developing lifestyle worshipers

We did receive on update on Eli yesterday.  With our agency, families pass through court in groups and then also travel together.  Group 91 to Ethiopia was processed through court yesterday, and we were not on the list.  While that is sad, it seems very sure that we are going to be in the next group.  The next group will most probably pass through court in the next 2-3 weeks.

After that, it will probably be 2-3 more weeks before travel.  That means that my previous guesswork at when I would travel is probably pretty close.  I think I will be leaving the States on April 16th.  If not then, its sometime near that.  If I go on that date, all of my responsibilities for family, church, Lander, weddings, and such will be taken care of without too much craziness.

This Sunday night in the nursery, I came upon Obadiah in the bye bye buggy.  This wonderful contraption is normally used by nursery workers to ride children in, but my son has to be the one wanting to help push the other kids.  When I picked him up, Keri told me that he kept going to a little boy in the nursery, waving in his face, saying “Hi, E-ya.”  The little boy did look a lot like Eli’s picture, so we thought it was real sweet.  In case you are wondering, Obie doesn’t say that to every little black boy he encounters, this one really did look a lot like him.  I tried to tell Obie that wasn’t Eli, but I don’t know if he bought it.

Obie loves to say names now.  It is a regular occurrence that Obie starts going through the roll-call of family members.  Lately, he points around the room and says, “Daddy, Mommy, Obie, Eli, Daddy, Mommy, Obie, Eli.”  The boy is getting that something is special about Eli.  It’s wonderful to see God preparing his heart.

As we continue to wait, it’s hard, yet we trust God’s timing.  It is pretty crazy to think that unless something crazy happens (which can happen in adoption), my second son will be home next month.  I just loved even writing that!

In the meantime, if you are a praying person, we would love the support:

• Pray for Eli’s development – pray that he gets enough food, interaction, and love during these days.  Pray an unknown hope wells up in his soul that something beautiful like a family is coming as fast as they can.
• Pray for Nesting – as we prepare our hearts and our home for a second child, there is all types of things to consider.  Not knowing how Eli will sleep and such, we are a bit in limbo.  If you know Amanda and myself, you know that is a place we don’t naturally go to – we like to get things rolling.  So as we prepare, pray God’s guidance over preparations we need to make.
• Pray for Workload – I love having a busy job, but the hard thing about it is preparing to leave for an unknown amount of time and having everything in order.  I’ve got to take care of a lot before I go at church, Lander, and some other opportunities.  Please pray that as I prepare and try to get ahead, I won’t neglect the most important things in life either.
• Pray for Logistics – as we continue to finalize paperwork, arrange travel setup, work on finances and such, please pray that God’s hand be in every single step we take during these last days.
• Pray for a Supernatural Homecoming – while Obie is real excited, we know that jealousy will set in at some time.  Even if our second child was biological, it would happen, but just pray for a special attitude by Obadiah that he shows an unnatural amount of love by a 2 year old for his brother.  Pray for our family, friends, and church as he comes home so that Eli truly does feel at home as soon as we touch down in South Carolina.

We have been so honored for the prayers going up and the support that people like you have shown us.  Thank you so much for walking down this path together!

This week’s book of the week is David Allen’s Getting Things Done.  The funny thing is I am a week late on this book review because I have had too much to do!  I made it 7 weeks into the new year with a book a week, and I failed miserably on the week I was reading a productivity book.  Dr. Chuck Lawless recommended his system a while back to me, and I have used some of the principles without actually reading the book.

Here’s some of the premises of the book:

• “Teaching you how to be maximally efficient and relaxed, whenever you need or want to be, was my main purpose in writing this book” (xi).
• “It’s possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and positive sense of relaxed control” (3).
• “…you’ll need to get in the habit of keeping nothing on your mind” (18).
• “…the real problem is a lack of clarity and definition about what a project really is, and what the associated next-action steps required are” (19).
• “No matter what the setting, there are five discrete stages that we go through as we deal with our work.  We (1) collect things that command our attention; (2) process what they mean and what to do about them; (3) organize the results, which we (4) review as options for what we choose to (5) do” (24).

The rest of the book is tips on how to get the most done that you possibly can do.  Instead of giving you a ton of quotes from this book, this diagram below is a great start to understanding the system.  If you want to eliminate time-wasters from your life and get more done, I encourage you to check this book out!

Any questions or any thoughts on how you are getting your life organized?

This Sunday, we are starting a brand new series at North Side called “Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?”  The heart of this new series is a call for personal evangelism. We want our people to live the lifestyle of a missionary in their daily lives. Specifically, we want our people to be attentive and intentional about connecting with the people around them. We want them to live with their eyes wide open to the spiritual condition and needs of those in their own neighborhood. This series will seek to challenge our members to pay attention to the opportunities around them to point people to God.

We get the new Compass on Sunday which has this series and the next, “30 Days to Live.”  We pray this month of March leading up to Easter will be a month where our church starts to bleed evangelism.  If you are like me, this topic is one that causes shame in my life because I never feel like I am bold enough.  I never feel like I am sharing enough.  We are praying that we put aside our inadequacies and start praying that the Holy Spirit give us the boldness and power that Jesus promised (Acts 1:8).

Hope to see you there!

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Also, I am thrilled that my dear friends Josh and Tasha Via will be leading us in worship this Sunday.  I led worship with them in college, got to lead worship at their wedding, and they are just all around some of my favorite people in the world.  They will be leading for this weekend’s Disciple Now and I couldn’t pass up on them leading us on Sunday.  You do not want to miss it!