Santa's Coming to Sanborn??

Written by Keri D.

That's right, folks. Santa's comin' on over to the East Side! We're hosting a Christmas party for our neighborhood tomorrow with crafts, activities, pictures with "Santa", and storytimes for the kiddos. We will also have one half of the duplex set up as a "store" for parents to "shop" for their kids! (Thanks to Cornerstone for the warehouse of toys and brand new bikes!)

All this to say, stay tuned! A blog will coming with pictures and updates! 

Pray that relationships will be built during this time. Yes, we want to make Christmas easier on those who are struggling. Yes, we want to give the kids something fun to do tomorrow. Yes, we want to read to them the true meaning of Christmas. But, more than anything, we want to know our neighbors. We want to build friendships and we want them to see that the only reason we do this is because we believe in the unmatched love and passion of Jesus Christ. 

Also, feel free to join us! At the IG House from 3:00-5:00 (set up begins at 2:00). 

Marsha-The Reason for the Season

Written December 9th, 2008 by Marsha L.

This past weekend, Tom and I hosted our annual Niece & Nephew Christmas party. For those of you who have not heard of this festive event, let me explain. Tom and I go temporarily insane for about 3 days a year: one day near Christmas and one weekend in the summer. We invite all our nephews and nieces to our house and play all day long. Don't get me wrong: we have a blast! In fact, we have so much fun that neither of us can move the next day! This year, we made ornaments, decorated their Christmas tree, ate gross hot dogs with chili and Cheetos (not me!), went to the mall for a photo scavenger hunt (girls won!), ice skated, and came home to a home cooked meal of spaghetti and a time of sugar cookie decorating and reminiscing over the fun parts of our day. The kids went home with smiles on their faces and giggles in their hearts! Tom and I fell on the couch with smiles on our faces and a bottle of Advil in our hands!

 Many people, including our family, ask us why we do this? Let me share. There is the selfish reason of wanting to spend time with them. Of wanting them to remember us when they are grown. Of wanting them to have a family tradition that they will pass down to their children. But it's bigger than that.

 As we were driving to the mall, one of my nephews looked up at me and said, " Aunt Marsha, what's that scripture that goes, 'For God so...loved the world...that He...gave....' ", and I helped him finish John 3:16. I asked him what he thought that verse meant and he told me that it meant people who love Jesus get to go to heaven and people who don't go to the bad place. I smiled and would normally have left it at that with a younger child, but I felt the tug of the Holy Spirit on my heart to go a little further.

 " This is true," I said. "But it means so much more. Look at all these cars driving around us." We were on I20 at the time.

 "God loves all these people in all these cars. And it's not just one person in each car. There are 6 of us in this car and 5 in Meagan's car. So just imagine how many people there are in all these cars! Then think about how many people there are in all the world! That's alot! God loves them all! The good people and the bad people." I had his attention. God had my attention. I continued on.

 "In fact, God loved them so much, that he couldn't just let them live in their sin and go to the bad place. You know, God is a just God and he requires perfection. Do you know what that means?" He nodded his head. "So, you remember the flood when all the wicked people were washed away and only Noah was saved? God sent a rainbow saying he would never do that again. So how is he going to deal with evil and wickedness?" Again, that questioning look. He wanted the answer.

 "God sent his Son, who was perfect. That Son was Jesus. And Jesus took all that evil and sin for us. And because He did that, we can be with God forever. So, the last part of that verse you memorized is really cool because I want to be with God forever and be in heaven forever! But sometimes we forget the first part of the verse....For God so loved the world.....That's where it starts. For God so loved you, " and I said his name. " And if you were the only person who ever lived, he would have done it all, just for you, so you could be with him, forever!

 I was choking back tears. Tom was choking back tears. The kids in the back seat were giving each other wet-willies and had no idea of the mystery of the majesty of the Kingdom of God going on in the front seat of the truck . My nephew is a contemplator. God has his hand on him in a mighty way and I am so excited to see what is in store for him in the future!

 My pastor preached a similar message on Sunday. As I pondered once again John 3:16, I realized that I am in a different place in my walk with Christ than I was many years ago. As a younger Christian, I shared the gospel in such a way that I just wanted people to get their "ticket to heaven". I wasn't worried about much more. As God has worked his love and truth in my heart and continued to mold me more and more into his image, I am coming to realize it is all about His love.

