I want to take you on a little journey to Africa today. . .

Specifically, to a region in east Africa. . .

To visit the Vizunda people.

“The Vidunda people’s ancestral land lies in the foothills between two mountains of Tanzania. On the north, Mikumi National Park borders their homeland. In the past, sugar planters gradually usurped the plains, forcing the Vidunda people into the mountains. During WWII, enemy soldiers massacred large numbers of Vidunda speakers who were hiding in a cave. In recent years, government officials have forbidden farming on top of the mountain. This history of exploitation and abuse has made the Vidunda people very wary of outsiders.

In this language group, more than 60 percent affiliate with Christianity. However, most still fear witchcraft and engage in many kinds of animistic rituals along with their non-believing neighbors. Many Christians still hang amulets on their children to protect them from evil spirits and curses. Because they’ve been hearing Scripture in a language foreign to them, most Vidunda people have little idea what it actually teaches.

The majority of Vidunda speakers still live in fear of spirits rather than experiencing the redemption and freedom they could know in Christ. Non-Christians can’t see much victory or joy in the lives of believers. The Scriptures in their mother tongue will offer believers tools for deliverance from the bondage of fear. It will also support personal spiritual growth and provide a solid foundation from which to reach out to others.” – OneVerse

The Vidunda people are part of 340 million people who cannot read the Bible in their own language. They continue to live in constant fear of spirits, practice rituals, and are fearful of the evils of witchcraft. While many are professing Christians, the living breath of Scripture, the food that grows us and matures us in Christ, is not available to them.

“for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:13-14

In America, where Bibles pepper our homes and are easily found in the pews in front of us every Sunday, we cannot understand the richness we have at our fingertips. But 340 million people yearn for the Bible in the language they speak, yet they cannot because there is no such thing.

I am NOT okay with that.

Are you?

You may be familiar with my children’s allegory about the Ocean Dwellers. The focus of that story was to introduce my children to the realization that not all people on Earth are able to read the Bible in their own tongue. At the same time, I wanted to bring into focus to my readers and visitors the necessity of partnering with other Christians to make Bible translation happen for our siblings in Christ around the world.

I have partnered with OneVerse because I am passionate about being used by God to bring His word to peoples all over the world. This year, specifically, my fellow OneVerse bloggers and I will be using our blogs to work towards raising money for the Vidunda people to gain even more scriptures in their language. So. What does this mean for you?

First, you will be hearing a lot more from me about OneVerse and the Vidunda people. Daily I am praying that those who visit Wisdom Begun will be touched and moved. Second, I want to challenge you to make a monthly donation towards supporting Bible translation for the Vidunda people. Look at these pictures, see the faces of your fellow Christian brethren, and pray to see if this is something you should be a part of.

Friends, I am so excited that I am a part of this. I cannot go to every country to minister to each and every person, but I can use the money God has given me to give back to giving a priceless gift to my brothers and sisters in the Lord. This is amazing! Isn’t it?!

Make sure to head over to the OneVerse Blog to read more about the OneVerse Bloggers team and to read from my fellow team members why this project is so important to them.

Friends, do you remember how the Ocean Dwellers were so happy to finally have the gift of a Bible translation they could understand? Sure, it was just a story, an allegory to teach my children, but it tells of a very real problem. Did you know that:

“Today, nearly one-third of the world’s language groups representing 340 million people are still waiting for God’s Word in a language that they can understand clearly.”

The Christmas season is here. Most of us are in the gift-buying mode and I know that we would rather give our friends and family truly meaningful gifts. What if you could do one better than just meaningful and give a gift that also brought the Word of God to peoples who do not have a Bible translation in their own language?

You can.

OneVerse is offering a very easy way to help you give this year. Their Gift-A-Verse program allows you to donate towards Bible translation in the name of your loved ones. For $26, you will receive in the mail one Gift-A-Verse card that you can take the time to write a special note in before mailing to your recipient. Each card represents 1 verse to be translated. It really is easy and you have four great designs to choose from.

Let me encourage you to really, truly, give from the heart this season. What better way to celebrate the gift of the birth of The Word than to give the Word to our brothers and sisters far away?

If you decide to participate in OneVerse’s Gift-A-Verse program this Christmas, please let me know in the comments section.

Mothers, how many of you can remember your first ideas, dreams, and goals of what motherhood would be about? Can you catch those faint memories of what you imagined being a parent would be like? Some look back fondly and laugh a little, knowing their ideals were not realistic at all. Myself? I will be honest with you, those ideals from the past weigh me down and feed guilt into my heart.

The me of the past thought: My kids will never fight. Never watch tv. And will always say “yes ma’am” with big smiles and cheerful attitudes.

