Sent

We sent the kiddoes off to school for another year. Danny (3rd grade). Jack (1st grade). Alli (Kindergarten). We're so thankful that our kids are healthy and developing normally (if there is such a thing). We thanked God this morning for our transition and prayed for those who have special needs kids. We can't imagine the first day of school for them.

But, I wanted to post about my wife, Sarah. It's days like this that are hardest on her. She loves her family. Our home and our kids aren't accessories or hobbies or frustrations to her. You get that feeling listening to other moms. Sarah gets that we have been given an unbelievable opportunity to love God and enjoy God in a way that many don't get and many who do get, waste. Rather than pursue some fleeting insignifcant name for herself. Trust me it wouldn't be hard for Sarah to become extremely well known if that was her desire. Rather than try to generate some 6 figure salary (as if that's a lot of money anyway). Trust me she could earn if she wanted to. Instead she has decided to leverage our home, her time, and the deep development of 3 people created in the image of God for the glory of God in our city.

And so her success, in these early formative years, has resulted in our 3rd child being released into the world on her own. This phase of discipleship is over. And now a more dangerous and in my opinion more pivotal one begins (Resisting to do a whole blog on that statement).

So in this parenthesis, between Alli Cat going to school and our 4th child yet to arrive, Sarah is grieving a bit. Her response has been tears. Of course. But it's also been: who now will I invest in for the glory of Christ from 7am-3pm?

So:

To all of our friends and family, pray for Sarah.

To all men, earn so your wife stays home.

To all women, stay home with your kids.

To Dan, Jack, and Alli, love Jesus more than your mom, but kiss her all the time.

To the daughter we've yet to meet, you have a mom who cries for joy over you.

To my Sarah, well...freakin...done.

Standing in applause,

Josh

Unknown

There's more that we don't know than know about the adoption process. We are asked the following questions more than any other:

1. Do you know who you're adopting? The answer is nope.

2. Do you have all the money you need to complete the process yet? The answer is nope.

3. Do you know when you're going to Ethiopia yet? The answer is nope.

4. Do you know when you'll be finished with the process? The answer is nope.

We don't know if our daughter has even been born yet. We don't know how much it will actually cost or where the rest of the money will come from. We don't know dates of travel, what will happen over there, or the culture as much as we'd like. We don't know, we don't know, we don't know. But...

Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say,“Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them

He knows. That's enough.

My Birthday...Hers?

Turned 33 today. I wonder if my daughter has been born yet.

Update on our Wait

What's going on adoption wise? I'm back after a month to give you a heads up on that. Waiting is apparently the way the adoption process goes these days. There are intense short flurries of activity and then you wait. We're still in the wait, but I wanted to give you some prayer requests and updates on what we're doing in the wait:

--Switching our health insurance carrier in order to save $$ and get a carrier that is adoption friendly. Assurant is not.

--Gathering as many items as we can for a fundraising yard sale. If you have anything at all that you want to give us please email: josh@crewcommunity.org. We want it.

--References for our Home Study and for our Homestudy application to process. A home study is a few month process of in home interviews and assessment to make sure we're legit and should be parents.

--Praying that the adoption travel requirements stay at 1 rather than 2. It appears 2 trips are going to be required as of now. It's in debate, so pray it stays at 1.

So, there you go. Keep praying and giving us $$ for this baby girl. Peace.

Ways To Partner With Us

We’re Adopting a Child!

You know by now something of our desire to adopt a girl from Ethiopia. Many of you have already encouraged us with your words, prayer, and $$. Thanks for how you’ve supported us, are supporting us, and for the further support you’ll give. We’re continually being asked how all of our friends and family can be a part of this. Thus this post.

Why Are You Adopting?

I’ve posted several entries as to why we’re adopting. Please take the time to read those here: http://jponajourney.blogspot.com/.

How You Can Partner with Us

Prayer. We’re on a roller coaster of emotions. The process is a flurry of activity one day and sit around and wait another. We are misunderstood on one hand and greatly encouraged on the other. Pray that we stay patient, joyful, and loving. Pray that we find favor in the eyes of the “system” every step of the way. Pray that our family experience unity. Pray that we bring in a ton of money to pay for this. Pray that we gain opportunities to share the gospel.

Money. From start to finish we anticipate needing to raise $20,000. So, we’re asking our friends and family to give us as they desire and are able in order to make this adoption happen. Some of you can give very little. Thank you. Some of you can give very large amounts. Thank you. No gift will go unappreciated. Please consider financially supporting us on this journey.

