Yes, again

I am continually challenged by my teenagers and I know that they are continually challenged by the leaders and teens around them at church. This morning was youth Sunday and it was the most God-filled youth Sunday I have ever witnessed. These teens are on fire and radical, deeply in love with Jesus and willing to do what He's asked them to do. I wish I could have been like that when I was in high school. But I can't sit here wishing for the past when the future is in front of me, just as it is for my teens, even though mine is most likely shorter.

In recent years I've been challenged by writers like Francis Chan, Richard Stearns and David Platt. At a recent speaking engagement, I challenged the audience with the books on my "dangerous" list*. Each of these has impacted my life so much that I can no longer be the same person. I can't continue as a comfortable American Christian. There's a dying world that I'm called to serve. We're all called to serve in our own way. For us, that involves stringed instruments, musical theatre, and adoption. For you, who knows? But God knows.

So with a willing spirit and a desire to follow God's plan for our lives, and after a period of prayer and fasting, our family has made the decision to pursue another adoption. Crazy, I know. We're sending a child to college in a year, why would we choose to now fundraise for an adoption? The answer that has come from the peace of being in God's will is this: Trust Me.

Trust me for your finances. I will provide. We've decided that The King's Strings is a great place to begin to fundraise. We're using the sale of our CDs and nose flutes to begin our efforts. And already, at the second concert where we announced our plans, a woman handed me more money than the cost of the CD and said, "Keep this for your adoption." And this morning at church another answer to prayer as the funds for another expense were taken care of. God is good.

Trust me to give you the child that was meant for you. In my moments of doubt, I wonder if we can handle another child who comes with significant trauma. But God is good. At the end of the service this morning, the teens who had been on missions trips stood around the front of the church and we were invited to approach any of them for prayer. John and I decided to go up to a middle school student who had shared a testimony of trust and who just has joy written all over her. She asked how she could pray for us and we told her that we were adopting again. Her childlike prayer included asking God to give us a perfect child. It made me smile as I thought about the imperfect children that I already have, knowing that there is no perfect child (and as an imperfect parent, I wouldn't want a perfect child). But her statement reassured me that God has a match already prepared for us and as I pray for the birthmother and child, I can rest in the knowledge that it will be a child chosen by a perfect God, to be a perfect match for our family.

Trust me to be with you in this journey that I have chosen for you. One of the teens this morning shared her experiences in learning that if God asks you to do a difficult task, He doesn't then leave you to go it alone. Oh, how true. We also sang Forever Reign (Hillsong) this morning and these words have been so real to me lately:

"You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see
You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true
Even in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost its sting

Oh, I'm running to Your arms,
I'm running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here
In Your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go


My list of dangerous books. Read only if you're ready to have your life turned upside down.
The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns
Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis
Radical by David Platt
Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker