ORPHANS NO MORE!

This post will be mostly photos, but oh how true it is that a picture is worth 1000 words. No matter who you are, these photos from H@HKids! will lift your spirits as you see with your own eyes the Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8:15) at work. Beautiful, Powerful, Awesome! Beloved Sons and Daughters!
Keep scrolling down to see them all--we don't want you to miss what Father God is saying through these images. Laura Means and Ruth Holleman captured some of the Father's Heart for His children. 

So, first off we got the children checked in:

Our team had lots of fun with the FAB Children (foster, adopted, and bio):

Worship was lead by Emma Templeton, a bio daughter with 4 adopted siblings:

Our team prepared a few skits for the children about their IDENTITY as Children of the One True God, interspersed with testimonies from young adults from adoptive families. 

Jenni Means shared The Truth About Lies with the kids. 

There was something powerful about seeing our team, some of whom are adoptees themselves, love on these children:

It was really moving to see each child take their "hello my name is" tag on which they'd written one lie that they have believed about themselves and put it on the cross, exchanging that lie for the truth God was showing them:

And our favorite part of all, the Date With God. To see a room full of children quietly listening to the Lord and interacting with Him in times of encounter--now that right there is the Spirit of Adoption at work! They prayed for the nations, read God's word, sat in His lap, painted what He said about them, shared their own and prayed for others' prayer requests, received a blessing and prayer as they had their hands washed.

TELL ME ONCE AGAIN WHO I AM!

From Beth:

"Tell me ONCE AGAIN who I am to you, that I belong to you." I so love these lyrics from Jason Gray's song, Remind Me Who I Am. Our worship team played this at H@HKids! while some of the team enacted a skit about identity--that who God says I am trumps any lie I might believe about myself. 

It is they cry of every one of us! 

It is the privileged role of every mother and father to tell each one of our children once again-- 
over and over and over and over,
year after year after year after year

You are my precious child. You are the one I love. You are special to me. You are a treasure.

When our children were little they would want to read the same book every night before bed-- 
night after night after night after night. 
Or they would want to watch the same movie, fast-forwarding to their favorite scene-- 
day after day after day after day.

Children are just that way, taking in something of value to them through repetition. 

And it is that way with us, even now as adults. Stephen told me he loved me when we got married. And he meant it. But I need to hear it once again--
over and over and over and over,
day after day after day after day.

So, let's call forth the treasure of each one of our children, telling them ONCE AGAIN, who they are. 

• Speak it in season and out of season. 
• Speak it when your child embraces their identity as the beloved, and speak it when your child denies the truth of it, either through their words or through their actions. 
• Speak it when you see it with your eyes, and speak it when you don't. 
• Speak it when they are in front of you listening, and speak it when they have gone to bed and only you and God can hear.
• Speak it when your heart is full of the truth of it, and speak it when the words seem like a lie even to you.

Speak it--
over and over and over and over, 
day after day after day after day,
year after year after year after year.

For many of our children who have suffered loss, rejection, neglect and more through their relinquishment, this repetition over days and years is a simple yet powerful key to the healing work God is doing. And for our children who have never known anything but the solid truth of their state as the beloved, this repetition will be the gift that never grows old. Just as I never tire of hearing Stephen tell me he loves me, so do we all never tire of hearing the words of truth that we belong, that we are loved, that we are treasured.

When this "telling once again" underlies all of our parenting, we find ourselves in constant communication with the Lord, asking, "Who is this child?" 
We find ourselves parenting forward with God's eternal purposes in mind, reminded once again that God is up to something in this child that far surpasses the behavior of the moment. 
We find ourselves moved once again with hope, because the promises of God do not disappoint, even though both our parenting and our children sometimes do.

...endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5 NLT)

Father God, would you tell me today something about _____________? Who is this child? When You think about _______________, what do you say? And would You show me how to weave the truth of his/her identity into my parenting day after day after day after day? Thank You and Amen!

We know you noticed that obnoxiously flashing button at the top of this page! Click on that to learn more about our Hope at Home 2013 Conference, September 27-28. If you like what we are doing on this blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, then you won't want to miss this conference! 

3 STEPS TO SUCCESSFULLY FLYING A PLANE, AND PARENTING CHILDREN

From Susan:

What would you do if you wanted to learn to fly a plane? Read an instruction manual? Then go do it?  Reading that manual would be GREAT, but I wager that every one of us would:

1. Search for an REAL PILOT with a solid safety record--that is, someone whose choices about how she or he flies do not CRASH the plane.
2. Spend time listening to and learning from this experienced pilot's experience in order to get REAL HELP that you can use when you are the one in charge of flying that plane.
3. Accompany this pilot in the cockpit, actually learning from his demonstration of how he or she flies, hearing as he works all those buttons and controls and throttles, what to do, when to do it, what to avoid, and how to respond in an unexpected crisis, so that you have REAL HOPE of succeeding on your own. 

Parenting Children

Well, I have found that learning to parent children is a lot like learning to fly a plane! 

1. I need to search out REAL FAMILIES....not just real in terms of being alive, with their skin on, but real in terms of authentic. 
2. I need to spend time listening to and learning from the parents and children in these families in order to get REAL HELP for my own family.
3. I need to spend time accompanying these families as they are seeking and receiving REAL HOPE, so that I experience how that is done!

Well, for anyone wanting to grow as a parent, we would encourage you to join us for the HOPE AT HOME 2013 conference at our church, the week end of Sept 27-28. 

