Thankful For God's Plan Of Adoption!

I have had the opportunity to speak at two churches this month for National Adoption month. As I
studied God's word to find what to teach about I realized that the story of the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1:18-25 is the ultimate example and story of adoption. Check out the story:

The Birth of Jesus Christ
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ[a] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[b] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

What a great picture of adoption. Joseph had plans to divorce Mary quietly so not to shame her. He was going to go and live his life as he had planned and then he has a divine intervention. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him to take Jesus as his son and raise him. Joseph woke up and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded. He took Mary as his wife, she gave birth to a son and he called his name Jesus. Joseph adopted Jesus and raised him as his own.

What a great example for us to follow. If adoption is good for God incarnate shouldn't more of us look into taking orphans into our homes? I don't believe everyone is called to adopt. I do know we can all get involved and support adoption. Eagle Village is a place that you can help out many children and youth that are in need of a home. Many youth just need someone to mentor them can you give the gift of time. Some of us can help financially Eagle Village is one of many organizations that help children. Check out other ways you could get involved. Pray for those that have been adopted and those that are longing for a family to take them in and provide them a forever home.

National Adoption Month

Its National Adoption Month. This is an important month for my family and Eagle Village, Inc. where I work. We have adopted 3 kids over the past 14 years. I also see and work with children and youth everyday who are longing for a forever home. Michigan has over 4,000 children in foster care waiting for a forever home. I heard one of these kids the other day, who is 16, say that they wanted to be adopted so their kids would have grandparents. It breaks my heart to see so many in need not thinking of themselves but their future family. People choose to adopt for many reasons. Some are unable to have children, some have raised their children and want to give kids a chance that they deserve. Many people adopt for religious reasons, some just want to make the world a better place and want to do this one child at a time. One thing I know adoption is not easy, it can be a difficult road to travel, but it is rewarding and your life will never be the same.

James 1:27 Says Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James says we are to visit widows and orphans. The word visit is more than just visiting your relatives on Sunday, or stopping in to see someone in the hospital. The word visit in this passage means to take care of someone's every need. James is saying that visiting widows and orphans would be to provide housing, food, money or taking them under your roof by providing foster care or adoption. God's word is telling us to meet people at their point of need and help them overcome obstacles that they are facing.

During this month of November, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, think about those that are less fortunate. If you have ever thought about getting involved in fostering or adopting a child that is in need of a home, there is not a better time to look into it. Check out Eagle Village today!

Homer is Home

This past week my parents moved out of the house they have lived in since 1976.   My parents house was my home for 13 years and for the last 26 years it has been my home away from home. I have 39 years of memories that I will have forever. The house now belongs to someone else and they will begin to build their family and their own memories.

The taller pine tree in the picture was planted by me the year we moved in. It has grown a lot over the years as have I. As I looked at that tree a month ago I started thinking about the storms it has weathered, how deep its root system is. I thought about how long will it continue to grow. Someday it will die or someone will cut it down because they don't want to mow around it anymore. It made me think that my family has deep roots in Homer and that we have weathered storms there as well.

Its somewhat bitter sweet I am happy for my parents that they were able to sell their home and move to a place that will be easier for them. its not the house that I am feeling sad about its more the village of Homer. My parents are leaving a community that they have been a part of for 50 years. Homer is the only home I have know before moving off to start my own family. I know for my parents its got to be difficult they are leaving their church, friends, social clubs.

I have a lot of traditions in my life. My parents leaving Homer is difficult for me. I will miss seeing Homer Is Home on the water tower as I drive to see my parents. I will miss a trip around the Greg Barton Circle. I will miss the tradition of Cascarelli's Pizza a must almost every time I am home. I will miss the First Presbyterian Church of Homer where I dropped marbles on the hardwood floor during church, made my commitment to Jesus Christ, received my Eagle Scout, and married my wife. I will miss the early morning views of Homer Lake and seeing friends, classmates and teachers that have helped make me who I am today. Homer will always be my hometown it will always be a part of all my childhood memories. I will need to start some new traditions that one day my kids will look back and talk about. Life will go on, the pine tree will continue to grow, and for me Homer will always be Home.

