Dad Life

This is just hysterical ~ Enjoy!!

Oh, and watch the guy in the pink striped polo. He's a nut, the best of the bunch!

Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

No Small Thing

"I count it a real honor that God entrusted Isaiah to our care."

So said an adoptive dad on a video I watched earlier today. And I replayed those 8 seconds of taped truth over again. Hit low in the gut, trying to catch breath, remembering what I've forgotten.

Isaiah's story is incredible. His new parents love him much and thoughtfully, carefully honor God in their telling. All of them realize the blessing that came with the transition.

But this: "it is an honor to have been entrusted..."

why do i forget?

If you know us, know our family, know me... then you know that our transition as a family has been rough. It hasn't been one person's fault, it's been the kept-well-hidden sin issues in all of us that have foamed to the top as we've all been called to die to self. We're a family of self-pleasers. We claw & fight to have our own way, and to have it easy and comfortable. And I'm the absolute worst of the whole of us.

And so I lose sight of the big picture so easily as I only focus in on the uncomfortable-ness of today, of the small Immediate Moment.

How I need to dwell here:

God's plan for Bao Hoai Dang, all along, was to grow up in the USA; to have an opportunity to get a good education; to be surrounded by siblings & parents; but BIGGEST OF ALL, to hear this:

"But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King."

Jeremiah 10:10

I know so little, but I do know what I have seen with my eyes: the LORD has done mighty things to change Jake's life. I don't know the half of it, I'm sure, but what I've had revealed to me takes my breath away when I stop long enough to ponder it.

But I get so worn down by the day-in and day-out of homeschooling and health issues and parenting and serving and everything else, choosing to focus in on the difficulty of it all, and the effort it takes to beat down those sin issues, and then the results of not dealing with the old nature... and I forget.

I forget the mind-blowing fact that I am one of the parents who've been entrusted with the care of Jake, this child whom God has chosen to move mountains for. I'm one that's been chosen to teach him and nurture him, to train him and comfort him.

I've been called to teach this little guy about his Creator. And all that the one true God has done for him.

I've been granted permission to walk on this path that God has carved out for Jake, to watch the rest of the story unfold. To be used...

I'm sure it grieves God when I complain. It's a sin, for sure, but it is such a peevish type of thing. The rebellion of a small-minded, short-sighted creature.

I want to keep reading this post & be challenged, over and over, to think up there, with God, about the big picture. About the important things. About eternity.

The Wallet

Jake's been wanting a wallet for some time now. DJ has one, Dad has one, Big Mac has one...

Been looking for almost a year now. Everytime I'm in W-Mart or Target or anywhere at all, I'm searching for a wallet for a little boy. Not a wallet to be found.

So he's been making his own. Out of anything that could be folded & taped, bent and glued. Stickers and markers have decorated several versions.

This child wants a wallet ~ badly ~ to hold his $2.47. In change.

Last night found me at Wal-Mart. I passed an certain aisle and thought I'd check again.

OOOO! Paydirt!! Hallelujah! Found a cute little black one that had "boy" written all over it.

Took it home, so glad & excited for him!

He was thrilled. Biggest smiles! Kept unsnapping & unzipping it, asking what this pocket was for and what that section should hold.

This morning, I found him sitting quietly on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket. Holding his wallet.

And offering gold: "Momma, God put that wallet there for me. And God made you find it!"

I don't want these days to fly by, but I almost can't wait to see what God will be doing with Jacob 15 years from now...

Veggie Tales

DJ had to answer some questions in his reading workbook. Words in pairs, and he needed to describe how the nouns were similiar, and how they were different.

One pair: "ham - vegetables"

Alike how? "they are both foods"

And how are they different? One's a meat, and the other grows as a plant? One is for protein while the other has minerals and vitamins?

"one tastes better"

Typical eight-year-old, not yet fond of those veggies...

I Cannot Keep Up

The moon couldn't be missed tonight. It was too full, too bright, too beautiful. So we went outside, Jake and me, to make ourselves stand still under the declarer of Glory.

"God made that. Did you remember that?"

"Yeah. And God made the stars..."

"Mmm-hmm..."

"And the wood..."

"Yeah..."

"And God's under the ground..."

(huh?) "Do what?"

"God's under the ground!"

(He thinks God is dead? God is in Hell? What in the world have I taught this child?)

"What do you mean, Jake?"

"He's EVERYwhere! So He's under the ground!!" (duh...)

"Um, okay, yeah, if that's where He wants to be..."

"Do God sleep?"

"Oh, no! God NEVER sleeps, remember? Because He's always watching us, taking care of us; He never needs to! Because He's God..."

"Well, He did in that movie!"

(what sorta goofy movie did he see with God asleep in it?)

"That movie where He was in the boat and the storm was coming!"

"oh. well. yeah. I mean, that's cuz He was here as a man, and He needed to sleep then, and..."

"That what I mean!! God had to sleep!" (duh...)

"Yeah, okay. Let's go to bed, Jake."