1. We believe you will find REAL FAMILIES, others who are authentic about the joys and challenges of parenting, particularly of parenting children who have suffered. 
2. You will find REAL HELP, as you spend time listening to and learning from the testimonies and teaching about key principles that help you parent your children well.
3. You will find REAL HOPE that you can do it!  as we together seek to spend time "in the plane" with the Lord and learn from The Best Father in the World about His parenting advice for us.   
   

Becoming A Radiant Parent

I absolutely love that verse from Psalm 34, "they looked to Him and were radiant."  I have from time to time prayed,

Lord, would you make me the kind of person who is like that? The kind whose relationship with you SHOWS, on my FACE~!!!  Like Moses, after He had spent time with you and came down from that mountain. His face SHONE from having been in Your presence! I just want to be like that! RADIANT for You, Lord!!! I want others to look at me and see YOU!

Well, the amazing thing about the context of this Psalm is that this RADIANT LIFE comes in the context of a plate FULL of problems....four times we read the Lord:

delivered me from ALL my fears
saved him out of ALL his troubles
delivers them out of ALL their troubles
delivers [her] out of ALL afflictions

We believe that the time we spend together at Hope at Home 2013 will be used by God our Father to LIFT us above ALL fears, ALL troubles, and ALL afflictions because we will look to and hear from the One who makes Moses, and you, and me, and ours....radiant. Simply radiant. :)

God bless you, dear one, this day!

For more information and to register for Hope at Home 2013, click on the flashing button on the right margin! What a joy it will be to meet you in person!

HEAVEN'S KITCHEN!

Join us September 27-28 at Hope at Home 2013 

Real Families, Real Help, Real Hope

From Susan: 

With our family of 12, Brian and I and our kids have spent countless hours in the kitchen preparing meals for our family and for guests. In so doing, according to my friend Carter Jenkins, "I am not feeding bodies; I am feeding souls!" I might expand upon this to say, "we are not only feeding bodies for strength;  we are also feeding hearts and minds and souls!"  Let us then realize the honor and importance and blessing and influence we have as we do the work of grocery shopping, preparing, and cleaning for meals and snacks and cups of water. We have been chosen to serve in Heaven's Kitchen (don't you just hear the name of a new TV show???).  And as we do so, we may not get a pay check via direct deposit into Bank of America, but we do get auto-draft transfers with interest into our heavenly bank accounts. Doesn't matter how simple the fare. Doesn't matter if my husband or kids or guests like it. It matters only that we are doing the work set before us for the Master. 

Success in the Kitchen

Who here is qualitifed for the job of overseeing the kitchen?  A person the Master can depend on to feed the workers on time each day.  Someone the Mater can drop in on unanounced and find him doing his job.  A God-blessed man or woman, I tell you. (Matthew 24:45 MSG)

It is so easy, in this business of parenting, to get our sense of blessing, of happiness, from whether those around us are pleased with what we serve up in our homes. When my husband and kids are happy with our family, I am very happy; and when one of them is unhappy with our family, it is easy for the rest of us to be unhappy. What I love about this verse is the clarity about what makes me, as God's daughter, happy. It is not the presence or absence of another's gratitude, rather it is simply doing the work the Master has set before me! Then comes that glorious progression: 

1) QUALIFIED
2) DEPENDABLE
3) BLESSED

So in summary, here are the questions this verse answers:
1.  Who is my boss? The Master - a wonderfully gracious and joyful boss!
2. How often do I work? Daily
3. Where do I work? In the kitchen, both literally and figuratively.

In our family this means food is accompanied by intentional conversation, broadening the nourishment to the heart amd spirit. Intentionally focused on caring for those among us. A simple question to prompt connection is one we've been asking for 15 years at our table: let's each share something we at thankful for today. Then we go around the table, inevitably stop to talk about many of the things that were shared. I love this time of the meal! Just this past week, among the "things I am thankful for" were: my nap, my hard work is over, that I read this morning that God is rich in mercy and it helped me be kind to someone who was screaming at me angrily, and the good dinner. The very next day one of our kids found themselves in a difficult circumstance of rejection, and shared with me later about being able to use the "rich in mercy" response that had been mentioned around our table!!

A Story

Sitting in Ukraine last week around a simple wooden table, drinking tea late one night, I found myself having a talk  with an 18 year old I had just met. N had lived on the street from age 6 to 8, then lived in foster families, and finally been adopted to America at 13. She remembers at age 6 her mama placing her on the table, then lifting up an ax over her head to try to kill her. Terrified, she rolled off and ran to the street. After leaving the street to live with loving Ukrainian foster families and then an American family through adoption, she is now back in Ukraine, determined to help other kids on the street know they can make something of their lives. But mostly, most importantly, she feeds them from her "kitchen." 

I know what those kids want: they want someone to look into their eyes, listen to them, and talk with them. Basically, they want to feel like they matter. Like someone cares about them. I didnt have that on the street and it was the only thing I wanted. I didnt want the candy and food, really, that many people tried to give me. And I know Jesus has a purpose for all I went through. I want to tell them they can make something of their lives, too. 

So dearly beloved, we pray for those we will love over meals and coffee and cups of cold water this week, that we will give them what they really are wanting, in a word--Love. 

Our simple faithfulness in our unique kitchen helps visibly to reverse the proportions of darkness and light in the world.  Like this picture I took  from my time receiving the Bread from Heaven yesterday morning that was served later that day in prayer and conversations, we are simply passing on what we receive. We are distributors, not producers.