Not just one of those days

Have you ever had one of those days?  You know, one of those days when nothing goes right.  One of those days when every little thing is just wrong, wrong, wrong.  Yeah, me too.  

Today was NOT one of those days.  Today was filled with reminders that God cares about me and the things on my mind.  It wasn't a good day, it was a God day.  

I am currently knee deep in planning the Buddy Walk. If you aren't familiar with the Buddy Walk it is an event to promote awareness and inclusion of individuals with Down syndrome.  (You can get details on our website www.tricountyt21.com.)  Event planning is something that I have a knack for and enjoy.  Fundraising, however, is not something that I am good at.  That's the toughest part of my job as the founder and Executive Director of a non-profit.  

With the Buddy Walk being about 30 days out there are some loose ends that I have been concerned about tieing up and most of them involve fundraising.  Yay, my favorite (insert sarcasm font here). I prayed about it and decided this afternoon to make a move.  As a leader and communications professional (at least that's what my diploma says) I've learned that you have to articulate what you need and you need to be specific.  So I asked specifically.  I reached out to two people about some of the needs and then I went to social media with a few other specific needs.  Within a few hours, I had nearly all of the needs met or leads on getting them met.  

Those are things that have been hanging over me, but even more so I have had some serious needs for Reese hanging over me.  I reached out last week for help with Reese's needs and got the ball rolling.  Yesterday we had an appointment and again I asked specifically for a need that involved our insurance company.  The doctor and I both were prepared to fight for what Reese needs.  Barely 24 hours later I received a call that we have been approved!  

All I can say, through the tears, is thank you, thank you, thank you!  Lord, you care about me and my stuff, even the stuff that seems insignificant in the big scheme of things.  It matters to me and He cares.  I know He is just as good and loves me just as much on those days when nothing goes right and I'll praise Him in the midst of the storms as well.  Today, though, I will praise Him for a God day.

Beauty from Ashes

Today we had Together Sunday.  This was our first joint service with both of our church campuses together.   Following the service, we had baptism, a meal, and family fun activities.   The best part of the day was seeing three very special kids choose to be baptized.   

We are incredibly blessed to be in a church that embraces the call to care for orphans.   Foster care and adoption are part of the DNA of our church.   On any given week you will see multiple minibusses and 12 passenger vans in our parking lot.   You'll see a rainbow of littles in our kid's department, and you'll see families that look more like It's A Small World than the generic picture frame family.   

Recently,  I had a conversation with a family that adopted a sibling group of four that added some diversity to their family.   I asked about their family's story and how they ended up at our church.   The dad said what sold them was the day that a person at the church asked if the kids were adopted.   He said yes and the response was, just a matter of fact, "that's cool. "  There was no praise of how awesome it is that they took them in.   The was no talk of what a blessing they must be to the children.   There was none of the typical, "I could never do that."  His kids weren't put on display as "those poor children" that he and his wife swooped in and saved.   

The culture of our church is such that it seems odder to not have a connection to foster care and/or adoption than to have one.   Our people are people that see these kids as kids with a story that need a savior just like every other kid.  They are kids that deserve for us to be uncomfortable to love them the way Jesus loves them.   They deserve for us to put ourselves and our selfish worries aside to see to it that they experience the love of Christ in real and practical ways.  They deserve to not only know the love of Jesus but to know the love of a family. 

That culture is what made today so special.  I watched three precious children, loved by Jesus, loved by their foster and adoptive families, and loved by our church take the next step in their faith.   Bryan baptized a brother and sister who found their forever home with an incredible family in our church.   I watched a foster dad baptize his foster son.   (The foster son that he had the privilege of leading to Christ.)  Yes, there were tears, lots of them.   (The foster family & friends, our staff, and even me. )  

I kept thinking about the scripture in Isaiah that talks about giving the people of Jerusalem a crown of beauty to replace their ashes.   What a beautiful picture of redemption!  These kids, through no fault of their own, have been put through the fire.  They have been through things no one should ever face because of the careless choices of others.   Their lives are forever changed but praise God, their ashes have been traded for crowns of beauty.   All because these families were willing to be uncomfortable and get their hands dirty.

Here's To A New Year!

While taking Brinkley to school this morning I heard a clip from Tony Evans and wanted to share the story.  You can find it in several of his books.  I am quoting this from his book Tony Evan's Book of Illustrations. 

My son came to me one day and asked me to accompany him to the gym.  He told me that he wanted to show me something.  He was about 11 years old and barely five feet tall.  He wanted to show me that he could dunk!  I had to see this!

I took him over to the gym and he bounced the ball, approached the goal, and cupped the ball under his hand in preparation.  My eleven-year-old son, barely even five feet tall went up and dunked the basketball.  It was an amazing sight... until I realized how he did it.  

Before we went to the gym, he called and asked the maintenance man to lower the goal.  The standard had been lowered.  I had the guy raise the standard back to its correct height.  I explained to my son that the goal should not be lowered so that he can meet it, but that he continue to work hard to meet the standard.


Wow!  How many times do we lower the standard for momentary satisfaction rather than continuing to work hard to meet the ultimate standard?  This along with a quote recently posted on Instagram by David Crowder have become my motivation for 2018.  

Here's to a year of influencing the world by not settling for the lower standard!