Sienna yells “SEAN!!!!” when she sees him get off his bus in the afternoon. This week we were outside when his bus arrived and she yelled, “Sean!!!” and started running down the sidewalk towards him.  Unlike other times, when Sean held out his arms, she outstretched her own and ran into his arms. He picked her up and she kissed him on the cheek. WOW! Highlight of our day! It is just the most fun thing to watch her open up and enjoy life!!

I LOVE YOU!

Sad that her birth mom (and dad) are not the ones that are getting to snuggle when she wakes from her nap or watch this sweet girl grow and grow!
At the same time, I am so incredibly thankful. Thankful that GOD has protected this girl’s life and brought her here so we can be a channel of His love. So thankful when I come across articles like this one from CNN (May 1-2012) and am reminded of what could have been.  This article shows some of the atrocities in China where women are forced to experience abortions and worse.  As I took a walk with Greg yesterday explaining the article, we both were overwhelmed with God’s grace over Sienna and other adopted boys and girls (there are others still waiting in orphanages all over the world).  Just amazed watching God’s plan unfold before our eyes.

http://www.thegardencentral.com

The life of Overflow is easier said than done and in order to live it with all the gusto and fervor we have we must know what it looks like.

Three characters appear in John 15:  Vine Roots, Vine Fruit, and Vine Branches.  There is another character, namely the one who does the pruning, lifting, cutting, etc. of the Vine, that is the VINEDRESSER.

Jesus is the TRUE vine, as opposed to someone who is false.  The vine is closely linked to Israel’s heritage.  God is the vinedresser, the one who works towards the fruitfulness of the vine.  You and I are the branches and what we produce is either fruit, no fruit, more fruit or much fruit.

There is not a more intimate portrayal of a leader’s relationship with the LORD than found in this picture of ABIDING IN THE VINE.

The word ABIDE means to stay at or with, to continue, remain in a place, to persevere, and/or continue.  This is as intimate as it gets…Staying close to Jesus even though there are more “productive” things to be done.  Leadership understands that our OVERFLOW is only as productive and powerful according to what is coming out.  Our lives can be well oiled machines of organizational and productive prowess that is worth NOTHING spiritually.  Stories will not be told of those whose house is organized and clean but whose house is held captive by knowing and making God known.  The Leader must figure out how to produce fruit, abide in the vine, and extend through obedience and joy in family, work and ministry relationships.

LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES OF THE LIFE OF OVERFLOW:

1. Send Deep Roots “ABIDE” into God and His Word.  Success in leadership is derived from my ability to abide and lead from that source of overflow.
2. Yield to the supernatural “FRUIT” that comes from God’s work in a person.  We can’t bear fruit apart from abiding and God prunes so we can bear MUCH FRUIT not just a little fruit.  Grape vines grow very fast but if not managed well their fruit will be limited.
3. Allow the “BRANCHES” to extend near and far.  God has chosen us to bear fruit and that fruit should remain and dare I say reproduce in others.

TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF WHAT IT MEANS TO ABIDE:

Attention- What steps do you need to take to regain a focus that gives God your attention daily?

Breathe- Have you learned to breathe spiritually by exhaling sin and inhaling God’s word and the influence of God’s Spirit?

Inputs- Do you always miss the chance to spend time in God’s word and miss the heart of God?

Develop- Have you ever connected with the heart of Jesus for people, because people matter to God?

Encourage- Do you have intentional plans to encourage believers to stay in the game and involve those who haven’t decided to follow Christ to get in the game spiritually?

What is so encouraging to me is how she is noticing her dad more and more.  Every picture she points him out.  This week, most nights Greg read her all of her bedtime stories and she even fell asleep a few nights with just him before I was back from tucking the others in.  Last night, she was at the table having a snack (thanks Pappaw for the noodles!), and I told her I was going to run to the store and I would be right back.  I told her Daddy would be here with her.  We exchanged a kiss and I left and she lasted the whole time I was gone without a tear.  Today in church I gave her to Greg to hold during the singing part of worship to give my arms a break and she rested her head on his chest.  When we were walking out to the car she actually passed up her big sis to hold onto her dad’s finger.  And then when Greg opened the car door to get her out of her carseat he said she actually held her arms up to him for him to get her out.  This is BIG STUFF around here! It has been 5 months since she was put into our arms, and five is now this Dad’s favorite number!!

