Gloriously Ruined

So my reading has continued and has pushed me deeper into discomfort, disguist and frustration with the culture in which America lives. I have become gloriously ruined. This current book, "Dangerous Surrender" by Kay Warren has given great words to the state I have found in my heart. This alone has brought me comfort in hearing her describe her feelings as she came home from Africa back to her affluent Orange County, California... Kay says, "Everything looked different; everyone seemed strange. I looked at my possessions differently. Suddenly a full refrigerator was an insult. The crowded grocery store shelves were excessive. The displays of fashion at the mall were trivial. Television was disgusting and moronic. Politics made me sick. Church was superficial. I was a mess."

 Funniest Christmas picture EVER!  Look at Sadie!

 Just like a man to fall asleep during decorating the tree!  He could not believe he missed it!

Gloriously ruined is a term Warren and her friends have coined about how they have felt in their own discovery of the evil and unjust world around us..."I was ruined for life as I had known it before, but gloriously ruined!"

I can no longer see our way of life in Oklahoma the same, everything has a new slant on it...people are dying, starving to death, without water and without hope.  While I am broken for the fact that I have been aware and chose to look away, I also have more freedom in Him than I ever have...this is a closeness I have never experienced.  I am only halfway through this book and it's amazing and inspiring as well as gives me answer to what exactly did Jesus mean "take up your cross and follow me." 

Last week we finished Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World?  What a book!  3 pastors started this in 2006 with a bold decision to cut back all excess that didn't focus on Jesus during the season and celebrate His birth.  What a novel idea, huh?  A year after they started THOUSANDS of churches joined in.  Lives were changed both within the church, and those looking from the outside.  Get this: they saw something different in those churches at Christmas time.  Numerous lives have been saved because these churches brought their money saved and gave it to building wells where people did not have access to clean water.  If we could all boldly follow the example of the sheperds and wisemen, share the good news and give gifts to Jesus, not to the blessed, but to the least of these...that's when we are giving to Him.  I highly recommend this book anytime of year, but especially now!  They also have an awesome website. 

As an update on us, we have finished all our trainging hours and are waiting on our homestudy write up to be complete and get our CPR training and we'll be open.  We are still hoping it will be before Christmas! 

No more Llama Drama

Can I just say how thankful I am for the election to be over?  Lands sakes alive, I was not enjoying all the political talk and the ugly snarky posts amongst even those who love Jesus.  I do not believe all those that have given their hearts to Jesus have to see politics eye to eye.  And I have been saddened by disrespectful comments here and there about the results of the election.  I am ready for this nation to get down and get dirty working to recover itself locking arms together.  There are still enough of us that claim Jesus as our Savior to actually live out the love He commands for us...and we can change the nation.  But we have to stop bickering, blaming, and trying to force other people that do not love Jesus to abide by our rules and values.  We have to speak love, and quit shouting about what we do not believe in.  Non-believers already know what we hold as sinful (which is so ironic because we are all sinners).  Why oh why do we think we need to keep trying to change others instead of loving them into knowing Jesus and letting Jesus change them?!?! 

 We met Daddy Danny (Emery's birthdad) at the science museum in OKC!

 Sometimes I just have to squeal at her adorable face, smile, cheeks and hair!  I mean who can look that precious with free hair!?!?  She can, that's who!

 We went up to see him when the boys were in school and an off day for the girls.  Its so much fun to see Danny come to life around his sweet Emery Faith.  We are so thankful to have him in our life.

I believe recovery begins with each and every one of us. But we have to be ready to live incredibly different lives than what we have planned. We have to lay everything down at the foot of the cross and if we are truly ready for a change in this nation, ask God what we are supposed to do. Not what a leader can help us to do, but what are we supposed to do? Because it really does not matter who our leader is, it is always Jesus Christ. Our nation is going down fast, and it's time that we all quit pointing fingers and realize we are all to blame for trying so desperately to live out the American Dream. This was my FAVORITE part about the book Radical. It pointed out so many ways in which we are raised and believe that we deserve certain things. And its all bull crap. No where in the Bible does it promise us the things that as Americans we think we deserve. I beg you to read this book. So many times I found myself scratching my head with my jaw to the ground with the truths that Platt pointed out. 

 These are from our adoption agency's annual hayride and weenie roast.  And look at my Owen's smile!!!  That's his real smile (note the dimples!). When he fakes it there are no dimples ;)

 She wasn't so interested in eating the marshmellow as she was in playing with it!

 Well, hello gorgeous!  She had so much fun as Gabby Douglas for Halloween that she wanted to continue to be her...she requested her leotard for school the next day and kept introducing herself as Gabby :)  Love this pic of Cooper below...such a handsome fella!

I am ready for the drama to be over and for the work to begin.  The church has got to stop focusing on blessing the blessed, and start spending more time spreading the good news to all people.  Whether that mission is in it's backyard, or across the world or both.  Last week was Orphan Sunday in hundreds of thousands of churches across the world.  This Sunday our church will be a voice for the fatherless.  I am so excited to see the response of our church family, but I also know this will be slow and steady.

As an update to the last post about our family applying for emergency foster care, we had our homestudy and our first 3 sessions for the 27 hours of training!!!  We will meet again this Wednesday to hopefully get a good chunk of it behind us.  Our social worker rocks and she is desperately trying to get our home open before Christmas.