Day 5 with Joshua!

We have had a fun day today here in Ethiopia with our new little blessing, Joshua Battle. We loaded Joshua into his Ergo, and went to see some sights today.

We went first to a national museum and saw many items originally owned by one of the emperors of Ethiopia who defended the nation and kept them from being conquered by Italy. We saw their home as well as their royal banquet hall. We saw the crowns of the emperors and also expensive gifts given to them by other dignitaries. This opulent palace sits on top of Mt. Entoto there in Addis Ababa.

Pictures of the palace:

After seeing the palace museum, we went to the Lion Zoo, a small city zoo there in Addis.

It was a day full of family fun. After that we came home and played a while in our room, and then went upstairs to a little playroom on the top floor. Joshua had a ball!

One more day ’til we bring him home to his new home in Texas. 🙂

Blessings to everyone!

 

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Celebrating Joshua’s 9 month old birthday today and thinking about how his life has changed in such a short time

Our baby boy is 9 months old today. So glad to finally have him forever with us!  WOW this little guy’s life is totally changing, but one thing for sure that will never change… our love for him and Jesus’ love for him. What a special blessing the Lord has given us!
I was just thinking of all of the things that have changed in Joshua’s first nine months….
  • He has a new family – new mommy and daddy, new sister, new grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, puppy etc…
  • He has been exposed to hearing three different languages spoken around him:
    • First two months -  Tigrinya (the language of the area of Ethiopia where he is from)
    • Next 6.5 to 7 months – Amharic (the language spoken in Addis Ababa and most of Ethiopia)
    • Now – English
  • He will have a new home with a new room and a new crib in a new country.
  • He will have a new church pastored by his new grandpa and grandma
  • He is eating a new diet
  • He will see new faces everywhere
  • His time zone will change. Night will turn into day and day into night
  • He will have a new first name and last name.
  • He will be receiving new amounts of love and attention, and in just the short time we have had him so far, he has learned that every time he cries someone will come running to help him.
There is a statement of Jesus in the book of Revelation 21:5… “Behold I make all things new!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 says we are new creations in Christ Jesus… old things are passed away, and all things have become new. The changes happening in this little man’s life are a picture and a parable of the changes that happen in the life of any individual who gives their heart to the Lord… from the moment they cry out change takes place, and all things are made new!
I want to share a quick story of something that happened the other day to illustrate this point further. We were so happy that Joshua was adjusting well to us, but at the same time in a funny way, we were concerned because he hadn’t cried much at all. Then something happened that helped calm our fears, and helped us to realize that he was bonding with us and realizing that when he cried we would come. I put him down in his crib for a second after holding him, and he began to wimper. This may sound crazy, but joy filled my heart when I heard that cry! I began to think about our Father in heaven and how that must be what He feels when His children cry out in prayer for help! Reminds me of a song by Rich Mullins years ago the chorus of which goes like this:
“So hold me Jesus, ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won’t You be my Prince of Peace”
Just like we long to run and hold our little ones and answer their cries when they call for help or comfort, just like we love to hear their cries, our Father in Heaven loves to hear us cry out to Him any time of the day or night, and He loves to run and hold us and comfort us and bring us peace.
Phil. 4:6-7 says: “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Is life crazy right now? Does it seem like things are changing so fast that you can’t keep up? Does it seem like you are all alone and no one cares? Do what this verse says and like our little Joshua discovered about his new mommy and daddy, you will find that when you cry out to Jesus, He will run to you and hold you and give you peace!
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Greetings from Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA!

After being cleared last week, we picked an interview date of 9-24-12 and booked our tickets for Ethiopia. We arrived here on Sunday morning to Addis after two days worth of flying. We settled our room at the guest house we were staying at, and then the agency told us we could go and get our little Joshua that day and bring him to stay with us from then on at the guest house! YEA!!!! The moment we were waiting for had finally arrived… our Gotcha Day. We picked him up and took our smiling little guy to the guest house. We were concerned he would cry that first night because he missed his familiar nannies, friends, and surroundings, but that night, after Mommy gave him his bottle and we fed him, he laid down and went right to sleep in his crib. Also amazingly, he slept all the way through the night very soundly! Joshua truly is exactly as the doctor at the transition home described him. When we were there in July for our court date, we had an appointment then with the doctor. She called Joshua a perfect little gentleman, and said he would change the world! This dad and mom love that! Amen to that!