The me of the present knows: My kids DO fight, DO watch tv, and forget to say “yes ma’am” at times. Many times they have cheerful attitudes but sometimes they have downright rotten attitudes.

The me of the past thought: I will always keep a clean house. I will be the perfect homeschooling mother. And I will never raise my voice to my children.

The me of the present knows: The usual state of my house is messy. I struggle with homeschooling and there are times when I just don’t like it. And I raise my voice.

Maybe you can relate. Your ideals may have been drastically different than the ones I listed here but you had ideals nonetheless. Did you find that your goals flew out the window when real life hit?

Friends, this is okay. The truth of the whole matter is that we – you, your husband, and your children, as well as those around you – are all sinners. Those phony people you dreamt up previously? They were perfect people. Perfect people do not exist on this earth and there have never been any, save the Saviour.

There are two ways to deal with the crushing realization that life will not go the way you had planned. The first is how I have dealt with it in the past: let your seeming failures crush you into depression and a sense of giving up. The second is the way God would have you deal with it: run to the Saviour. Cling to Him and acknowledge that your job is working with imperfect, frustrating people in a world that is broken. Take all the burden of perfection off of your shoulders and place it where it rightly belongs: on the shoulders of the King of Kings.

This will free you. Freedom from unrealistic ideals. Freedom from following a pattern of hopes that will never work out because you do not have the ability to follow them. Freedom to allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify you in your imperfection.

“As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one. . . “ -Romans 3:10

Friends, bow the knee today. Acknowledge that your goals were unrealistic and not biblical. Look at your life now, as messy and dirty and unlikeable as it may seem, see the real, and go from there. Re-work your goals for you and your work so that they acknowledge the necessary saving work of the Savior.

Do you feel weighted down and burdened because your life has not turned out the way you thought it would? Do you desire to work God’s way through your imperfectness?

Photo credit: Custom0305

It is heartrendingly sad that we Christians often fail to see “the whole picture.” The way of the modern church is to pick apart the Bible, a verse here, a verse there. Rarely do the Christians of today see the Bible as an actual redemptive history of God’s work. Choosing to not realize that misses the whole picture of God’s grace.

In our culture of “facts,” we miss the blessings and gifts right in front of us. As a parent I see this in my own calling. If my children are still sinning often in the areas that I work so hard to train them in I take it very hard. I take this motherhood-business very seriously and I’d love for my children to show me the fruit of my labor.

The other day, I was in deep discouragement. My children could feel my down-cast spirit. They also overheard me sharing this trial with my husband over the phone. Later that afternoon, my eldest, who is eight-years-old, came to me, Bible in hand. She gave it to me and asked me to read a certain passage in Psalms. I read it to her and she encouraged me to find comfort in its words. She pointed to some of the words of that chapter and reminded me of God’s promises.

Now if that is not a beautiful display of the fruit of my labors, I could never know what was. The problem is, I did not see that at the time. I thought “How nice that my daughter knows her Bible” and left it at that.

Yes, I felt uplifted from the life-giving, attitude-wrangling words from my Father. But I did not see the gift.

It was not until that evening when I related to my husband the details of my day that my overlooking became apparent sin. I included that snippet of our daughter and then proceeded to talk about the housework that was overwhelming me. In typical fashion, my husband stopped me to challenge my heart:

Don’t you see, Kelly? What a gift! Our hard work has paid off. Look at God’s grace in rewarding us!

And it was true. The realization that our eight-year-old was looking to God’s word to bring comfort to her mother is frankly overwhelming. God used our obedience to Him and we are in turn blessed by it. So why was I so quick to not see this?

I am the type of person who has succumbed to our world of “black and white,” facts, and suppression of emotion. I do not delight in God’s law as I should, neither do I see that His gifts and blessings come in other ways than food on our table and clothing to wear. I “see” the busywork and miss the blessings.

This is not good and it should not be so.

My challenge to my siblings in Christ is this: notice everything in your day. Recognize God’s grace and mercy in all things. Do not overlook the seemingly minute gifts He has given you.

And thank Him continually.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 18

Photo credits: wharman, mcdlttx

My life is a smorgasbord of sin, hope, redemption, learning, and grasping. The timeline about me would appear cluttered, erratic even. I move in spurts and ebbs and flows. My husband often tells me that I move too fast. I am not scatterbrained but an organized conglomeration of to-do lists, needs, dreams and failure.

I like “clear pictures.” I am a woman of lists. We travel, I make lists. We move, I make lists. We make the decision to go out to dinner and yes, I make a list of everything that needs to be done to get us out the door. I see concretely and I base the way I do things on lists, goal-making, and pages upon pages of planning.

Truthfully, I wrestle with the way I am because this kind of living is overburdening. It overwhelms and chokes until I sometimes fall on the floor weeping. An embrace from my mate, a touch from my child, a tender hand giving me a tissue, and I can rise again and continue on.

