Celebrations, Moves, and New Dogs... Oh My!!

Celebrations, Moves, and New Dogs... Oh My!!

Posted by Candace

Whew! Just got finished teaching school for the first time in over two weeks and boy did we have a time in our new schoolroom.  Before it ended, all three of us had shed tears and none of us were speaking to each other...and I am BEAT!

Yesterday was spent setting up the room that we are now doing school in.  It is the only room in the house that is completely finished, but it had to be done so that we could make today happen...although it might have been better if today hadn't have happened.  Especially coming off such a glorious weekend...

Sunday was Kate's 3rd birthday... first birthday with us, but she turned 3 years old.  We decided when she came home to wait to have her dedicated to Jesus until this special day because it happened to fall on a Sunday. I know now that this was the plan from the beginning of time.  As I sat among family and friends, I was completely blown away by God's perfect timing as the Pastor spoke of the hope of a baby born 2000 years ago...God's plan to redeem not only Kate, but all of us.  Our journey to Katherine Hope had come full circle... it began with God's Word to us through Pastor Rick Shockley at this same church as he preached on hope almost 2 years ago.  In that service, as Pastor Rick touched on Abraham's hope for a child even when there was no reason to hope and how, after waiting, he received the promise...during this message, we received the call to walk forward into adoption (I still have the Scriptures that he printed out for his notes).  On Sunday, a totally different pastor spoke on hope, as this same church celebrated the lighting of the Advent candle of "Hope" on Kate's birthday...the day we planned to dedicate her to the Lord.  None of this was coordinated...as a matter of fact, I learned later that the pastor had been out of town the weekend before when they were supposed to light the "hope" candle and so they had moved that particular message.  Before the beginning of time... Wow!!!

As for the actual service, it was completely beautiful, perfectly arranged, and thank God that Pastor Rick thought to give me a copy of the words that he spoke over our daughter... because she was in rare form...

 

Thoughts on Kate's God ordained day...my first thought that morning was "I don't know what time she was born..."  I always make a big deal about the actual time that my boys turn a year older, but I can't do that with Kate.  I don't know...  I try to picture in my mind her birth... I bet she was yelling quite a bit as she entered this world and was ousted from her birth momma's belly.  She probably fought tooth and nail, the cold world that she was forced to face head on.  That is just my Kate... she is a fighter... and Praise Jesus, she is our fighter.  I am sooooo glad that I was chosen to be her Mom.  I wish I could thank her mother for giving her life.  Our daughter is indescribably amazing and we marvel at her every day.

Kate also recently celebrated her first Thanksgiving.  There were a few weighty moments as her name was drawn out of the gift exchange pile.  She's here!  She's home for Christmas!!  She's ours!!!  She will never be alone again (at some point, she will undoubtably resent this fact :)!!!!  She loved Ma Maws mac and cheese... couldn't get enough!  And our hearts overflowed with Thanksgiving for what God has already accomplished for His Kingdom through Kate.

 

 

 

Kate had her (hopefully, last) cast removed right after Thanksgiving!!!  The doctor announced that he had never seen a bone grow so quickly and that everything looks really, really good.  It should, I guess, since she now has a $13,000 piece of metal in there :).  We may try to hauck it when they have to change it out...or at least trade it in.  She is happy as an active 2 year old can be and I caught her climbing up onto her bed this morning, so really, really praying that the rod does its job.

Kate also got a dog!!!  Myla is seemingly perfect for our family.  She is a husky.  She is gentle.  She loves us.  She doesn't bark... perfect!  We are so excited.

Last thing that I want to share... I think it has been quite obvious that this move has been difficult in almost every way... leaving family and friends, downsizing, owning two properties, and then just the amount of stuff that needed to be moved 3 hours away.  Over the past 3 weeks I have found myself marveling at the strength that God has provided... and the answers to heartfelt prayers.  He worked out two specific impossible situations that I directly asked Him to help with...both just in time.  He also has provided every step of the way... more than once, I have been on my face begging for help with one thing or another and He has given the might to walk forward.  Next year, when I look back on this period of my life, I know that I am going to be completely amazed that it did not include a nervous breakdown of some kind... I'm not special... He hears you too... He answers... He loves you more than you could ever imagine.

Pictures to come as soon as I get this house in order.

Thanks be to Our God.

Separation of Christianity and Politics?

Separation of Christianity and Politics?

Posted by Candace

I'm sorry, but somebody has got to write this... I didn't want it to be me.  I would love to find another blog and share it so that I don't take the heat for thinking this way.  I know that it won't be popular and I cringe at the thoughts that will run through your head, but I am mad enough not to care so much.  I have prayed, I have tried to see a different perspective, I have laid this all at the cross, but it still must come out because it seems to be fire shut up in my bones.

The more that I get to know myself, the more that I realize that God put a good bit of "Reformer" personality in me.  I know it is to be used for His purposes alone and when it comes out in other things, it can cause quite a stir in me and in others.  I told David the other day that I wish God would call me to run for office right now or become a journalist, because I am just in the mood to kick some corruption, evil, injustice fanny.  I know that I have to be careful not to be divisive, but when you stand for truth it WILL be divisive.

Let me state that again... When you stand for truth, when you stand for the Word, when you stand for Jesus, it WILL be divisive.  People will hate you.  They will call you intolerant.  They will accuse you of hatemongering.  They will try to shut you up.  And by "they" I thought I only meant the world, but now I am starting to think it will come from the Christian community as well.

Jesus said "I have come to bring fire on earth and oh, how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is completed.  Did you think I came to bring peace to this earth? No, I tell you, but division."  Jesus had fire shut up in His bones too.  I believe this verse came out of a heart that was struggling to live in a world filled with injustice, corruption, dishonesty, and evil.

