29 Sep | 2006

Instructions

Instructions to myself:

1) Praise the Lord and Give Thanks for all he has done
2) Remember the Lord is leading me
3) Take time to listen to where the Lord is leading me
4) Enjoy life! Cherish every minute.
5) Just do it! Strike a balance- Be a good steward. Commit and stay with it. (Don’t procrastinate!)
6) Be Positive! Stop complaining. Life is what it is- Accept it
7) Grow!

These are the instructions to myself. Things that I want to live out. Lord, give me the strength to follow these instructions.

A few further instructions, perhaps lesser instructions, for myself. The things I wish I could do:
Seek to fill my time and thoughts with better things- Not fill my time with junk (like soap operas, listening to bickering, reality tv, etc)
Create More! Draw It! Photograph It! Write It!- Capture it

The question is though, how many of us really follow instructions? Do we even read them? It’s so tempting to jump right in there and try it out- without the instructions. But then when we mess up, we seek out the instructions- or hopefully we do. This is so often the case with our faith. When things go right, who needs to follow instructions. But, when they go awry, we seek them out.

Today, I seek out a life where God’s instructions guide my life, where I can follow instructions every day, every minute. I know that it’s an impossible task, but each day begins anew opportunity to follow his instructions- an opportunity to make the most of life.

(Prompted by Sunday Scribblings #26 – Instructions)

Filed Under: Me, Myself, and I Leave a Comment
1 Sep | 2006

Orienting Ourselves

Last weekend, we attended the adoption orientation for our Pride Courses. We start the six weeks of Pride courses next weekend (Sept 9th). It was a funny feeling as we completed this step. . . we’ve passed another step and we seem closer yet so far away. We did get a few questions we had answered.

One of those was about beds and the homestudy. We will have to have enough beds for the number of children we plan to adopt before the homestudy. The good news is that we can have a full size bed that two children could share it. So, I think the plan will be to get to twin size beds and then buy a full size mattress. This way we’ll be covered for four children without buying four twin beds that we may or may not need. (Our mattress could stand to be replaced anyways). I’m certain that if we adopt more than two children we’d buy the additional twin beds rather quickly.

Another thing I was thankful to learn is that many of minimum standard rules that we would have to follow will only be in place until the adoption is finalized. While that would apply to corporal punishment, I was more interested that we could continue to keep ammunition locked up with the guns. The standard rules I regulate include the same standard that we will have to meet- because so many people just have glass cases it used to make sense to me. The ammunition has to be locked up seperately from the guns. But, with our fire-proof safe, that rule will actually make the ammunition less secure and seems absurd to me in light of that.

It was interesting to see so many families seeking information about this process. I’m told by a co-worker that the numbers will drastically dwindle as the courses progress.

So, now we’re in the process of thinking ahead to all the things we need to do in order to make the next six weeks easier- especially since the classes not only shorten our weekends but they also include homework.

I’ve added a sampling of some of the children within the state’s care that need their forever homes to the right. If you want to see the children that we would be considering, search for sibling groups here.

Filed Under: Our Family of Two Leave a Comment
1 Sep | 2006

X Games

Last month, we watched this guy Travis Pastrana do a double back flip on a motorcyle- like on purpose- way up in the air! It was the first one ever done and it was so wild!!! But, he knew he could die attempting it and that meant that he had to ensure his parents knew that he loved them and that he wanted to make sure that they knew he was happy. After completing the insane trick, he apologized for putting his mom through it.

As I watched, I wished I could be as committed to the things that are important to me in my life. It was a true inspiration.

And you know, sometimes you wonder why people would do those types of things in the first place. But as we watch the X Games, you hear the athletes faith in God and can’t help and realize that this is likely just a part of God’s master plan.

You can see the flip and other videos here (The flip is titled Moto X Best Trick Gold: Pastrana Makes History. You can also find some great pics and things on the X Games Website. Like this one:

Filed Under: Faith Leave a Comment