For God so LOVED the world........that is truly the REASON for this season.......for EVERY season........and for our lives!

Sam-The Process of Love

 Written by Sam L.

- Disclaimer -

I am aware that I am entirely unqualified for this topic. I wrote this to help me process. I hope it will help those who read it to process as well. This is not a solution to the problem of the lack of love, but an admission that I do not love enough or in the right ways. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right? ~ Sam 

The Process of Love

I often find myself in situations that feel beyond my capacity for love. I don't know how to handle it or how I found myself there. I try to love, as Jesus told us too. We reach out to the hurting, to the bleeding, to be as Donald Miller said (in paraphrase)  "the hands pressed against the wounds of a bleeding world." But when we do this, or at least when I do this, I often find that I don't know how much pressure to apply, how much love to give, or at what point I'm not loving but hindering. Balance is something that I struggle with. I am often black and white, though my soul craves to find the gray balance which is the base coat of life's colors. Love is not black and white, it is a colorblind gray. Gray is the primer. I don't know if you have ever painted a raw piece of wood without using a primer coat, but when you do this the raw materials absorbs the color, leaving the wood with a faded color instead of the bright reds and blues and greens that you applied to it. When we apply our love to raw humanity, without a primer coat, a base to start with, the brilliance of the love we are painting will become dry and fade quickly. We must first apply the gray primer to our lives and to the lives of those we are loving. If we skip this step in our anxiousness to apply the bright shinny new love it will quickly fade. Love is a process. This is something that I was told, but never understood. I never understood that there are actually steps to love. When people told me that it is a process I took it to mean that you must be patient, calm, not anxious, and all of those thing that are true but won't prepare you to love. The Apostle Peter describes the process in his second letter to a church who was confused by the conflicting ideas of the culture around them and persecuted for holding to the redemption that was God's gift of love to them. Perhaps they had a feeling of being overwhelmed, you think? Perhaps a sense of being in over their heads; that the situation required more love than they were capable of? This is the advice that Peter gives them:

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
 and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control 
with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 
and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective 
or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

While trying to not make this sound like a college bible class perhaps some definitions are in order? Faith is our reliance on Jesus for our salvation from us ("us" is the opposite of love. If you don't believe this turn on the T.V.). Virtue in Greek is basically excellence or praise worthy. Knowledge is acting on the known or making a study of it (in the West we traditionally call this wisdom). Self-control is self-explanatory, to restrain oneself from the instinctual. Steadfastness can actually be interpreted as to continually wait, which is often what it feels like we are doing when we apply this quality! Godliness has the root word eusebēs, which means well reverent, that is, pious: - devout, godly. Brotherly love is fraternal affection or kindness. Then lastly comes love, which is also affection, but when used in a plural sense it is a feast of love, or something that is dear. All of these steps are put before love on the list that Peter gives us as things to strive after in our pursuit of following Jesus' example of love. Without faith we can abandon all hope; without virtue we have no examples of the glory that our souls long to see; if we do not study what we know of love we will not understand the depths yet undiscovered; without the self-control to restrain our quest for glory we are capable of doing more damage than good; steadfastness is what is required in order to actually apply that self-control that feels like it leads to nothing; without a reverence for something higher than ourselves we have no reason to apply self-control or steadfastness. These are all the steps required to love. It's no simple task. It is not a matter of deciding to love as I was told as a child. It is a process of learning and maturing in order to love. It is boring and tedious. Even defining the steps feels like studying for an English exam. Love is not something to be understood by children, but by those mature in their faiths. The faith of a child is pure, but their love is often misplaced.

 

All of this leads me to reflect on a time not long ago when my community went through a major "burnout". I have wondered what would lead a group as passionate as mine, who have always tried to love with our last exhausted breaths, to suddenly stop loving and become self-indulging, caught up in our problems more than we cared about the needs of others, even withholding love from those in our own community. I think everyone in the community has their own take on what brought this about, but I know in my life it was a lack of maturity. I was not prepared to love. I had gone from a place of apathy to a place where I loved with my whole being, and I was not prepared for the level of love I plunged into. I had no foundation in love, and when my immaturity caught up to me I gave up on the little love I had known. I became wreckless with my love and centered everything on what I wanted and felt. I was not virtuous, walking in knowledge, steadfast, self-controlled,  or really any of the qualities that lead to the love I had claimed to be an example of. I find that I am having to rebuild my foundation. This isn't a confession of a major relapse, and no, I'm not going to rehab. But I am taking an intense look at my life and how I love. I am starting with the baby steps of love starting with my faith and going forward. I do not want to throw love around like a common word. We say "I love you" too much without understanding the commitment that those four letters hold. It is easy to say that we love the homeless, but when it requires steadfastness and we have not walked through the processes, we will fail.