I wonder what people thought or said of Jesus when he walked into the temple and started overturning tables and destroying the money changers property. "Oh, Jesus.  You shouldn't do that.  You, of all people, should know that we need to walk in love."  What about when He called Herod a "fox" or the Pharisees (yep, they were definitely a political party) "whitewashed tombs full of dead man's bones."

Jesus didn't pull punches.  He didn't tiptoe.  He went straight to the heart of the matter.  So why is it that when Christians do that these days we get it from both sides?  Why, when we are purely revealing truths and stating honest facts, do we get accused of deviating from the message of Christ?  Why are we hearing SO MUCH these days about separation of Christians and government?  Do we really want to see a government without Christian influence?  Do we really want to keep our noses completely out of what is happening in the leadership and the laws of our land?  Is it really time to stop standing up for truth, to stop fighting for it, to mind our own business with our eyes on the sky?

God forbid!  Following Christ should permeate every aspect of our lives.  The way that we live as individuals, as a society, as a nation, and as a culture.  The Church, by definition, is a government type organization.  We have leaders, we have helpers of the leaders, we have advisors to the helpers of the leaders...political.  In order to have accountability, you must have politics.  So why now are passionate, God-fearing Christians being accused of missing the point and not walking in love if they care about what is happening in our nation and continue to fight it.

Rick Warren says recently "If I thought politicians could change people’s hearts, I would go into government. “If I thought laws could change people’s hearts, I would go into government. But I don’t, so I’m not.”  If we all thought like Rick Warren, there would be no Christians in politics, no Christians in the leadership of our nation... Can politics change the hearts of people?  Not directly, but definitely indirectly...  Saying that politics is wrong for a Christian to care about and fight for because it has nothing to do directly with the hearts of people is like saying that anyone who gives to missionaries in some way is wrong because they are not directly on the mission field.  Why does Pastor Warren even have the freedom to make such a statement?  Because of politics.  Why does he get to sell books and preach openly and pray at government events and host debate forums?  Because of politics.

I just have a really hard time with being told to "sit down and shut up" in essence by both the world and the Christian community.  Yes, let's go after hearts...Jesus did that... but He did it in the political arena as well if that was what was needed.  He confronted.  He stood before.  He wasn't swayed by "well, if I do this or say this, I may ostracize some people and they may not follow me."

How about Ed Stetzer who says "When you mix Christianity and politics, you get politics."  So what do you get when you separate Christianity and politics??  You feel free to answer this question in your mind.  But I think we are treading on dangerous ground when we even infer that it is wrong for Christians to be involved in politics.  I think we are headed toward relativism and compromise when we say that we should all just "get along" no matter what it takes and that is what walking in love looks like.  Tell that to the prophets... tell that to Jesus as He is being crucified for bringing truth to the midst of politics... tell that to Paul as he traveled the world and stood before kings and leaders praying he would influence them.  Christians are now uncomfortable making others uncomfortable and that my friend, is dangerous territory for the Church. 

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”  II Timothy 4:3-4

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you”.  John 15:18

"When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan."  Proverbs 29:2

"Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people." Proverbs 14:34

How can the same church honor and exort people who have served in our military and yet chastise people for being "political" or concern and involved in matters of our government?  Shouldn't we be thanking our brothers and sisters in the trenches of politics who endure it from both sides day in and day out so that we can have some semblence of Christ in our nation's government.  What does it say to our Christian leaders fighting for justice every day when we make statements like Ed Stetzer?  It reeks of complete arrogance... "I am following Christ because I am reaching the lost from my pulpit of church government that you are out there fighting to give me... but you are wrong to be fighting for all that stuff... Jesus will take care of that... He doesn't need you to be involved."  Really??  Well seems to me that Jesus could save all the souls He wanted without us too, but He doesn't.  He allows us the privilege to be involved in His plan... to exult when righteousness conquers and sin is destroyed... to watch as truth sets people free... to be leaders, Senators, Judges, Magistrates, and soldiers... to be in the world, but not of it... to let people see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

Whatever God calls you to do on this earth, may you work at it with all your heart and all your might, not paying attention to the ones who would distract you from your call... and if it is a call to politics, may God put His Hand on every one of your endeavors.  As the church backs away from you, may the Holy Spirit take up residence all the more.  As you fight corruption and dishonesty, may the justice of our God go with you and temper you with mercy from the cross.  And as you fight in the trenches, I will be right here supporting you in every possible election, giving money to your campaign, revealing truths to others, and hoping and praying you are given the right to make decisions for this great country.

Created for Hard Things

Created for Hard Things

Posted by Candace

This weekend is pretty much a blur as I look back on it.  Parts stick out in my mind clearer than others...the fall that took us to the ER... hearing the doctor say that we needed an xray of Kate's pelvis... anticipating sending my daughter into major surgery... diligently watching monitors in recovery as we waited somewhat impatiently for the thermometer to come back around...walking in this morning after a full night's sleep to my tired husband rolling Kate around in a wagon with wires, IV's, and poles attached.  It was quite a whirlwind of challenge after challenge.

The world is continually searching for ways to make things easier.  Technology changes daily so that we don't have to put up with the slightest incovenience.  We have washers and dryers for our clothes...phones and internet that go wherever we do...cars that open themselves, lock themselves, and sometimes even start themselves...lights that clap on and off...food that can be ready in less than 10 minutes...televisions that can record our favorite shows so we can watch them in our spare time...the list goes on and on.  Yet we feel more stressed than ever before in history.  We are continually trying to save time, to short cut, and to make our lives easier, but ultimately we have made them harder and more complicated.

We always blame Adam and Eve for our lives of labor, and yes, sin did bring death into the world, but before sin, the garden was not a place of leisure.  It was a place of peace and life for sure, but the Bible clearly says that God placed Adam and Eve in the garden as caretakers of it.  They were there to nurture it, to care for the animals, to walk with God and carry out His Will... we were not built for convenience...we were built for hard things.

