"Love Them Like Jesus"

This past Sunday, a soloist sang "Love Them Like Jesus", by Casting Crowns, in our worship service. Very early in the process to adopt Lily, I heard this song, and the lyrics had a big impact on me.

The verses are not about adoption, but all I really hear is the chorus, which to me, screams, "ADOPTION"! In fact, for me, this song speaks more about adoption than many songs specifically written about the topic. (I even sent an email to Mark Hall, of Casting Crowns, suggesting an "adoption version", but I doubt that really went anywhere!) Here are the lyrics. The ones in red are what I hear:

"The love of her life is drifting away
They’re losing the fight for another day
The life that she’s known is falling apart
A fatherless home, a child’s broken heart

You’re holding her hand, you’re straining for words
You trying to make - sense of it all
She’s desperate for hope, darkness clouding her view
She’s looking to you

Just love her like Jesus, carry her to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves her and stay by her side
Love her like Jesus
Love her like Jesus

The gifts lie in wait, in a room painted blue
Little blessing from Heaven would be there soon
Hope fades in the night, blue skies turn to grey
As the little one slips away

You’re holding their hand, you’re straining for words
You’re trying to make sense of it all
They’re desperate for hope, darkness clouding their view
They’re looking to you

Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
Love them like Jesus

The Lord of all creation holds our lives in His hands
The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands
The Rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands
He cares for them just as He cares for you

So love them like Jesus, love them like Jesus
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
Love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus"
(C) 2005 Club Zoo Music

When I hear the first block of chorus, I see my daughter's face. I see her in an orphanage, waiting for a family. I see her and I on family day, as I tried to comfort her and ease her fears and confusion. I see her as a young lady, with questions about her past that have no easy answers. But, I don't have to have all the answers or be the perfect parent. I just need to "...stay by her side". I just need to "...love her like Jesus".

When I hear the second block of chorus, I see the faces of the millions of yet unadopted orphans. Can you see them? "They're desperate for hope... they're looking to you". No, you may not have all the answers. You may not be the perfect parent. You may be afraid to step out and risk loving an orphan. But, all you need to do is "...stay by their side". Just "...love them like Jesus".

Can you?

Will you?

a few pix

A few weeks ago, the boys both had a field trip to the zoo. I took the day off and we made it a family outing. I got this picture of a trio of penguins... the two on the ends look ornery, to me!

Poor Ben seems to get slighted a little with the camera. We're taking pictures, but not as many a we did of Dylan and Zachary as babies. Jen seems like she often manages to hide from the camera, but I liked this one of the two of them.

Lily, looking cute for church.

Sunday was another beautiful fall day in Ohio. I took Dylan and Zachary hiking in the afternoon for some guys time out.

Legacy of a name

I enjoy listening to the Chris Fabry Live radio show at work. It is an hour-long talk radio program on our local Christian radio station. He covers a wide range of interesting topics, from politics and the economy, to cicadas and his wife's hair color. This past week he had a fun program on names and their meaning and/or significance. I can't call in while on the job, but I thought this subject would make an interesting post. My firstborn son's middle name is "Irwin", and here is the story behind that name:

During the early years of my parent's marriage, they lived in a quaint trailer park with a very close knit community of neighbors. They were particularly close to a couple named Irwin, who were actually old enough to be their parents. This friendship also extended to the Irwin's married daughter and family (with whom they still maintain a friendship), as well as Mr. Irwin's father, whom they affectionately referred to as "Grandpa Irwin". Grandpa Irwin, as he has been described to me, was a widower, an outdoors man, and a spiritual man. His faithful companion in his latter years was his dog, Minnie. (Well, actually, her full name was "Minnehaha Minnesota Mulligan")! Spiritually, Grandpa Irwin was not fond of churches and organized religion, but his practice was to worship and pray to his "creator" (his name of choice for Deity) in the outdoors, where he felt most at home.

My parents very much wanted children, but when I, their firstborn, arrived; I did so with a heart defect, a serious hemangioma, and a dismal prognosis. I was immediately transferred to a children's hospital and the doctors thought I might live six weeks. My parents were heartbroken.

