Category: faith

adventure, faith, kingdom living, leadership, sacred romance

What Size is Your Story?

Natalie

I love movies.  It’s one of my favorite things to do with my family on the weekend.  Many of my children do as well, and since the youngest is heading into his tween years, we’ve been slowly introducing him to some of the great movies we’ve seen over the years.  Last night it was The Matrix.  He loved it.  I loved it for the fourth or fifth time.

We actually watched two movies yesterday, my youngest son and I.  He wanted to see Thor: Ragnarok again. That movie makes me smile because Thor seems much more human in it.

This morning on my facebook timeline, I noticed that someone posted a beautiful sunset/sunrise and then referenced yet another of my favorite movies, The Last of the Mohicans.

I love movies for the same reason I loved books as a child.  I wanted a world bigger than my own. A world that’s not so mundane, where everything is hanging in the balance, and where there is epic love and epic friendship and epic battles.

In our couple’s group tonight, we’re discussing Chapter 4 of The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge.  This chapter is called A Story Big Enough to Live In.  Like my son and me, these two authors love movies.  The authors contend that “if we’re going to find the answer to the riddle of the earth — and of our own existence — we’ll find it in story.” (p. 40) They go on to say that we “create our own storylines to bring some meaning to our experiences,” but they claim that we lose ourselves in the smallest kinds of stories.  You’ll have to pick up the book for more (I promise it’s worth the read).

I am 100% sure that my youngest son would say that his storyline involves some superhuman abilities and epic battles to save the world.

I know I created my own storyline as well as a child, also with superhuman abilities and epic battles.  Unfortunately, my story began to shrink throughout my life.  But I am dreaming again of my childhood storyline and smiling, and as I do, I find it’s getting bigger and bigger.

How about you?  What size is your storyline? Is it epic, or the smallest kind?

 

adventure, faith, kingdom living

Transition

Natalie

So today is a big transition day for me.  I’m stepping out of a role that I’ve filled since the first part of July for one client and out of the business entirely of being a virtual assistant.  I’ve enjoyed filling this role and being in this business, but the reality is that it was a place to hide out and be comfortable.

In my last post, I mentioned that I was hiding from a call of God on my life.  I’ve taken a few steps out of my hideout in the last few weeks, but today is a big step. It’s a weird feeling.

Several years ago, I read a fascinating book by Erwin McManus called The Barbarian Way. That book had a huge impact on my faith journey at the time.  So much so that I adopted several word pictures from it to describe my journey.  I even wrote about one of them here.  McManus explains how a group of rhinoceroses should be a picture of the church, although I have appropriated it for me. Here’s what he says,

But my favorite of all is the group designation for rhinos.  You see, rhinos can run at thirty miles an hour, which is pretty fast when you consider how much weight they’re pulling… Just one problem with this phenomenon.  Rhinos can see only thirty feet in front of them.  Can you image something that large moving in concert as a group, plowing ahead at thirty miles an hour with no idea what’s at thirty-one feet?  You would think that they would be far too timid to pick up full steam, that their inability to see far enough ahead would paralyze them to immobility.  But with that horn pointing the way, rhinos run forward full steam ahead without apprehension, which leads us to their name.  Rhinos moving together at full speed are known as a crash.

I’d put aside my rhino mentality for at least two years, but I’m picking it back up.  I’m no longer willing to hide out, but rather I’m picking up steam and moving forward without apprehension.

Join me and let’s become a crash.

faith, Uncategorized, writing

Jonah and me

Natalie

It’s been a while since my last blog post.  Primarily because I’ve been hiding out.  I’m not generally thought of as being shy or timid, but the last few years, I have been an ardent avoider.  Not in all areas of my life, just one in particular.  This one.

If you scroll below this post, you’ll see that the last post here was in 2015.  Hard to believe that I haven’t written anything here in 2 1/2 years.

You might well ask why.

I didn’t realize until recently that I was having a Jonah moment.

Jonah, according to scripture, was also an avoider. He was given a specific task to go to a specific group of people to tell them to repent of their sin.  This group of people, the Nineveh-ites, some 120,000 strong, were a vile society and God had called Jonah to call them to repentance.  Jonah, instead, goes in exactly the opposite direction.  He’s trying to avoid the difficult task.

Four years ago, I began working on an idea. I set up a separate blog and a facebook page and worked at it here and there.  Two years later, after a move, I resurrected said idea and developed it into a presentation which I gave at our current church in January 2016.  I had several people tell me at that time that I was a gifted speaker and that I should turn it into a book and maybe start looking at giving that presentation elsewhere.  These were people who I respected, who knew of my spiritual gifts and were encouraging me to seek God’s leading in this area.

Instead, I decided to hide.

I stopped writing altogether and focused on easier things.  I was still using some of my gifts and abilities but I was really hiding out.  In January of last year, I even took on a new job.  This new job totally fit my skills and abilities, but it was really just another place to hide out.

Well, I’m not hiding any longer, thanks to a mission trip and the devotions during that time which God used to call me out of hiding and point out that I was acting like Jonah.

Expect to see more from me here.