Including God In Our Daily Tasks

A couple of weekends ago 2 other staff and myself took "The Max" Eagle Village's portable climbing wall to Bay City to a block party. It was a very rainy week and start to the weekend. As we traveled to Bay City the rain stopped and provided us dry weather for the day. We arrived early enough to find the best place to set up The Max. We need a flat area to make for the easiest set up and tear down.

We got set up and then at a little after 10:00 am people started lining up to climb. Over the next 5 hours we put close to 200 people up the climbing wall. We did not take breaks because there was a constant stream of people. It was fun to see so many children, youth and adults challenge themselves. at 3:15 the last climber touched the ground.  We were tired but feeling good about the day.

Now it was time to take down The Max. The portable climbing wall is a great tool and enables us to take a rock climbing experience to many locations. The biggest flaw in the system is that in order to take down the tower you need to be able to back the trailer up and line up the holes in the tower to the holes in the trailer. Sounds like a fairly easy task with 3 grown men to back up a trailer and line up the holes. Did I mention that we needed a flat surface to set up The Max. We had set up the max in the flattest area we could find. We did not take into consideration the weight of the max with all the rain and the soft wet ground. So with two people directing and one person driving we started to back up the trailer and try to line up the holes on the tower with the holes on the trailer. No matter what we tried we could not get the trailer to back up and line up with the tower. We tried moving the trailer by hand which was not any easy task for us middle aged men. we tried using the jacks to the trailer. We tried everything for 2.5 hours. We took turns backing up the trailer and giving directions. We would get very close to lining the holes up but would not quite get there. Finally as we were pushing 3 hours we all decided we should pray. We were beyond frustrated. I don't know why it took almost 3 hours for 3 Christian men to turn and ask the One who controls everything for help, but we prayed. We took a break ate some food and had a Coke, prayed some more and started the process again. I realized that we didn't have to line up all the holes we just needed to line up one, and then use the hydraulics and the jacks on the trailer to line up the other holes. We were able to get two pins in and were able to start lowering the tower. It came down very easy and we got everything loaded and were heading for home within a half hour. As we left one of us jokingly said we will probably get a flat tire on the way home and have to do this again.

As we were about a half hour from home we noticed that the trailer had actually blown a tire. It was an easy task to fix and we prayed at the beginning and not after we were frustrated. The tire was changed without any problems and we were back on the road and home very quickly.

As I reflected on the incident Sunday morning after a good nights sleep. I realized that I have been trying to often to do things in my own strength. I can get close on my own but never quite where I need to be. When I seek God and His will and guidance things go much easier and through Him things get accomplished easier and better than me trying to do it on my own.

Teacheable Moment at Unity Chirstian Music Festival

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.

The other day at Unity Christian Music Festival, where Camp Living Waters had the privilege of setting up a display and promoting camp to thousands of people. I felt like I needed to take a walk. I headed over near the main stage and watched the group that was performing. God revealed a great teachable moment to me. I was leaning against the tree listening to the worship and people watching. I greeted several acquaintances and was searching the crowd for friends. I saw a couple walking down the sidewalk coming toward me. The women pulled something out of her pocket and a wad of money fell to the ground behind her. She kept walking and headed to her seat. I decided to watch and see what would happen. A teenage boy and his girl friend were walking along about 20 feet behind the women who dropped the money. The boy looked around picked up the money and put it in his pocket and headed past where I was standing. I said "the money you just picked up and put in your pocket belongs to the women standing over there". She was now looking for the money that she had lost. The boy looked at me and said yea I was going to take it over to the lost and found and he handed it to me. There was well over $100 in the folded  bills he handed me. I walked over to the women and gave her money back to her. She was very grateful.

