4 things that happened in the courtroom that gave me chills

1. The judge explaining that the children were no longer wards of the state, but now belonged to us. I was reminded that I was once a ward of this world and a slave to sin, but now I belong to Christ. (Gal. 3:29)

2. The judge explained that the children’s names would no longer be _____ and ____, but were now Mya Hope Pierre and Marcel Vermon Pierre. I was reminded that when I became God's child all the old things passed away and I was made new! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

3. Having a room full of family to celebrate the adoption! It reminded me that upon becoming part of God’s family I was welcomed by countless brothers and sisters from every tribe, tongue, and language who will spend eternity as my brothers and sisters worshiping God forever. (Revelation 7:9-12)

4. The relief that for the rest of my life, I will be Marcel and Mya’s mommy. Nothing can change that. I will never relinquish my legal right as their mother. And I will never relinquish my love for them. This made me think that there is nothing that can separate me from God’s great love and that I can have great hope in knowing I am his child. (Romans 8:38-39)

The Unquenchable Flame : Discovering the Heart of the Reformation by Michael Reeves

I just finished reading this book and I enjoyed every paragraph. If you love history, especially church history, you will enjoy this book. If you don’t like to read and especially do not like history, I still think you will enjoy this book. Reeves uses words to paint such a vivid picture of the Reformation.

The Unquenchable Flame gives us a picture into a world where “justification by faith alone” was a truth that had been hidden from the Christian world for a long time. It reminds us that there was a time when hundreds of years passed in which believers had no Bible to read and were at the mercy of priest to explain God’s living word to them. It reminds us that Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Tyndale, Knox, and the many, many who spent their lives and died for the Reformation, did so because they ached for people to know that they could not merit God’s favor through works and good deeds, but that central to the heart of the gospel is the fact that we can only be justified, or made right with God, through the blood of Christ Jesus.

A basic understanding of the Reformation should drive each of us into God’s word with greater fervor. As a Puritan once said,

“Lord, whatsoever thou dost to us, take not thy Bible from us; kill our children, burn our houses, destroy our goods; only spare us thy Bible, only take not away thy Bible.”

This statement may sound extreme in a Christian culture where we all have multiple Bibles in our home yet still “struggle” to find the time or the desire to read God’s word, but “for the Puritan, the Bible was the most valuable thing this world affords.” (Reeves) How I pray that would be true for me as well!

Prone to Wander

"Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above."
-Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Adoption is Final! :)

April 29, 2010

my adoption story

Do I feel the same toward Judah as I do toward Marcel and Mya?

Let’s see…

I horribly offended God by disregarding his truth and word.

I committed great offenses by trying to follow my way instead of God’s.

God isn’t only the judge—that could rightly punish me and pour out his anger and wrath on me. He is the offended, the victim of this great and vast sin.

God, the judge (and simultaneously the victim) came down off the bench after pardoning my horrible offense that ignited his wrath and instead chose to adopt me—at the expense of his very own “biological” (so to speak) son—Jesus the Christ.

God’s anger and wrath was poured out on Christ as he hung on the cross and I get to enjoy the full blessing of being a daughter of God almighty and a co-heir with Christ.

God did not adopt me because I was a “good” person. He did not adopt me because I’m better then the really evil people in the world. He did not adopt me because I chose the right religion. He adopted me simply because he is God and loved me. All he required of me was faith and faith alone—belief and trust in his son, Jesus.

This is why I believe in adoption. Because I am an eternally adopted child of the creator of the universe.

This is why I can say with full honesty and passion that I am deeply attached to, love, would die for, loose sleep over, pray over, weep over the sin of, and care for all my children equally and the same. How I long for their souls to know my Jesus. How I long for them to experience this same adoption I experienced. How privileged I am to be the mother of Marcel, Mya, and Judah.

5 Ways My Dad Fathered Me To Love Jesus--#2

2. He took me on regular dates, starting at a young age.

Starting at a very young age, my father took me on regular dates. I always looked forward to these times and it became part of my normal routine. My dad would use these times to ask great questions about what I was thinking and my life. It wasn’t unusual for him to ask me about what guys I was interested in, difficult things that were happening at school, or how I felt about a particular punishment I may have received earlier that week. Because it was so “business as usual” to discuss these things, it was never awkward or strange. As I got into the high school stage—my dad didn’t even have to ask these questions anymore. He became the first person that I wanted to talk about important things with and I often sought him out to talk to before talking with friends my age.

My father also took every opportunity to spend time with me (apart from our formal “dates”). If I had a messy room to clean up, he’d often sit on a chair in my room and talk with me while I cleaned it. If I had laundry to fold, he would often sit and fold with me so that we could talk. Even as I got older and moved out of the house (pre-marriage), I could always count on calling my dad up late at night to see if he was up for hanging out with my while I shopped at Wal-Mart at 10pm or went to the laundry mat.

All of this gave him a platform to speak God’s truth into my life. Because I trusted him so much with my thoughts as my young mind was developing and trying to figure out what my worldview would be—he was able to be the primary person to help shape and guide my view of the world. I never felt a desire to rebel against him, because he took so much time to understand and know why I was thinking a specific way. I was protected from much heart ache in dating relationships, drugs, and alcohol because I knew at some point, I always ended up telling my dad about poor choices I made—and there were certain things that I never wanted to have to explain to him.

5 Ways My Dad Fathered Me To Love Jesus--#1

1.He was home for dinner, every night.

I know my dad worked a lot when I was young. He started two different businesses and I am told he worked 60+ hours a week. He often was awake at 5 in the morning to start his day and would work until late in the evening. Even in all this, my father always prioritized spending time with my sister and me. He was always home for dinner. I have vivid memories of him coming home every night (the highlight of our day!) and eating dinner with us. After dinner, he’d spend time wrestling, playing, getting us ready for bed, read us stories, pray with us…and then the best part—tucked us in at night.

Now that I’m a parent, this time that we had with my dad was probably an hour and a half, maybe two hours. I think he would be home by 6 and we would be in bed between 7:30 and 8:00. Sometimes, he had to go back to work or finish work. Thinking about it, an hour-two hours a day isn’t really a lot of time for a father to spend with his children, especially if you think about how much time children spend with teachers, friends, etc. But even though I may have spent less time with my father then with other influences in my life, my father was able to be the most influential voice in my life because of the consistency and complete attention he gave us daily.

My dad never went "out with the guys", hung out at bars to watch sports, met friends for drinks/cigars during those times that he could be home with us (maybe he occasionally did it after we went to bed). Any men’s ministry activities he was a part of (and he was always involved other men’s lives) took place on Saturday mornings or before work. He took us everywhere he went on the weekends and whatever he was doing, we went along. If it was ministry, we went. If it was spending time with friends, we were there too. If it was a bible study, we could bring a backpack of quiet toys to play with at his feet while he participated or led it. Even times he had to work at his office on weekends, he’d bring sleeping bags, movies, and lunch and we’d get to “camp out” under his desk while he finished things up.

This wasn’t just when I was older, but I know he started this when I was very young. I know he made time with us a priority long before my memories were capable of remembering. I know this time he spent was the basis for which I was able to trust him so much as I got older and which opened the doors for him to shepherd me throughout my childhood.

Next post: 2: He initiated reading scripture, asking spiritual questions, and holding me accountable