 

I am young and stupid. This I know and am reminded of often. But with my immaturity comes zeal. My father is the steadiest guy I have ever met. The man is a rock. And he plans everything to the last detail, which is only bad when you are like, "Hey, let drive to Crispy Cream and get a donut." And he's like, "Let me see if it's on the calendar." But still this is better than that random nonsense I dream up to get myself in trouble. This is a quality I admire, since I rarely think through what I'm saying till it's already out of my mouth. He knows exactly what to say and do, because he has walked a path of maturity for over 20 years. I wish it was possible to combine his years of wisdom and walking out the steps of love, with the zeal of my youth. I think this was what Jesus was like on earth. Sort of like a James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause and a Don Corleone from the Godfather. My friend and councilor Tom once told me, "Sam, teaching a young man maturity is like breaking a stallion. At first you let him run and buck around till he exhausts himself. Once he gets calm you put the blanket on his back. Then he'll run and throw up his hind legs some more. Next you place the saddle on his back. Then he'll buck again. Then the bridle. Then lastly you mount him and ride. You just have to let them buck; they'll come around in time." I pray that I don't waste my energy fighting what I am to become, but that I learn to bite the bit and save my energy for the race. I pray that I continue to have those mature in love surround me, and that they don't ever think I am untamable.

 

This is not my confession, these are my observations. These are not my convictions, this is my prayer for my life. I pray that I will be able to confess when I lose sight of love, and that I will be convicted by those around me when I stray from the call on my life, which is to love. I pray that I will love those around me enough to allow Jesus to speak through me when they lose sight of love. I pray that we, as John called us, the children of the elect lady, will mature in our love.

Ioana P.

What's been stirring in Ioana...

Flesh vs. Spirit:

We've heard the sermons, and read the scriptures about fighting our flesh and feeding our spirit…but goodness how difficult it is to truly live and fight for that.  From the moment I wake up to the minute I fall asleep I find myself in a constant battle between my selfish, guilty, bodily pleasures, and the pure and perfect desires of the spirit. There is this superficial gratification that I get when I feed my flesh.  A manipulation, perhaps by Satan, that makes me believe that choosing my flesh is normal, right, and perfectly satisfying. It's later when I feel the loving conviction of the Father reminding me of His truths and promises.  It's later when I remember that though it is SO much easier to listen to my flesh, my life is so much more fulfilling if I listen to the spirit. Listening to my flesh grants me temporary satisfaction and temporary happiness. Listening to the spirit grants me permanent satisfaction and permanent joy. And yes, it is a grueling battle, and yes it never ends, and yes it breaks your heart at times but during each individual battle you have a team mate that is fighting alongside you, encouraging and empowering you with the strength you need to make the choice that makes it in the end, the most worth it.

 

Wasting Time:

We've heard the same talk from Christians and non-believers, Hallmark Cards and commercials, magazines and teachers, all urging us to seize the day and live for the present in order to not waste our time about what could or will be.  Lately, I've found myself daily asking the same questions:  have I fulfilled my purpose for today? Have I genuinely asked the Lord to have his way with me today? Have I asked Him to guide my feet, hands, lips, and mind? And the honest answer to those questions lately, is no. No I haven't.  For weeks I have woken up and selfishly thought about what I wanted or needed to do that day. I spent days sitting around for constant hours dreaming about the future and hating the present state of my life.  I've wasted and wasted and wasted, beautiful, precious, sweet time. I read a part of the book Blue Like Jazz a few months ago where the author, Donald Miller, said "I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time."  And really, the only thing you can do to get out of such a position is beg. Beg, beg, and beg for the Lord to change your heart and mind. Beg for your thoughts to be his thoughts. And your footsteps to be his footsteps. Your lips, his lips. And your hands, his hands. What else can you do? I am alive to serve a great purpose, a purpose that does not rest on glorifying me and my needs, but rather by glorifying God and fulfilling his will for my life. I want to serve this purpose. I don't want to serve a "Carpe Diem" slapped on a coffee mug purpose. I don't want to serve a cheesy Hallmark "live for the present" Card purpose. I want to serve the purpose that I was created to serve! I want to look back on my earthly life when I am in Heaven, and say: Mission Accomplished.