The next day at 9:00AM we entered the US Embassy and waited for our name to be called and wondering what the interview would be like and what questions they would ask. Once we were called to one of the numbered windows there, the whole interview was over faster than we expected, and then he told us to have someone from the agency come on Wednesday and pick up our visa and sealed immigration envelope. Hallelujah! Joshua Battle was now ours in the eyes of both Ethiopia and the USA! Hallelujah! Tomorrow we will receive the papers Joshua needs to enter the USA on our trip home and to instantly become a citizen of the USA upon entry,

We look in that crib in our room here in Ethiopia now and we can hardly believe our eyes. That little blessing from heaven laying in that crib is finally here and he is all ours! After such a long journey, it’s almost very hard to believe it’s true! Thank you Lord for blessing us with such a wonderful and amazing gift! It’s going to be such a joy to watch him grow into the man God created him to be and as the doctor here in Ethiopia said: Joshua will someday change the world! God has used him already to change our world, and his little life has already touched and blessed so many as we walked this second journey of adoption. We will leave Ethiopia on Friday night, and arrive in the states around 5:00PM on Saturday night. We so look forward to being home again and letting Joshua meet his big sister face to face and his new grandparents too for the first time! Thanks everyone for all of your prayers and kind notes and gifts! They mean so much to us! Thanks again! We will post again soon!

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We CLEARED Embassy this morning!!!!!!

Back in 2007, we felt drawn to adopt again. Little did we know how long this journey would take, but God had a plan, and our son had not been born yet!

We had no idea we would ever be able to have a son and a daughter. That felt like an impossible dream we would never be able to realize the fruit of; however, we found out in 2010 that it was not impossible at all. God turned our hearts during 2008 towards the nation where our son was going to be born, ETHIOPIA, and on 9-23-10, we sent all of the required documents for our adoption dossier to Ethiopia. 12 months later after dossier, we were still waiting. “When will the wait end God?” Looking back, I now realize why the “when” took a while to  come… Joshua was not yet born. 3 more months would pass, and then unbeknownst to us, on the other side of the world in Dec 2011, a little baby cried in the northern region of Ethiopia, and after he had been placed in the care of America World Adoption Association’s Transition Home there in Addis Ababa, we received the phone call we had longed for on 2-29-12.

“We have a referral photo of a beautiful little baby boy, and we were wondering if you would like to review his file?”

“Why of course we would! Send it on right away!” we said. We received his information via e-mail and fell in love from the first moment we saw his little face. We thought we would leave a short time later for our first trip, but there was a 5 month delay waiting for paperwork. Those 5 months were so hard. It was so hard getting updates every month, watching Joshua grow, and wanting to be there for each milestone. Finally on 7-23-12, with all paperwork in the hands of the judge we sat in her office and passed court on the first round! WHEW! Almost there!

Then a very hard part of the process began however. After bonding with him there in Ethiopia, and holding him, and feeding him, and playing with him, and being officially declared his parents, we still had to leave Joshua in Ethiopia for one last time in order to return home and wait for his VISA clearance to be given by the US Embassy.

And we thought that 5 month wait after referral was tough! WOW was this part hard. We handed him to the nannies at the Transition home and walked out of the room where his crib was… in tears because we were going to miss him so much. The next 1.5 months dragged on for what seemed like years! We watched other families clear so quickly, and we wondered “What about us God? What about us?” BUT GOD!

Today, almost exactly two years after beginning our journey, we heard our phone beep at 4:23AM our time and received an e-mail from the Vice Consul of the Embassy telling us that we were officially cleared, and in two days could begin to plan our trip to get our son.

