What we've been up to...

Summer vacation has started and the boys and I have enjoyed a much slower pace over the last few weeks. We've been keeping busy, but mostly just with fun stuff like going to the pool and playdates with friends. Here are a few shots from the beginning of our summer vacation:

One of our favorite summer activities is going to the neighborhood pool.

Andrew has learned to sit up all by himself. I still put the Boppy there, just in case he gets a little wobbly.

He has also started eating (and enjoying) baby food.

We went to the petting zoo.

And last weekend we had a family reunion in Iowa. Here is Caleb with one of his favorite cousins, Tatum.

Our next big event is our trip to St. Louis for Andrew's final court date. If all goes according to plan, his adoption will be finalized on July 1st. What an exciting day that will be!

Jesus, Thank You

This weekend I had the privilege of attending our second annual men's retreat near Kirksville, MO. The retreat was a wonderful time of fellowship and Bible study for the men and teenagers in our church. I am so thankful to the Lord for such a wonderful group of guys. It is truly rare in America today to have such an engaged group of men in the local church.

During the two days, we had four sessions of teaching from Charles Leiter on the subject of "Justification and Regeneration." I would highly recommend his book on these two subjects. I haven't read it yet, but the sessions were based on the book and were extremely helpful in bringing clarity to issues that there is a lot of confusion among Christians. Each of the men received a copy of the book during the retreat. I look forward to reading it soon. Brother Leiter does a masterful job of using illustrations to drive home the teachings of Scripture. The illustrations he used in the first session on sin were the best I have ever heard and will be very useful in evangelism. Several of the men in the church have already read the book and said that the illustrations used in the teaching sessions are in the book as well.

http://www.monergismbooks.com/Justification-and-Regeneration-Expanded-Edition-p-17823.html (Note: Make sure to get the expanded edition with the added appendix)

In addition to the teaching sessions we enjoyed ping pong, skeet shooting, times of prayer, theological discussion, a bonfire, and some great barbecue. Both years by the bonfire I have rejoiced to see fathers with their boys, and am drawn to think of my boys and long for them to repent and believe at a young age so that they won't make many of the mistakes I have made, and so they can see the immense significance and joy of life in the Body of Christ.

We sang this song together this weekend that expresses our thanks to the Lord for our Justification and Regeneration. It is definitely one to memorize.

Jesus, Thank You - Click this link to hear the music

The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend
The agonies of Calvary
You the perfect Holy One, crushed Your Son
Who drank the bitter cup reserved for me

Your blood has washed away my sin
Jesus, thank You
The Father’s wrath completely satisfied
Jesus, thank You
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table
Jesus, thank You

By Your perfect sacrifice I’ve been brought near
Your enemy You’ve made Your friend
Pouring out the riches of Your glorious grace
Your mercy and Your kindness know no end

Lover of my soul
I want to live for You

© 2003 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (ASCAP)/Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP).


Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The Benefits of Waiting

While we were in the midst of our adoption process, Luke and I both learned a lot about waiting. I wrote about some of the things God was teaching us here. These lessons on waiting were so valuable to me, not just for the adoption process but for life in general. Life is full of waiting, so thinking about how and why God wants us to wait is very important.

If anyone is an expert on waiting, it is the families currently adopting from China. Waiting families in the China adoption program are now waiting for over three years!!! This means after they get their paper work done (which takes about 4-6 months), they then have to wait for over three years (it's estimated to be about 38-39 months) before they get a referral, and then after they get their referral they wait several more weeks before they can travel to get their child. Whew! We waited about nine months to get matched with Andrew and that seemed like a long time when we were in the midst of the wait. Our adoption was turbo-speed compared to what some of these families are experiencing! Because of this extensive wait, many Christian families in the China program have a lot of encouraging words and wisdom to offer about times of waiting. I found an excellent piece written by one of these waiting moms titled "The Benefits of Waiting." You can read it here.

I was blessed by many of the things this mom wrote, but I was especially convicted of what my attitude should be during times of waiting. During periods of waiting, my attitude should not be one of impatience and self-pity. Instead, it should be thoughtful and purposeful. God doesn't give us times of waiting for us to just sit around and...wait. I loved how the author of "The Benefits of Waiting" looked for things she could be doing, prayers she could be praying, and blessings she could be grateful for throughout her long wait. She was looking for ways she could glorify God during this time, not just impatiently and anxiously wondering when God would give her what she wanted.