For a long, long time, I spent my life trying to avoid hard things, being afraid of hard things, hiding from hard things, praying I wouldn't suffer hard things, hoping that hard things were not right around the corner.  I wasted so much time worrying about hard things...feeling sorry for others going through hard things and wondering how they survived...fearing that one day hard things would be the end of me.  Yet everytime hard things overtook me, God was always there... I always survived... I always found peace at the cross... I always saw faithfulness beyond my wildest dreams.  There is something inside of us that thrives in hard situations, especially those walking hand in hand with the Holy Spirit.  We find supernatural strength and grace to help in time of need, and somehow it fulfills us more than relaxation ever can.  It drives us to do more for those around us, to spend more time with our Saviour, and to be thankful for every day that He gives us here on this earth...hard or easy.

All this to say, you may be up against some hard things... or you may be hiding from God because you fear hard things... or you may be directly ignoring God's leading because it seems to take you right into hard things.  I want to encourage you to do what you were made for.  You will never find enough fulfillment in vacations or movie nights or girl time or sleeping in or lattes... these are nice, but you will always just want more or better.  It is in the hard things, the things that require faith and love and hope, where fulfillment is found...the things that require dependence on Someone bigger than you... the things that change you from the inside out.  There will be a better car out next year and a phone upgrade to look forward to next month. Someday you may not have to load the dishwasher or fold your laundry.  Convenience will keep vying for our time and attention and our money, but it will never be enough.  Without the hard things, we won't find the life that we are searching for.  Without the good, honest, hard work with our minds, our hands, and our hearts, we will waste away as "lovers of pleasure".

A year and a half ago, our life was easy.  The boys were attending a great private school, David's company was doing okay, I had all the extra time I needed for whatever I wanted it for, our life was fairly predictable and convenient.  Then we answered the call... the call in James to orphans and widows.  Kate has shaken things up around here for sure... she has wowed us to our very core.  Adoption is a hard thing... a hard thing that has changed us.  We have decided that we LOVE hard things, and that love overshadows a multitude of hard things.  Oh, how wonderful it is to be doing what we were created for. 

Stop running from the challenges of God's call... they are where the adventure, the passion, and the purpose of life are found. 

To the One with Nothing Left to Give

To the One with Nothing Left to Give

Posted by Candace

I woke up this morning completely burnt out and exhausted.  Zombies have better mornings, I'm afraid (Hey! Maybe I won't need a costume tonight :).  The past week and a half has been grueling and chaotic.  Packing for a move is a never ending task that gets in the way of already busy days.  My laundry is piled to the ceiling ready to be put away...and until then, in the way.  I am teaching two different grades of school to boys who feel like school is "in the way" of their complete happiness.  My two year old daughter's frequent wake up calls are getting in the way of a much needed full night's sleep.  I still have job responsibilities in the midst of all of this that get in the way of any extra down time I might be able to squeeze out.  There is just much "in the way" these days.

Thing is, I know that all of this will pass.  I know that chaos will not reign forever and that even now it is ultimately for our blessing.  I know that I have soooo much to be grateful for.  I know that I will miss these days...well, maybe not these exact days...but days of busy motherhood, when they are gone.  Still, I am tired.  I spend my days giving in one way or another.  Mom's are built to be givers.  We love it.  Everyone expects it.  It's what we do... but even the best of us run out.  We are not a bottomless well of generosity.  We must be drawing on something or someone.

I, erroneously, like to draw from my husband.  He is such a strong personality.  He rarely wavers.  I like to feel that strength, to be in the vicinity of it.  I love it when he comes home and takes over and protects me from giving beyond what I am able.  So when he is also strained beyond his means, I am often "put out".  How can he abandon me when I need him most?  How can he "escape" off to work when I am so obviously floundering to get through another day?  How can he use all of his energies on everyone else and then come home expecting me to give some more?  See how selfish I become when he is my source.  My expectations become impossible and my well stay completely dry.  My best friend suffers my undeserved and often hidden bitterness, and death begins to reign in our household, not life.  When this happens, ugliness comes out of my soul that I am ashamed is in there.  I lash out, forgetting that my predicament is my own fault.  (I hope you can read between the lines and find the sincere apology in this, my love. So sorry.)

It is so easy for us to forget that we don't have to live like this. We have a source that never runs dry.  He stands by waiting for us to remember... to turn and look full into His face.  When we do, everything around us grows strangely dim.  It no longer matters that I have another "packed to the brim" day to get through or that I will be needed every moment of it.  I remember that I have a cross to lay those burdens at.  I remember that I have a Lover who will listen intently as I pour out all of my complaints.  I remember that I have a Well that will pour into me as I pour into others.  It is not automatic, dear sisters, we must turn to receive.  We must lay down our victim mentalities and our desire to hang onto our day as we see it.  We must allow God to speak.  We must lay down our pride and our noise and our "pet escapes" and our schedules.  We must turn to the only One who can fill us.

This morning I turned.  I am desperate for Him on my best days, so I have learned on my worst ones to quickly get over myself and cry out.  He looked at me lovingly, held my face in His Hands, and said, "Go take a shower and shave your legs."  I promise He did.  And I obeyed and after I obeyed, I felt a little more ability to give welling up inside of me.  I am running behind "schedule" (we use that word very lightly around here), but I took the time to write this morning, because I am continually amazed at the smallest benefits of serving such a Great God.  If you don't have anything left to give, turn, listen, and obey.  He knows exactly what you need today and only He can give it.

Top 10 REASONS to Send OBAMA Packing

Top 10 REASONS to Send OBAMA Packing

Posted by Candace

I hate to ostracize anyone from my blog with a political post, but I guess if my complete adoration for Jesus Christ has not turned you off to me, than this probably won't either. 

