The Shack

Just finished reading The Shack by William P. Young, on the recommendation of my friend, Susan. I hadn't read a good piece of riveting fiction for a while, so I was looking forward to it. I knew the moment that I opened it, that it was going to be one of those books that causes me to become a bad mom until I'm done with it. You know, the kind of book where you let the kids do things that you normally wouldn't, watch more TV or eat more snacks just so you can keep reading. I have read many books apart from the Bible that I have considered helps in my Christian walk, but I think this is the first fiction novel that has challenged me spiritually on such a grand level.

I'm going to warn you that some Christians may find this book slightly offensive or irreverent in parts, and I'll admit that I struggled a bit with this early on (but only briefly), but I am so glad that I kept reading. The author completely challenged my way of thinking about God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, the relationship between the three persons of the trinity, ritualistic religion, the law, love, authority, my earthly relationships and my personal relationship with the triune God. That's pretty meaty for a book that's only 248 pages long.

From a literary standpoint, some have said that this book isn't very well written. I can't really comment on that because that isn't my area of expertise, but I suppose it could leave you disappointed if it's yours. Many Christians fear the book because they say it isn't theologically sound. This may be true, but, in my opinion, the author got the BIG things right: Jesus, through his life, death and resurrection, is the only way to God and God wants an intimate relationship with his children more than he wants anything else. I like the author's perspective on the evil that exists in the world and God's role in that. There is so much more I would like to say about the "theology" of the book, but I don't want to give anymore of the story away since it is a fiction novel. I do think he touches on some grey areas and I, for one, like to have my thinking challenged in those areas.

As I was reading this book, I couldn't help but think this would be a good counter for all of the people out there that are being duped by the likes of Marianne Williamson, Eckert Tolle, and Oprah.

Let me know what you think, if you've read it.

God Speaks and the Journey Begins

Most of my close friends and family who may be reading this are already familiar with this part of the story, so please accept my apologies for the repetition. I decided to write it all down today for those who may be new to my blog through the Red Letters Campaign Adoption Journal and for posterity's sake.

After giving birth to our third child and first son, Sam, Kevin and I decided that our family was complete. We took the surgical route to ensure that we wouldn't have anymore children apart from divine intervention. In retrospect, I can see that we entered into that decision without prayer or even much thought. There is regret. God did choose to intervene, but in a much different way than we could have ever imagined.

Through the years, the children and I would half heartedly throw out the idea of adoption to Kevin and, always to my relief, he would respond with a chuckle, a grin, a "sure, maybe someday" or a sarcastic response (a typical Kevin defense mechanism). I was always content to move on after those brief exchanges.

In the Spring of 2005, I received a copy of "Above Rubies" magazine. Above Rubies is an international ministry and the magazine is published strictly from donations, so I never know exactly when it is going to show up, but it's always a treat when it does. The cover story of this particular issue was about Liberian orphans and the great need for them to be adopted. I am an emotional person, as anyone who knows me well at all will tell you, so it was no surprise to me that I reacted strongly to what I read. I was surprised, however, at the lingering reaction I had. I kept re-reading the accounts of tragedy, poverty, war and loss and couldn't get them off my mind.

I began sharing the story with friends, thinking that they were the ones who were supposed to respond to this and I was just the one to make them aware of it. I'm laughing as I type this because I can't believe that I was in such a state of denial. Life was actually getting simpler for us. We were well past the baby stage and we were finally getting out of the financial hole we had gotten ourselves into as young, married teens, so we now had the freedom to "go" and "do" and the means to do it. The idea of spending our life savings and then some to completely turn our lives upside down didn't make any sense to me at all, yet, I couldn't stop thinking about it no matter how hard I tried.

One day, my friend, Susan (one of the friends that I shared the article with), said, "Missy, you've got to talk to Kevin about this." Actually, I thought this was futile and as a good, submissive wife, I thought I would be off the hook when my husband said "no". I know my practical husband and I didn't think there was any chance at all of him agreeing to something so radical as adopting an African orphan. It was about this time when I was beginning to think that I didn't want to be let off the hook.

Because I am such an emotional person, I knew there was no way that I could possibly bring this up to Kevin out of the blue or even carry on a conversation about it without crying, so I took the easy way out and wrote him a letter. I told him what was on my heart. I asked him not to try to make sense of it, but to pray about it with an open mind and see how God speaks to him. I told him I would honor and respect whatever decision he came to as the head of our home. Then I began to pray a prayer that went something like this:

"Lord, please don't let there be strife in our marriage over this. I know this is crazy, I know this is radical, but I'm ready to live a life of radical obedience. If this is what you want our family to do, please make it clear to both of us. If I am simply reacting emotionally, as I often do, please help me to see that and follow my husband as the head of our family."

I prayed similar prayers daily, several times a day, and waited. While I waited, I researched and even began working on paperwork for our homestudy (in faith and with Kevin's approval).
Within weeks, Kevin came to me one evening and said, "Where's that paperwork you've been working on?" God had softened his heart as only God can do (way quicker than a nagging wife could have) and the journey began. I hope someday I can convince Kevin to be a guest blogger and share what God did in his heart to bring him to the point of obedience in this matter of adoption. I know his story, but I'd love for you all to hear it as well.

Red Letters Campaign Adoption Journal

I'm sorry that I didn't jump on the blogging bandwagon while we were in the process of adopting Levi from Liberia in 2005-2006. I think it might have saved my sanity and I would love to have a written record of what God did in our lives during that time and through that process.

I started this personal blog last fall and have enjoyed sharing the events of our lives and my personal thoughts, beliefs, convictions and discoveries with my friends, family and strangers....many of whom are now my friends. Along with with family life, photos, nutrition, homeschooling, good reads, Africa and fun games of blog tag, I have posted nuggets about our adoption journey.

I have been given the opportunity (and so have you if you are an adoptive parent at any stage of the game) to become and adoption journalist for the Red Letters Campaign. I'm excited for the opportunity to share our unique God story of adoption with others. I look forward to re-living what God has done in our lives through the miracle of bringing Levi into our family and I can't wait to journal, from day one, the story of our next miraculous God story.

If you are interested in adoption or just want to read more of our story, check out all of the posts with the label Red Letters Campaign - Adoption Journal and the RLC adoption journal logo. If you have your own unique adoption story, please consider sharing it with others by becoming an adoption journalist for Red Letters Campaign too.

Mother's Day Past

Mother's Day 1996

it was a long, hard night, as you can tell

Mother's Day 2008

blessed mommy

My Babygirl is 12

When I think of Bethany, I think of smiling blue eyes. I think of a tiny little thing with a heart as big as Texas. I think of a stubborn, strong willed, passionate little girl that I adore with all of my heart. She has a spark for life that is contagious and I am so excited to see what God does in the life of our sweet Boo.

Isn't she just beautiful?

Happy Birthday Bethany Rose. I love you so very much and am so grateful that God gave you to me as a most wonderful Mother's Day gift 12 years ago.