 

 

adventure, faith, kingdom living, leadership

New Role

Natalie

In the last few weeks, I have begun serving my community through our church, Christ Community Church, in a new way. Our church has had a relationship with World Relief for several years, but had no one to take up the role of being the point person. This new role will have me developing a cadre of volunteers who are willing to welcome new refugees into our area. It is a role which fits the call of Jesus on my life which is to embody Micah 6:8.

He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly[a] with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV84

Our goal (mine and that of Christ Community Church’s Community Impact team and the beginnings of our team of volunteers) is to build relationships with refugees in the hopes that one day we will be able to share Jesus Christ with them and see them begin a personal relationship with him.

I have been super excited about this new role and have studied all that it entails. I’m daily reading and educating myself on who is a refugee, the process for identifying them and approving them for resettlement and what happens when they arrive on our soil. I’m reading leadership books and spending a lot of time planning. I am a researcher, it’s a passion of mine. I like to really understand things and dig deep. And I have done so on this issue and especially on this community partner, World Relief.

I’m excited to share with you what I have learned. Look for new blog posts over the next few days. I’m dividing the posts as it is a lot of information to digest. I will be linking to factual data, so please follow the links. I hope you will read all of them.  Feel free to share them with others who are wondering about refugees, particularly those who fear an influx of Syrian Refugees.

It is my humble prayer that God will use these posts to bring about a change of hearts and minds.

adoption, faith, kingdom living, parenting

Just a little something I had to write this morning…

Natalie

Family

An ever-changing
moving target
at our house

Acceptance always
our goal
our motivation

Love you where you are
show Christ’s love
believe you want to be
the best you
you are capable of being

Willing to be
a safe place for you
for a season
or for a lifetime

Loving you
is not easy
is heart-bursting
is joyous
is heartbreaking

Tears
of love
of grief
of acceptance
when you choose
to leave

Know you were
and are
loved

faith

Eve, Captivating, and Xena, Warrior Princess

Natalie

I am a huge fan of John Eldredge’s books, I even subscribe to his daily readings. I have to admit, though, to never being able to get through his wife, Stasi Eldredge’s book, Captivating.  This week, I received a daily reading called “Haunted by Eve”.  Here’s the link:  Haunted by Eve

Honestly, I don’t see myself haunted by the question, “Am I lovely?” I identify much more easily with the generalized every little boy question, “Do I have what it takes?”  I accepted long ago, that God made me the way he saw fit.  Brian finds me lovely and I know God does and so I have no need to ask that question.

Much more important to me is “Do I have what it takes?”  I would so much rather don my spiritual armor and be a warrior for God fighting alongside the son of Man and the angels, than be a little girl twirling around in a pretty party dress.

Any other women feel that way? If so, join me in the Warrior Princess for God club!

Bible Study, faith, kingdom living

Keep Calm and….

Natalie

You’ve seen these little quotes, probably everywhere! I know I have. Apparently, it began as a propaganda slogan in Britain at the beginning of the second world war.  If you want to read more about it click here.  Anyway, my mind has been kind of stuck on it as a result of my bible study this morning.

I’ve been studying 1 Thessalonians with a group of other women and today I was writing about 1 Thess 4:9-12. Here’s the text.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

New Living Translation (NLT)

9 But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other,[a] for God himself has taught you to love one another. 10 Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers[b] throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more.

11 Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. 12 Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

So I was pondering on Paul’s meaning when he said “Live a quiet life”, because mine is definitely anything but quiet!  What did he really mean?  So I looked up several other translations of verse 11.  Here’s the one from The Message version:

11-12 Stay calm; mind your own business; do your own job. You’ve heard all this from us before, but a reminder never hurts. We want you living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends.

Obviously this is where the Keep Calm and…. came into play.  I had to laugh at the thought of a sign that would read like this one:

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Ok, now that I have that out of my system, I can focus on the real thing I learned from my studying this morning.  How many people do I know that stay calm? I’m often found running around like the proverbial chicken with its head removed?  I’m often hassled, harried, stressed as is most of the world.  What would my life speak to others if I were able to stay calm?  I know if I were outside looking in on a mom with four adopted kids who somehow managed to keep calm even 75% of the time, I’d be asking how she would be doing it.

The fact is, I’m failing miserably at staying calm – at least on the inside.  I don’t know how many of those who see me regularly are noticing.  But if we read on to verse 12, the reason Paul commands us to do just that so that those who are not Christians who look at our lives will respect us.

If I do not have peace in my life, it’s not a life that someone else would respect or be drawn to.

I’m spending sometime in Psalm 119 in my study time as well and found this little gem.

v25 I lie in the dust, completely discouraged; revive me by your word.

For me, the key to staying calm is staying grounded in God’s word and lots of worship cds!

How do you stay calm when life is chaotic around you?

 

adoption, adventure, faith, kingdom living, parenting

I’m in Haiti!

Natalie

I made it to Haiti this afternoon!  It’s great to see the boys and they are anxious to get on the plane.