HALLELUJAH! Joshua here we come!

I was reading a verse in Psalm 138 this morning that really was so timely! –

“ The LORD will work out his plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for you made me.”

At times throughout this process, things felt kinda hopeless… like we had been forgotten and ignored, but as this verse reminds us, God is so faithful and in spite of the way it looked in the natural at times… His loving and perfect plans for our lives and for Joshua’s life were faithfully and meticulously laid out before we were even born. He hadn’t abandoned us at all! He had our lives and Joshua’s life timed perfectly to meet at just the right time so we could have a son, and he could have a family. What an amazing God we serve! Thank you Lord for blessing us so much with this little precious life You have entrusted to our care. May You anoint us with wisdom in raising Him, and may His life and our lives praise you from start to finish.

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Becca had a wonderful 1st Day in Third Grade today!

Becca had a wonderful first day of Third grade! She said it was AWWESOME (extra W on purpose!)! She did a small project for extra credit for homework. It included an “All About Me” page. I loved her sweet answers! One that was really cool: “I have 4 people in my family. I have 0 sisters and 1 brother” I LOVE THAT! I am so excited that Becca can finally truthfully say after our long adoption journey: “I have a baby brother!” 🙂

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Interested in Learning about International Adoption? Come to a FREE Seminar sponsored by America World Adoption Assoc.

If you are interested in learning how to adopt internationally, click this link to find out about seminars conducted by the adoption agency we are using to adopt from Ethiopia:

America World Adoption Association

Just click the link and then click your state to find out whether there is a FREE seminar in your area. If you live in Houston, TX or nearby, feel free to REGISTER for the one being conducted by Sarah and I. It will be happening at our church in Humble, TX on Oct 20 from 10 to Noon! Again, it’s FREE and very informative. We don’t pressure to adopt… we just give information, and then let the Lord guide families in the direction He wants them to go. If you are not ready to adopt yourself, but know someone who might be interested, feel free to share this link with them! THANKS for reading this and God bless you!!!

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Adoption Journey Update! – Waiting for Embassy Clearance :)

our little Joshua!
For those following our adoption news, we have officially been submitted to the Embassy so that our little one can get his visa and his adoption can be certified on the US side of things. Our latest prayer request: we are at present awaiting notification from the Embassy that we have been cleared. We hope to hear something as early as mid next week. Thanks everyone for your prayers! 🙂

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Praying for Ethiopia this Morning as I Read this Verse!

Read this in the Bible this morning and it made me pray for harvest and revival in the land of my son’s birth: Ethiopia – “Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.” Psalm 68:31b Yes Lord let people all over Ethiopia lift their hands up in praise to you and come to know you as their only Redeemer, their only Savior, their only Answer. Thank you Lord for sending revival to the people of Ethiopia in Jesus name! May churches brim over with people searching for the Savior in Jesus name!

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We Are Now A Family of Four!

We are so grateful to the Lord and for all of your prayers on our journey! GUESS WHAT? We passed court this morning! We are officially a family of four! Here is a photo of our new son… Joshua Battle! Now we pray for a quick clearance with the US Embassy and then we come back very soon to Ethiopia to bring him home for good! Hallelujah!

 
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Meetcha Day 7-21-12

We were ushered up to the porch of the Transition Home and asked to stand on the porch and wait for about 5 minutes. Then the nannies at the Transition Home brought to us the most handsome little 6 month old on the planet! He looked at us both and began to smile a BIG beautiful genuinely happy smile, and thus began three of the most wonderful hours of bonding time with our new son. He is such a happy little baby boy! He liked my beard! He would just feel it and look at it as I held him. He also liked Sarah’s long blonde hair. 🙂 We played with him a while, and then we took a walk around the transition home property. After walking, we went inside and Sarah gave him his first bottle(from us anyway. Those wonderful nannies there have probably fed him hundreds of them. 🙂 ) I got some wonderful video and pictures which I will share here after we pass court. Stay Tuned! After the bottle, we went inside and looked at his room. He shares a room with 7 other babies there. After our walk, we had some wonderful play time on the floor of his room. He is starting to learn to crawl now, and he is also teething! WOW! We also had the honor of feeding him some warm cereal. He really is a good eater, and has almost tripled his weight since he was brought to the the Transition Home.