 

1.       Libya – this is really the only reason I should need to give.  His state department ignored several direct requests from the Libya ambassador to beef up security, get him out of there, or foil the plot that was in the works.  As a result there was a planned terror attack on US soil in Libya where the ambassador and 3 US Seal were killed.  The White House then tries to “spin” the story and blame it on a random film against Muslims.  The media is talking for days about how this film has caused chaos in the Middle East.  This whole situation proves the incompetence of our current administration.

 

 

2.       Other Foreign Policy – He publicly turns his nose up at Israel and goes on a late night talk show.  He makes it clear that Israel isn’t any more important to us than any other country.  I guess we are going to become socialist in our friendships too…no best friends, no enemies.  He doesn’t really believe in terror and believes that it only takes a good sit down to change hatred into love…and if that doesn’t work, let’s just give in to some demands…say we aren’t a Christian nation (yeah, maybe that will make them stop attacking us, since they hate Christians)…water down our values and our boundaries.  Dangerous, dangerous ground we are on in the one true job of our government, which is to protect us.

 

 

3.       Middle Class Hype – While the President and his wife are out yelling to the hilltops that the middle class is dwindling and touting their plan to rob from the “rich” to give to the poor, they are also staying in the most luxurious accommodations around the world, taking vacations, playing golf, etc.  It has been estimated that Michelle Obama just on her own has spent over 10 million dollars in the past 4 years on five star hotels, transport, massages, site seeing, and shopping.  You would think that if they are so worried about the hard-working middle class, they would show more respect for our tax dollars.  Seriously, does anyone really believe that someone cares about the hard-working middle class when they are living the “high” life to the fullest extent right in front of our eyes.  Are we that stupid?? 

 

 

4.       Executive Orders – The President has issued 96 executive orders in his 4 years in office.  This is far, far more than any other president.  His Justice Department has frequently gone around and run right over Congress to get its way.  He has the mindset of an idealistic dictator and will stop at almost nothing to carry out his goals for America.  If you would like to know what those are read his book or watch 2016… it is quite eye opening and even more terrifying that we ever could have elected this guy in the first place.  He claims that the gloves would come off in his next term.  Heaven forbid!

 

 

5.       Government Waste – I am SOOOO tired of my hard earned money being wasted!!  This administration has done nothing but make it worse.  The stimulus money did very little to stimulate the economy, but sure did hold up traffic in a lot of places to resurface roads that were just fine.  Michelle Obama’s new mandate on healthy school lunches has seen most children’s food thrown in the trash…next they will pass a bill mandating that health food be shoved down their throats.  Money is being thrown into government programs that never have a chance of working.  You cannot force people to make right choices and money will not change stupidity.   The waste of funds that we see every day is sickening (this goes for ALL administrations and Congress too!!) Oh, and the czars… Obama has 32 of them.  Never mind that the very word “czar” means “emperor or king”.  They all seem to have salaries of $100,000 to $200,000 a year… how very middle class of them.  There’s a great list of them on the internet.  Czars have NO business in American government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

 

 

6.       Economy – Blah, blah, blah, blah… yes, he inherited a crisis, 4 years ago.  When does that stop being an excuse?  Are we any better than when he took office?  People are still out of work everywhere.  People I know that have every ability in the world to work are riding out unemployment to its end…which now a days can be up to two years.  More companies are farming out jobs overseas.  His answer… raise taxes on the “rich”, of course.  This might sound quite noble at first.  Never mind that a good majority of these “rich” already pay most of the taxes that the government brings in each year.  Never mind that some of these “rich” are small business owners that have to claim their business earnings along with their personal earnings.  So us for example… David, as a small business owner, makes less than $75,000 a year, but his company might show to make $300,000 in any given year (all of this goes out to bills, overhead, etc. but the government doesn’t care**)… we have to pay in the “rich” tax bracket… and then drive past fast food restaurants that are now taking food stamps.  We work HARD for our money… and we don’t need to be forced to give it to the government so they can waste it.  We give to multiple charities of our choice already.  Places that are accountable and actually making a difference.  America is a country to which you can come with nothing and the possibilities be endless.  We are completely ruining human motivation, ingenuity, and creativity with this leveling the playing field crap.  We are quickly losing our greatest resource…FREEDOM.

 

 

7.       Social Issues – Obama claims to want less abortion, but he recently defunded Catholic organizations for their pro-life stance… these same Catholic organizations were making headway in the sex trafficking problem in the US, something else Obama says he cares about… Yet, tax payer money is being poured into Planned Parenthood, a corrupt and angry organization, and the gloves are coming off.  The new healthcare bill funds abortions with tax payer money and I don’t think they are going to listen to, “I’m sorry, IRS, but it is against my religion to support murder with my money.”  Do you have a pro-choice mindset?  I dare you to watch October Baby and not have something pull at your heart.  People around me are an inconvenience to me every day, but it is against the law and my conscience to kill them… why is this different for our most vulnerable citizens?  Life is the core of any great nation’s belief system.  Roe vs. Wade is wrong.  It has killed millions and millions of future artists, musicians, doctors, teachers, leaders… it may have even killed a better presidential candidate then the ones we are looking at today.  Who knows what greatness was in the lives that have been ended for the sake of saving someone the trouble… but Obama is quoted “I would never punish my daughters with a baby.”  Is this how a great leader talks of his flesh and blood grandchildren?

 

 

8.       War – What it is good for? Absolutely nothing.  Sounds ideal to do away with war, with the need for defense, with weapons that threaten other countries, but bottom line…evil exists.  You can sell your soul to it, but you can’t talk it into peace.  The people out there that hate America, the only reason they need is that it is a great country and they want to bring it down to their level.  They are getting plenty of help from our president.  One of the first things he tried to do as president was do away with Guantanamo Bay prison and give terrorists the same rights as American citizens.  Then he did away with the program that keeps up with our defense weapons that would protect us from any nuclear strike.  He said these were too aggressive and we needed to be the example for peace.  I don’t know about you, but when a criminal is pointing a gun at you, you don’t throw yours down hoping that he will do the same.  Everybody hates war.  But war is a fact of life.  Freedom is something we will fight for until America’s dying day (which may not be too far away).  If they can’t have it, they want no one to have it.  War is ugly but necessary.  Some things are worth fighting for.

