Unless the Lord builds the house,

It is no small feat moving a family of 6 across the oceans to a new land!  It was one thing to declare, “Yes, Lord!  I am willing!” and an entirely different thing to put one foot in front of the other so we could actually be in India, working with Sarah’s Covenant Homes.

So, we made lists, worked up budgets for expenses in India, we set to work on this website, we began the task of sorting belongings, and finding renters for our home in Franklin… we got really busy. It all seemed necessary.  And it began to seem overwhelming.  ”Rightly so”, one might say.  But let’s look at those verses again: “It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, to eat the bread of sorrows.  For so He gives His beloved sleep.”  When we realized that we were working really hard, and fretting a bit over how it was all going to get done “on time”, we also realized it was important to stop and make sure we’d fully handed the timeline, the To Do list, and the plans over to the Lord.

He is so faithful!  As soon as we checked ourselves and handed over the reins again, He gave us rest and peace and [no surprise here], He worked some of the things out without our striving and planning!

So, in what seems like no time flat: we have got plans moving forward to rent our home out beginning in June (and move our family to a temporary house here in Franklin until our out-of-country journey), brochures designed, a website done, business cards printed, and better ideas of what our roles in India will look like.  It’s all coming together!  We are able to get down to the business of being EXCITED about what is ahead, and it is good.  I am happy.

“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help”~ Psalm 146:5

1. Heat: anything above 76 degrees is bad

2. “Weird food”: grew up with meat and potatoes and about 5 vegetable choices.

3.  Tomatoes: If you would think this should fall under #2 then you don’t understand how much I hate these vile things.

4. Melanie Griffith: this should really not require much explanation.

5. Traveling to countries that don’t speak English:  Took my wife to Paris France for her birthday (yeah I know I am awesome). Didn’t even want to speak to anyone the whole day we were there.  For further explanation, no I am not wealthy; my wife’s family is British.  We were there visiting family and her Grandmother watched our kids for the day and we took the Chunnel to visit Paris.  This however does not invalidate the BILLIONS of Husband Points I procured that day back in 2003.

6.  Crowds:  Seriously why do you need to have more than 6 people around you?

7.  Spearmint, or as it is more commonly known the “Devil’s Mint”.

8.  Journaling my thoughts and or feelings:  Their mine.  ’Nuff said.

9.  Being financial risky:  Slow and steady wins the race, don’t rock the boat etc.. etc..  I like financial security, it makes me happy.

10.  Not having control:  Hey I’m a smart guy.  Just let ME figure it out.

11.  Did I mention Melanie Griffith, it seems a bit redundant, but you can never be too sure?

Well, God has a sense of humor and I am walking living breathing proof of that.  My wife and I adopted a little girl from India in 2009 and added her to the existing mix of 3 kids.  Nothing has been the same for us since that.  Someone, I don’t remember who, summed it up well and it has become my personal saying ever since: I became “wrecked” for normal life after that.  We came home from that trip and I knew life as I knew it was over.  I could no longer find value in the things I once did.  Working to buy a bigger house or nicer car all lacked the same appeal they once did.  My wife was in the same boat as me.  We looked at each other and knew there had to be more.  So we sought out more, and while we were looking over here and over there, it snuck up behind us and slapped us upside the head.  And now I find myself moving to India.

It is a long story that you may already know, and if you don’t I will try my best journal here in future posts.

The short story is in the fall of this year my family and I (all 6 of us) are moving to Ongole, India to work at Sarah’s Covenant Homes.  This incredible place houses over 80 special needs children in Andhra Pradesh India.

For the astute readers among us, you may already be drawing the conclusion that this plan very obviously contradicts several key items on the aforementioned list.  This was my observation as well.

1. Heat – I mean, “come on!”, it can get to be 115 degrees there on a regular basis.  In 76 degree weather people are searching for winter coats!

2.  Weird Food – Definitely not the beef and potato’s I was raised on.

3. Tomatoes – I believe them to be in India, however I think I can still avoid them

4.  Melanie Griffith – I am safe on this one.  Last time I checked, she still lives in Hollywood and has not made a movie of note in several years.

5. English – Spoken there, however definitely not by everyone.  Hundreds of dialects all throughout the country.

6. Crowds – OK, there are A LOT of people in India and they really like living very close to one another.  I MEAN A LOT OF PEOPLE.

7.  Spearmint – Much like the tomatoes, it probably exists there and I will just continue the vigilance of avoidance I have maintained for the last 36 years against this vile and evil mint.

8.  Journaling – Well if you have made this far into my ramble you know I am already sharing more than almost any of you ever wanted to know about me.

9.  Financial security- I quit my job of 13 years in February and leaped into the abyss of financial insecurity.

10.  I have already learned that all of my best laid plans and ideas are the next best thing to useless.  I am learning that this process requires so much waiting on God to reveal His path, and me sitting back and being more patient than I ever imagined.  This so far has yielded more than a few temper tantrums.

11.  Just checked again and, according to her publicist, Melanie Griffith has no intentions of moving to, or even visiting, India in the near future.

So what would cause a guy with so many (trust me… I paired this list down to a fraction of the original to save you and I some serious time!) issues and “I don’ts” into a guy who is willing to quit his job and move his family to India?  The answer is so simple, My love for my Father.  I have been so blessed to get to know my Dad, the Holy and awesome Creator of the heavens and the earth and I have fallen so madly in love with Him, that I want what He wants.

I have never been one to not do when something needed to be done.  Like most men, I suppose I’m wired to execute, set a goal and go for it.  God revealed His heart for the orphaned and abandoned children in this world to me through my daughter.  Now every night when I tuck one of the most beautiful little girls (if you think this hyperbole you are clearly unfortunate in not having met Dorothy yet) into bed at night, I am reminded of 147 million other kids out there that don’t have a mom and a dad making sure their teeth are brushed at night, that Tinkerbelle is on the pajamas, that their pillow is on their bed, and that they are not hungry as they sleep.

I look around her room; I see her sister sleeping; I walk to the other rooms and stumble over Legos, socks, shoes and Calvin and Hobbes books and see two awesome little boys sleeping and I think that- but for the smallest change in circumstances- any one of these kids could be counted in those numbers: sleeping on the street, hungry lost, and alone, and my heart is broken all over again.

So it ultimately came down to this: now that I have seen, I am responsible. Responsibility for me dictates but one course… action. My wife can attest that I do not sit idly by.   This, of course, has lead to countless collisions of male and female logic in my married life.  Of which I can still tell my wife with certainty “‘No’, I do not understand that you want to just cry and tell me about problem.  And, ‘no’, you do not want me to fix it.”

So with that in mind we go.  We cannot feed all 147 million; we cannot change the course of the whole world.  These are things far too grand for my abilities.  We go to change the course of one, two or three kids’ lives.  Each one as precious as my own.  We will do what we can.  We will be the hands and feet of a Father whose heart cries out for the fatherless, and the meek who cannot defend themselves.

In His infinite wisdom, God matched me with a woman whose passion for this makes mine almost seem trivial.  She continues be incredible and is an inspiration to me.  Our kids are excited as well.  It has been beyond incredible to see their enthusiasm increase as we continue to walk this road.

There are ups and downs, some way bigger than others.  There are fears, and concerns- I can’t lie- but I know if we don’t do this we will be missing out an opportunity of a lifetime.  I have my list of “I Don’ts” but they just don’t seem so important anymore (at least some of them…).

I also am not oblivious to other clear positive here, we will after all be 9000 miles away from Melanie Griffith.

I will do my best to overcome #8 and document this journey here.

Eric