For the past 5 months Jennifer and I have been going in for regular visits to Vida Chiropractic on Hixson Pike in our home town of Chattanooga. I had a pretty painful lower back issue, and Jennifer has a very stiff upper back. Both of us have benefited greatly from seeing this Chiropractor.
On a routine visit the other day, he (Dr. Terry Loher) asked me how our adoption was going. I mentioned that it was going well but that we still needed to raise anywhere from $4,000 to $5,000. The next thing he said was pretty amazing: "What if I did a fundraiser for you?"
So if you live in the Chattanooga area (or even if you don't and you're willing to come visit) you should stop by Vida Chiropractic on June 1st from 10 AM to 12 Noon. Dr. Loher will adjust you and whatever you pay him will go directly toward our adoption. It is a win-win situation for all parties!
Please tell your friends about this so we can make this a great fundraiser!
Here is the address for Vida Chiropractic:
4812-D Hixson Pike
Hixson, TN 37343
It is in a plaza right next to the Taiwanese Bakery, just a little ways from the Krystal on Hixson Pike (not far from 153).
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Eyes off the Water Damage and onto the Savior
Where are our eyes fixed?
Our Pastor, Robert Johnson, asked this question during his latest sermon at Hixson Presbyterian Church. You can listen to it here. I highly recommend it. The sermon was on Jesus' statement in John 11 that He is the "Resurrection and the Life." The quote came during the closing where our Pastor was making some applications. In particular, he referenced 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, which says:
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
Where are our eyes fixed? Where is our hope? Who do we trust? Is it ourselves? Is it our money? Or are our eyes actually fixed on what (or better yet, Who) is above: on our all-knowing, all powerful God? The God who raises the dead. We have needed to go back to this question lately, and as you'll see this sermon has been very timely in our lives.
We announced a couple of weeks ago that we had raised all of the money we needed to pay for the adoption of our boys. That doesn't mean we raised ALL the money, just that we reached an important checkpoint on the way to raising all the money. We still need around $5,000 to pay for flights home from Uganda, living expenses while in Uganda, and also for re-adoption once we get the boys home (we'll explain re-adoption at a later date). But after all this fundraising, $5,000 doesn't seem so bad! We're almost there! We can see the finish line!
And then Wednesday happened.
The good news about Wednesday was that we were to drive to Atlanta to get our USCIS fingerprinting. This is an important step in the process as it is an extensive criminal background check that assures the Ugandan Government that we are in fact nice people. So we woke up early Wednesday morning, and in the course of getting ready to leave we noticed that the carpet in our boys' bedroom was wet. Our first reaction was that one of the cats had peed on the floor. I wish that's all it was. We kept exploring and quickly realized that if this dampness was cat pee, then it was one giant cat! Half of the carpet in the room, and the entire closet were totally soaked through. There was also water in the walls, and water dripping down through the garage ceiling. Yikes.
After a quick trip to Atlanta for fingerprinting, which went extremely well by the way, we were back at home dealing with the mess. A dry out company came and put large, noisy dehumidifiers (deshumidificadors in Spanish - that's for Josh Mullins) in our boys' room. To make a long story a little less long, we've got the room dried out without any uber significant damage.
However, the fact remains that this is going to cost us a fairly substantial amount of money at a time when we really don't need to be paying for things like this. Of all the times for this to happen, it had to be when we're trying to raise money to adopt children. Really? Why?
I'll ask it again: Where are our eyes fixed? Check out this quote from Sunday's sermon, where our Pastor fittingly applied 2 Corinthians 1:8-10:
When Robert said this, I turned to Jennifer and whispered, "Water Damage." God is using the cost of the water damage to wean us off our self-reliance and to cause us to fix our eyes on God, who raises the dead, so that we might seek the power of Christ!
Seriously, what else would we ever want to seek? How could we ever have sought after anything other than the power of Christ? Why would we ever want to adopt by ourselves when we could trust in the power of Christ - the power that created the Universe and raises the dead - to make this adoption happen? Do we really think that we'll be fine without Him?
Last week we also had to go get Yellow Fever Vaccines and Polio Boosters for our trip to Uganda. We went under the assumption that our insurance company would reimburse us for these immunizations. We assumed that because they told us they would reimburse us! But now they won't, and the reason why is a long story that would really bore you. So that's another $400 we can't use toward airfare home from Uganda, or living expenses while in Uganda, or re-adoption.
But seriously, what is $400 to God? What is the cost of a 5 day long dry-out and the subsequent home repairs to God? For that matter, what is the cost of adopting two boys to God? God owns every cent in every bank and pocket on the planet. He can provide the money.
