An explanation of Adoption from biblical counselor, June Hunt, Founder of Hope For The Heart:
http://www.hopefortheheart.org/2012/02/adoption-free-download/
An excellent resource for reflecting on your motive for Adoption and answering questions that reveal whether or not you should Adopt:
http://www.hopefortheheart.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/01/OLQR-pr-Adoption.pdf
Godly counsel on abortion:
http://www.hopefortheheart.org/2012/02/abortion-free-download/
Filed under Abortion, Adoption, {Adopted by His Love}
On this Resurrection Sunday, I like many people find themselves (during this time commonly referred to as Easter) reflecting on Jesus and what he means to me. There are so many attributes that I have come to know Him as: Healer, Friend, Provider, Savior, Lord, but of all the many names I could call him the most important relationship to me is to know (Him) Christ as my Father. To know that His love for me doesn’t fail (when I do), that he won’t leave me, that he loves me with a Crazy Love. Resurrection Sunday reminds me of the price that Jesus paid on Calvary. His Love for me is the only I have experienced that was Courageous enough to die for my sins.
Lamb of God
As a disciple (of Christ) courage is a subject that has intrigued me – in particular the courage of men and women who boldly, radically and unapologetically profess their Faith (not only by their words) but by their example of not backing down in their pursuit of Christ in their daily lives. To mention a few… I have seen people turn down lucrative jobs/careers that would have asked them to compromise their biblical beliefs. I have seen a level of forgiveness displayed in marriage that most would have simply walked away from. I have even seen individuals stand alone in opposition of the mainstream politically correct vote that our current culture is drinking like kool-aid.
In a desire to press in deeper into my own personal well and discover more Courage in my own journey, I have studied the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Theologian and martyr who outwardly opposed Hitler and Nazism, a position that ultimately cost him his life. A position that ultimately cost him his life. I reflect on that statement and ask myself, what led to Bonhoeffer having such depth of courage? More importantly, how does one build courage that stands in the face of death? For me this is an issue of building strong faith – a process that I have committed to pursuing for the rest of my life.
“Christianity without Discipleship is always Christianity without Christ” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer | The Cost of Discipleship
At the end of 2011 I had the opportunity to see Courageous. As a fan of Facing The Giants and Fireproof and other work by the Kendrick Brothers, I had been anxiously anticipating their newest film. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the message that ‘Honor Begins at Home’. The opening scene resonates with me – a father clings on to his car in the midst of it being carjacked and gets drug down the road hanging on for his life because (unbeknownst to the viewer) his baby boy is still in the truck. As a future wife and mother I pray that my husband would do the same. This was one of the last films I saw in the theatre for 2011 and it left a major imprint on my heart. My heart still beating with the pursuit of discovering more courage in my own life to walk out the call God has placed on my life.
The very first film I saw in the theatre for 2012 was Good Deeds, a Tyler Perry production sans Madea (yes I do realize this was late in the year - I missed Red Tails and Safe House). So what does Good Deeds have to do with Courage let alone Resurrection Sunday? I’m glad you asked…
“I want Daddy”
“Don’t do that daddy thing” snaps Thandie Newton’s character Lindsey to her daughter Ariel after Ariel whines “I want Daddy”. Unfortunately little Ariel is not alone in her heart’s cry. For various reasons many women are left to raise children alone – as the character Lindsey lost her husband to war, many children are also left fatherless as a result of abandonment, divorce, prison and many other scenarios. There are also many adults who are crying on the inside “I want Daddy”. They may attempt to fill the Daddy-void with drugs and alcohol, sex, food or other substances pleasurable to the flesh. I know that I did but I discovered that this endless pursuit was futile because those things will never fit the Jesus-sized hole in my soul.
Ultimately the world attempts to persuade many lost and broken souls, “Don’t do the daddy thing”. This world will lure you with the lusts of doing good, being a good person, joining this movement, belonging to that cause, party, get rich and famous, express yourself and ‘do you’ when Christ has called us to be who He created us to be in His Image. Someone reading this post may not know your biological father or even still perhaps you were abused by your father or father-figure or maybe your father was or is in the picture but you just didn’t have a relationship. The Truth is that you have a Heavenly Father who is ALWAYS fighting for you and causing you to Triumph. In Christ you can be victorious. And this Father is more than good to you, he is Courageous, so much so that he was crucified on the cross, he died, was buried and rose again for you and for me…
Filed under Courageous Fathers, Music Media Movies, {Adopted by His Love}
Like many people, I have seen movies and had emotional experiences that I will never forget. I may remember the first time I saw the movie (Juice) or I may remember who I was with (Love Jones). Most of all I never forget how the movie made me feel. One such movie is The Women of Brewster Place, adapted from the book by Gloria Naylor, of the same title. I was thinking about Brewster Place (as I affectionately refer to it) this week – not sure why – perhaps I was thinking a great deal about bricks and walls, more specifically, the tearing down of walls in my own life and how difficult this process can be. But after thinking about the walls, I went back to one of the characters that always intrigued, well angered me… Basil – Mattie Michael’s son.