Grandpa Irwin, hearing the news of my birth, but not being aware of my condition, bounded into my mom's hospital room with a gift tucked under his arm. He left saddened and sorrowful. What happened next, he never told my parents, but he confided it to his son, who later shared it with my parents, who eventually shared it with me.

Grandpa Irwin left the hospital that day, and went to the woods with a heavy heart. He went there to intercede in prayer for my condition and for my heartbroken parents. During that prayer, he thanked his creator for the good and full life he had been given, and he asked his creator to spare my life and take his instead. Now, I don't know the theology of such a request, and I am not sure if God honors requests such as these. What I do know is this: I spent the first nine weeks of my life in the hospital, where to the amazement of my doctors, I survived and fully recovered. A few months after I came home, Grandpa Irwin went into the hospital for what was thought to be a routine surgery, and to the amazement of his doctors, he never recovered.

Obviously, I don't remember Grandpa Irwin, but I wish I could have known him. Since childhood, this story has had a profound impact on me. I decided many years ago, that if I ever had a son, his middle name would be "Irwin" to honor the man who was willing to pray this sacrificial prayer on my behalf.

I suspect that few others have a story like this. And yet, I would be remiss not to point out that you do have a similar story. As one who believes the Bible to be true, I believe that you and I were both born with a dismal prognosis, due to our birth defect of a sin nature. However, Jesus Christ came to earth to live sinless as a man, and died in my place (and yours) that my sins (and yours) can be forgiven. Thank you to my Savior, Jesus Christ; and my friend, Grandpa Irwin, for being willing to sacrifice that I might have life.

Incidentally, although not as dramatic as this story, we continued the theme of our children's middle names having some significance. My second son shares my middle name; my third son has my first name as his middle; and my daughter has her original Chinese name as her middle.

Fall fun

The weather was gorgeous today, and it was our annual family wiener roast and hayride. I'm not sure how many years this event has been happening, but it's been a long time. It is a very unique extended family event, because every individual family is related to somebody, but nobody is related to everybody. We've all been friends for a long time, and everyone feels like family. It started years ago, at (if you can follow this) my mom's brother's wife's (my aunt Jean's) parent's farm. Aunt Jean's parents are both deceased now, but a Grandson, Tim, and his wife have continued the tradition. Tim still uses his Grandpa's original Ford tractor to pull the wagon. Thanks Tim and Dee Dee for hosting this event, and including us "adopted" family members.

My brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew

Lily wanted to sit on the big tractor

Tim gets these large cable spools at work and they create a dramatic fire!

scooters on fresh asphalt

A church a few blocks from our house had their parking lot repaved this week. This evening, I took the kids and their scooters to test out the new pavement. It's fun to see them get excited about something as simple as fresh asphalt.

Olympic hopefuls... synchronized scooting?

Lily couldn't quite keep up, but that didn't stop her from trying.

Of course, I had to get my turn, too.

Great movie!

I still have not been able to see "Fireproof". I'll likely have to wait to see it on DVD. Did anybody see it? How was it? This weekend, a friend loaned me "Facing the Giants", the second movie produced by Sherwood Pictures ("Fireproof" was the third). Jen and I watched it for the first time Saturday evening, after the kids went to bed-- the closest thing possible to a date with three kiddos and a newborn! We loved it! We laughed... we cried... we watched it again this evening with the kids. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Hats off to Sherwood Pictures. ("Flywheel", their first production was pretty good, as well). I still can't wait to see "Fireproof", and I'm anxious to see what they come up with next.

"Xiao Xiao cold"

We are having a few unseasonably chilly days in Ohio. Lily, being from Southern China, is used to a climate that more closely resembles Miami, Florida. Since about September, she has frequently informed us, "Xiao Xiao cold". We keep telling her, "you haven't seen cold, yet". Today the temperature dropped enough that I had to start the furnace (something I am always reluctant to do because of rising natural gas prices!). You should have seen her eyes light up when she discovered these magical holes in the floor emanating heat! She was excitedly telling us how she was cold, but how good it feels to sit on the registers. Of course, she didn't use those exact words, but that was the gist of it. It was as if, just because it was new to her, that she discovered something that no one in the house knew about, either. Those rare times when Lily, as an adopted toddler, discovers something completely new to her, are priceless.