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The Austin Stone Community Church in Texas has a program in place called 100 People.
Their goal is for 100 people to start the process to be sent out in 2010 for 2 year terms to reach unreached people.
Fantastic.
Amazing.
Their website tracks the folks who are in the process, and you can read their stories and even see videos of some of those who have already been sent out or who are in the process of training.
I just love the following video . . . 2 sisters gripped by the grace of God during their college years are now spending the next 2 years in East Asia, serving the country, the culture, the community that our family has come to love so much.
Be encouraged.
Could God be telling you to go . . .
#1 and #2 of 100 from The Austin Stone on Vimeo.
I've been organizing some older photos lately and have come across some of my very favorite photos ever. Several of them were of Emily when she was just a little one. They were just begging to be scrapped, to be displayed, to be enjoyed.
I mean, come on . . . how cute is she in the pig tails?!
I'm pretty sure this is in my top 3 favorite photos of Emily of all times! Just look at those eyes, those cheeks, those lips!!
Girlfriend has been about fashion since the very beginning. She's 10 now . . . and nothing's changed!
Well, ok . . . somethings have changed . . . she isn't obsessed with Dora anymore. But her obsession with accesorizing . . . still there.
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This post is part of Sunday Snapshot . . . a round up of bloggers sharing Snapshots of their family, their life, and their faith. To see more Snapshots, click here:
Each of our girls, whether born from my flesh or born from my heart, are Meant to Be . . .
Meant to Be loved by us and by the Father.
Meant to Be taught of Christ's great saving love for them.
Meant to Be used mightily by God for their good and His glory!
This here interwebby is sure a huge place with lots and lots of great stuff to see and do and check out.
Here are just a few of my favorite things right now:
Crossway is the publisher of the book "Adopted for Life" and they have some amazing, emotional, and inspiring adoption videos to check out here and here and here and here. These aren't videos just for adoptive families . . . everyone should check them out and be amazed by God's redemptive heart and plan!
Emily starts 5th grade tomorrow and Katie Mei starts Kindergarten! Yikes. And yippee. I'll be sending them to school with this adorable and inexpensive teacher gift.
Speaking of school . . . with Katie Mei starting Kindergarten we recognize that we will have new opportunities to share about adoption. Undoubtedly her classmates will wonder why she looks different from her mom and dad and sisters. Surely we will have opportunities to share and educate. This handout looks incredibly helpful to us as adoptive parents with kids in the classroom.
Again, speaking of school . . . our kids will have countless opportunities to tell their friends that they go to church . . . and we hope those conversations about church morph into conversations about Jesus! Here's a great article from Ministry to Children that talks about how we make this so much more difficult for our kids than we need to. In part, the article says:
One way that I’ve encouraged my own kids as well as those in church is to talk about our faith as if it is something that is to normally be discussed and talked about with people. One of my recent revelations when it comes to kids talking about their faith is that they aren’t really scared to do it; we’re the ones who put the fear in them. We talk about how it can be scary to talk about faith with friends, we tell them we don’t have to be afraid, we tell them that they might be made fun of… We plant these fears in kids; they don’t already have them. It’s changed how I talk with kids about having faith conversations or about inviting their friends to church. I talk about it as if it’s the most normal thing in the world to do, which it actually is. Since doing so, I’ve heard more stories from parents about their kids talking about faith with their friends and their kids inviting friends to church.
So, with my kids all in school, what will I be doing with my days? Besides twice a week daycare & working about 20 hours a week, I hope to be sending my pastor & his wife an email every Monday morning, starting a new blanket, creating some new playlists so maybe I'll go outside and walk, and dreaming about new and creative children's ministry ideas.
With all that and great big wide interwebby to surf, I don't think I'll be bored . . . do you?!
When they were little like that I was so good about writing down the funny things they said . . . things like:
KELSEY: "Emily, your life is a musical!" EMILY: "Yup!"
KATIE: (as Ron walks in the door from work) "Hi boy!"
EMILY: "Remember the day I first wore leggings with a skirt? That day changed mylife!"
KATIE: (as we were talking about the Olympics in China) "I China and I happy!"
EMILY: "You want to know who I want to meet in Heaven? God, of course. But also Johnny Cash."
OK, seriously, these girls are hilarious.
I think I need to get my quote book out and ready again. I've got to get better about writing down their funny little moments!
I believe this brief excerpt and the questions below from Francis Chan’s book, “Forgotten God”, force us to think long and hard about our purpose for living, why God has placed us where we live…
“It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But it’s absolutely vital to grasp that he didn’t call there to settle in and live out your life in comfort and superficial peace. His purposes are not random or arbitrary. If you are still alive on this planet, it’s because he has something for you to do. He placed us on this earth for purposes that he orchestrated long before we were born (Ephesians 2:8-10) Do you believe you exist not for your own pleasure but to help people know the love of Jesus and to come fully alive in him? If so, then that will shape how you live your life in the place where you are.” (90-91)
Do I really believe I exist not for my own pleasure but to help people know the love of Jesus and to come fully alive in him?
Do I really believe I don't need to go all the way to China in order to boldly share the Gospel?
Do I really believe God has placed me here, in Hollister, in this neighborhood, in this church, to help people know the love of Jesus and to come fully alive in him? That I can boldly share Christ and His love with
my neighbor across the street,
with the other moms from school,
with the new family sitting across from me at church?
Lord, help me to live, not for my own pleasures, not for my own comfort, but really live in such a way that others see you and know you!