Inspiration via Common Song

Lindsey made us an adoption mixtape.  Since it has some TobyMac on it, I felt it obligatory to title it Ill 'doptcha.  


Anyway, it has this song by Aaron Ivey titled Amos Story (which I learned are the names of his two adopted children from Haiti).  It's really been speaking to me lately, and the one line that I can't shake is, "I'll find a way to get you here."  When I'm running, training for the race, and I'm losing motivation, I just remember that line.  I'll find a way.  Giving plasma, running races, holding fundraisers, selling video games...


I'll find a way.


Here's the awesome video, and the lyrics are below.  Enjoy.

Another photograph to wrestle in my head
Another sleepless night on concrete featherbed
These thoughts of you like bullets to my soul
We’ve got to find a way to get you home

I’ll find a way to get you here
If it takes my fleeting breath
Another sunrise hits the ground
And it’s a dark lonely sight
Lightyears away I hope you know
There is somebody searching
For the way to get you here

I will get you here

Throw the clocks away and run out to the street

We’ll fly to distant clouds where it’s just you and me
A day will come when all of this is gone

You’ve got to find a way to believe

I’ll find a way to get you here
If it takes my fleeting breath
Another sunrise hits the ground
And it’s a dark lonely sight
Lightyears away I hope you know
There is somebody searching
For the way to get you here
I will get you here

Close your eyes and dream of a better day with me
As angels hold you tight, may you sleep in peace tonight

So dream, dream, dream my child
Hear the whisperings of hope

It’s a song that you can sing, as you sleep in peace tonight

Why Adopt? Part 2: A Matter of Timing

I wrote in this post the fundamental teachings and original feelings I had which led me to want to adopt.  I'd like to share with those interested a deeper look at my heart on this journey.

Why now?  Why, at 27, after having two biological kids with my wife, am I adopting?

A year ago I couldn't have told you what my purpose was.  I wanted to know it.  I yearned for it.  And a year ago I was ashamed of that fact.  But now that I know what I must do for His Kingdom while on this earth, I don't feel shame for not knowing his call on my life back then.  Why?  It has become increasingly apparent to me that you don't find your passion.

It finds you.

While groping about seeking gratification, the praises of man, the pinnacle of Maslow's hierarchy, or simply to serve God well, we spend much time just 'doing' stuff.  Even with good intentions, until our passion finds us we sprint in random directions, certain that being busy (regardless of the cause) is better than nothing.  Perhaps it is.  But it doesn't compare with the long haul run of faith you begin when your purpose is revealed.

At my current job we do a lot with lasers.  I buy a lot of custom optic elements for the company.  Crystals are grown, harvested, machined, polished, and coated with meticulous detail.  You can't rush this process.  Doing so means a broken lens, a scratched prism, a cloudy coating.  The optical elements exist to affect the light passing through the lenses in a very specific way (bend it, straighten it, reflect it, intensify it).  The elements DEFINE the beam.  For all its glory, a laser is useless (and sometimes even randomly destructive) without passing through the appropriate optical elements.

So it is with our purpose and passion.  We dare not rush (but should rightly yearn for) the revelation of our defining goal.  For it is worth it to to finally have the white hot beam of our everything focused into a coherent life for His glory and for the good of those in our lives.

I am convinced that the Lord formed Lindsey and I for this purpose; to love the oppressed and defend the defenseless.  This begins with us snatching up a helpless babe with the odds against him/her and making him/her a permanent part of our lives.  I'm excited to see where else it goes!

And here's the irony of it all.  A year ago, we were in such a better financial position to adopt.  Pragmatically, it would have been 'smarter' to do so then, right?

I'm well aware that a solid portion of family, friends, and strangers are suspect of our intentions since we are a fundraising family (i.e., we don't have $30K in cash to drop at once to bring this baby home).  I understand these concerns.  In their shoes, even six months ago, I'd pass the same judgment.  That's largely why I don't get upset when they lob their comments.  They are me, mere months before, and their passion is not mine.

Yes, I have a mortgage which sucks up money I could use to fund adopting.  Yes, I made more at my last job.  Yes, it would be much easier on those around me if I saved for several years and didn't ask for donations.  But back when we had the money to drop on something like this, we weren't called to.  And I refuse to let godless details postpone the start of my life's work (more than one adoption, I'm convinced.  More in another post.)

Moses would have made more sense confronting Pharoah after some speech classes.  David would have been a smarter choice for king after he grew up some more, had a few campaigns under his belt, and Saul nicely succumbed to fading health.  Peter might have been a more wise choice in the people's eyes had he gone to seminary for four years before he started following Jesus.  Paul could have saved a whole lot of backpedaling if God had simply called him before he went down the Pharisee path.  But here's the rub.  Our Lord confounds us.

And praise Him for it!  How much more I lean on him, and how much more is He evident in this adoption now that the 'rational stuff' has been stripped away by His impeccable (and gloriously problematic) timing.

Family Values

Lindsey has been hard at work doing crafty things around the house.  It's pretty amazing, really.  We are just two months into this new place and she's been making it look like a home.  If it were just me here, it'd still be pretty bare.  Thank the Lord she's here!

Lemon Chicken...4 out of 5 stars...mmmmmmm

My fav so far is the weekly menu board.  She repurposed an old frame, used some scrapbook materials, and uses a dry erase marker to tell me what hearty goodness is gonna hit my plate.

I then give a little feedback with some stars later that night.  It keeps her on her toes.

Seriously, this menu thing is pretty bomb.

Lindsey has also refinished an awesome mirror frame (which Makayla is pretty sure is her magic mirror on the wall.)

But there's another thing she's working on that I'm pretty stoked about is a board of our family rules/values.  There are a few families I have seen post theirs.  I want to get this right (not the appearance, but the content.)

Any guys out there have any suggestions for the top ten?

Why Adopt? Part 1: The Basics

Lindsey (my wife) and I are adopting a wee one from Ethiopia (ET).  Lots of folks are asking why, how, and all sorts of questions like that.


I'd like to answer the more common questions for folks.


Why Adopt?


We have two biological daughters, Makayla (3.5 years) and Addison (13 months).  About six months ago, before we attended the adoption hearing of our friends, I felt compelled to share with Lindsey that I was open to adopting.  Her face lit up as she shared that she had a burden for adoption for months.  So, we started the process of discussing and praying about adopting.


A few verses that made it easy for me to want to adopt:


James 1:27  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.


Here I feel it's blatantly laid out that ministering love to the unlovely and weak is a Christian imperative.  Does this mean that all are called to adopt?  Certainly not.  The LORD calls us to our own ministries.  But for me, this Scripture hit me in my deepest parts, and I couldn't shake it once I viewed it as a potential adoptive father.


John 14:18  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.


Here Christ lays forth one of the most tender, sweetest images of the Father's love for us.  His chosen are His adopted children.   


Matthew 18:5  And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

This is just one more example in the New Testament where Jesus sets forth the principle that ministering love to defenseless people is serving Him.

So, there's plenty of Scriptural justification for adopting.

Even more, I believe with all my heart that bringing someone into your home completely of your own accord and taking care of them as your own is an amazing sign of love.  Short of laying your life down for them, I can't think of any more radical a display of love.

Is This Thing On?

I have blogged poorly here and here for a while, but I decided to start something more candid and serious.

This blog is about my successes and struggles as a friend, husband, dad, and man of faith.

I am an Air Force vet, as is my wife. We have two daughters under 4, and are adopting a wee one from Ethiopia.

We reside in Ohio after some time on the West Coast.

Join me?