But it's not about the money, and it's only sort of about what we choose to do with our eyes. Ultimately, this is all about the One on whom we are called to fix our eyes - Jesus Christ, the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. If He can raise the dead, He can raise $5,000 more, and he can surely raise our discouraged eyes up from the ground so they are fixed on Himself.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Our Pastor, Robert Johnson, asked this question during his latest sermon at Hixson Presbyterian Church. You can listen to it here. I highly recommend it. The sermon was on Jesus' statement in John 11 that He is the "Resurrection and the Life." The quote came during the closing where our Pastor was making some applications. In particular, he referenced 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, which says:
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
Where are our eyes fixed? Where is our hope? Who do we trust? Is it ourselves? Is it our money? Or are our eyes actually fixed on what (or better yet, Who) is above: on our all-knowing, all powerful God? The God who raises the dead. We have needed to go back to this question lately, and as you'll see this sermon has been very timely in our lives.
We announced a couple of weeks ago that we had raised all of the money we needed to pay for the adoption of our boys. That doesn't mean we raised ALL the money, just that we reached an important checkpoint on the way to raising all the money. We still need around $5,000 to pay for flights home from Uganda, living expenses while in Uganda, and also for re-adoption once we get the boys home (we'll explain re-adoption at a later date). But after all this fundraising, $5,000 doesn't seem so bad! We're almost there! We can see the finish line!
And then Wednesday happened.
The good news about Wednesday was that we were to drive to Atlanta to get our USCIS fingerprinting. This is an important step in the process as it is an extensive criminal background check that assures the Ugandan Government that we are in fact nice people. So we woke up early Wednesday morning, and in the course of getting ready to leave we noticed that the carpet in our boys' bedroom was wet. Our first reaction was that one of the cats had peed on the floor. I wish that's all it was. We kept exploring and quickly realized that if this dampness was cat pee, then it was one giant cat! Half of the carpet in the room, and the entire closet were totally soaked through. There was also water in the walls, and water dripping down through the garage ceiling. Yikes.
After a quick trip to Atlanta for fingerprinting, which went extremely well by the way, we were back at home dealing with the mess. A dry out company came and put large, noisy dehumidifiers (deshumidificadors in Spanish - that's for Josh Mullins) in our boys' room. To make a long story a little less long, we've got the room dried out without any uber significant damage.
However, the fact remains that this is going to cost us a fairly substantial amount of money at a time when we really don't need to be paying for things like this. Of all the times for this to happen, it had to be when we're trying to raise money to adopt children. Really? Why?
I'll ask it again: Where are our eyes fixed? Check out this quote from Sunday's sermon, where our Pastor fittingly applied 2 Corinthians 1:8-10:
God is at work to wean us off our self-reliance and to
understand that we have a Savior who is the resurrection and the life and he is
able to do all things. So God is at work teaching us to abandon trust in
ourselves and to rely on the God who raises the dead…to help us to know and to
feel our own weakness so that we will reach out and seek the power of Christ;
the power of the One who is the Resurrection.
When Robert said this, I turned to Jennifer and whispered, "Water Damage." God is using the cost of the water damage to wean us off our self-reliance and to cause us to fix our eyes on God, who raises the dead, so that we might seek the power of Christ!
Seriously, what else would we ever want to seek? How could we ever have sought after anything other than the power of Christ? Why would we ever want to adopt by ourselves when we could trust in the power of Christ - the power that created the Universe and raises the dead - to make this adoption happen? Do we really think that we'll be fine without Him?
Last week we also had to go get Yellow Fever Vaccines and Polio Boosters for our trip to Uganda. We went under the assumption that our insurance company would reimburse us for these immunizations. We assumed that because they told us they would reimburse us! But now they won't, and the reason why is a long story that would really bore you. So that's another $400 we can't use toward airfare home from Uganda, or living expenses while in Uganda, or re-adoption.
But seriously, what is $400 to God? What is the cost of a 5 day long dry-out and the subsequent home repairs to God? For that matter, what is the cost of adopting two boys to God? God owns every cent in every bank and pocket on the planet. He can provide the money.
But it's not about the money, and it's only sort of about what we choose to do with our eyes. Ultimately, this is all about the One on whom we are called to fix our eyes - Jesus Christ, the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. If He can raise the dead, He can raise $5,000 more, and he can surely raise our discouraged eyes up from the ground so they are fixed on Himself.
Soli Deo Gloria.
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