So our friend's Jeff and Emily just got back from Ethiopia. They went there to meet the child that they sponsor through Compassion International as well as to bring back video, information, etc to raise awareness of both the children that need our help in Ethiopia as well as for Compassion International itself. I am really excited to see how God works through them and the time that they spent there.
They had us over for dinner the other night and showed us a bunch of video and pictures of Ethiopia and man did it wake me up a bit. I mean, you always hear about the poverty in Ethiopia as well as other countries out there but until you see video and pictures from someone you know personally, it really doesn't quite sink in, or at least it didn't for me.
They showed us the "marketplace" which I imagined would be like a market place here in the states where you have people in booths selling vegetables and fruits and breads and such. They did sell the same things in the Ethiopian market place but their booths were replaced by the back of pick up trucks or simply on the dry, dusty ground. There was rotting food all over the place and dogs eating food out of dumpsters and everything.
Then they showed us video of the shacks that those lucky enough to have a house call home. Shacks that are about the size of half of my bedroom and they are the home to entire families. And then you have the countless others with nowhere to call home except whatever space they can find on the streets to sleep. Here in Ohio, you have to drive downtown to see any homeless and even then, you only see a couple here and there but in Ethiopia they just cover the streets. The poverty is unbelievable.
Then you hear the statistics of how many children die each day because of preventable things such as lack of clean water or diarrhea. Children die each day for lack of clean water meanwhile, how many of us (including myself) refuse to drink tap water but either have to have spring water or filtered water?
As they showed picture after picture and video after video of children there, I couldn't help but wonder if one of those children is our child that God has picked out for us. Even if one of them wasn't our child, I couldn't help but see our child in their eyes. I couldn't help but just want to fly over there and bring a child back with us right away so that they didn't have to go through the disease and hunger and thirst anymore.
But as I think of the destitution and poverty over there and how it seems like most of the children are in a hopeless situation with no chance of getting themselves out, it makes me think...I was once like that to God. I was once a orphan. I was once completely hopeless in my sin with no chance of getting myself out. Ephesians 2:3 says “we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” I had no way of being healed or rescued unless God intervened. I was a complete enemy to God and completely dead in my sin, but then in verse 4 we see two of the greatest words in all of the bible, "BUT GOD!"..."But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-" (Ephesians 2:4-5)
I thank God that he didn't leave me as an orphan but he came to me (John 14:18).I thank God that while I was dead in my trespasses, while I was dying from a far worse disease than malnutrition with a far worse future than living life in an orphanage, God chose me to be adopted into His family so that I can be called a child of God and not only that but a co-heir with Christ.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Adoption Journey Begins
Well for those who haven't heard, Steph and I just got accepted into American World Adoption Agency's Ethiopia adoption program. In the next year or two we will be bringing home our child from Ethiopia. It's crazy how things work out sometimes. Like, you have this plan for your life and then God just takes you a completely different way. Just like Proverbs 16:9 says "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." Steph and I had planned on having another "biological" child of our own and then talk about adoption. However, God had a different plan for our life and we are so excited.
We can't wait to obey God's command to care for orphans. It's so easy to just ignore the fact that there are millions upon millions of orphans in the world because they can't speak up for themselves. They can't get interviewed on TV and ask for someone to come help them. No, instead they are in orphanages crying out for help knowing that no one will answer their cry. They are being abused but no one cares because no one notices. In fact, countless orphans are kidnapped and sold into prostitution or slavery and no one notices because they have no one who cares.
More than the fact that we want to rescue a child from a life with no hope and no future, we want our adoption of this child to point him or her to the adoption that he can have into God's family. We can't wait to show them how "he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:4). We can't wait to share the love that God has for them that far surpasses any love than we could ever show them and how he made a sacrifice far greater than any time, money or effort that we can sacrifice and how He wants to rescue them from a far worse condition than being in an orphanage. Ultimately, we want to point this child to the God that he likely would not have heard about in an orphanage.
Feel free to follow our blog (fitzadoption.blogspot.com). We are going to post where we are in the process, our thoughts and feelings as we go through this process, any fundraisers we have coming up, etc.
We can't wait to obey God's command to care for orphans. It's so easy to just ignore the fact that there are millions upon millions of orphans in the world because they can't speak up for themselves. They can't get interviewed on TV and ask for someone to come help them. No, instead they are in orphanages crying out for help knowing that no one will answer their cry. They are being abused but no one cares because no one notices. In fact, countless orphans are kidnapped and sold into prostitution or slavery and no one notices because they have no one who cares.
