Shepherds and Sheep......and Cicadas?

I sat this morning out on my deck, my coffee in one hand and my Bible in the other, listening to a chorus of cicadas singing praise to their Creator.  And as I enjoyed my front-row seat, I began to read about shepherds and sheep. 

"As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.  I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.  I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land.  I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements of the land.  I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land.  There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.  I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.  I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy.  I will shepherd the flock with justice."

~Ezekiel 34:11-16

Well, it is that time of year for me again .... time to finish up my lesson plans for the year.  I've scoured curriculum catalogs....searching for the "perfect" curriculum.  I've written up lessons plans, worked on objectives and ORGANIZED closets, bins and drawers....all in the attempts to "start off the year on the right foot". 

And as I read about the responsibility of shepherds to their sheep, the faces of my four little "sheep" entered my mind.  How am I fulfilling my calling to them?   Am I training them up in the way that they should go?  And am I doing it in a way that is honoring to God?

And so out came the pen and paper and the list began .....



Areas I'd like to see improvement:



~Heart-changing issues~

~First-time obedience~

~ Being more intentional about family devotions and praying with my children~

~Service to others~

 

And as I began to plan how I could begin to implement these things, God gently reminded me....I can do all these things, but in the end, the fate of my children does not depend on if I've used the right curriculum, penciled in enough service projects or crammed enough scripture verses into their little heads.  These are ALL good things, even NECESSARY things, but NOT the final determining factor in whether or not we will produce children who follow Him.  It's so easy to fall into the trap of placing our trust in methods, instead of trusting in God, isn't it?  Feels somewhat safer, tamer maybe.  And I am guilty as charged.

Yet in the end, the most important impact I will ever have as a mother on my children will be my prayers for them.  It will be MY relationship with the Lord.  It will be how I model Christ's love to them.  It will be the everyday praise that bubbles up out of me as a natural overflow of my love for Him.  Just like those cicadas. :)



Crazy little bugs, huh?  And yet, they bring Him praise just by being what they were created to be.  I kind-of want to be like that, you know?  Singing my heart out in praise as I do what I've been called to do.  Praising Him in the mundane.  In the countless diaper changes, piles of laundry and mounds of homeschool curriculum.  Praising Him when I am tired and feeling unequipped for the task at hand.  Singing my continuous song of praise and petition to Him as I go about my day doing what I've been called to do.  And doing it all for the glory of God.   Just because it is who I am.

And as I do, I pray that my children will have a front-row seat to the Savior.  That as I work on MY relationship with Him, as I pray and serve and love, as I offer a continual chorus of praise.....that they will glimpse Him and desire to do the same. 

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

Update

"Where are you at in the process?" 

It's a question we hear quite frequently ever since we started our adoption.  Most times our response is much of the same:  paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.  And to be perfectly honest, most days I don't mind the paperwork all that much.  :)

So, where are we at right now you ask?  At this point much of our paperwork is behind us.  Instead we are waiting for a few key pieces to arrive in the mail (MY passport, our fingerprint appointment with the FBI, our Power of Attorney form that has been sent to Harrisburg to be state certified and our Favorable Determination Letter from the Department of Homeland Security).  Once all of these pieces arrive, we will be ready to send our dossier along to Ethiopia!  We are hoping to have everything together and sent off before the end of the summer when we head off on vacation.  WE'RE ALMOST THERE!!  At that point, we will be placed on a waiting list indefinitely, until a child is referred to us.

Even MORE exciting, is that to date, we have raised/saved $17,000 towards bringing our child home!!!  That is more than HALFWAY to our goal of $30,000.   If you have followed our story from the beginning, then you have heard this before.  But literally, when we signed our contract only 5 MONTHS ago, we had zero dollars to put towards an adoption.  Zero.  Nada.  Nil.  (Is that right?  I'm kind-of notorious for getting those sayings wrong. :)  We simply were stepping out in faith, trusting that when God calls, He equips.  Within those few short months, we have been completely blessed and blown away by the generosity of friends, family and STRANGERS.  We have also noticed (non-coincidentally) that Charles' work has been blessed, thus increasing his paychecks.  Adoption expenses that we would never have been able to afford just a year or two ago......suddenly the money is there.  Truly only something God can take the credit for. 

So....thank you for following us and thanks for thinking to ask how the process is going.  We love sharing how God is using it to teach us about HIM and His provision!


Kirsten 

Obedience

It's always amazing to me when God uses ordinary, everyday examples from my life to illustrate biblical principles.  Right now He is doing just that in the realm of obedience.  Any other parents out there with me on this?  I feel like I am living parallel lives as my worlds of training my children in obedience and my own personal obedience to the things God has laid on my heart collide.  And so, I've been asking God lately, "What is true obedience?"  "What does it look like in my children?"  "What does it look like in ME?"

I read this quote the other day in regards to training our children to obey our voice:

"As we teach our children to obey our voice, we're also teaching them to obey God's voice.  Someday, they will learn to hear His small, still voice in their hearts and they will know to obey Him because it is the right thing to do."

Isn't that what I want for them?  The ability to RECOGNIZE and OBEY the Creator's voice?  And it all starts here at home.....*sigh*.  Somedays I feel pretty ill-equipped to teach my children much of anything, particularly when it comes to weighty things like recognizing the voice of God.  In the midst of temper-tantrums, sibling squabbles and blatant defiance, it is hard to remember that the real reason I am here is not to play referee, but to point them to Him.  In. Every. Thing.

In the temper-tantrums.  In the sibling squabbles.  In the mundaneness (is that even a word?!!!?) that is life.  If I am only breaking up fights and changing the OUTWARD behaviors of my children instead of their hearts, aren't I doing them a disservice? 

Take the city of Sodom, for instance.  I have loved this verse ever since I came across it. 