After reading this article, I tried to think of ways I could apply it to my life right now. While we aren't currently waiting on an adoption, there always seems to be something we are waiting on. The biggest thing we are waiting on right now is for Luke to finish school. He has been working on his MBA for a few years now, slowly taking one class a semester. He only has two classes left, so we decided to have him to go full-speed ahead and take both classes this summer so he could be DONE by July rather than dragging it out until December. This means he'll be gone two evenings a week for the next eight weeks, and probably have to devote a fair amount of weekend time to his studies.

As you can imagine, I am really excited for him to be done with his MBA. I hadn't been looking forward to this eight weeks (his first summer class was tonight) but reading this article made me realize that I needed to change my attitude and think of how God could use me during this eight weeks while I am waiting for him to finish. Focusing on the good that can come from this wait has completely changed my perspective on the upcoming eight weeks. While I am still looking forward to Luke being done, I am not dreading this time like I was before. I am trying to think of all the ways I can be useful during this time, rather than focusing on just enduring the time. What a difference our attitude makes during times like this!

So I give a big "Thank you!!" to Adeline Quay (the mom who wrote "The Benefits of Waiting") for showing me once again how I am prone to sin during times of waiting, and how I should turn from that sin and glorify God while I wait. As I said earlier, life is full of waiting so learning how to wait in a God-glorifying way is something we all need to think about.

So...what are you waiting for?

Earth - Disney Movie

Here is a post from a blog I read about Disney's new movie Earth.

http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/05/earth-movie.html

Be sure to watch the trailer and don't miss the link to Russell Moore's meditation on the movie.

It looks like a good movie to teach our kids to marvel at God's creation, while at the same time show them the effects of sin and the fall of not only man, but all of creation.

It should make us long for the new heavens and new were where righteousness dwells.

Romans 8:19-23 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

2 Peter 3:13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

What would you do....

...if you were 37 years old, a wife and mother of two young children, and found out you had terminal cancer? That you weren't going to live to see your 38th birthday, spend another anniversary with your husband, or see your children grow up? I just watched an amazing video of a woman in this very situation, giving her testimony in a talk she titled "Death is not Dying: A Faith that Saves." It is soooo worth listening to. It is 55 minutes long, but I can almost guarantee that if you listen to the first five minutes you'll stick around to hear the rest of what she has to say. You can find the video (or audio) here.

All the latest

I read a blog post this week that really resonated with me. It was written by someone who has just adopted a son from Ethiopia. Check out what she wrote here. I couldn't agree more with everything she said. It will explain why I haven't written much lately on this blog. Sometimes I have so much to say that I don't even know how to put it into words.

So...since I have had a serious case of writer's block I'll just post some more pictures to keep everyone up to date on what is going on around our home. Here's the latest:

Isaac and Caleb had fun dressing Andrew as a cowboy

Isaac learned to ride his bike without training wheels (sorry the picture is so fuzzy!)

So did Caleb.

We had a really fun field trip to Science City.

Isaac has been teaching Andrew to read.

Andrew has started taking "big boy" baths.

As mentioned in the previous post, we had Parent's Night with our co-op last week. Here are the boys all dressed up and ready to go:

There's the latest from our home. Isaac's finishing his last week of school this week. Summer vacation is almost here!

Family night at co-op

Friday night was Family Night for the home-school co-op that Stacie got involved with this semester. It was a great time of fellowship and encouragement. I got to meet and talk with several of the other fathers as well as hear from the kids on some of the things they had learned together during the semester.

Near the end of the evening one of the men spoke a word of praise and encouragement to all the mothers that worked so hard all semester to make the co-op a success. I couldn't have agreed more with his comments. Our wives work tirelessly pouring themselves into our children day in day out.

Below is a video that Marcy (one of the co-op moms) made that we all enjoyed watching together. (Thanks Marcy for all the work you put into this!)




Proverbs 31:10-31

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.