As I reflected on the situation several thoughts came to mind.

1. Did the boy feel any remorse or regret for trying to keep the money that he saw fall from the ladies pocket?
2.  Did his girl friend say anything to him?
3. How many other people saw this unfold and did nothing?
4. Was there a time in my life that I would have done the same thing?
5. Who is watching me when I think no one is around?

I really don't know what the boy was thinking, but I do know that he saw the money drop from the women's pocket and put it in his with the intention of keeping it. He then lied when he was caught by saying he was going to take it to lost and found. I hope that God worked in his life that night by reminding him of what he did and that the next time faced with the same temptation that he would choose the right choice and return the money to the women himself. I would have loved to be able to sit and watch to see what would have happened if I had not intervened. I did not see if the girlfriend talked to her boy friend about his actions. I needed to get the money back to the woman before I lost her in the crowd. I wish I could have taken the time to talk with the boy.

Then I got to thinking that scripture says that God is always watching us. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. He knows what we are doing good or bad. We will be judged for everything we have done. I am also thankful that Christ died for me that I might be forgiven if I trust in Him.

check out more of what happened at Unity Christian Music Festival through their Facebook.

Becoming John 3:16 Billboards

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 is one of the most recognized verses in the Bible. Most kids who have set foot in a church know this verse. You see it on bilboards, T-shirts, and at almost any sporting event you can see the sign held up some place in the stands. My prayer is that I can be a John 3:16 billboard. That when people see me I am pointing them toward Jesus. 

 

I have a 5 year old son named Brayden.Brayden sticks out in his classroom, because he is as big as most the 3rd graders. Not only is he huge he is also autistic and kind of talks funny. So he gets a lot of stares and gets made fun of at times. Even adults expect more out of Brayden because he is big. Trips to the store often earns us plenty of stares, looks and people shaking their heads.

But Brayden has some really cool things going for him. He loves Jesus. Jesus calms him and he knows Jesus helps him through hard times. We pray at bedtime and when we don’t Brayden struggles going to sleep. When we pray for him his mind slows down and sleeps almost instantly. We pray in the morning waiting for the bus and we ask Jesus to help him through the day. Brayden is starting to pray on his own. The other day he told his mom that he wanted to pray for the mean kids on the bus and then he did it. It is awesome to see him praying for me his mom and other people. Not when we ask him to, but when he feels led.

Brayden is the most caring and compassionate kid in his school. He is the first to help someone when they are hurt or drop something. He now gets hugs from all the other kids when he walks down the hall. He took a new kid on the bus back to the mean kids and said this is my new friend. He is new and don’t be mean to him. Brayden gets it. Brayden in his own way is living the way Jesus wants us to live. Although Brayden has not accepted Jesus in his heart, that we know of. He knows that he needs Jesus to make it through the day. Brayden knows he can’t do it on his own.  And neither can you or I. I am not a good person without Jesus in my life. He has changed me and he wants to change you.
 

When we accept the gift of Jesus he starts to make changes in our lives and we start to become like him. We should become billboards that point people to Jesus. We should be living John 3:16 signs at sporting events, to our neighbors and in our places of work. We also get to live with Jesus for eternity in heaven.

Circleing Circles

The staff at Camp Living Waters have been doing a study of the book Circle Maker by Batterson. It is a book about praying circles around your biggest dreams and greatest fears. It has been helping expand our thoughts on prayer.

 

We have been praying circles around camp, finances, staffing, building projects, campers, and friends battling cancer. We have seen God's hand at work in all these areas.

 

On the weekend of March 8th we were blessed to be serving the Elders from Banner of Christ UB Church. Saturday afternoon they blessed us by praying circles around ours. They prayed all over camp. It was a huge blessing and encouragement to our staff to see a retreat group taking the time to pray all over camp for the things we had been circling in prayer.  Thank you Banner Elders and thank you God for the answers you have given and those still to come.



Banner of Christ UB Church Elders