The nannies there were so nice. One of them spoke very good English, and we were able to find out who Joshua’s best little friend was there. Also she shared with us little things about Joshua that made us realize how much she cared about our son and enjoyed what she did there. All of the nannies there really are full of the love of Jesus! One thing she shared with us that was so sweet was: whenever Joshua is worn out and tired, he begins to suck on his two middle fingers. 🙂 Sure enough at the end of our time with him, we laid him down to take a nap, and as we wrapped him in the new blanket we gave him (picked out by  his new big sister Becca 🙂 ), he gently put those two fingers in his mouth and began to suck on them as he drifted off almost instantly to sleep.

It was a marvelously wonderful three hours! Today we look forward to spending more time with him. God is so good and we are so blessed that the Lord has given us the honor of raising this handsome little boy who’s life was planned meticulously by Him even before time began. Pray for us tomorrow 7-23 as we go to court in Ethiopia and speak with the judge to give our consent to adopting Joshua. Pray for favor and that we will pass court quickly. Stay tuned for more updates. Blessings to you and your family from Addis Ababa Ethiopia!

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Joshua – we are almost there!!!!! Bought Airline Tickets Today and Rec’d our Court Date TODAY!!!

Link

We bought our airline tickets for trip one today to Ethiopia! In a very short time, we will hold our new son in our arms! Hallelujah! After we pass court, we will be able to post photos of him here and on Facebook. So excited! I cannot believe this day is finally here! We have had our referral for our son since February and the wait for the court date to be scheduled has been tough, but God’s timing is so very perfect and we know that His hand is on our little guys life and on the building of our family. It is comforting to have had so many praying us through this journey! We started our second adoption journey in 2007 thinking we were supposed to go back to China. Then in ’09 God redirected us to adopt instead from Ethiopia. So in total this journey has taken about 5 years! But it has been so worth it! Looking forward to the soon coming day when our son will be in our arms for the first time!!! Keep us in your prayers as we make all of our plans. God bless all of you so very much! We could not have kept going had it not been for praying family, friends, and also a praying Christian adoption agency! So thankful for America World Adoption Association!

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Please pray for us this week

Tomorrow we will have been waiting over 12 weeks after referral for our court date to be assigned so we can go and meet our son and ask for permission from the judge in Ethiopia to adopt him. This has been the longest and most emotional 12 weeks of our entire adoption journey. I am writing this to solicit your prayers that this wait for a court date will finally end. THANKS FOR READING THIS AND FOR KEEPING US IN YOUR PRAYERS. THANK YOU! BELIEVING FOR A SOON-TO-BE BREAKTHROUGH!  – BRANDON

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Oh the Value of People!

I was just sitting here reading my Bible reading for the day and this thought kept swimming around in my head… “Oh the value of people!” People are valuable! God made people! Man was and is the creme de la creme of His creation. That got me to thinking how special some of the people God has placed in my life are: My wife, my daughter and soon-to-be-son 🙂 , my Mom and Dad, my sister, and my extended family and in-laws. Then beyond that… my church family and the many friends God has blessed my wife and I with through the years. Each one of them has been placed in my life by the Lord. I am so grateful to have them in my life. What would life be like without that support system? Kinda scary and kinda lonely for sure!

Yet sometimes, even though that is the case, I have found myself at times taking for granted those who are closest to me. WHY IS THAT?