MUCH NEEDED UPDATE

Written 11.28.2008 by Keri D.

Some exciting things have been taking place in this unnoticed little inner city neighborhood!

As you may know, in August we hosted a Back to School Party with hopes of building relationship with the kids and parents in our neighborhood. Bags of school supplies were put together and given to the parents to make those never ending and overly priced supply lists a little lighter. I've heard "success" defined many different ways and honestly, I don't think we cared whether or not it was "successful". We met our neighbors. We hugged on some babies. We were joined this Thanksgiving by at least one of the families we met that day. To us, this is success. Even if it were all just for that one family…mission accomplished!

On September 25^th I became Mrs. Jeremiah Duckett and thus the living arrangements had to be tweaked. Meghan moved in with her parents on the other side of hwy 35 in the hospital district. She's about ten minutes away, which makes community living still possible with her! She continues to play a vital role in our community. And now we have an extra set of parents, too! Chris Tharp moved to Bedford and is living with his sister and her son. The Lord is using him in radical ways to minister to and be a source of hope for his sister! We are very excited for his obedience in that situation. It was hard for him to leave the IG House, but we are behind him all the way!  Paige and Valerie moved downstairs into the side of the duplex the guys were in before while Jeremiah and I now share the upstairs apartment. So basically, we swapped houses!

Now, our team is being expanded!! A couple weeks ago we moved in two new girls into the other side of the duplex!  Katie and Danielle have a passion that cannot be contained and are ready and eager to jump in full force. We are blessed and moved forward by Katie and Danielle's passionate hearts and tears that are wept over the nations. You may have heard about the people that lived in this duplex before the two newbie's. They were very sensitive to noise and would get extremely angry if we so much as walked the wrong way on the other side. We are now free to make as much noise as we want and our landlord even opened a passageway between the two sides! This has allowed us girls to have breakfast early in the morning before we go to work. The time we spend over coffee, guitars and dreaming has been so sweet and motivating!

Tom and Marsha have continued to not only open their (bigger) home and (bigger) table to us, but have also spent much of their time pouring into us, teaming with us, and at times being on the listening side of our venting! Right now there is a group of us meeting with them every week to study how to be a "Church for the City". We just started, but already God is humbling and breaking our hearts for Fort Worth.

My parents, Bob and Ann, have been meeting with Tom and Marsha and through much pleading and listening, have decided to branch out! That's right, IG-"middle ground"! There are many people in our neighborhood that are in a later part of their life and simply don't connect with a bunch of twenty-somethings. The LeNevues and the Crowell's are teaming together to start actively pursuing relationships with this group of people. They are already rockin' and rollin' with a couple that lives across the street from us! Soon they'll be kicking our butts and I couldn't be more excited! We've made it very clear that we are still in need of their wisdom and guidance so we will be making it a point to keep walking in community together.  What's so great is that we're focused on the same neighborhood, just different age groups. This will be a slow process that will be fueled first and only by relationships. So be praying as they begin to plan dinners, game nights and the like with people who need Jesus and need family!

Before August, IG was laying pretty low. I know a lot of you are probably wondering what has been going on or if we even still exist! I won't go into this too much only because I think each one of us has an individual explanation for this season we've been in. I do not speak for everyone else when I say this, but I truly believe the Lord needed to break us down and carve out our pride. When you're doing "ministry", especially in places that not many want to venture, it feels good. Feeling good is okay. God created our souls with a craving to be His hands and feet and so when we experience such a thing, its like being in a dance with the King. But pride, as always, has its way of creeping its way into our hearts. I just wonder if maybe our "feel good" was becoming less about the dance and more about the feel.  What if it were just becoming about meetings and events and attention? Like I said, not speaking for everyone. Or maybe I am? Its as if He knew we couldn't go any further with this mission until He dealt with us. Until he addressed our own sinful nature, our own wickedness. Our integrity. Our character. Our love and passion for HIM and our dependency on his hand. If these things begin to fade, we become useless to Him. I am so grateful that He didn't allow us to keep going. This season has been so hard, but what if He had just left us to wander deeper into our own selves? I'm glad He intervened. "Things" (or whatever you want to call it) are picking up again, slowly. But we are still very aware of the bent and broken ways in us. We are still, and will always be on the journey of sanctification. If you've been diligent to pray for us, thank you.