 

 

9.       Obamacare – he was smart to have this not truly go into effect until after the election.  This plan is not only going to put us deeper in debt as a nation, but it is going to destroy our healthcare system.  This was only a sneaky way to universal healthcare and it was shoved through with the most obvious and blatant show of vote buying that we have ever witnessed.  What happens when every insurance company in America has to honor “no preexisting conditions”?  Prices of healthcare will skyrocket.  People who are mandated to have healthcare will not be able to afford private insurance and will be forced to go with the government plan…how convenient.  Soon private healthcare will be bankrupt and I seriously doubt the government will bail them out.  Once private healthcare is out of the way, we are stuck with what we get.  Doctors and nurses are already flocking to career plan B.  Can you imagine when our doctor’s offices and hospitals are government ran and controlled?  Let me give you a mental picture… the tag office, the health department, the post office, DFaCS, etc.  It will be a “hit or miss” type of risk you will be taking with your health.  But as one woman from Canada said who had just spent 2 weeks in the hospital having a baby “You’ll love it!  It’s free!”  

 

10.   Immigration – I am all for being a “Melting Pot”, but our borders are quickly melting.  The federal government has even blocked states from protecting their own borders.  Yes, protecting our borders is one of the most important government jobs, so why aren’t they doing it?  Why are illegal aliens flooding our country and not fearing any consequences while people stand in line to become citizens the right and legal way.  In our new world of terrorist threats and attacks, why are we more worried about offending someone by asking for their driver’s license than we are about keeping our country safe and respected.  No one respects our rules any more.  Try to sneak into any other country in the world illegally and see what happens.  It seems like we are taking away freedom from the honest people and giving it to the dishonest. 

Being a law abiding, hard-working citizen is no longer rewarded.  David and I were recently trying to refinance our house to secure a lower interest rate.  We were told that the only way we could get this lower interest rate was to produce $50,000 which is the difference in what we owe on our house and what it now appraises for or be behind a few payments on our mortgage.  Oh, that encourages people to be honest.  We chose to stay with our over blown payment, but we know many people would have stopped paying their mortgage payment for a few months.  You might as well avoid getting promoted at your job or hiring more employees and growing your small business, because you are just going to be paying any extra money you make to the government and guess what, they get to use it any way that they see fit… parties, incidentals, luxury “business” trips, unnecessary employees, worthless government programs… anything that they want.  And they are accountable to no one, but us… on Election Day… This one day, the government sits in front of its people for its “review”.  Just this once, I agree with Mr. Trump… President Obama, you’re fired.

**Correction: David corrected me on my writing about his business tax world. Small business owners pay a personal tax rate on their personal income + all company "profit" in the form of K-1's. These "profits" are figured AFTER bills, overhead, etc., not before. For example, if all of David's S Corporations make $150K profit this year, he has to pay taxes on roughly $225K, putting him dangerously close to the "evil rich" that Obama/Biden refer to... This is not reality because he does not get that extra profit personally. It must be used for cash flow, investment, etc. etc.

Huge Roberts' News

Huge Roberts' News

Posted by Candace

God speaks. He plans. He leads. He makes it clear when we ask.

Last year, David and I felt like God was calling us to homeschool. This was a huge deal for us because I had always said that I would NEVER homeschool. I don't feel that I have anywhere near the teaching abilities and skills that the boys were getting at their incredible school. We were in love with that school and I had prayed every year that God would allow the boys to graduate from there, so it was very odd when suddenly I had the desire to teach the boys myself. But we took the leap of faith and decided to withdraw the boys at the end of the year.

Not long after that, we felt a strong leading to leave our fairly new church. We could not figure out why we were having such a hard time. The church was great, the truth was preached, the people were fab, but we could not get comfortable. We had many discussions, we tried to get involved, we knew we were needed, but we just kept hearing God say "this is not the place to settle down."

Time passed and we were feeling quite isolated and not sure what direction to head in. We had just ostracized ourselves from any weekly community and we had no leads on God's plan for all of this. The boys had been very attached to their school, but gradually had time to come around to the idea of trying something new. Thank goodness that their best friends are neighbors and God had planted us in an AMAZING neighborhood of people, because it would have been much harder to make these transitions without that... and Facebook ;).

After we came home with Kate, our frustration levels had gone to an all time high. David was not happy with his job. I was praying desperately for community. We were all unsure of where the next school year would take us. It was rough waters with the one bright spot of Kate (which seemed to outweigh all the rest on most days. What a gift!). One day, in a moment of pure irritation, I sent an email to David that said "Let's just move!" I got back a response of "You literally cannot imagine how many times that thought has crossed my mind. I have a very different perspective on that concept now than I used to… I am sincerely praying that God will be clear on what is next in that part of our live (or our entire life for that matter…)."

Wow. Wasn't expecting that. We actually started considering moving. This is a huge change of heart because just weeks prior to this we had been discussing the options of an above ground pool for the summers. We had often discussed how we would be in this house at least until the kids were grown and how God had provided enough room for all our future adopted kids :). I had often prayed that my boys would be rooted and grounded in the same community their whole lives because I had to move so much as a child and was never in the same school for more than 2 years until high school when everyone has already established strong bonds and friendships. This was a huge consideration for us. We threw out possibilities at random, one of which was Florida...or Hawaii...who wouldn't want God to call them there?