I have some specific prayer requests for this week and would love it if you would be praying for them:

  • Tomorrow we go to the Embassy for the Visa interview.  Once we complete that it could be the same day or the next day that we pick up the visa.  Please pray that it is same day so that there are not additional transportation charges to pay.
  • Once the visa is in our hands, I will go with a social worker to IBESR (Haitian Children’s Services) to pick up the exit letter. Please pray that we are able to get this with little to no delay.
  • On Friday, we will fly out, assuming there are no delays, to Miami.  We’ll overnight in Miami and then fly to St. Louis on Saturday morning.

We would love to have you meet us at the St. Louis airport to welcome the boys home! Our arrival time is 11:30 and we are flying in on American Airlines.

Look for posts on my facebook account for more detail a little later in the week.

Blessings on your week! Thanks for your prayers!

adoption, faith, kingdom living, parenting

It is Finished!!! (Well, almost…)

Natalie

We finally have a visa appointment!!  I’ll be traveling to Haiti on Monday and going to the Embassy on Tuesday morning for the appointment.  As soon as the visa is printed, we’re going to IBESR for the exit letter.  Please pray that all goes smoothly!

Our current plan is to fly to Miami on Friday, March 1 and stay overnight to get a little space, then fly to St. Louis on Saturday morning. It looks like we might make that 2 year-to-the day mark after all!!

Once we’re home, we’re going into a cocooning stage to give the boys time to acclimate to a  new family and an entirely new way of life and some space to grieve as they leave their old life behind. We’ll also be busy with a multitude of appointments as we begin baseline health evaluations for them.  We’re not sure how long this will take, but we’re planning on at least three weeks.  So, you’ll see either Brian and I and the older boys around, but probably not the whole family for a while.  In the meantime, I’ll be updating the blog with how things are going.

We would love to have you welcome us home at the airport.  We’re flying American home and our flight arrives at 11:30 am.  Check my facebook account for updates throughout the week!

adoption, faith, kingdom living, parenting

It’s Valentine’s Day, so I thought I’d post a love story…

Natalie

But it’s not your typical love story.  Instead, it’s the story of how Brian and I fell in love with two boys back in November 2008 and adopted them as our sons.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.  For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”  Romans 8:14-17

This post was originally shared on our facebook group, The Ames Fusion Experience. Please feel free to join that group if you’d like.  We’ll be updating the group with information on the adoption of Lowenski and Daveson and how they are settling in.  But I digress….  Here’s the story.

In November of 2008, Natalie ran across pictures of two young boys and had to do a double take. They were part of a gallery of pictures of children who were available for adoption out of the foster care system. There were small descriptions of the boys attached to the pictures and one of the boys said he wanted a family that liked to camp (well, Brian does, and Natalie will learn to like it again) and has a german shepherd (ok, we have a dog that sort of looks like one). The other boy said he loved sports and liked dogs too.

The gallery was put together by our church’s foster and adoption ministry so Natalie checked into the boys and discovered they were still available. She prayed for five days before talking to Brian and each time she did she kept getting a mental picture of Brian sitting on the couch between the boys and reading to them. She also kept hearing the phrase “bring them home” every time she prayed. When she told Brian, he agreed and the journey began.

Amazingly, every worry and barrier at the beginning of the process fell as fast as we could think about it. For instance, our worry about how much it would cost, turned out to be completely unfounded as it costs nothing to adopt from the foster system. We knew we wouldn’t be able to start the training that would be required until after Doug and Whitney’s wedding in January, so we were scheduled to begin our first of 9 foster parenting classes on January 17.

On January 16, we received a call that made our heart sink. The boys were going to be “staffed” and we were not going to be allowed to be presented. A “staffing” is when the child’s decision-making team gathers to make a decision as to which family the child will be adopted by. The staffing was to take place in February, about three weeks into our training. We did find out later that neither family was selected and we were back in consideration.

That brings us to today. We have finished our foster parenting classes and are in the middle of our adoption class (last weekend and this coming weekend – March 29). Next week, we’ll finish up the home study, at least I think we will. Then we should be ready for the staffing.Ok, there you go, you’re now up to date.So what happens next?Once the class is over and the home study is completed, then we submit it for the next staffing. If we are chosen as the family to adopt them, then we will begin the transition process. From what we understand, that will probably begin with a few trips to McDonalds, the park, etc and eventually going to an overnight visit to a weekend visit. We’re 95% sure they will not move in until after the school year is over. Once they move in, then that begins a six month to nine month “trial” period before the adoption becomes finalized.

****BREAKING NEWS******************

April 30 – The staffing was held this morning and Marcus and Denny will be joining our family very soon!! We’ll meet the boys for the first time next weekend! We’ll have a meeting early next week to discuss the transition into our home.

************************************************

May 8th – The boys will be coming tomorrow and spending the night. They’ll move in permanently on the 21st or 22nd. 😀

Marcus and Denny have been our sons now for almost 4 years and our life is much richer since they joined the family.  We are so grateful that God led us to them!

Here are the pictures of them that I first saw.

Image

Marcus at age 10

Image

Denny at age 9

And here’s a great picture of the whole family on adoption day!

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And here is a picture of them at Christmas this year.

noname

 

 

 

Do you have a love story to share this Valentine’s Day?

If not, I hope you will let this one become yours:

But to all who believed Him [Jesus] and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God – John 1:12