More than the fact that we want to rescue a child from a life with no hope and no future, we want our adoption of this child to point him or her to the adoption that he can have into God's family. We can't wait to show them how "he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:4). We can't wait to share the love that God has for them that far surpasses any love than we could ever show them and how he made a sacrifice far greater than any time, money or effort that we can sacrifice and how He wants to rescue them from a far worse condition than being in an orphanage. Ultimately, we want to point this child to the God that he likely would not have heard about in an orphanage.
Feel free to follow our blog (fitzadoption.blogspot.com). We are going to post where we are in the process, our thoughts and feelings as we go through this process, any fundraisers we have coming up, etc.
Monday, May 2, 2011
To teenagers: set an example
I've just been really burdened for the youth, specifically for the youth that I lead at our church but the youth in general. Not that they are bad kids by any stretch of the imagination but man I just remember growing up all of the junk out there throughout my high school years. The temptations are just so strong to drink, party and do just all of the stuff that the rest of the "cool" teenagers do. The temptations just keep coming like waves on a sandy beach, they just keep crashing against the shore of our lives and they keep coming and they do not stop. Once one goes away and we think we are in the clear, here comes another one crashing in.
And man they can just take a toll and the easy way out would be to just float in the ocean and let the waves carry us where they will instead of fighting against them.But the thing is, when we do that, when we let the waves carry us where they will, it will lead to our death by drowning for when "sin has fully conceived it brings forth death."
Man I just want to get this point across to the teens of our youth group and to really all teens out there, "resist the Devil and he WILL flee from you". Sin will lead to death, it is a certainty. There is no other outcome for sin other than death. You can't dabble in sin and expect everything to turn out OK. It won't. It will lead to death in one way or another. It may have its pleasure for a little while but in the end, it WILL lead to death.
The Devil is a roaring lion seeking someone to desire and I think his favorite targets are teenagers because they can be so impressionable. They desire to fit in, they long to be popular, they yearn to be loved and they are willing to do things that they wouldn't normally do or things that they know they should avoid in order to obtain a certain status that they aspire to. The Devil just feeds on that by enticing them with sins that seem like they will make them popular and make them feel good and once he gets them in his trap by luring him with something small, he continues to lead them down the slippery, subtle slope.
Man I want the teenagers of this generation to set a new path. I want the teenagers of our youth group to set a new standard for teenagers. I want them so bad to fight against the Devil. I want them so bad to just form an army where they use the Word of God as their weapon of choice to combat the Devil and to show Him that they will not back down and they will not give into his enticement of sin because they know that they have a better reward in heaven than He could ever offer here in this life.
I just want our teenagers to be a light in this dark world. I want them to just shine that light and that their friends would be drawn to God by their light and they would "see their good works and give glory to the Father who is in heaven".
I don't want them to settle for a life of mediocre Christianity in which they tip toe the fine line between sin and obedience. I want them to be so far on the side of obedience that they can't even see that fine line and when they do get a glimpse of it from the Devil, they run the other way because they don't want to even come close to thinking about sinning against the one who sent His only Son to die so that they could have his perfection placed upon them.
I so bad want our teenagers to set "an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." I want other older Christians look at them and their obedience and their unwavering dedication to the Bible and their undying love for their God and look up to them and to aspire to be like them.
And man they can just take a toll and the easy way out would be to just float in the ocean and let the waves carry us where they will instead of fighting against them.But the thing is, when we do that, when we let the waves carry us where they will, it will lead to our death by drowning for when "sin has fully conceived it brings forth death."
Man I just want to get this point across to the teens of our youth group and to really all teens out there, "resist the Devil and he WILL flee from you". Sin will lead to death, it is a certainty. There is no other outcome for sin other than death. You can't dabble in sin and expect everything to turn out OK. It won't. It will lead to death in one way or another. It may have its pleasure for a little while but in the end, it WILL lead to death.
The Devil is a roaring lion seeking someone to desire and I think his favorite targets are teenagers because they can be so impressionable. They desire to fit in, they long to be popular, they yearn to be loved and they are willing to do things that they wouldn't normally do or things that they know they should avoid in order to obtain a certain status that they aspire to. The Devil just feeds on that by enticing them with sins that seem like they will make them popular and make them feel good and once he gets them in his trap by luring him with something small, he continues to lead them down the slippery, subtle slope.
Man I want the teenagers of this generation to set a new path. I want the teenagers of our youth group to set a new standard for teenagers. I want them so bad to fight against the Devil. I want them so bad to just form an army where they use the Word of God as their weapon of choice to combat the Devil and to show Him that they will not back down and they will not give into his enticement of sin because they know that they have a better reward in heaven than He could ever offer here in this life.
