An incredible testimony and solid truth in the aftermath of the CO theater shooting. Definitely worth reading and reflecting upon!
Initial Post: So you still think God is a merciful God?!
Follow Up Post: A Response to the Overwhelming Number of Responses
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
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?…God will judge those outside.” 1 Corinthians 5:12-13a
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.
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
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.
Apparently this blog is listed second on google under the search “Daisy Merrick” since I have blogged about her a couple of times now and it’s getting a lot of traffic. My blog is really not the best place to find updates and information about her – Britt Merrick himself is constantly posting updates about Daisy. Click on the following links for the latest happenings straight from Britt’s mouth (hand?):
https://www.facebook.com/pastorbrittmerrick
http://prayfordaisy.com/
Thanks for visiting and please be praying for her and the entire Merrick family…even three rounds of cancer is not too big for our God and prayer changes things. I agree with your song Daisy, God is the healer and he CAN heal you! Merrick’s if you come across this blog, know that you have impacted many lives through your plight and I hope that the posts I have written about Daisy serve to rally more prayer for your sweet family. Much love from northern CA.
Apparently this blog is listed second on google under the search “Daisy Merrick” since I have blogged about her a couple of times now and it’s getting a lot of traffic. My blog is really not the best place to find updates and information about her – Britt Merrick himself is constantly posting updates about Daisy. Click on the following links for the latest happenings straight from Britt’s mouth (hand?):
https://www.facebook.com/pastorbrittmerrick
http://prayfordaisy.com/
Thanks for visiting and please be praying for her and the entire Merrick family…even three rounds of cancer is not too big for our God and prayer changes things. I agree with your song Daisy, God is the healer and he CAN heal you! Merrick’s if you come across this blog, know that you have impacted many lives through your plight and I hope that the posts I have written about Daisy serve to rally more prayer for your sweet family. Much love from northern CA.
Last week a couple at our church gave birth to a precious little girl. Unbeknownst to them prior to her birth, she has a rare syndrome called Zellweger syndrome (or possibly another similar condition, tests are still being run). In either case, the prognosis is not good and she has been given between 6 months and 2 years to live. We have only spent one evening with this couple, but we have heard many praises sung about their character through mutual friends at church.
The reason I wanted to blog about this is two-fold. One, I’d like to ask all you who follow our blog to please take a minute right now and pray for them and their daughter, Katie Beth. Here is a picture of her (isn’t she so cute!? Look at all that hair!)
Secondly, (though we have yet to become better acquainted), I honestly haven’t been able to stop thinking about this couple since their little girl was born. This is partly because my heart has been aching for them and the pain they are surely enduring, and partly because, as we have been following their updates, God has really been doing a work in my heart through their response to the situation. I have been incredibly inspired by them and personally convicted as a result. Here are a few things they have written that have hit me like a ton of bricks:
-“[6 months to 2 years is] not as much time as we had hoped to have with our daughter, but we’re thankful for the time we have.”
-“On the way home we talked about how happy we were to be doing this together. There isn’t anybody else I’d rather be doing this with…we thought of couples we’ve seen pass through our community that might not be able to handle this type of stress in their life. But we’ve been in training for five years now, and, at least so far, our spirits are strong and we’re as in love as ever. God works in mysterious ways I guess.”
-“Your prayers are working, and we’ve been blessed to see God working such miracles firsthand.”
-“We continue to have hope that, no matter what happens, we can raise her up in the way that is right as an act of worship to God whom we thank for the wonderful opportunity to care for one of his children.”
Do these words convict your heart like they’ve convicted mine? Put in their situation, would you have a similar God-centered and positive outlook? As I read those words and spend time thinking about this family, God continually brings to mind all the absolutely ridiculous and comparably inconsequential things I complain about. Watching this family deal with such a difficult and devastating situation with such love and thankful hearts, has swiftly knocked me upside the head and put things into perspective for me. It reminds me of the verse in 1 Corinthians 1:27b that says: “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”
Their clarity of mind and big-picture perspective in the face of such unexpected adversity moves me. I only pray that if I ever experience anything like this that I would have a similarly joyous heart. What a wonderful example of a couple who trusts the Lord and His plan so fully, and is truly living out 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “be joyous always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” This is not to say they aren’t grieving and experiencing pain (I’m sure they are), but I believe they are able to remain uplifted because they are grounded in their relationship with Christ and ultimately know their lives rest safely in God’s hands.
I’ll leave you with this prayer that has been on my heart:
Jesus, I pray that you would love on this family right now. I pray for healing and nothing short of a miracle for Katie Beth. Continue to give this family so much peace, hope, and joy. In times of sadness, let them know and experience your intense and passionate Fatherly love. Give them the strength to love little Katie Beth with such fervor. You have paired this couple with this precious little girl for a reason, and I pray that you would continue to use this family to bring glory to Yourself.
Jesus, please give me an ever-increasing heart of gratitude. Help me to maintain an eternal perspective and help me to remember to praise Your name in all circumstances. More than anything, thank you for loving me so much that you would send your son to die on my behalf. I am humbled and in awe of your never-ending and unconditional love.
[An update to this post was published on November 22, 2012. Click here to read it.]