That's the latest on Intentional Gatherings Fort Worth. Keep checking this blog!

As always, we want more of Jesus for you and your family and hope this season is a time of building memories and practicing love.

 

 

 

 

 

Merely Human-Paige

Written by Paige K.

I love reading Keri and Sam because they are my balance, they translate the scriptures into real life when the drone of cold doctrine starts to ring too loudly in my mind. The Spirit was piecing scripture together in my heart recently about turning away from the things of the world and, after reading Sam's blog about they beauty of Jesus coming after the broken, all those words started to sound cold. Problem is, it's scripture, so how do I reconcile those two truths.

There's so much beauty in watching the Pure pursue the broken, the sick, the filthy. It's what stirs our hearts to love Him; it's what creates real, heartfelt worship beyond a song on Sunday morning…like my sister said "Jesus could take us captive as slaves, but instead he chooses to captivate us as lovers." Our Holy God has every right to enslave us, to make us obey his ways, but the way of Love is far better.

 So, yes! Christ comes to us in our brokenness and dirty faces and holds us; but such a great love won't stop at rescue, it demands restoration and transformation. God intends for us to move beyond brokenness to the beauty of sharing in his Holiness—because it is there that we get to walk in a power that is so obviously not our own, that so strikingly radiates the glory of who He is.

 I think holiness is a hard word to wrap our emotions around, after a long time it loses meaning. But when we look at Jesus' life, that word gets flesh. His was a holy life—at first, that sounds lame and boring…just to be honest. But what did that really mean in the day-in and day-out of Jesus's humanity?

It meant that he could touch people who had been in pain for a lifetime, and in a moment that pain was gone.

It meant that even though he was rejected and ridiculed, he could talk about a joy that overflows the boundaries of the soul.

It meant that he could sit in a room with the most sinful people and, instead of being dragged into the temptation of their sin, his goodness overpowered and changed them.

That kind of purity is not boring, it is a life-changing force of power…that is what the cross offers us! More than comfort, more than forgiveness, more even than salvation—the power of Christ at work in and through us to heal the sick, to comfort the dying, to rejoice in suffering, to give our depressingly circular lives meaning and purpose. He's inviting us beyond gratitude into partnership. He's inviting us to reorient our lives, to work with him to build a Kingdom, a new way of doing Life, on this earth that operates in supernatural power and restoration—that's something that this world and our brokenness will never give us. Are you in? There's a cost, though. Salvation is a gift, but sanctification is a partnership.

 Let me show you what I mean, the progression of the scriptures that have been echoing in my soul…

 "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2)

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12)

 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth…But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are his,' and, 'Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.'

    "Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2)

Let that sink in for a second…If we get rid of the stuff in our lives that is dishonorable, we are ready vessels, useful to God!!! What an incredible invitation and promise.

Paul writes the same thing to the Ephesians, "you were dead in the sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world…in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind…But God, rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ…For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

 

            See the contrast? Following the ways of the world means that we give in to the obsessions of our flesh…we all know what that feels like. There are things that are part of our lives that we hear the Spirit calling us to turn away from (I think some are common, but some are different for each of us), and we have two choices: we can obey and submit to that sanctification, or we can justify our friendship with the world and reject the Holy Spirit:

("I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh…Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these…But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires").

 

The tricky part in all of this is distinguishing passions because I think the most dangerous things are the ones that seem harmless or even good. Hebrews says, "let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…" Identifying sin is the easy part, but what about the "every weight" (another translation says "throw off everything that hinders") part? Having hair on your body is not inherently bad, so why do runners shave their legs and their heads sometimes? If food is a good pleasure, why do athletes consistently abstain from certain foods as a lifestyle? These things are good, but they create unnecessary weight for a runner. That's our analogy! Identify the things good and neutral things that hinder us, that weigh on us, and lay them aside/throw them off.