I just want our teenagers to be a light in this dark world. I want them to just shine that light and that their friends would be drawn to God by their light and they would "see their good works and give glory to the Father who is in heaven".
I don't want them to settle for a life of mediocre Christianity in which they tip toe the fine line between sin and obedience. I want them to be so far on the side of obedience that they can't even see that fine line and when they do get a glimpse of it from the Devil, they run the other way because they don't want to even come close to thinking about sinning against the one who sent His only Son to die so that they could have his perfection placed upon them.
I so bad want our teenagers to set "an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." I want other older Christians look at them and their obedience and their unwavering dedication to the Bible and their undying love for their God and look up to them and to aspire to be like them.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
God breathed
So one of my friends is going through a tough time in her life right now and the first thing I thought is, I got to send her some Bible verses. So I started flipping through the Bible pulling out verses and man is the Bible good. I mean, obviously the Bible is good and obviously the Bible "is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" but man it's just amazing. I mean, as I was pulling out verses it was just so awesome to see how the Word is "living and active" even after 1000's of years. I just had to write a quick blog about this because it just has me all fired up and I figure the best thing to do when you are fired up about something is to get it down on paper.
You can pretty much turn to the Bible for any type of wisdom, encouragement, instruction, anything that you may need in this life. Unfortunately, most of us try to "rely on our own understanding" and do not "acknowledge Him" and go to His Word as often as we should. We like to rely on our own strength as if we are Superman or Superwoman (depending on your gender). We like to think that we can go it alone and only really turn to God when we really need Him, like if something major is going on in our life. But man God wants us to turn to Him and rely on Him all of the days of our lives. The Bible is so rich and so powerful that if we would rely on His Word and His strength as opposed to our futile attempts to be God, we would be so much better off. This is not to say that we won't go through trials and bad things in our lives, but it does mean that God will be there for us during those times so that we can "count it all joy" knowing that ultimately we will be made "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
So I guess to sum it all up in 3 words...read the Bible
You can pretty much turn to the Bible for any type of wisdom, encouragement, instruction, anything that you may need in this life. Unfortunately, most of us try to "rely on our own understanding" and do not "acknowledge Him" and go to His Word as often as we should. We like to rely on our own strength as if we are Superman or Superwoman (depending on your gender). We like to think that we can go it alone and only really turn to God when we really need Him, like if something major is going on in our life. But man God wants us to turn to Him and rely on Him all of the days of our lives. The Bible is so rich and so powerful that if we would rely on His Word and His strength as opposed to our futile attempts to be God, we would be so much better off. This is not to say that we won't go through trials and bad things in our lives, but it does mean that God will be there for us during those times so that we can "count it all joy" knowing that ultimately we will be made "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
So I guess to sum it all up in 3 words...read the Bible
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
it is a girl/it was a girl
It was almost 2 years ago. I remember those words as if it was yesterday, "It is a girl". With those four words, my whole life changed. I was now a dad and I had a beautiful daughter. The elation that I felt at that moment cannot even be described with words. It's amazing how when you change one simple word to make that phrase past instead of present, the emotion it evokes changes everything. "It was a girl." Those are the words that are now resounding through my mind like an echo on a mountaintop. You were going to be my second daughter, Olivia was going to be a big sister but you never had the chance to live. We still have your picture up on our fridge and I look at it every single day. I remember first seeing you in that hospital, you were so tiny but you were our little baby growing every day. We could see your arms and your legs. You were our little baby. The doctors confidently informed us that you were healthy and everything was going as it should be but then in a moment, God decided to take you home to be with Him. I wonder what you would have looked like. Would you look just like your sister? I wonder what your personality would have been like. I'm sure you and Olivia would have been the best of friends. Playing with dolls together, wearing matching dresses at Easter. She would have showed you the ropes in this life and been the best big sister you could have hoped for.
I still recall the day that the doctor told us that we lost you as if it was yesterday. He told us "Your baby didn't make it." Those words play over and over in my mind every day. I just stared at that ultrasound, waiting in vain for you to move, waiting in vain for your little heart to start beating again. It seemed like hours but it was only a few minutes as I just stared at you. My mind refusing to believe what my ears were telling it, almost as if my mind had put a brick wall around itself for protection as it often does when faced with pain. Those words "Your baby didn't make it" took a long time to chip it's way through the barrier my mind had created but once it did the tears proceeded to roll down my face like raindrops down a window. How could you be gone? I didn't have a chance to show you this world. I didn't have a chance to hold you or to tell you that I love you or to watch you go off to your first day of school or to walk you down the aisle as you married the man of your dreams.