We could never have expected what would happen next. It still has our minds blown sometimes. We had scheduled a trip to Albany, GA on a whim. We were going to meet Kate's caseworker who helped us tremendously through our adoption process and who was much of the encouragement that I needed to make the China trip. Even a week before this trip I was not particularly excited about going. I am too embarrassed to even admit the thoughts that went through my head about South Georgia. Needless to say, it was not one of my top vacation spots. Sadly, I think the only thing that caused me not to back out was a free family picture session to get our first family pics done (no offense, Emily! I love you!).

Long story short, our first trip to Albany was amazing. We fell in love with Jay and Emily and found out he was a pastor at a church up the street from them. The moment we walked into Sherwood we were hooked. Not at all because it is famous (This is the church that produced "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof" and "Courageous") or because we got to take pictures with actors who are also faithful servants of Jesus or even because it is beautiful and big. It was because we walked in and felt like we were home. The Presence of God was there and we could tell immediately that this church cares about following Jesus with its every move. It was just icing on the cake that it was the perfect blend of what David and I had been searching for in a community of worshippers. We almost had to drag David out of the sanctuary to leave.

While we were there, we joked about God asking us to move there. We saw a beautiful rainbow that seemed to be directly over the church and we laughed about signs and promises. We bantered back and forth about knats and 100 degree temperatures. We never could have expected that this was the planting of something huge in our lives.

Three weeks later we were back. It seems that David had suddenly received multiple large projects to quote in South Georgia, all of them an hour or less away from, wait for it.... Albany. We decided to go with him for the weekend. We enjoyed more wonderful time with our new friends, and an incredible church service once again. This time we really felt like God was doing something, but we had no idea how He would work out any details. We still had David's company and our under market value house to think about. God had some miracles to do if He was calling us to Albany. However, right in front of our eyes we started to see God pulling all the pieces of the puzzle together that we had been trying to figure out for months. We could no longer ignore the whisperings in our spirits...and we didn't want to. We decided to start praying in this direction and see what God would do.

As we were praying, we mapped out the recent jobs that David had quoted and realized that they did almost a complete circle around Albany. We talked to David's mom and she said she would be willing to rent our house if God kept leading this direction. So we decided to take another trip to Albany for the express purpose of looking at houses.

Man, this is a long story, even though I am so shortening it. If you have made it this far, you must really care about our family and what God is doing...so thank you!!! I would love to hear that you have read the whole thing 'cause it is starting to feel a little bit like a writing marathon at this point.

We went back down to Albany three weeks after our second trip to meet with a real estate agent and look at houses. We were just looking for God to open or close the door. We fell in love with the first house we looked at. The boys loved it too...so much so that they were excited about the thought of moving. It was wide open and gorgeous and had just enough room. We looked at 9 other houses that day, but none compared with the first one. Was this what God had for us?

The next day at church, we were describing this house to Jay and telling him how much he loved it. He said "That is the house." You see, on our first trip to Albany, Jay and Emily had mentioned how they had tried to sell their 3 bedroom 1700 square foot house for a year with no success (Did I mention that they have 5 kids? Yes, 7 people in this space for years). They had recently taken it off the market to refinance because God just did not seem to be moving them. In the midst of all of this, a house went on the market that they had loved for years. This house used to belong to the senior pastor of Sherwood. When it went on the market, his daughter had texted Emily and told her it was up for sale and she would love for them to buy it. They couldn't, though, because they had not sold their house. This house is the very same one we had looked at and fell in love with. The price had just been reduced on it too. I looked at Jay and said, "We are not buying Emily's house!" Jay tried to reassure us that the house was not theirs and they had no claim on it at all and obviously God had not moved, so they would love for us to consider it, but we could read the disappointment. We did not know it yet, but Jay had literally filled out a prayer request and laid it on the altar that morning about their house situation.

All through service I struggled inwardly. We all loved that house. It was gonna make the move easier on the boys. If we were going to have to live in Albany, I wanted it to be in that house. Yet I knew in my heart what God was saying. I argued with Him all through service. I even told Him that I was not the one He needed to convince, it was David. I was so sure that David would never go for what I felt God was telling me.

After service, on the way out to our car, I turned to David and I said, "Do you think God might want us to buy Jay and Emily's house?" I was completely expecting him to say, "What in the world are you talking about?" Instead what came out of his mouth was "God was saying the exact same thing to me all through service." Well, that settled it. If I have learned one thing in my lifetime, it is NEVER to directly disobey God's voice (and no, David, I am not referring to you as God ;). No matter how much you love or are attached to something on this earth, it NEVER works out for the best. Anything that makes you disobey is an idol and needs to be dealt with before it wreaks havoc in God's plans for your life.

We told Jay and Emily our plans (or better yet, God's plans) that afternoon. Emily had actually already scheduled to meet a real estate agent out at that house the next week just completely on faith. We were blown away at the timing of all of this, especially considering that we had come to Albany on a whim that weekend. As we were making the 3 hour drive home, Jay called David and further blew our minds. Evidently, a local pastor had called up the Sherwood pastor that day and told him that one of his congregation members was putting in an offer on this house that weekend. Jay and Emily put in a full offer that Monday and it was accepted over 2 other offers. If it hadn't have been that exact weekend, they would have lost the house. How GREAT is our God?!? No man could have ever worked out timing so intricately.

This was all in August. Since then we have been trying to get a second loan on Jay and Emily's house as we could obviously not sell our house in this market. We were pretty much denied on the first loan we applied for and it left us questioning everything that had happened to that point. Was this really God's plan or did we just make all this stuff up? We stood strong in faith believing that our finite minds could have never come up with such a plan. Finally, yesterday a second loan came through and was approved. This is a complete miracle in the current economic climate where people are walking away from their homes. We were obviously downsizing and moving 3 hours away, so any bank could have looked at that as a plan to abandon our current house payment. Even in the waiting God provided. When Jay and Emily put a contract on their new home, they only had a month to close without penalty, but obviously had to wait for us to close first. Their time should have been up in September, but the seller kept delaying to make repairs. Now we should close at very near the same time and without penalty or loss of contract.