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Potential Ministry Principles:  LEADERS BELIEVE, KNOW and ASK in John 14:1-17-

1. Belief is an imperative for the life of the leader (14:1).  Trusting Jesus in all situations is critical.  We can build our trust by remembering how he has worked in our life.  He is trustworthy.
2. Future hope is the fuel for everyday obedience (14:1) .
3. Abiding is most important; Jesus prepares a place for us to be with Him (14:2).  Jesus is preparing the disciples for his departure, we should allow him to prepare us for the trials we will face.
4. Knowing Jesus is more important than knowing about Jesus (14:6).
5. Philip is a picture of all of us; needing assurances, intimacy and more knowledge of God (14:8).
6. A LEADER’S WORDS AND WORKS MUST LINE UP FOR THE MOST POWERFUL SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE POSSIBLE (14:10-12)
7. In Jesus’ Name is not a tag on to prayer (14:13-14).  PRAYER IS THE WORK OF LEADERSHIP.  Our prayers must be motivated by glorifying God, we can’t allow selfish motives to remain in our prayers.  Leaders always ASK for God’s power to lead at home.
8. Just saying they love God is not enough; LEADERS show it off through action (14:15).
9. They are absolutely Spiritually powerless without the empowering Holy Spirit (14:16-17).

When it is all said and done the leader believes Jesus will do greater things through them.  Greater things at home, at work and in the church.  It is our responsibility to flesh out the LIFE OF CHRIST in those areas.

http://kevinmartineau.ca/greater-things/

Greater Things- How can we do greater things than Jesus?  Leaders may not know how but they are sure that Jesus is speaking directly to them and so they pursue Greater Things in order that more glory can be given to God.

Jesus leads us away from Peter’s impulsive self-confidence.  There may not be a more damaging choice than to be self-reliant which is really God-defiance.  Our weaknesses and failures trouble us, so we try and overcome them with more doing and strategic sin management or we just don’t think about them at all.  Jesus’ solution for troubled weak hearts was TRUST and OBEY.  Believing is more than just saying it but living it out.  Trusting does not mean we are pretending to be STRONG.  If we know we are weak but want the strength that God gives it brings God joy and glory if we rely on His resources.  If we believe for a moment that we can follow Jesus in our own strength, we will fail miserably just like Peter failed.

What other observations/principles should we not overlook in the life of the leader from John 14?

1. Is Believe an imperative or simply a statement? (14:1)
2. Does Jesus have a mansion for all of his children? (14:2)
3. What does the word “If” mean in 14:3? (14:3)
4. Thomas shows a Map is only as good as a destination (14:5).
5. Is Jesus saying three different realities (Way, Truth, Life)? or is he saying, “ONE- The way and the truth and the life describe the way?” (14:6)
6. Who is Jesus talking to in 14:7 (Thomas or the disciples and us also)? (14:7)
7. Are Thomas and Philip really a picture of all of us?  What are they asking for really? (14:5, 14:8)
8. Is Jesus sad, hurt, scolding, or other in 14:9?
9. What place do Words, Works, Believe, and Know have in the life of the leader? (14:10-12)
10. What does Jesus mean by greater works? (14:12)
11. What does Jesus mean by telling his guys to Pray “In His Name?” (14:13-14)
12. What is Love to Jesus? (14:15)

What a precious gift to have a friend like Kaylynn!!  Such beautiful girls that are teaching us so much about strength and grace.  We are thankful to Steve and Mary, Kaylyn’s parents for how they are mentoring us through this journey.

Kaylyn, also "Made In China"