You are There

My friend, Dave Brubaker, graciously read through my entire blog in one morning and gave me these verses as a reminder of God's power and closeness in the midst of our pain. In these past couple years, I have experienced God in this way. I pray for you now that if you are "there", you will meet God "there", too.

Psalm 139:8

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

Psalm 84:5-8

⁵ What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
⁶ When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs.
The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.
⁷ They will continue to grow stronger,
and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.
⁸ O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, hear my prayer.
Listen, O God of Jacob.


Valley of Weeping/Baca:
Valley of tear shrubs, valley of dejection. A sandy, dry, and barren expanse.

Hope for our Future

"Hope" is such a loaded word. Even pregnant with meaning. I'm not sure I understood the meaning before infertility. Recently, I've been thinking more about hope. Hope in God. Hope in our future. Hope for our little ones.

I was listening to Rita Springer's song "Justice" [a must download on iTunes!] about her love for her adopted African son, Justice. She hopefully sang of "hope for our future", and it got me thinking about how we hope for our little ones. But at the same time they are also hoping for us! It was not our hope to experience infertility [although we've been committed to adoption for years]. And it's not our babies' hope to lose their biological parents. But the crazy thing about God is that he weaves hope into our losses, our deepest pain, into our less-than-desired futures. And hope transforms.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a often quoted verse, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" We quote it as a promise for purpose. But what's not mentioned with that verse is the 70 years of captivity and exile prior to the announcement of that verse. Ugh. 70 years of waiting before the promise! Yet God never leaves us in that waiting. Eventually, somehow, someway, hope and future are found in waiting. God's plans for us are good; it just might come in a different package than expected.

The hope for our future is in Jesus, and we also get to experience it through adoption. For that, I am grateful.

Unleashing Beauty

I am a part of an amazing team of people at Newsong Church who care deeply about the things of God, loving each other, and righting wrongs in this world. This year, our focus is on Unleashing Beauty in the world around us, because of what Christ's done for us. Our focus is taken from Isaiah 58. I invite you to read, meditate, and examine how you might unleash God's glory - also translate beauty - in this world. For me, it's affirming of our decision to adopt two little Ethiopian babies.

³ ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
you keep oppressing your workers.
⁴ What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
will never get you anywhere with me.
⁵ You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?

⁶ “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
⁷ Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸ “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.