So short story very long, we are moving to Albany. David's mom will rent out our house. I am so excited for her to finally have a big enough place to entertain our growing extended family. Plus she will be closer to most of her children and only 15 minutes from a drive to work that used to take her over an hour. David will be starting a new branch of Ascend in Albany. We are not sure what this looks like yet, but know that God will provide. He will be up to his main branch weekly for meetings and such. We will be able to stay in our own basement when we come for visits and such. There are just so many things that God has worked out in all of this.

I want to use all of this to encourage someone.  God DOES have a plan.  Even when it doesn't look like it or seem like it, if you can just grab on to faith and believe that no matter what you "see" He will come through...He will.  Keep asking, keep knocking, keep waiting patiently.  Don't try to work it out yourself...don't start worrying or fretting... don't panic or give in to doubt.  He IS working.  We are living proof.  There is NOTHING special about us except the fact that we desire to follow Jesus with our whole heart.  When your desire becomes for His Name and Renown more than anything else, crazy things start happening.

We don't have an exact move date, but it will be in the next couple of weeks. Please be in prayer for us as we make this huge transition. David has never lived outside of metro Atlanta and we are leaving all of our family and close friends behind. This will be truly starting over for us. We need your prayer support. Thank you for loving us enough to read all the way to the end. We love you too!

Hard Words

Hard Words

Posted by Candace

I want to tell you a story. 

I want it to be big and wonderful and glorious, but I also want it to be true and right and honest...a story from the heart...for God's glory and His alone.

I want to tell this story, not because it is easy to write...it's not...not because it makes anyone look good...it doesn't...and not because it has a fairy tale ending...it probably won't.  I want to take a risk and open the deepest recesses of my heart, so that the enemy loses ground in all of this.  I want to "kick him in the head" so to speak.  I want the Name of Jesus to be louder than any other song, and if God gives me the words, maybe this small contribution will move that goal forward.

Some of you will know parts of this story...those of you that know any of it will think that it started 10 years ago... it actually started much further back then that.  It started when my mom was born.

Honestly, I never thought that I would write much about my mom or my childhood until my parents had passed on.  I don't desire to hurt them in any way or to divulge things that might embarrass or offend...and if I tell this story like I want to, it has the risk of doing both.  Only just recently did it even occur to me that this might help someone else, and so I will take the risk.

My mom was born in the 1950's in Washington State.  My grandpa was a butcher as far as I know of his career and my blood grandma was schizophrenic.  She has one sister who is 10 years older than her and they were never close.  I don't know very much about my mom's childhood because she has never been particularly open about it, but I do know that it was filled with instability from the start.  When my mom was 14, her mom, who had been institutionalized for mental illness (in an age where there wasn't much hope for people with her problems), passed away.  Six months later, my grandpa brought home the only grandma that I have ever known and sent my mom to live with relatives in Oregon.  My mom had been very close to her dad and I am sure resented this new woman who had "replaced" her, so I am certain this, along with the loss of her mother, was very traumatizing to her.  I cannot imagine such darkness.  While living with relatives, my mother was abused.  I have no details, I only heard this come out of her mouth to the intake counselor at the hospital just a couple of weeks ago.  I had no idea.  Cast off, abused, shunned... the list is probably a mile long of things working against her from the beginning.

My mother's teenage years were filled with experimenting and destruction.  I am sad to say that I don't even know how she came to know the Lord exactly, but she met Him and her life began to change.  He lifted her out of the miry clay and she began to establish a life.  She met my dad shortly after that and though he was unsaved, he pursued my mom with a passion and eventually met the Lord as well.  They got married and became pregnant with me.

Around Christmas time before my July birthday, my mom thought she was miscarrying me.  She began bleeding and had to be rushed to the hospital.  She tells me that she prayed and prayed that she would not lose me...she had already had a couple of short previous pregnancies and she wasn't sure that her body would carry a child correctly anymore.  Obviously God was gracious, because here I am today, but after my birth, postpartum depression threatened to do my mom in.  I know only bits and pieces of the story, but the part I do know that she has always told freely and without reserve is that Jesus walked into her room one day and touched her and she was able to once again function normally.  She has always been very adamant that she felt His physical presence.  Oh, how He loves her.

Despite my mom's relationship with the Saviour, there were many things that she could not seem to let go of.  She held on to some major insecurities and some major fears.  She had a tendency to be controlling and manipulative, no doubt out of fear that she would lose the preciousness of what God was gifting her with.  She had three more kids after me and we became a good bit of her world.

My mom was born with a gift.  She is a very talented musician and over the years led worship in several churches.  Even in that gift, she had very little confidence, always berating herself for the smallest of errors, always feeling less than and threatened...never truly trusting the Giver of all good and perfect gifts, though I know she loved Him as much as she knew how to love.  Just as she loved us as much as she knew how to love...and looking back, I know that she didn't really know how to love at all...not as she really wanted to. 

Our childhood was somewhat unstable.  I will spare the details, because all I have is my 33 year old perspective and my moments with my own children.  My mom and my dad had marital issues throughout, but I specifically remember a few seasons that were particularly rough.  As the oldest, I took on a good bit of mental responsibility that I was not ready for.  I became a confidante in the rough times and children are just not meant for that burden.  Fear was often a way of survival and a close friend.  After many years, my dad left and my mom gave up.

Despite everything that my mom was not when we were growing up, she was my spiritual hero.  She loved Jesus so much and spent a good bit of our days trying to make us love Him too :).  She wanted so badly for her children to serve the God that had rescued her.  Our foundation of faith came from her.  I used to think to myself that if I knew one thing to be true about life and one thing that was stable and unchanging, it was and would be my mom's relationship with the Lord.  I felt that if that ever fell apart, the world would probably end.