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom:  She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy."

~Ezekiel 16:49

What?!???  Sodom was not destroyed for its sexual sins and wickedness???  Apparently, those were merely the OUTWARD manefestations of the INWARD heart.

So as I've pondered and revisited issues of obedience with my own children lately,  it causes me to re-evaluate where I stand with God.  Do I recognize that still, small voice that resides in my heart?  Do I practice first-time obedience myself?  Do I simply exhibit OUTWARD behaviors, while ignoring the heart?

"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the OUTWARD appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

~ 1 Samuel 16:7

If I am completely honest with myself, I could stand to listen more closely to His voice.  There are certainly things He has placed on my heart with His still, small voice that I have yet to do.  Things that are hard.  Things that I am resistant to.  And what do I do?  I dig in my heels like a toddler.  I throw that temper tantrum.  I practice blatant defiance.  Because it is easier than giving up control and surrendering completely.  

JUST.  LIKE.  MY.  KIDS.

Man I love those crazy kids!  They teach me so much about myself and life.  So despite how difficult it may be, I'm gonna take another look at obedience.  I'm GOING to commit myself to heart-changing.  Because it's too important not to.  Because I want to give my kids the best shot at growing into mature adults who both RECOGNIZE and OBEY the Creator's voice.   Because God is laying it on my heart in His still, small voice and it is the right thing to do.  Because I want to be obedient to the task that God has laid before me.  I want to be obedient to Him.

Kirsten 

A Week in Pictures

 This week we hosted our first ever backyard Bible club, put on by CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship).  We had a great week and I think everyone that came had a fun time.  Here is a look at our week in review...



Starting out our morning....



with some music....and some dancing... :)



Sophie's just trying to keep up with the big kids.



"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." ~Romans 6:23



Breaking up into small groups...



"For the son of man came to seek and to save what was lost." ~Luke 19:10


~CRAFT TIME~

~OK, aren't these next two just adorable??  Don't let these sweet little pictures fool you...  They were little partners in crime. :) ~

~GAMES~

So there you have it!  A week of backyard Bible club.  I love that it is a typical VBS that comes to YOU!!  A great opportunity to create dialogue with our neighbors.  AND... it is fun for the kids (coffee, yummy treats, and chatting for the moms!! :)  Today we capped off our week by packing lunches and heading to a friend's pool for the afternoon.  What a PERFECT way to end our time together.    Now, back to the reality of my TO DO list tomorrow.....get passport photos, a trip to the notary public, obtain local criminal records, send off homeschool paperwork to superintendent of district, finish adoption education, and somewhere in there, go food shopping and do laundry!!!  Happy weekend! :)

Kirsten





When Fears and Doubt Creep In

Hi.  My name is Kirsten Gregoire, and I am an Israelite.

There.  You have it.  As I've found out, nothing brings that fact out more than adversity. Often times it is easy as Christians to look back at stories in the Bible and to harp on the fact that those Israelites had been given so much and yet still failed to trust in the faithfulness of God.  It's easy to see all the mistakes they made and to think, "Well, if I had seen God part the Red Sea, then I would have had no reason to doubt."  OR "If I had witnessed manna falling from the sky......or plagues......or the battle of Jericho, then I would have believed."

But is that really truth?  Well, as it turns out for me, it's not.

Throughout this whole adoption process, God has been so faithful.  Everytime we prayed for direction, God showed us clearly His plans.  Everytime we have needed to make a payment, the money has been there.  Everytime we began to fret that things wouldn't go through, God made a way.  And yet, still, throughout the process, I find myself continually doubting in His goodness and His control over the situation.  And, continually, He brings me back to this,

"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, 'Rejoice.'  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace that transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

~Philippians 4:4-7

Last month we had our home study visit.  It was the one piece of the process that I was the most nervous about.  Not because I didn't think we were a good family, but the unknown of having a stranger into my home to "evaluate" us was a little nerve-racking!!  What if my children chose that exact moment to misbehave?  How would I handle that?  What if the social worker took one look at our home and said, "You want to fit another kid in THERE??"  What if the fact that I don't have child-safety locks on EVERY cabinet and drawer could prevent us from adopting??  I was a nervous wreck!

And then, ever so gently, God reminded me that I am not in control.  It is not my responsibility to worry about those things.  It is only my responsibiity to be obedient to Him.  To step out in faith and do what I believe He has laid on our hearts to do.  And to trust.  To trust that He will show up and make a way when there seems to be no way.  To trust that His ways are always better than mine. 

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

~Isaiah 55:9

And just like that, as I let go, our home study was approved.  We are now onto the next phase....the dossier.  We still have a ways to go before we bring our child home.  We have to await approval from immigration and the Department of Homeland Security.  We have to pray, pray, pray that our passports get here quickly.  We have to pass court in Ethiopia.  And although it is easy NOW to see God's hand and His provision, when our backs are up against the Red Sea again, I pray that we will not lose faith.  My prayer is that we will remember who our God is and His provision thus far. 

"[Our] Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is His name."

~Jeremiah 50:34

As new obstacles come up, won't you pray along with us that God renews our strength?  We love you all and really could not be on this journey without you!  All of your prayers, emails, kind words, financial contributions and such have given us the stamina to continue on.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Kirsten

Fundraising Totals Are In!!

Just a quick post to let you know that our totals are in from our Girls Night Out Fundraiser last weekend!  Thank you to everyone who came out to support us, who ordered jewelry, ordered books or had a spa service.  All total, we raised $500 towards our adoption fees!!!  This brings our total to date, to $11,500!!!  Yes, in just FOUR short months, we have been able to save/raise more than a third of our funds.  That is truly amazing and speaks so much more of God, than of us.  Thanks for walking this journey with us!


Kirsten