, Ukraine, using wireless internet.  We are in the middle of adopting three special needs boys from an orphanage here.  Two of the boys have Down Syndrome.  Roman is high functioning, energetic and happy.  Dimitri has serious mental retardation, failure to thrive, and though he is five years old, he is the size of a 1 year old.  He has sores on his face, a distinct smell of death on him, and yells out if we try to do anything with him other than hold him. Because he has less ability to respond and learn, he naturally gets less attention and care from the orphanage workers in this world of limited resources.  The harsh reality of the “survival of the fittest” principle is a life and death struggle that this little boy is losing fast.  Our third boy Sasha, is a brilliant six year old who has Spina Bifida (the condition our son Josiah died from in 1996). He is like a learning sponge that can’t get enough! He is happy and alert and thirsty for knowledge and experience.  So with two of our boys, we get an immediate return on any investment we make.  With Dimitri, there’s not much immediate gratification. In fact, it’s unknown when and if there will be a return at all. This is the kind of situation that makes the carnal, fallen, human reasoning think, “Why try?  What’s the point?  What will this produce?  What good will this do?  Why not select a boy who has more potential?  This looks like a lost cause.

Two days ago we drove for hours into the Ukrainian countryside to the village where Dimitri was born. We met with officials there and signed papers and answered their questions. We also went and saw Dimitri’s house. The day had been long, we were still recovering from jet lag, I was beginning to really miss my six daughters at home and all the familiar things our fragile human hearts entangle themselves with in feeble attempts to feel secure. Sitting in the dark on our very long drive back to Novograd that night, the Holy Spirit began to whisper to my heart, and new understanding about redemption began to take shape.

I was thinking, “Man, adopting this little boy has been so much work. This is exhausting, expensive, uncomfortable … and it doesn’t feel very rewarding right now.” What am I doing in some little Soviet car in the dark, in the middle of rural Ukraine in frozen December, as the driver dodges cats and potholes? What if Dimitri doesn’t improve at all? What if we get “nothing” out of this? … Ahhh, there it was; that dark, fallen, unreedemed, selfish human love, rooted in the tree of the knowledge of “good and evil”. The love the Greeks called “erao” love. The love where we treat someone as precious and treasured for what we can get out of it. This is unlike “agapeo” love, the God kind of love that treats someone as treasured and precious for their good, not for my good. It’s when I love a person in order to meet their needs, having no expectation of them meeting any of my needs. At a whole new level, God is working His kind of love into my weak heart, and He’s using little Dimitri to do it.

On the drive home that night, the Lord whispered in my ear, “This is Redemption. Derek, do you know how far I travelled to get you and bring you back? I had to be separated from my Son, in order to get you, just like you are separated from your children in order to get these boys. Do you know how expensive it was for Me to purchase you? It cost me everything. Do you know how broken, sick, damaged, twisted, dirty, smelly, and hopeless you were? And at the end of it all, you had nothing to give me or add to me. I did it for you. I emptied myself and became nothing so that you could have it all. This is redemption.

My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him. And when He redeems us, we can’t even really appreciate or comprehend it, just like Dimitri will never comprehend or fully appreciate what is about to happen to him … but … he will live in the fruit of it. As his Daddy, I will never expect him to understand all of this or even to thank me. I just want to watch him live in the benefits of my love and experience the joys of being an heir in my family. This is how our heavenly “Papa” feels towards us.

Today, settle your busy heart down and rest in the benefits of redemption. Enjoy the fruits of His goodness, and stop trying to “pay Him back”. You’ll never get close you goofy little kid.

Beautiful.  Redemption.

Please continue to pray for the beautiful children in Ethiopia who are waiting for their redemption stories to be written.  Some will have the opportunity to be adopted.  Many will not.  For every one child who leaves the orphanage to be united with his/her forever family, millions will be left behind.  Pray that regardless of the situation that is taking place within the adoption world right now, that God would continue His story of redemption in the lives of His children.  For as Jesus promises, "I will not leave you as orphans.  I will come to you."  ~John 14:18


Kirsten

If Not Us, Then Who?

Project Hopeful is a non-profit organization that seeks to bring HIV/AIDS awareness and to educate, encourage, and enable families seeking to adopt children living with the disease.  Take a look at this clip that aired on Monday on the TODAY SHOW.  Truly an amazing family!



If not us, then who?  I kind-of love that. :)


Kirsten

One Small Act

One comment that we’ve heard over and over by people as we’ve told them about our plans to adopt, is, “Wow!  What an awesome thing you are doing for that child!”

Years ago, I would have thought the same thing.  After all, isn’t it noble to provide a home and clothing and food for a helpless child without?  Isn’t it admirable to love on “the least of these” as Jesus commands?  Isn’t it the responsibility of the church to “help orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27)?  While obviously, all this is good, I am struck by the fact that it is a view that places us as the rich westerner riding in on our white horse to “rescue” some poor, helpless, forlorn child from poverty and what we deem unacceptable.   In reality, instead of God using ME to “rescue" this child, I believe that God is using THEM to rescue me. 

Rescue me from what, you ask?  The idols of materialism, “The American Dream”, etc…  Their presence in my life and in the lives of the people they touch, is doing much more for us, then we could ever possibly do for them.  Already I have seen how God is using this one child, a child whom we have never met….a child whom may not even be born yet, to impact a community.  To stir hearts.  To change lives.  This child, by simply being whom God created him/her to be, is allowing us to catch a glimpse of Jesus. 

Now, understand when I say, that adoption is a beautiful thing.  It is a beautiful picture of how God has rescued us all from our spiritual “orphanages” and made us a new creation in Christ.  Just like a bride and groom depict Jesus (the bridegroom) and the church….or how the love of a parent for a child models the agape love that God has for His people.  Adoption portrays how God has loved us, pursued us, and given us an inheritance far greater than what we were destined for.  It is a picture of the place we hold in the family of God.  But God is at work, and He is doing something even bigger.

So how did we get here?  Honestly, we just felt that God was calling us in this direction.  We felt that we wanted to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.  Right now, there are 145 MILLION orphans in the world.  We are hoping that when we return from Ethiopia, there will be one less.   But sadly, that will still leave 144,999,999.  We are but one.  And so, some may wonder (quietly, to themselves), “So, what’s the point?”  The point, for us, is to in some way inspire others to follow God’s leading.  That may look differently for you, than it does for me.  God may not be leading you to adopt at this time.  But certainly He is leading you somewhere?  How can we climb out of our comfort zones to truly be the hands and feet?

Many of us are looking for Jesus in the churches.  We are looking for him in Christian books and theology.  In worship music and Christian radio.  And while all these things are well and good (and necessary!!), I can’t help but to remember that that is not where Jesus hung out.  He hung out with the prostitutes…the tax collectors…the blatant “sinners”.  He was more commonly found amongst the poor and the needy, than the rich and the affluent.  So while I do recognize that adoption is a beautiful thing, a noble act that mirrors how God has taken us, and adopted us as His sons and daughters and bestowed upon us all of His inheritance, I see how this “thing” is so much bigger than us.  It is so much bigger than this one simple act.  God is using it, and HAS used it already, to reach others.  To show His glory.  And He’s doing it through one small child.

I’d love to hear how God is revealing Himself to you.  How is He using “the least of these” to make Himself known to you?  God is constantly at work…often times we are too busy doing “His work” to notice though.  But HE is there…in the face of a homeless man who climbs into your dumpster at work to collect scrap metal…..in the face of a single mother who is working two jobs to support her children….in the face of a small Ethiopian baby who has already captured the hearts of so many.  He is there.  Will you see Him?  Or will you walk right past?