George

I met George last weekend.  I introduced him when he spoke.  I listened to him sing, play the guitar, and speak to a group of people at a conference.  I had a donut with him.  I had lunch with him.  I like George.   He's a great kid who has figured out how to let God be glorified in his life.

Check out this video -- it's gone viral and is close to 1,000,000 views.  Pretty cool.

Shop on Amazon and Help Bethany. Pretty cool.

Want a chance to win a copy of each of my books? If you shop on Amazon please check this out and set it up. Without any extra money and only about 5 minutes of extra effort, you can donate to Bethany locally in MN with every purchase you make from now on. Just use this link and set it up to add a button to your amazon page and it will be automatic from here on out. You'll help orphans locally and around the world find homes and earn big points with me. Comment if you do it. Added bonus: If you set it up leave a comment and I will put you in a drawing to win all three of my books to keep or give away.

AmazonSmile:    You Shop .... Amazon Gives

Thanksgiving Service

On the night before Thanksgiving I'll be speaking at this service at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (4439 W 50th St, Minneapolis, MN 55424) where my friend Deen works. :-) Our praise band is going to perform and I'm going to speak on the topic, "Extreme Living."

Just thought you might like to know...

What If Mary Had Known?

I know, I know, it's not even close to Christmas yet. But if you want to pretend like it is a long ways off and you live in Minnesota, don't look out your window! It sure seems like Christmas out there already.

Today we started a small group at our church based on the book "Christmas is Not Your Birthday." I told my daughter Salinda, who was born on December 25th, that she should go up to our small group coordinator at church and shove the book in her face and yell, "LIAR!" but I digress. ANd while I'm digressing I should also put that we would love to have you join us for the last part of this connect group -- you've only missed one so far -- so let me know if you would like to attend the next four Saturday mornings... Ok. Done digressing now.

The small group this morning talked about whether or not we were expecting a miracle this Christmas and whether or not we were open to God doing a miracle THROUGH us. YIKES. I'm pretty sure that I am happy to have God do miracles FOR me and miracles IN me, but THROUGH me? I'm not so sure. Would I be willing, like Mary was, to be the vessel in which God would put a miracle that I would bring to life? In Spanish the words used to say "give birth" are "bring to the light." Am I willing to be the womb where God puts a miracle knowing that He is going to bring that miracle to the light through me? Wow. Deep thoughts for a Saturday morning.

I was pondering the question this morning of why God chose to only ask Mary to do the first step. I wonder if her answer would have different if God would have said, through the angel, "Hey there, Mary. I'd like to ask you a pretty big favor. I would like you to be the mother of my Son. The first 30 years or so shouldn't be too hard, but the next three will be kinda tough. And oh yeah, by the way, he's going to have to die a horrible death at 33 and you are going to be there to watch. Interested?"

I want to say that Mary would have said, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior" even if she had known the whole story. I hope that she would have. But God in His wisdom didn't tell her the whole story. He just told her that was going to be with her no matter what.

In many ways God has done miracles through Bart and I. Miracles like our grandchildren who would not exist had we not adopted their parents. Miracles like the growth and healing that has taken place in our children's lives over the years. Miracles like the lives of people who have been changed through our ministry in 4 different churches since we were married. And miracles like children having forever families and sticking with them that are a result of my adoption-related positions over the years.

But in each of those stories is a tapestry woven of not only highlights and bright moments, but deep dark troubled times of doubt and pain. We have had hard times... some really hard times ... as those of you who have read this blog for years are well aware of. We obeyed God at the beginning of each of these "miracles" and took the first step, having no idea where it all would like.

I want to say that Bart and I would have said yes to God had we known the whole story. I hope we would have. But God in His wisdom doesn't tell us the whole story. He just tells that he is going to be with us no matter what.

And He has. As Matt Redmond penned, "Never once did we ever walk alone, never once did we make it on our own, You are faithful...."

So today I guess I want to ask you what unanticipated hard times came as a result of you saying yes to God for step one. What valleys have you gone through or are you walking through right now?

Or are you at the beginning stages of a new journey -- the idea for a miracle is being planted in you right now. Are you going to say yes to God for step one?

Even though life is still far from perfect, I am not at all regretting our decision to say yes to that first request. So if you're struggling, remember that never once will you ever walk alone. And if you are embarking on the journey, dive in. Whatever the miracle God has planned for you He will see you through.

And maybe, just maybe, in her heart of hearts, Mary did know that it was going to be a difficult journey. But she pondered these things and day by day lived the life she was called to live and God was faithful.

And regardless of what point you are at in the journey of His miracle for you, He will be faithful to you as well.

Thunderclap

Check out the Thunderclap Notice on my Side Bar. Pretty cool huh?

Anybody heard of thunderclap?

Another Opportunity to Hear Me Speak....

After not having many speaking opportunities for quite some time, all the sudden I have had a bunch of opportunities come up.

If you are interested, I'm doing a special service at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Not only will I be speaking, but our praise band, Testify, will be leading worship and I'll be playing keyboard.

You should come.

If you planned ahead.... :-)

I get to do standup again in February near Seattle. I absolutely love The Refresh Conference .

If you've been reading my blog over the years you know that I have done my share of speaking and done many conferences. But this Refresh Conference is by far the best one out there for adoptive parents. It is designed as a gift for the parents -- to give them a break, take care of them well, and just have a great time.

I LOVE things that bring people from different walks of my life together. For example, I had a blast at our Gala on the 24th because there were people there from Mankato, Brookings, my church here, my work here, my friends in the adoption community. People I love were meeting each other and it was awesome.

So I have a dream about Refresh 2014. There are so many awesome people there that I have grown to love over the past 3 years of speaking there. And I have adoptive parents from all over the place who I love. And I have people I went to college with who are now adoptive parents. Wouldn't it be awesome if all of you found a way to get there and could meet each other?

I'm excited about the dream of all of us b. I know it's far away from some of you -- but if you plan ahead... you can do it.

Who wants to try and get there?