I guess for me this little phrase that kept rolling around in my head this morning caused me to say to the Lord, “PLEASE HELP ME TO NOT GET SO WRAPPED UP IN MY LIFE THAT I FORGET THOSE VALUABLE PEOPLE YOU HAVE PLACED IN MY LIFE! HELP ME TO NOT ONLY BE THANKFUL FOR THEM, BUT HELP ME BY MY ACTIONS TOWARD THEM TO TELL THEM SO REGULARLY! HELP ME TO GIVE SUPPORT TO THEM AS WELL AND NOT JUST BE A TAKER. HELP ME TO REMEMBER HOW PRICELESS THEY TRULY ARE.”

My challenge to you today is LOOK AROUND AND LOVE THE PEOPLE HE HAS PLACED AROUND YOU. THEY ARE THERE FOR A REASON. NONE OF US ARE PERFECT AND EACH OF US NEED LOVE. LET’S GIVE AND RECEIVE LOVE TODAY.

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Entry from a Daily Devotional I Read from: “As for Me…”

As for Me
In the 1700s, a young man named James Taylor proposed marriage to his girlfriend, and a wedding date was set. Neither of them were Christians. James, in fact, so detested itinerant preachers that he often pelted them with rotten tomatoes or eggs.
Shortly before his wedding, one of John Wesley’s circuit riders entered town, and James, hearing of it, wanted to disrupt the meeting. But as James listened in the fringes of the crowd, the preacher quoted Joshua 24:15: But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
The words stuck James like an arrow.
When the day of his wedding arrived, the verse was still lodged in his thoughts. That morning James retired to the fields to think. He was about to take a wife, to establish a home, but he wasn’t serving the Lord. He knelt in the grass and earnestly asked Christ to be his Savior. By the time he finished praying, he was alarmed to discover it was time for the wedding.
Rushing to the chapel, he apologized for being late, and the ceremony proceeded. Then he shocked his bride and guests, by announcing he had become a Christian. He soon began witnessing to his new wife, but she remained resistant. Finally one day James came home so burdened for her that he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. There with a forceful hand he made her kneel beside him. Soon both were weeping, and there she, too, became a Christian.
Eight generations have since passed, each filled with Christian workers serving the Lord. Included among them is James Taylor’s great-grandson, Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, who opened the interior of China to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today’s Suggested Reading
Joshua 24:14–25

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
Morgan, R. J. (2000). From this verse : 365 scriptures that changed the world (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

 

How awesome to find out that John Wesley indirectly had a part in leading China to Jesus! WOW! This shows how one person’s obedience to the Lord can start a generational chain reaction that can alter the course of his entire family.

In my own family, my grandmother came to the Lord, and then began to pray for her family. Entire generations were blessed because she chose to serve the Lord. We are serving the Lord today and it all began with her decision back in the 1970’s and set off a chain reaction of blessing.

You too can set off a chain reaction for good or bad in your family by even one decision. Where will your decisions lead them? I pray with God’s help that I will lead my family down the blessed path of righteous living. I sincerely pray that by God’s grace my example will effect change in the generations beyond me long after I am gone, and that I will look down from the portals of heaven should Jesus tarry and see generations of righteous and Godly world changers effecting change in their families and on and on and on…. thus setting off a divine Holy Ghost, God-ordained, blessed chain reaction.

Be encouraged! Your obedience today can change your entire family!

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Daily Devotional Reading from “From this Verse” – “Even on the Golf Course”

Even on the Golf Course

Those needing strength often turn to Joshua 1:1–11, a potent passage given to Joshua as he assumed the leadership of Israel : Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people. …  As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. …  Be strong and of good courage. …
Tom Lehman, PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1996, has often spoken of this verse. He came to Christ in high school when a friend invited him to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting. After playing golf in college, he joined the PGA Tour briefly but didn’t play well enough to continue. In 1991 he won three tournaments on the Ben Hogan Tour and was named Player of the Year, qualifying him again for the PGA Tour.
Then in 1995, he got a scare. Doctors discovered precancerous colon polyps. Tom and his wife got down on their knees and committed the matter to God. Joshua 1:9 sustained him : Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Surgery was successful, and Lehman resumed his golf.
The following year, he and Steve Jones were playing the 18th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open. Both men longed to win their first major championship, and they were tied for the lead. The situation was tense, but the men calmed themselves by quoting Scripture to each other, Lehman reminding Jones of Joshua 1:9.
Jones won out by one stroke. But, remembering his verse, Tom shook off the discouragement and entered the British Open. He arrived in England quoting Joshua 1:9 to himself. This time, he won a two-stroke victory.
“In every difficult situation,” he said, “even on the golf course, I remember Joshua 1:9.”
Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Morgan, R. J. (2000). From this verse : 365 scriptures that changed the world (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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Read ahead in my devotional and look what I found! Love this!