Encouragement. Many of you have commented on our facebook page, called us, written us, and met with us to affirm our decision. You don’t even know how much we need that. Don’t stop. Don’t forget about us. Don’t withhold your love.

Ways to Give

Mail: Simply send us a check to

1925 Wiltshire Bld
Huntington, WV 25701

Online: You can give online at: http://jponajourney.blogspot.com/.

Ways We Hope to Influence Others Through Our Adoption

By no means is this exhaustive. I anticipate adding to this list as we go, but as of now, we have these hopes for influence:

1. Adoption, we’ll be able to share the story of our adoption in Christ with many.

2. We hope to motivate others to adopt.

3. We hope to challenge our church, www.crecommunity.org, to be intentional in following God’s command to the church to care for orphans. We should lead the charge in this lifestyle.

Ways We Hope to Be Changed By Adopting

We're fully aware of the ways in which adopting will change our family dynamic. An extra life to provide for, protect, and pastor is no small task. The way in which my other children relate to each other and the world around them will be altered significantly. We embrace that. In fact, here are a few ways we hope to be changed:

1. We expect to experience a deeper appreciation of our own adoption in Christ.

2. Through adopting a child of another race than our own, we’ll gain a deeper global understanding and appreciation of others unlike us.

3. Through adopting of another race, we’ll empathize more realistically and viscerally with the injustice of racial disunity.

Ways We Hope to Model The Gospel

The gospel is the good news that we have been removed from the just wrath of God as sinners by the faith in the death of Christ for our sins. Christ died for us as our substitute. The Father accepts Christ's death as ours. He adopts us into his family as sons and daughters. (2 Cor. 5:14-21). We want to model that in our personal adoption of a child in these ways:

1. We’re not adopting out of any need for another child, but out of the overflow of our joy and love that we want a child to enjoy and share with us. God did not create and adopt us through Christ because of any insufficiency or need.

2. We hope to predetermine and choose a child of no merit of their own but by our love for them. God chose to create and choose us based on his kind will, not on any quality in me.

3. Our decision to adopt a child has likely been made before the child is even born. God knew before the foundation of the world that we would be his son and daughter.

4. We’ve chosen to give equal rights, privileges, and status to my adopted children as my biological children. In Christ, we have the same rights, privileges, and status that Jesus has with the Father.

5. We hope to reflect racial reconciliation by adopting a different race than our biological children. Through the Father’s adoption, every race is and will be united in Christ.

6. We desire to adopt a great cost to ourselves. Our adoption was through the sacrificial death of the Son of God. We hope to demonstrate great cost in purchasing the adoption of our child.

The Central Reason We're Adopting

The central and over arching reason that Sarah and I are adopting is because of the glory of God. That is the reason we do everything. I’m preaching through Ephesians at Crew these days, so let me show this in Ephesians 1:3-6.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

That is why we’re adopting. This verse clearly tells us that as God in eternity past, before anything was created chose to demonstrate his glory. He wanted to declare to everything and everyone everywhere how magnificently beautiful and excellent and perfect he was. And in His infinite wisdom and mind, he asked the question, how will my glory be most powerfully displayed? And his answer was: I will predestine in love through Jesus Christ that there will be adoption. Adoption is predetermined in love and comes from God. Adoption is through Jesus Christ. It results in the praise of his glory. So adoption is from God, through God, and to God.

So, as people, who are made in God’s image and called to mirror that to our world. Being people who have been loved, chosen, and adopted by God for his glory, why wouldn’t we adopt as well? We want to adopt like God adopts.

Obviously, there are other reasons:

• Provide a loving, safe, and secure home for a child who doesn’t have one.

• Make a difference in the African AIDS crisis, by adopting a child who lost their parents to AIDS.

• Adopt from a strained society that has 4-6 million orphans it is struggling to care for.

But the central reason is a gospel one. We are adopting because we are Christians, plain and simple.

We're Up

Welcome to our blog. We're a family of 5 in the process of adopting a baby girl form Ethiopia. We love the thought of you all praying for us, cheering us on, and joining us on the journey

We'll be posting updates, reflections on Christ, stories about our family, plenty of pics, and a way for you to encourage and be encouraged. Subscribe to us in your RSS feeder or check back often. We want you in on this with us!