The New Middle Road

“It’s so weird how in the Church we’ve twisted this and follow Jesus is a different game. You don’t really have to flap your wings. You can just sit there and do it in your heart. Seriously…you know when I read the Scriptures it says whoever claims to know Him must walk as Jesus walked.” A challenging Francis Chan clip – painfully convicting and yet so funny, as usual. Here’s another favorite Francis Chan clip of mine, in case you missed it earlier this year.

I’m Watching You Dad

With Father’s Day coming up, I am so thankful for a wonderful husband and father who knows his son is watching him and lives a life worthy of emulation. I love you, Sean Felker! I wish everyone could have a dad as great as you and that more fathers would take their role seriously and understand the impact they have on their children’s lives.

I am also thankful that those who have less than ideal relationships with our earthly fathers can always count on our Heavenly Father who is perfect and loves us passionately and unconditionally. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1a

Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

Hilarious…one of my fave SNL skits. So simple, but such a difficult concept for most Americans. Both of us have always operated on this “revolutionary” model and we’ve stayed debt-free (with the exception of purchasing a home, since avoiding a home loan is simply not a feasible option in CA, unless you are a cajillionaire)! Even then, we chose a home within our means. I’m sure I’ll write more on this topic in the future…

Isaiah’s Story: A Beautiful Rescue

This is the first of many, many posts to come on the subject of adoption. Adoption is easily in my top ten favorite topics to think and talk about. It hasn’t always been that way – in fact, adoption wasn’t even on my radar until I was 23 years old. Until that point, adoption was a foreign concept to me. I have never been close with anyone who was adopted and it wasn’t (and isn’t) something I have heard many people talk about. Growing up, the only time that word ever appeared in my vocabulary was to tease my sisters that they had been adopted into the family.

Then I met Donna. Donna has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I’ve ever known. She cares for people deeply and has a special heart for those who have been marginalized in society. At the time we met, we were both in a master’s program for social work and we quickly bonded over that. In the process of developing a friendship with her, I soon discovered her heart for adoption and thus began an ongoing dialogue between us on the subject.

As I listened to her perspectives and experienced her passion for adoption, my heart quickly caught fire. I began praying about it, meditating on the subject, researching it (both theologically and practically), and discussing it in great depth with Sean. Sean’s heart caught fire just as quickly as mine, and we readily agreed at age 23/24 (one year after we got married) that the Lord was calling us to adopt children at some point. We are not there yet, but we are very excited for when that time comes and plan to adopt as many children as God allows/gives us capacity for.

I’ll go into the details as to the reasons why we want to adopt in future posts; my goal here is to simply introduce the topic and relay how zealous I am about it. In fact, I can’t hear a single person even mention the word ‘adoption’ without starting to tear up – it’s become that evocative. Speaking of emotional impact, I highly encourage you to watch the short video below about a little boy named Isaiah. I’ve seen this video countless times and I still cry (and then get a huge smile) every time I see it. If this video doesn’t make you weep, tear up, or at least make you manly men have a small allergic reaction to your feelings…there is probably something wrong with you. Lol! Just kidding, but I do hope that it will strike a chord in your heart as well, and no matter what stage of life you’re in, I pray that it might even be the first seed that opens your mind to the idea of being a part of God’s work through the ministry of adoption.

The Story of Ian and Larissa

Wow, such a powerful story. After watching the video, I suggest reading Larissa’s blog post entitled “Why We Got Married,” here: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/why-we-got-married

It’s funny, but seriously.

Sean already posted this video on our blog back in 2010, but earlier I was going through our archives and came across it and I decided to re-post because it is just that good. I seriously need to watch this video every single day so that 1. I get my laugh quota in for the day, and 2. so that I go about my day with a different perspective. As much as I am attracted to the “safe” life because of my personality and the way God has made me, I don’t want to live that life.