Thee Priority

I have not been very successful with New Year's resolutions in the past, but this year I have been thinking about priorities. Because we are a few weeks into 2012, I would guess that most of us have recently had at least a thought or two about our priorities. What is most important to us and how is that fitting into how we will spend our time this year? It just hit me the other day that Jesus quite clearly addressed the topic of priorities in the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus had come for dinner and Martha was busy, making sure everything was done just right for Him. Mary spent her time listening to Him, sitting at His feet. Martha was frustrated and overwhelmed as she served Him. Mary was being filled, sitting in His presence. When Martha asked Jesus to get her some help, He responded by giving her a big TRUTH that applies to each and every one of us. He was kind to her, but told her that her life was burdened and distracted by the variety of things she was doing. Instead, she was to do the one thing that was needed: listening to Him. This was the priority. This was the indispensable thing. This was the thing that affected everything else.

We adopted Collins 15 months ago. One of our consistent issues is the need for her to listen to me. Her teacher needs this from her at school. I need this from her at home. Coming out of a life in an orphanage, she is fascinated by EVERYTHING. She is easily distracted and can tune me out in no time flat! But as her parent, listening to me is non-negotiable. She can't run into the street, she has to brush her teeth everyday and stay with me in public places. She has to stay in a place of dependent on me. That is what listening to Jesus shows....an attitude of dependence. Those who know they can't make it without Him spend time with Him. Those who trust Him have no option but to spend time with Him. And those who love Him do what He tells them to do. Collins came home from school and told me, "Teacher said I have to listen and obey." That about sums it up for all of us....

I Miss Jesus

We were pulling into the parking lot last week for Conner's basketball game and Collins was singing Happy Birthday to "Jesus died on the cross". She was silent for a few seconds and then quietly said, "I miss Jesus." It was a sweet and funny comment, but it's easy to relate to that on this December 12th. The psalmist said, "The nearness of God is my good", and yet my experience has been that it takes great determination to be near Him at Christmas. We all have so much to DO. The commercialism of Christmas is everywhere. Many are in deep pain. Whether it's busyness or loneliness or the fun of Christmas shopping, cooking and decorating - we can miss Him. How ironic that the celebration of His birthday can be such a distraction from Him. Collins, I miss Jesus too.

The Widows and the Orphans

Carl Toth

Here's picture of Collins and my mom 11 months ago. Collins was meeting her grandmother for the first time. Unfortunately I just spent the past week helping my mom begin the difficult transition of moving into the "assisted living" phase of her life. She's been diagnosed with Alzheimers and has gone from being very independent to someone who is confused and helpless. She struggles with names and remembering things. All of a sudden, normal day to day choices are complex for her. For 5 days I saw her struggles and vulnerability firsthand. By the time I got home, I felt like I had been on a mission trip. I was wiped out emotionally, physically and spiritually by that experience because it was MY mom that was struggling. The trip gave me a renewed understanding of the entire scope of James 1:27. God says part of pure Christianity is taking care of 2 groups of people - the orphan and the widow. We understand the plight of the orphan because of Collins and our experiences with orphans overseas. But now I can understand why God says to take care of both of these groups. They're both alone. They're both vulnerable and broken. As a pastor for 25 years, I've seen so much....but this week changed me. I have a renewed passion for these two groups. They have alot in common, and they're not pleasant similarities. Experiencing their plight firsthand, it's easy to understand why they are especially close to God's heart and why He clearly lets us know that we are to take care of them.

George Mueller on faith

"Remember, the very time for faith to work is when our sight begins to fail. And the greater the difficulties, the easier it is for faith to work, for as long as we can see certain natural solutions to our problems, we will not have faith. Faith never works as easily as when our natural prospects fail." George Mueller

Faith Walk

If one were to speed read the Bible from start to finish, one of the major themes that would surface is that its really important to God that His children trust Him. It was a huge issue with the children of Israel. It was a problem with the disciples... "O ye of little faith". Romans 1:17 says the righteous shall LIVE by faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Faith is simply very important to God. And it's not just that we trust Him for our salvation, but that we LIVE on faith. We trust Him for everything. I've seen this in missionaries who live on faith on so many levels, and through the journey of Orbie for Orphans, we are learning it everyday. The righteous will live by faith. Here's a cool quote I found today written in 1664.

"I find that while faith is steady nothing can disquiet me, and when faith totters nothing can establish me. If I ramble out among means and creatures, I am presently lost, and can come to no end. But if I stay myself on God, and leave Him to work in His own way and time, I am at rest, and can lie down and sleep in a promise, though a thousand rise up against me. Therefore my way is not to cast beforehand, but to walk with God by the day. Keep close to God, and then you need fear nothing." Jospeh Elliot, 1664

The words coming out of her mouth sent shivers up my spine. Collins and I were standing at the front desk of Estes Elementary, registering her for kindergarten. She was unusually agitated and nervous. As I was trying to finish up, my confident and bubbly little girl blurted out something along the lines that she wasn’t worth anything. I was dumbfounded! Not worth anything? This child has been loved and praised continually since we adopted her one year ago. I quickly said, “Collins, you are precious! You are special!” She kept shaking her head saying, “No, I not.” When we got outside she yelled out, “You not come back for me!” She thought that once school started, I was going to bring her to this new place never to return again. Pain started pouring out of her. Tears and mean words flowed. Over and over we went in circles, with many assurances that I would never leave her like that. In the midst of her tears, she kept saying she just wanted to play with Jesus, not me. She wanted to go away with Jesus, not me. I was astonished that 1)she already grasped the truth that Jesus was the one security she had, but also that 2) she thought our 11 months together as a family was just a lie. After all we had been through, how could she possibly think I would stop being faithful to her now? Driving home the thought hit me that if she was experiencing this much pain, how much more those who will never get a family?

Collins was left outside the gate of an orphanage in China when she was a toddler. So on this seemingly normal day, the excruciating pain of her abandonment was rearing its ugly head. When a child is abandoned, neglected or abused, they feel worthless. They feel unlovable. They feel they can’t trust adults, or even God. They believe lies.

Edith Schaeffer once said that a family is a “perpetual relay of truth”. A family provides not only protection and provision, but constant messages of truth. Every single person needs these core messages to survive: You are loved, you are valuable, your needs matter, you can trust others, you can trust God. For orphans and foster children, the baton of truth has dropped, and so they believe lies.

The kindergarten experience with Collins was a good reminder that the wounds of these children are very deep, and it confirmed once again the urgency of the vision God has called us to.

Finally....

The Orbie for Orphans website is practically DONE!! Thank you, Troy Norton, for using your amazing talent to create this tool to get help to hurting, fatherless children. Thank you to our donors who have sacrificed so that our vision and mission can be seen and understood through this website. Join us on this incredible journey! www.orbiefororphans.org