The most reliable test I've found in my own life is asking Matt Chandler's question, "Does this get me more or less of Jesus? Does this rob me of intimacy with him?" I have to be more specific because I know my tendency to apathy—"Does this make me desensitized to the things that God cares about? Does this make me apathetic toward the kingdom of God?"

 Ok, time for an example, too much theory. One of my favorite things is reading/listening to fiction. This works out perfectly with my job because I can put in a book on CD and just listen all day long at work while I'm checking in changes in the chapters I'm working on. Not inherently a bad thing, right? Well, I started noticing after about two weeks of this, that I was starting to get sucked into that fictional world. When I had to get back to reality, I found it harder to care about my real neighbors (coworkers, roommates, family) and their needs because I was getting caught up in the fantasy of fictional characters. It might sound stupid, but tell me avid sports fans don't experience the same thing, how many times do you see a husband ignoring his wife and kids because his eyes are glued to the game—it may be different for everyone, but we all have preoccupations and obsessions that rule us and captivate our affections if we aren't careful.

I'm not against enjoying the pleasures of this life because so often they create the most genuine, spontaneous worship; but, again, we have to find a balance. For me it means that I only listen for half of the day, and the other half I listen to a sermon and meditate on those truths and pray for our community. Or that for half of the week I can listen all day, but the other half I take a break. But I'm having to learn to discern the voice of the Spirit in that. It's not a formula, it's trusting him enough to submit to him. It was hard at first, but I'm seeing fruit and heart change—and that's what we're after.

I heard a great sermon recently, the pastor said, "What you think about, you'll care about, and what you care about you'll chase." It's the same thing Jesus was getting at when he said that where your treasure is, you'll find that's where your heart is. So what was he teaching in the very same breath? Matthew 6—don't run after the things this world chases, as if your life consisted of those things. The body was made for more than just impressive food or fashion, wealth will not satisfy you if it is your ultimate…but seek first the kingdom of God! What are you consumed with, those things that dull your affections for Jesus, that rob you of passion for pursuing His fame in your life?

 Paul said it to the Corinthians this way, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh…being merely human." What an invitation, to become more than merely human…

 

Worlds Collide: Two Stories of Adoption-Keri

Worlds Collide: Two Stories of Adoption

 Written 11.17.2008 by Keri D.

This week's events have been quite the pendulum. Swinging so easily from one extreme to the other. Not giving care or thought to its method yet somehow forcing time on earth to slide forward. And when the hour strikes, oh the sound...

This summer, a friend of mine had her routine sonogram done. Is it a boy? Nope. Is it a girl? Yes...two of them! These precious twins were conjoined at the chest, sharing a tiny beating heart. Doctors explored options, but because their heart was missing some major ventricles, hope apart from a miracle was not offered. On Tuesday night, at 32 weeks, Melody Joy and Madison Hope were born breathing. An hour later, their breathing ceased and their purpose had been served.

Saturday, I attended a reception held by some other friends of mine. Why? They had just adopted three little girls and were throwing a part in their honor.

As I walked into that room full of decorations and pictures, my heart felt as though it would burst. These three girls: Angel, Mary and Zulu had been adopted, taken into, chosen! I can't and honestly don't want to try to imagine what these girls have seen, heard and felt in their short lives. They weren't wanted. They were either given up or taken away. Yet now, they are wanted. Now they have a Mom who will put a band-aid on their skinned knee and blow so it doesn't sting. They have a Daddy who wil

l let them dance on his feet. They have brothers who will hug and love on them. They are wanted. Not only are they wanted, but a party is thrown to celebrate just how wanted they are! Their new parents invited all their friends and secured a reception room. They bought a whole bunch of food and had a huge cake decorated. They set up tables and put together slideshows. All of this was done to celebrate adoption. To celebrate that what once was lost has now been found. That what once was ignored has now been treasured. Three lives that have a distorted, or even absent, view of "family" are adopted into family.

C'mon y'all, please tell me this sounds familiar! Isn't this the very thing that Jesus has done for us? What the father did for the prodigal son? Don't we have pasts that have left us broken and ignored? Don't we have something deep in our souls that was born wicked and unwanted? The scriptures say that as we lie in a pool of our own blood, unwanted, rebellious and forgotten...He died so that we could be adopted (Keri's paraphrase). He orchestrated a plan so great, he arranged the details, he planned a celebration. Why?

Because He wants us.

Read that again. Let it marinate your mind.