What an amazing story! Thank God for His wisdom to put the right man in office at just the right time!

To Their Descendants
January 22
For a hundred years before the establishment of the modern state of Israel, Christians worked alongside Jews in advancing Zionism, but nothing created more sympathy for the rebirth of the Jewish nation than reports emerging after World War II of the Holocaust. Still, President Harry Truman, aware of impending Arab-Israeli conflict, was reluctant to recognize the new state. On May 12, 1948, several advisors gathered with him to discuss the issue. Secretary of State George C. Marshall was against recognition, warning that the Jews faced war on every side. But to Marshall’s dismay, Clark Clifford, Truman’s political advisor, urged the president to recognize Israel at once.
“I don’t even know why Clifford is here,” Marshall grumbled. “This is not a political meeting.”
“He is here,” Truman said, “because I asked him.”
Clifford made his case calmly and persuasively. He reminded the men of the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis, and of the survivors with nowhere to go. A separate Jewish state was inevitable, Clifford said. And then he quoted Deuteronomy 1:8—See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.
Marshall became so angry he threatened to vote against Truman in the next election, bringing the meeting to an icy close. But two days later, the nation of Israel was born, and President Harry Truman became the first head of state to afford it official recognition.
Later, when Israel’s Chief Rabbi, Isaac Herzog, visited the White House, he told Truman, “God put you in your mother’s womb so that you would be the instrument to bring the rebirth of Israel after 2000 years.”
“I thought he was overdoing things,” said an observer, “but when I looked over at the president, tears were running down his cheeks.”
Today’s Suggested Reading
Deuteronomy 1:1–8
See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them. Deuteronomy 1:8

Morgan, R. J. (2000). From this verse : 365 scriptures that changed the world (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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Neat Devotional I read today that made me thankful for Sarah and for my Mom!

God’s Payroll

Samuel Logan Brengle and Billy Sunday had much in common. Both were raised by godly mothers on Midwestern farms after their fathers had perished in the Civil War. Both became famous preachers who gave the credit to their Lord and to their mothers. And both were very familiar with skid row. Brengle preached there. Sunday lived there awhile.
Billy Sunday initially gained fame as an outfielder for the Chicago White Sox, but his career was marred by drinking. One night, staggering down the street, he heard a Salvation Army group singing a song his mother used to sing : “Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?” Later that evening at the Pacific Garden Mission, Sunday gave his life to Christ. He soon left the baseball diamond for the pulpit.
Among his inimitable, bombastic sermons is one from Exodus 2:9 about Moses’ mother : “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” Thinking of his own mother, Sunday said : Being a king, emperor, or president is mighty small potatoes compared to being a mother. Commanding an army is little more than sweeping a street compared with training a boy or girl. The mother of Moses did more for the world than all the kings that Egypt ever had. Oh, you wait until you reach the mountains of eternity, then read the mothers’ names in God’s Hall of Fame. I tell you women : Fooling away your time, hugging and kissing a poodle dog, drinking a cocktail, and playing cards is mighty small business compared to molding the life of a child.
“Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.” God pays in joy that is fireproof, famine-proof, and devil-proof.
“Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.” If you haven’t been doing that, then get your name on God’s payroll.