Saying No to Basil
While I have God-children and even a younger sister who is 15 years younger than me, I still don’t know the experience of giving birth to my own child. But I can’t help but pray and hope that love would not lead me down the path that Mattie found herself on. She chose to put herself on the line, she put her house up for bail on behalf of her child – the son she loved. And just like that she lost all she had (in the way of tangible – physical possessions) where she lived, everything she had worked hard for in the name of love. The feeling of witnessing this process take place no matter how fictional was heart wrenching. Perhaps because deep down I know that I’ve been Mattie. I’ve made similar emotional decisions that could have left me emotionally and spiritually, homeless, bankrupt and destitute.
So the question is: How does a person find themselves in such a vulnerable, precarious state?? We’ve all done it – put everything on the line for a friend, a family member, our husband, our wife, even perhaps a boyfriend or girlfriend. I’ve had time to think back on times where I was in Mattie Michael’s shoes willing to lay it all on the line – to risk it all – playing emotional Russian roulette. The more I reflect on those periods in my life the more I realize that I was putting my hands to work that God didn’t call me to touch. Saying yes to Basil was when I was trusting circumstances, trusting what I could see, trusting my emotions. And the emotional appeal seems ever so real. If it didn’t we wouldn’t be so eager to say yes to Basil. Jeremiah warns us that ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?’
‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?’
Saying no to the Basil-situations in our lives – those moments when we know better, we know not to do what we’re about to do but we ignore the signs or go against our better judgment and follow the deceptive path of our hearts – requires enormous, unimaginable, unthinkable courage. But if we allow Christ’s love to prop us up instead of leaning to our own understanding we can without a doubt – Say no to the Basil(s) in our lives and ultimately Say Yes to Christ & His perfect will!
Say Yes to Christ’s Perfect Will!
Filed under {Adopted by His Love}
~ Truck Drivers, Bullies & Jesus ~
A truck driver almost made me cry today, well actually, since I’m being transparent I did cry. Yep, there I was headed down 40 East with tears sneaking down my eyes, which were unsuccessfully hidden behind my designer shades from China (ok I digress). So yes a truck driver made me cry today – well not exactly – more specifically my tears were an unexpected merger of all the bullies I’ve experienced in my life. Yes – many truck drivers are bullies which is exactly why I don’t like them and why most of my passengers know that I avoid trucks when I am on the highway. So back to what happened today…
This truck driver forcefully stuck his brutish arm out of his driver-side window to give me, in my little Corolla, unwelcome and unwarranted directives. As I wiped away each tear, I wondered about their source… Why had my emotions betrayed me by giving birth to these tears? It wasn’t the truck driver, but all of the bullies I had experienced throughout my life; bullied by Friends, Boyfriends, Parents, Family, Co-Workers, Church and Society. Let me explain my definition of bullying – an emotional assault of someone’s ideas, opinions, thoughts and actions into my mental space.
I thank God that gentleman, patient and long suffering are among Christ’s attributes. Nowhere in His Word does He say “Love Me Because I Said So!” I am eternally grateful that God is a Gentleman – he will not force himself on us, in fact He Loves us first… He invites us to Love as a response to His Love & His Loving Kindness. And the Holy Spirit compels us to do just that – to Love Christ and to Love others (and it goes without saying that if we walk out loving Christ and others we no doubt will be loving ourselves). Perhaps some of the school shootings that have unfortunately become common place in the past decade would be non-existent if we would simply model The Greatest Love of All – Christ!
Filed under Love Languages
A Father’s Touch
Perhaps like me you viewed the YouTube video a couple of weeks ago showcasing a Father’s public response to his rebellious teenage daughter. Perhaps also like me, so much media input comes across your screen(s) each day that many nuggets get missed…
This evening I was visiting the World Vision International Christian Center blog, when I was attracted to the title of this post (A Father’s Touch) and was reminded of the video that I had watched. With the focus of my blog being on Our Father’s Love and given the spiritual wisdom of the author, Pastor Adrian Starks, Father of four beautiful daughters, I invite you to read what he had to say regarding the YouTube father…
http://www.wvicc.org/blog/2012/02/a-fathers-touch/
Filed under Fatherly Advice
C Rose