He.
Wants.
You.

Maybe you're a goody-two-shoe. It's ok, I won't judge you. Maybe you've never experienced the sting of dirt in your eyes or the taste of mud in your mouth.

I, however, am much in need of redemption. I am wicked at my core and the fact that there is a man, a Creator, that not only wants me, but is celebrating my adoption?

The pendulum of my soul strikes that fateful hour.

Today I watched as a two foot long white box was lowered into the ground. Bare voices sang the soul stirring lyrics of "It Is Well" as a plain-like man clad in dirty jeans, a ball-cap and workers gloves shoveled dirt over what we knew of two babies. That's really it, isn't it? We live. We breathe. And eventually, whether it be an hour later or 80 years later, our breathing will cease and dirt will be shoveled over our hollow bodies.

I can't help but imagine the dwellers of Heaven preparing the same sort of feast for the adoption of Madison and Melody into their family. A party to celebrate their arrival home. A celebration for two purposes well served. Jesus comes to the middle of the room and whistles, grabbing everyone's attention. Beaming with a Daddy's pride he introduces the newest members of the heavenly realm. His creations. His daughters: Melody and Madison. Finally home. I bet it seemed like forever to Him.

Joy.

Sorrow.

Earth.

Heaven.

Each is in our DNA. Each makes up our being.

And the pendulum swings...

You know, the funny thing is that there is this marriage that happens between grief and beauty. As I have grieved, and as I've watched M&M's parent's grieve, it is evident we cannot do so without at the very same time being overwhelmed with the tenderness of Jesus. I should be questioning, I know. I should be asking, "why?!". Yet every tear has come hand in hand with a sense of rest. Like Vanessa (mom) said today, "God did not make a mistake when he created Melody and Madison".

There is this aspect of what I believe that may be hard to understand. It seems like it would make life more complicating or painful, yet it has done just the opposite.

I trust the sovereignty of Christ. I trust that He is good, that He has promised me eventual joy, and I choose to give myself to His Way. I have chosen this because I have tasted otherwise, and I believe my soul was created to be loved by Him.

I think there is a false sense of Christianity in America that implies coming to Jesus is all about us. If we obey Him, we will be blessed. We follow him because He makes us feel better. If we want heaven, we better submit. I. Me. My.

The problem I have with this is...well...the Bible. Time and time again things do not end the way they were expected to. (Joseph, Job, John the Baptist, Jesus...) At the same time, we are promised that it's worth it. I have chosen to believe it's worth it. Things have been a little easier since I made this choice. Not easier in the sense that things are less painful or grueling, but easier in the sense that I know its not in vain. Easier in that I don't have to question why, I can just trust that the why has an answer. Whether I ever know the answer or not, its not about me. I know it will be answered. If I am serving Christ so that He can keep my life from tragedy than really all I am concerned about is myself. My feelings. Idolatry, anyone?

Life happens. Tragedy strikes. Things end badly, sometimes. It doesn't hurt any less or break our hearts any softer, but He is enough. He sustains us. That, my friends, is the difference. He. Is. Enough. In the midst of groaning. In the midst of tears streaming down our face. He sustains us.

I have never buried my child. I have never watched my spouse go through surgery. I have not had parents neglect me. There are circumstances and emotions in which hope cannot be assured to me. I simply haven't been there.

But I've seen parents bury their child. I've watched a man await his wife's groggy awake from surgery. I've seen a dear friend lose the lady closest to him. Vicariously, I hope. He has been enough for them. He will be enough for me. He has sustained them. He will sustain me.

There is a line of a song written by some friends of mine: "It's a long, straight uphill climb where all the grief and pleasure intertwine. Let's drink it down like a bottle of perfect wine."

Something about grief stirs my soul to worship Jesus. There is a place so deep that only He can communicate with. Maybe that's why He created it. Grief, that is. Maybe we must grieve in order to be comforted. And, maybe His comfort is so satisfying that the grief is worth it.

So, the clock let

s out a ring as if to celebrate the two extremes of emotion and I can't help but be so grateful for adoption. Earthly. Heavenly. Me. You. Melody. Madison. Angel, Mary, Zulu. We are all wanted, right?

Thank you, Jesus.

(Many of these thoughts were sparked from a sermon by Matt Chandler called "Hope in Real Life". Check it out on the podcast)