Today’s Suggested Reading
Exodus 2:1–10
Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. Exodus 2:9

From:
Morgan, R. J. (2000). From this verse : 365 scriptures that changed the world (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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“Gifted Hands” – Such an Inspiring Year-End Movie

As we near the end of 2011, I want to encourage y’all to rent or buy a DVD called “Gifted Hands-The Ben Carson Story”

You can find it at Lifeway Christian Stores or probably Netflix it. Having had neurosurgery myself as a baby, I personally have a great respect for and thank God for men like Ben Carson, and my pediatric neurosurgeon, Mark S O’Brien, whom God uses on a daily basis to touch and repair and give a dose of hope to little lives. Go out and buy or rent this today. It is produced by Sony Pictures and has Cuba Gooding, Jr. in it, and man what an awesome true story! You will not be disappointed!

I can’t say enough how inspiring that man’s story was for Sarah and I! On so many different fronts.

1. Life is so much about choices. Thank God that we can freely make those choices to not let society put us in their little socio-economic box. We can choose to believe God’s vision for our lives and live life outside the box!

2. We are not necessarily who our past says we are. We are not necessarily who people say we are. We are God’s creation. We were made by Him for a purpose! We shouldn’t let people or our past dictate our purpose, but let the Word of Christ dictate our purpose and dwell in us richly! MOVE THIS YEAR INTO HIS DREAM FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!

Happy 2012 to all!

 

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Christmas Time Memories – Lightseeing

We went on our annual “light-seeing” trip as a family yesterday. 🙂 What a blast that was. Even the dog went with us. We saw some very pretty Christmas lights in our area here. Below is the most memorable one we saw. It was so amazing, I had to take a picture.

There were a gazillion lights on that tree! It must’ve taken a very long time to do that, and it had to have taken a crane(or a monkey!). Not only that there were led lights strung all over that made it look like snow was actually falling from it! PRETTY AMAZING!

Another amazing thing about this was it was turned off for the night by its owner right after we drove by.

 

The other amazing finds on our light-seeing trip were several church nativity scenes:

 

This was at First United Methodist in Old Town Spring.

 

Advent Presbyterian Church in Old Town Spring

 

We had a lot of fun laughing and driving around together last night. Family memories are made in times like these!

Merry Christmas to everyone! May you make memories of fun and laughter this year and may love fill your homes during this wonderful time of year and every day!

 

Love this time of year!

 

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Our 7th Christmas with Becca

I just had to write something today to make note of how wonderful this Christmas has been. Sarah and I have had 15 Christmases that we have been blessed to celebrate together. The first eight with just us and extended family. The last seven have been with each other, extended family,  and our sweet Becca. I want to declare to you how utterly wonderful it is as a parent to just sit back and watch your child tear into Christmas gifts, and watch their eyes light up as they open them. The first eight Christmases were wonderful, but these last seven as a dad have been filled with joy!

"Mommy and Daddy this is the best Christmas EVER!"

This year after Becca finished opening her gifts, she looked up at us and said, “Mommy and Daddy, I have one more gift for you…” and then she put her arms around both of us and gave both of us a huge bear hug. After that she said with a big smile on her face…”I gave you the BEST gift.” That SO blessed this dad’s heart. It blesses me to see her growing into a little girl who enjoys life, relishes every day, and who sees where the real value of family times of celebration like Christmas is found… the value of our relationships with God and with each other… the value of the eternal fruit of the spirit found in Galatians such as JOY, PEACE, AND LOVE. As Paul said in the last half of 1 Corinthians 13:13… “…the greatest of these is love.”

That truth was brought home to me in a real way as Becca hugged us last night. Truly, the greatest gift illustrated so well in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of a sinless Savior for undeserving mankind… is LOVE. “For God SO LOVED the world that He gave…” WOW! What an awesome gift Jesus is to humanity!

I am writing this today because I want to encourage you… Take time this year to hug your kids, no matter how old they are. Take the time to thank God for the gifts he has blessed you with found in your children. Take the time this Christmas as a family and discover together the greatest gift of all this Christmas… LOVE.

 

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