And one day, it did.  My dad left.  And this added more damage to a woman whose fractures had never truly healed.  You see, though my mom loved Jesus and followed Him, she could never quite forgive herself or leave behind the guilt, shame, and pain of all that had gone on in her life.  She couldn't quite shake off the victim mentality that the enemy had planted from a very young age.  She knew the Word backwards and forwards and she believed it fully for other people, but when it came to herself, she just couldn't fully accept that she was worth the effort.  I think to this day she might believe that she is the only one on earth that was born unworthy and beyond even the help of her Creator.  I also think that when she got saved, she believed that everything was water under the bridge and she would never need to seek out counseling or speak of the darkness that had formed her into adulthood.  She was saved in a church age where church faces needed to be happy, free, and hopeful.  If you know Jesus, it fixes everything after all and we should go on to live glorious, free lives.  There was something wrong with you if an encounter with Jesus didn't fix your whole being for the rest of your life.

I want to stop here, because some of you still believe this.  You believe that when you got saved, even though you might still have trials in your circumstances and tragedies on the outside, when it comes to the inside of the cup, you should be perfect...never doubting, never fearing, never remembering bad days, or wrestling with horrible memories.  After all, you are a new creature...old things have passed away... and they have!  It is true!  But unfortunately, the minds that we are created with do not become new over night.  They must be renewed and they must believe what God says...on purpose.  You MUST know the Word and you MUST work to believe the Word.  Your mind will not just automatically accept what God says.  Some of the things He says will go against EVERYTHING the world has taught you to believe.  And the devil will fight.  He doesn't play fair...he will use every weapon in the book when he feels that you are moving forward in your gifting and purpose.  Many Christians never face these battles, because they never attempt to move forward.  They are content being heaven bound...who cares about changing a hopeless world that God will make new one day any way.  Some of us with this mentality need to examine if we are even "in the faith", because anyone truly following Christ will pray and work to be a good steward of the "talents" God has given them.  Once you begin walking hand in hand with God's purpose for your life, things will get challenging.  The enemy will fight, and as a good soldier, you have to be ready, or he will sweep the rug right out from under you.  He uses the most sneaky tactics and he has studied every one of your weaknesses.  If you haven't dealt with issues in your past...faced them...forgiven others and yourself...laid them at the cross and decided this life is not about you or your past...he will know and he will throw it in your face for the rest of your life.

My mom was moving forward.  She was working in her calling.  Then crisis hit, and instead of running to her relationship with Jesus after my dad left, my mom ran to what she thought would ease the pain.  She took control and ended up out of control.  The enemy had all of his weapons directly aimed at her weakest points and had just been waiting for an opportunity.  Her shield went down and he struck.  Eventually and through many horrid circumstances, she ended up institutionalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia.  She spent the next 8 or 9 years getting back on her feet and trying to reestablish some semblence of a life.

About a year ago, God was very gracious and seemed to grow my mom in leaps and bounds.  She seemed to be doing better.  She got out on her own.  She felt that God had once again rescued her and given her a purpose and I am very sure that He did.  I just don't think she was prepared for what the enemy thought of that.  There are still old and even new wounds festering with infection inside my mother.  Wounds that need to be brought into the light and wrapped with bandages of godly love and counsel.  When the enemy fought he knew exactly where to swing and he is currently standing over her thinking that he has given the knock out blow.

My mom is back in the hospital.  They are trying to get her meds adjusted and saying that it is deep depression, and no doubt some of it is a physical problem...but my mom also has a host of parasites.  They are lies.  The lie that she is not good enough and never will be. The lie that she is guilty and her sins have finally caught up with her. The lie that no one really loves her and she is unlovable and that's why no one ever stayed.  The lie that she should have been something great and look where she is.  The lie that she is powerless and hopeless and defeated.  She is consumed by these...never learning how to battle against the fiery darts with her name on them.  And she also has amnesia... What my mom forgets is that she is a child of a King.  She is a beautiful princess.  She has been given treasures that the enemy can NEVER take away.  She forgets that he is a liar and the father of them and that when she gave her heart to Jesus, she became safe and protected.  She forgets the end of the story and that she was truly created by a God who knows what He is doing with His creation.  She forgets that He is full of redemption and his favorites are the most broken, the most unworthy, and the most hopeless.  She forgets that God don't make junk!  And I think the Devil has forgotten too.  He has dared to mess with a princess...to kidnap her and make her believe she is his slave.  He has dared to put his ugly, nasty, "damned to hell" hands on her and he has forgotten that he will pay.  He has forgotten that when God's children cry out to Him in desperation, he comes running with smoke pouring from His nostrils and fire in His eyes. 

I don't believe this is how the story ends.  I want to believe and hope that I will one day soon blog again and tell you amazing stories of how God rescued my mom, gave her hope, and placed her in a wide open places. I want to tell you of the ways that Jesus is using her for His glory and how happy and fulfilled she is.  I want to finish this story with redemption and restoration...restoration of everything that the locust have eaten in my mom's life.  I want her to have a double portion.  I even want her to have a husband...to not be alone anymore.  I know that He can do it.  I know that He has her plan in His Hands even now.  But I also know that even if she never gets better, He is still God, and He will use her story for His glory.  You see she belongs to Him...eternally...whether or not she believes it...and not all of the God's children's stories have happy earthly endings, but I am confident that they all have happy eternal ones.

The older I get, the more I realize...the less we make life about us, the happier we are.  I must decrease so He can increase.  I am only a vessel...and when I am only a vessel, there is no pressure for me to have a reputation or respect or success or beauty or material possessions...that is all up to the Filler of the vessel.  He has the plan, and I am being taught right here and now to trust that more than anything I see with my eyes.  I pray that He will use what He has helped me to write tonight for His Kingdom and His Glory (and to knock the devil's head off).

Our desire is for Your Name and Your Renown.