Spirit of Adoption

I am no longer here. You can find me at www.pilgriminprogress.com

See you there.

I'm playing with wordpress over here. Let me know what you think. So far I really like it.

Oilers and Hurricanes battling it out for the Stanley Cup!

North Carolina vs. Canada!

This is going to be fun - if only they actually played the games on the major networks here!

We've all heard the discouraging statistics that the divorce rate in the evangelical church is the same as the world - 50%. In the midst of doing some research for the counseling center I came across this post by the Jollyblogger. Very interesting.

Update:
Just found another great article by Chuck Colson on the connection between marriage and faith. He writes, "It’s becoming increasingly clear that strong families depend on churches, and churches depend on strong families." Further on he writes, "regular church attendance still correlates with marital faithfulness and happiness."

I just read a post called, "Misconception: Renting is for Suckers" and I thought it brought up some good points. My brother and his wife just bought a home and we're looking at moving into another rental closer to the church and work. This whole topic has been on my mind. Personally, I've felt that renting is best for us at this point in life but there is always that desire to buy and own a home - the American dream.

The article says you should buy a home when the combined expenses, interest, taxes, and insurance equals your rent.

You can read the post here. I'd love to hear any thoughts and wisdom!

I just finished watching this powerful program on Primetime about the foster care system, "A Call to Action: Saving Our Children."

Please check out the website and watch the video clips. Very powerful.

Here's some stats:

"According to the latest statistics, just over 800,000 children pass through the system every year, with more than 500,000 taken into foster care. For them, the average stay is 31 months. One-third stay in the system for more than three years and 17 percent remain in foster care for five years or more. Foster children have on average three different placements. There are currently more than 100,000 foster children across the country available for adoption."

Here is the link to the Van Ryn blog - the parents of Laura Van Ryn whom they thought was in a coma and just found out yesterday actually died in the accident. They are planning the memorial service for their daughter this Sunday. 

Pray for them and worship the sovereign God they are desperately worshipping and clinging too!

Two young girls in a deadly car accident were mistakenly identified for each other and one family thought their daughter was dead while the other family has been taking care of who they thought was their badly injured daughter in coma for the past month. 

Read about it here.

Here's a quick update on a the past month or so:

* Shawnda and I had a wonderful weekend away for our 3rd Annual Anniversary in Myrtle Beach, SC. We stayed at our friends family beach house which was across the street from the beach - perfect! This was the first time we had been away from the kids for more than a day. It was wondeful and Dee & Stacey were so sweet to watch the kids.

* Finished Systematic Theology III and Church History II at RTS Charlotte! I'm getting so close to the end. This was a great semester, some of the highlights for me were digging into the mysteries of the deity and huminty of Christ, getting to know Luther and Calvin better, and writing my History paper on Spurgeon.

* Went to Together for the Gospel with the pastors from our church and got to see so many good friends (Matthew Molesky, Tom Steller, David Livingston, Kevin Cawley, Ken Boer, Kent Capps, Sean Cordell, Brian Lund, Chris Lent). Blessed to join the brothers new and old at the TBI reunion and hang with Piper for a bit (thanks to Dave Mathis and Molesky for getting me there - and the chance to ride with Piper squished next to me there and back!). So many highlights: Piper and Mahaney's messages were the most hard-hitting for me. Hanging with the pastors from my church and the Sovereign Grace guys was an immense blessing! Biggest thing I came home with: Hit me that though I'm not in pastoral ministry in the local church I am in my home!

* We finished our first round of date-night coop with our new friends from church the Oddy's and Seaver's. This has been a huge blessing as we rotate each week watching the kids and going on a date. A number of other couples in the church have been doing it for years and when we heard about it both Shawnda and I thought it was brilliant!

* Finished the current season of 24 up and can't wait for next year and to catch up this summer by watching Season 2, and 3, and 4...well, maybe just one season! 

* Samuel and Keziah are growing up!!! I'm so proud of them!

Or is it annoying when people where their bluetooth headsets into Starbucks and WalMart while their shopping and ordering coffee. I've noticed this for awhile now and it was made even more pronounced when the bad guys on this season of 24 were always shown wearing them (on and off the phone). Personally, I vowed that I would never own one - that is until I got one from work. And I admit I love it - it's comfortable, unlike the painful earbud headphones I've wasted money on before, and I feel much safer driving with it. That said, I promise I won't wear it unless I'm talking on the phone!

Spurgeon from the other morning (May 23):

"Unbelief insinuates— “You will never be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never conquer sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that beset you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray.” Ah! yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to God, He will perfect that which concerneth us, and bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident when we confide in Him alone, and never too much concerned to have such a trust."