We miss you so much but we know that you are in a better place. It doesn't make sense to us at times but we put our trust in God. We trust that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). We trust that in our weakness, His strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9). We trust that He is sufficient and that He is our strength and our rock. We don't mourn like those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13) for just like David we can with confidence say that we can go to you but you will not return to us (2 Samuel 12:23). We will see you one day in Heaven and we look forward to meeting you but until then, we will continue to be lights in this world of darkness in hopes that through your death, God will be glorified and that others will come to know this God that we have placed our faith in and the God that you are seeing face to face at this moment. We love and miss you more than you could ever imagine Gabrielle. We'll see you again someday.
I still recall the day that the doctor told us that we lost you as if it was yesterday. He told us "Your baby didn't make it." Those words play over and over in my mind every day. I just stared at that ultrasound, waiting in vain for you to move, waiting in vain for your little heart to start beating again. It seemed like hours but it was only a few minutes as I just stared at you. My mind refusing to believe what my ears were telling it, almost as if my mind had put a brick wall around itself for protection as it often does when faced with pain. Those words "Your baby didn't make it" took a long time to chip it's way through the barrier my mind had created but once it did the tears proceeded to roll down my face like raindrops down a window. How could you be gone? I didn't have a chance to show you this world. I didn't have a chance to hold you or to tell you that I love you or to watch you go off to your first day of school or to walk you down the aisle as you married the man of your dreams.
We miss you so much but we know that you are in a better place. It doesn't make sense to us at times but we put our trust in God. We trust that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). We trust that in our weakness, His strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9). We trust that He is sufficient and that He is our strength and our rock. We don't mourn like those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13) for just like David we can with confidence say that we can go to you but you will not return to us (2 Samuel 12:23). We will see you one day in Heaven and we look forward to meeting you but until then, we will continue to be lights in this world of darkness in hopes that through your death, God will be glorified and that others will come to know this God that we have placed our faith in and the God that you are seeing face to face at this moment. We love and miss you more than you could ever imagine Gabrielle. We'll see you again someday.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Special K and Fiji
It's the simple things in life that really make me happy. For instance, today at the grocery store I bought Old Spice: Fiji. I needed some new body wash and it smelled good so I bought it and now I can't wait to use it. I still have some of my old body wash left so the Fiji bottle sits in the shower unused and lonely. I think I am going to use double or perhaps I am daring enough, triple the normal dosage of body wash for my showers until the old body wash is all gone and finally I can put on the body wash that is Old Spice: Fiji. They also have a deodorant but unfortunately I just purchased deodorant recently so that'll have to wait.
Oh and Fiji wasn't my only purchase that has me excited. Tomorrow morning I will experience Special K Chocolatety Delight for breakfast. I must admit, I was more than half tempted to eat it for lunch and/or dinner but I think the anticipation of waiting until tomorrow for breakfast was too much to give up so the box is still sitting there in the pantry un-opened...at least for the next 8 hours or so. Then, it will be mine! I'll make sure to let you all know my reviews of the cereal. I personally haven't eaten a bowl of cereal in who knows how long. I usually stick with the same 2 or 3 breakfasts every morning so tomorrow, I add another to the exclusive list of Bryan's breakfasts.
But it's funny how the simple things in life are almost always the best. Just thinking about my life I think of going to Disney with Grandma, Steph and Olivia this past year. All the rides were awesome but honestly, the best part of the whole trip was just watching our little girl's reaction when she got to meet Mickey, Minnie and the gang in real life. Man that smile and excitement that she had as she ran up to all of them with pen in one hand and autograph book in the other...priceless.
Or I think of Steph and my favorite date night hangout, Cafe Ah Roma. We have gone to fancy dinners or to the Art Museum and such but my favorite place to hangout with my wife is at Cafe Ah Roma where we can just sit, enjoy some caffeinated beverages, listen to Sirius Coffee Shop radio and play a game of Battleship or Yahtzee or Risk. Just the simplicity of the night makes it always the highlight of my week.
I could list a half a million "simple things" in life that honestly give me more joy than the big things in life sometimes (listening to good tunes around a campfire, making my little girl laugh or listening to her sing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" or "Happy Birthday" to everything from momma or dadda to ball or blanket or Frosty the Snowman, reading a good book in bed, etc). It's always the simple things that make life fun and interesting. Make sure that you take time to enjoy them and don't get too caught up in the big worries of life.