But the bare fact is, my life is God’s. Jesus has touched my life, has invaded it. The me He made me to be is there, but the life is no longer mine. He called me to Himself. He gave up His own life for me. And so, yes, I can make plans and follow my organized thoughts, but He now owns my life. Unchecked lists, forgotten plans, and a day that moves away from a written schedule are under His control.

Daily I must remind myself that He who made my personality will also strengthen me to be in control of my personality.

My life has been owned. By my Savior, He Who died.

Photo credit: Courtney

“What if, sometimes, there are mists and fogs so thick that I cannot see the path? ‘Tis enough that You hold my hand, and guide me in the darkness; for walking with You in the gloom–is far sweeter and safer than walking alone in the sunlight!

Dear Lord, give me grace to trust You wholly, whatever may befall; yielding myself up to Your leading, and leaning hard on You when “dangers are in the path.” Your way for me has been marked out from all eternity, and it leads directly to Yourself and home!

Help me to keep my eyes fixed on the joy that is set before me, and deliver me from the very faintest desire to turn aside, and linger in the flowery meadows which have so often lured the feet of poor pilgrims into danger and distress!

Father, You have said, “My ways are not your ways, neither are My thoughts your thoughts.” True, dear Lord; but then You can uplift my thoughts to Yours, and exalt my ways until they reach the mountain-top of obedience to Your blessed will.

Work this miracle for me this day, O Lord; use that sweet compulsion which will delight my heart, while it directs my steps! Make me to run in the way of Your commandments, and I shall run gladly, with the blessed certainty that I shall reach the goal at last! Have You not given me a monitor within, which strikes a gentle warning note, when my feet turn but an instant from the straight way?

But, best of all, dearest Lord, may You Yourself come with me along life’s road, today and every day! Let the abiding of my soul in You be so real and constant, so true and tender–that I may always be aware of Your sweet presence, and never take a single step, apart from Your supporting and delivering hand!”

-Susannah Spurgeon

Photo credits: johnnyberg, anitak, Limoncello

Love is a wonderful word that holds so much value but has been so mis-used by our society. In our world, love is sex, feelings, and so many other fleshly ideas. The beautiful truth is that love is action. We are not limited to how we may or may not feel. Is it not amazing that we can show love without feeling it?

Humans experience a heavy myriad of emotion. It seems that we sway from one feeling to the next in very little time. The constancy of love cannot be felt. It can only be shown.

When my husband has irked me or my children have displayed yet another grand manner of sin, I can love. I do not have to wait until I feel it nor do I have to wait until my attitude has adjusted to a happier feeling. No matter the day, the time, the situation: I can love.

This beautiful, amazing, out-of-this-world truth extends beyond me. In fact, it never started with me. It came from before time, before a single drop of water existed. He loved before we knew what love is. The very creation in which we find ourselves, our very existence, is evidence of the most wonderful love. The act of dying for creatures so lost and dependent, is that not the ultimate love? We cannot even begin to show the love that God is.

And so my days of not feeling loved, or walking through periods of discouragement? They are not contingent on me. That love is still there.

He loves me.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

 

Photo credits: dcubillas, Alfi007,OeilDeNuit

The calendar on our wall has announced that it has changed. The dry, sad, oppressive summer is gone and Fall has come. Fall, too, will march on and become something different. It is a continuous and dependable process that we can count. . . because of the grace of God.

I take a lot of time now to tell myself “It is only a season” or “They always tell me to enjoy this season because it doesn’t last.” The truth is, even though I am marching slowly but surely, stumbling so many times my soul’s knees are raw and bruised, I can never see the finish line that declares to me: The Next Season.

I spend so much time gazing at the horizon, my hair flapping in the breeze of life behind me. Waiting. Waiting for a season that is yet to come.

The problem with all that horizon-gazing is that it makes me miss the slow and beautiful changes that happen as this time, this season I am in. My eyes focus on what is to come and yet I forget that that desired future will not happen without the sweat and tears of now. I sinfully want the delicious fruit without the necessary work.

And so I grasp my will to wait under the Father’s hands, to mold my desires into hopes and dreams. I put them in a box and wrap it carefully with twine and write on the top: For Later.

Photo credits: scidmail, hirekatsu, blary54, Nossirom

Have you ever read a book that touched your soul? That made you rethink how you are living and convicted you down to your toes?  Adopted For Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches is one of those books.

Because my family is on our own harrowing journey of adding to our brood through adoption, I have been looking for Christian alternatives to a lot of the literature that is out there for this subject. Pop psychology and humanist thinking are the driving force in the most popular books, websites, and training on adoption. Our desire in adoption is to not only add to our quiver but to also mirror God’s faithful provision in adopting us into HIS family. But, the church? It is strangely silent on something that truly affects me and every single one of my Christian brothers and sisters.

