A Subject (And Blog) Near And Dear To My Heart

As my family, friends (and a few who follow my blog) know, about eight years ago my wife and I ended a very emotional, whirlwind of a year by traveling to Belarus to adopt our two amazing boys, Caleb and Coleman. This is one of my favorite pictures of them, it's a few years old...they're 9 now.

One thing I've learned since then is that it never gets old meeting people who have gone through the same experience.  It is an experience that is beyond comparison.  You have by virtue of the "experience" a sort of kinship with other adoptive parents.  You know, without even saying it, that they too went through a terrible valley, only to see God move in amazing way and end up with the awesome blessing of having a child. Of course, the "experience" is over and now we just have our two boys.  Normal, tree-climbing, burping, hole-digging, eat-everything-in-sight, spilled milk, wall writing, and the occasional koi pond" destroying boys.  The reason I'm even writing this is my 3rd son Joshua (below)....

was a Tiger Scout this year and his den leader, Anthony Salem, and his wife are adoptive parents.  They have adopted multiple children.  Josh loved him and he was a great den leader. Sadly, his wife and he are heading back to South Africa, as they feel God has called them to the mission field.  Being a father is a passion of his and he has a fantastic blog.  I hope you'll take a look. Here's the link. No Greater Joy Dad

Getting Over My Love of the Word "THEN"

One day a man was talking to God.  He said, "Lord, is it true that with you, a thousand years is like a second?", God replied, "Yes, that is true".  So the man, thinking for a while, asks God, "So if that is true, then is it also true that with you a penny is like a million dollars?" God replied, "Yes, that's logical".  So the man replies, "Then, Lord, may I have a penny?". "Yes", God said,  "In a second."
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Please don't scrutinize this joke on it's scriptural accuracy, but it does illustrate an area God convicts me of (too many times it seems).  I was convicted the other day about my love for the word "then".  As in if I do X, then I will get Y.  When I do something I expect a result...NOW. Not in a few minutes, not even a few seconds. (Remember waiting for a page to load using AOL with your phone line plugged into you modem!).

  I think it's a common weakness of man and very common in our postmodern, gotta have it now society.  I mean, growing up as a child of the sock tie, big hair 80's was bad enough.  In the 80's we got VCR's so now we could watch movies whenever we wanted, we got microwave ovens so now we didn't have to wait so long for our Orville Reddenbacher popcorn, we got cable TV, so entertainment was always at our fingertips.  No more snowed out TV screens after the 700 Club was over (remember that?).

Fast forward to now.  Our internet is lightning fast, movies on our computer, we hit a link and BAM!...there it is.  We don't even have to wait to get home to check our email or go to a store to shop. We can live our life from our smart phone.  That's if your willing to pay $200 for the latest and greatest, $60 for a text and data plan, etc.  If you're willing to pay, you don't have to wait for practically anything anymore.  Thank the Lord the sun still rises and sets at the same pace since Creation.  We still have to wait for time.

For me this "weakness" also crosses over into my life with Christ.  One of my favorite verses has always been Romans 12:1,2. "...offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God...do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is..."

Did you see that?  There's that word "THEN" again.  I think if I do the first part of the verse, THEN I will know God's will.  It does say that, and I do believe it.  But instead of thanking God for His promise, I find myself having lofty expectations, or using it to bargain with God (HA...if that was even possible) or blaming him when I don't see the results that I expected or not fast enough.  Again, I don't think I'm alone in this, but I sometimes wonder if this is a problem that has become more pronounced in this day and age.  It behooves us to learn to wait on Him. Remember 2 Peter 3: 8,9.

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you..."

One of my favorite activities is camping (with three boys it's a lot of fun) and I'm grateful that there are still places to go where you can't bring a computer, cell phone, or TV (unless you camp in an RV, which I don't) and can S-L-O-W  D-O-W-N.   As for me I have seen God mature me in this area over the last 20 or so years, but waiting for God sometimes can be excruciatingly hard.  I trust that He loves me, that He indeed has a plan for my life, that He is aware of my circumstances and cares deeply.  Sometimes that knowledge of His faithfulness is all I have.  It's all I need.


So does anybody else struggle with impatience with God? I'd love to hear about it?

Mother's Day and My Humiliation

I was playing HORSE with my twins today, (in case you think I'm speaking of some strange equestrian game, it's when someone makes a basketball shot the next person has to make the same exact shot or they get an "H".  First person with HORSE is out.  No offense, but if you didn't know that you need to get out more. Seriously.)

So, I'm playing HORSE with my twins and if you've played this game with adults only, than you haven't REALLY played. Because with normal people, the goal is to make a difficult shot that YOU can make, but the other person can't.  Pretty straightforward.  But with two almost 9-year old boys, that is only a means to a much greater end.  Because in their little insane, cruel minds the goal is to actually heap untold humiliation on the person who comes after them.  And if they make the basket, they have succeeded.  What do I mean? The clue is in my description above. The person has to make the same EXACT shot. EXACT SHOT.  What this means is that if the person before you happens to cluck like a chicken, sing a horrible rendition of Yankee Doodle Dandy, goose step while making fart sounds, AND saying over and over again, "I love the Dallas Cowboys" in a little girls voice, all as he is approaching the basket, then MAKES the basket.  You guessed it.  The person next has to do the exact. same.  thing.  Let's just say my boys have gotten alot better at basketball than I remember.  And I was made a fool of yesterday to the utter delight of my boys and their mom who got to witness her husband being OWNED by her two boys.  That alone would make any mothers' day a Happy Mothers Day! I had a blast, although I'm not sure this is what Christ meant when he said we must "become like little children."

The Spiritual Growth Wall

My boys all have their birthdays this time of year, which ultimately leads to (after insane gift requests and Mom always creating some really cool cake) the "growth" wall. You know, the wall that they stand by and you mark how much they've grown since last year.  With three boys our wall is pretty marked up, but it always results in excitement because it's pretty fun to get a "visual" of something that is not observable by the human eye.

So as I was NOT reading my book on the plane because I left it in the back seat of my SUV because for some strange reason catching my plane became a greater priority than remembering my book (that's the run-on sentence to end all run sentences-lol).  As I was saying, while on the plane whilst gazing into the sky flying by at 500 mph I was thinking...how cool would it be if we had a spiritual gauge that we could look at and see how we're coming along spiritually just like the  wall.  ( I can hear Stacy right now - "There is one Keith, it's called NOT cussing when you smash your finger with a hammer"...not that I do that.)

I mean, each year after we're saved we could go this "wall" or wherever and see how are we doing spiritually.  Are we growing?  Alot? A little? The only downside is the possibility of seeing the mark get lower from the last time.  Wow, that would be depressing.  I'm also thinking we would be surprised because spiritual growth seems to happen most during the hard times, those times when we are suffering through trials.   That's when we feel the worst and probably the least spiritual, but it seems that it's in those valleys that we find out how strong our faith really is and how tightly we can cling to the Father.  It would be nice during those times to see the wall and be encouraged.  Maybe someone will invent one someday.  There's money to be made here, I just know it.  

Anybody wish you had a wall like that?