Oh and Fiji wasn't my only purchase that has me excited. Tomorrow morning I will experience Special K Chocolatety Delight for breakfast. I must admit, I was more than half tempted to eat it for lunch and/or dinner but I think the anticipation of waiting until tomorrow for breakfast was too much to give up so the box is still sitting there in the pantry un-opened...at least for the next 8 hours or so. Then, it will be mine! I'll make sure to let you all know my reviews of the cereal. I personally haven't eaten a bowl of cereal in who knows how long. I usually stick with the same 2 or 3 breakfasts every morning so tomorrow, I add another to the exclusive list of Bryan's breakfasts.
But it's funny how the simple things in life are almost always the best. Just thinking about my life I think of going to Disney with Grandma, Steph and Olivia this past year. All the rides were awesome but honestly, the best part of the whole trip was just watching our little girl's reaction when she got to meet Mickey, Minnie and the gang in real life. Man that smile and excitement that she had as she ran up to all of them with pen in one hand and autograph book in the other...priceless.
Or I think of Steph and my favorite date night hangout, Cafe Ah Roma. We have gone to fancy dinners or to the Art Museum and such but my favorite place to hangout with my wife is at Cafe Ah Roma where we can just sit, enjoy some caffeinated beverages, listen to Sirius Coffee Shop radio and play a game of Battleship or Yahtzee or Risk. Just the simplicity of the night makes it always the highlight of my week.
I could list a half a million "simple things" in life that honestly give me more joy than the big things in life sometimes (listening to good tunes around a campfire, making my little girl laugh or listening to her sing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" or "Happy Birthday" to everything from momma or dadda to ball or blanket or Frosty the Snowman, reading a good book in bed, etc). It's always the simple things that make life fun and interesting. Make sure that you take time to enjoy them and don't get too caught up in the big worries of life.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
oh summer how I have missed thee
There is just something about the month of April that I love. Perhaps it's because it's that month where you know that Summer is almost here and Winter is finally over (or almost over in the case of Ohio). It's like, you make it through December and January and you're all right but you get to February and the beating that you have taken from the winter finally starts taking it's toll. You set your desktop background to some sort of exotic island landscape and stare blankly at it in hopes that perhaps with your mind powers you can transport yourself to that island. You start looking into moving to places such as Florida, California, Arizona or anywhere really that you can feel your extremities if you are outside for more than five minutes. You hibernate under blankets upon blankets.
Then March gets here and it is sort of a tease. You'll get a warm day here or there (relatively speaking). Or maybe the sun will finally peak out from behind the clouds and even though it is only 45 degrees out, you treat it like it is 90. You crack the windows in the car while, you go outside sans a coat for the first time since Halloween. You'd probably hop in the pool if you could find one that is open but ultimately, 28 out of the 31 days in March there is no sun and it either rains or it snows.
But then April comes and all seems to be on the right path again. The birds begin their melodious tunes again. Squirrels no longer have to use an ice pick to dig up the nuts they buried what seems to be years ago. And O.A.R. or Jack Johnson can now be played without a deep depression overcoming me when thinking about how far away summer is. Nope, summer is coming. Oh it is coming all right. Nights of bonfires, s'mores and acoustic guitar ringing through the summer air. Nights of having the windows open and the warm breeze just cut through the house and embracing me like a long lost friend that I haven't seen in years. Nights of going to the drive-in, playing cards or just relaxing on the porch enjoying some good conversation.
Oh summer how I have missed thee. Come soon so we can both see what we have missed these past months that I have had to put up with your evil brother Winter.
Then March gets here and it is sort of a tease. You'll get a warm day here or there (relatively speaking). Or maybe the sun will finally peak out from behind the clouds and even though it is only 45 degrees out, you treat it like it is 90. You crack the windows in the car while, you go outside sans a coat for the first time since Halloween. You'd probably hop in the pool if you could find one that is open but ultimately, 28 out of the 31 days in March there is no sun and it either rains or it snows.
But then April comes and all seems to be on the right path again. The birds begin their melodious tunes again. Squirrels no longer have to use an ice pick to dig up the nuts they buried what seems to be years ago. And O.A.R. or Jack Johnson can now be played without a deep depression overcoming me when thinking about how far away summer is. Nope, summer is coming. Oh it is coming all right. Nights of bonfires, s'mores and acoustic guitar ringing through the summer air. Nights of having the windows open and the warm breeze just cut through the house and embracing me like a long lost friend that I haven't seen in years. Nights of going to the drive-in, playing cards or just relaxing on the porch enjoying some good conversation.
Oh summer how I have missed thee. Come soon so we can both see what we have missed these past months that I have had to put up with your evil brother Winter.
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