When I received this copy of Mr. Moore’s book from Crossway I peeked at the contents. Subjects listed there were mostly what I would expect on a book about adoption: “. . .Rude Questions about Adoption. . .,” “Paperwork, Finances. . .,” “. . .Racial Identity. . .” Others were unexpected: “Adoption, Jesus, and You,” “How Churches Can Encourage Adoption.” Cut and paste dilemmas are the usual talk amongst adoptive parents, or PAPs (Prospective Adoptive Parents for those who are not used to adoption lingo). Broadening the deeper mirroring of Christ’s calling us siblings? Not common talk on any adoption message board or even from the pulpit for that matter.

Adopted For Life goes beyond the outward desires and realities of adopting and brings to light the necessity of looking at adoption through the eyes of Christ. The driving purpose of this book is to cause believers to recognize that in reality, we all have the same needs as those of the orphans found throughout the world. We all need a Father, someone to care for us, provide for us, and love us. And while our Father heaps grace upon grace in calling us His own, we are so lax in modeling the same in our day-to-day lives.

Beyond the call to remind us how we are called to view children and families, Mr. Moore also discusses infertility and the temptation to resort to anything to have biological children. This chapter is a must-read for those who are not aware of the ramifications of medical intervention. “Infertility isn’t hopeless, but it is dangerous. If you’re grappling with a so-far unanswered plea for children, let me stop and warn you about something. Remember that your life is being lived out in a world that’s more than what you can see. You bear the image of God, you resemble, Jesus, and so you are a target for demonic principalities and powers who seek to turn your affections away from your Lord. Every one of us has weak points sized up by these rebel forces, and your struggle with infertility is not exception.”

Mr. Moore also touches on the financial aspect of adoption. This part of adoption is huge and is what keeps many families, I believe, from adopting. He puts it in perspective in a very real way and though I do not agree with his statement that taking out a loan for adoption is okay, I love this “. . .it’s important to know that you don’t always have to know how God will equip you to adopt before you begin praying and planning toward adoption.”

This book is written in a very compelling and well-thought out manner. I appreciated Mr. Moore’s sense of humor. I never found myself wondering “What in the world is that man talking about?” He crafts his writing in such a way that it reaches all manner of people. And what truly makes this book stand out from other books on adoption is the fact that he reaches back to the most truly awesome adoptions of adoptions (that of the Christian’s into God’s family).

Listen, friends. If you are in the adoption process: read this book. If you are thinking about adoption: read this book. If you are a pastor: read this book. If you are a Christian: read this book. Adoption affects us all, whether we are personally adopting or not. And, honestly? This is the number one book I would recommend to anyone who is thinking of adoption.

“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” – Psalm 68:5, ESV

Now, because I truly believe this book is so important that it should be in the hands of all Christians, I am offering one copy to give away. Yes! I am! I will personally ship one copy to the winner straight from Crossway Books. Or, if you so prefer, I will purchase for you the eBook version (available in ePub, mobi). All you have to do is comment before October 8, 11:59 PM. I will choose one winner sometime on the 10th.

Be sure to leave a comment to enter, with your email address included.

For one extra entry, tweet the following “@WisdomBegun is giving away Adopted For Life http://wisdombegun.com/?p=1668 #adoption” (without the quotation marks). Be sure to come back after doing so and leave a separate comment with the link to your tweet.

Please note that this giveaway is limited to those in the contiguous US.

Last but not least, I want to thank Crossway Books for so generously allowing me to review Adopted For Life.

I am currently reading Adopted For Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches by Russell D. Moore. This book has changed me. I have been molded and pushed and stretched by these words. I will be bringing you a full review of this book next week but until then, I want to share with you this powerful quote:

“Here’s where, I think, the nub of the whole issue lies. Adoption would become a priority in churches if our churches themselves saw our brotherhood and sisterhood in the church itself rather than in our fleshly identities. For some Christians-maybe for you-it’s hard to imagine how an African-American could love a white Ukrainian baby, how a Haitian teenager could call Swedish parents “Mom” and “Dad.” Of course that’s hard to imagine, when so many of our churches can’t even get over differences as trivial as musical style.

If we had fewer “white” churches and “black” churches, fewer “blue-collar” churches and “white-collar” churches, maybe we’d see better what Jesus tells us when he says we’ve come into a new house-hold with one Spirit, one Father, one Christ. In fact, maybe the reason we wonder whether “adopted” children can “really” be brothers and sisters is because we so rarely see it displayed in our pews.” -Russell D. Moore, Adopted For Life: The Priority of Adoption in Christian Families & Churches

Photo credit: Eastop