just being christian

When Stacy and I decided to go with Children’s Hope International for our adoption, one of the things that stood out to us was that they truly had the best interest of the orphans in mind.  Unfortunately, that’s not true with all agencies.  With the money that flows in international adoption, some agencies are more concerned with making money than making sure kids are placed in good homes.

From our experience, that is not the case with CHI. We know people who have gone on tips to do service in orphanages that CHI works in.  CHI did a lot to help Elli during her time in the orphanage.  They have even set up a foundation to meet the needs of communities and orphanages they work in.

But stuff like that doesn’t happen for free.  There is a cost, and sometimes that cost goes over what is budgeted.  When that happens, CHI calls out for people to step in and help.

This happened two weeks ago when CHI sent out this email.  A lot of emotions stirred when I read about how these Ethiopian orphans were in need of proper nutrition.  There was a time when my daughter was in an orphanage and needed supplemental nutrition.  Someone put up the money for a person to come in and give her extra feedings.

When we walked around the orphanage, I vowed to never forget the kids who wouldn’t make it out.  I knew that never wanted to take an “I got my baby and that’s all that matters” mentality.

I thought it was interesting that this email came two weeks ago.  We are so consumed with Zarachary prep right now, that we think of little else (as a first-post-of-the-week-on-Wed would demonstrate).  It was a good reminder.

Don’t ever forget the orphans.

Maybe once a year I ask people who read this site to give money.  If you know Elli and how amazing she is, give money so that others in her similar situation can experience the fullness of life she experiences today.  If you have never joined in the process of remembering the orphan and the widow, start now.  If you want me to shut up, put some money in my mouth so that I can’t talk anymore.  I won’t take it out and mail it until you walk away.  Promise.

Renew and Restore

Friday Funkfest. A recurring (almost weekly) flurry of quick hits, links, videos and thoughts. Clearly, the best way to waste time at work spend your lunch hour each and (almost) every Friday.

Good things come to those who wait.  And if you wait around and watch the first 60 seconds of that video, you really start to feel blessed for the last 30 seconds.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Elli already knows to cover her mouth with her elbow pit when she has to sneeze.  Neti Pot that, sucka. (props to adampaul for sharing the video)

• I would be so good at this job.  Too bad I’m not in college anymore.  But if you want to hire me to ghost write your twitter account, I’d be happy to.  For a nominal fee, of course.
• Apparently it’s not the best time to be an environmental activist.
• Funniest dude on late night?  Craig Ferguson.  If I ever get my own late night show, I’m totally dancing with puppets.
• Fasting can be tough to wrap your mind around, but this is a good resource.
• Something occurred during the Blazers game on Tuesday night that I’ll never forget.  Dikembe Mutombo’s career ended when his knee gave out.  I felt very sad for him.  He and ‘Zo made me enjoy watching Georgetown back in grade school, and he always seemed like such a stand up guy. Perception is reality, in this case.    I wish his career could have ended on his terms.
• Speaking of the Blazers Game…I was watching with my wife and mother-in-law when the game came back from commercial to a Blazers Dancer routine.  Both women commented about how especially skanky risque the outfits and routine were.  Stacy watches sports with me quite a bit, so it’s not like she’s never seen the whole cheer deal before.  But this one was over-the-top.  So much so that people are rightly calling for an end to the group.
• I still haven’t watched the Susan Boyle video.  Can’t bring myself to after reading this.

Tweet of the Week: To represent Oregon on Earth Day in Orlando I am standing by the trash can scolding everyone who throws away items they should recycle! (@mlpayne)

Lyric of the Week: From U2′s Moment of Surrender

At the moment of surrender
Of vision of over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me

Renew and Restore

I have a vague memory of someone posting a question on my facebook wall recently. But I can’t find it on my wall. I can’t remember who posted it. I can’t remember when. I can’t figure out if it was (as) real (as things can be in virtual relationships), or if it was a complete figment of my imagination.

Regardless, I’m going to answer the question. I understand that I am running the risk of talking to the voices in my head should the question turn out to be a figment of my imagination. I’m good with that. I’ll just pretend I have a bluetooth in if anyone calls me out on it.

The question: Was the process of bringing Elli into our family easier or harder than the process of bringing Zachary into our family?

Good question. I’m glad people ask it, as opposed to just assuming the adoption was easier. It wasn’t. And it’s not really that close.

Before you jump me for being an ignorant male, know that Stacy and I just talked about this last week. She came to this conclusion even though she had a very barfy first trimester, even though Zachary kicked a bruise into the insider of her ribs, and even though she hates having to bend over right now.

All of that stuff was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as the wait for Elli. Some of those days were really dark. We questioned God and ourselves during those days more than we ever had before, and more than we have since. We got very sad every time we saw pictures of Elli with her various skin ailments. It killed us to know that she wasn’t getting the attention and love that infants need. And we don’t say that in condemnation of the ladies who worked at the orphanage, it’s just that they had too many kids.

And did I mention that the adoption took 13 months? People are programmed for a 9 month wait, so to stretch it out by about 40% is a huge ask. Then factor in that you spend every day praying that something unforeseen doesn’t happen that would derail the whole deal, and you anxiety level goes through the roof.

As bumpy as pregnancy can be, ours has always felt very certain. We always know where Zachary is. We have a really good idea of how he is doing. We know that if anything goes wrong, we have medical people around who we have a very high level of trust in. And there is a fairly definite end time to the pregnancy. If he isn’t out on his own by this time next month, we’re going in after him. We had none of those luxuries with Elli.

Where things will change is when Stacy actually goes into labor. Those 4 hours (hey, we’re trying to be optimistic here) will be more trying than any stretch of 4 hours we had in our journey to Elli. Coaxing a baby out of a 9cm opening is the only thing in the universe harder than shooting photon torpedoes into that dinky shaft in the Death Star without any help from your targeting computers. At least, that’s what I’ve been led to understand.

Nonetheless, we’re excited. As if you couldn’t tell.

Renew and Restore

Friday Funkfest. A recurring (almost weekly) flurry of quick hits, links, videos and thoughts. Clearly, the best way to waste time at work spend your lunch hour each and (almost) every Friday.

Back in high school, I did muscle isolation exercises and acquired the skill of wiggling my ears both solo and in tandem.  To this day however, I have not been able to figure out how to raise just one eyebrow.  Consequently, the above video makes me immensely jealous every time I watch it. (props to glitterfree taxidermy)

• This sweet action breakdown of the best football stadia in Europe gives me a great idea for a family vacation.
• Maaaaaaaaaaaaan, I wish I was living in The Land of Port right about now.  I’m going to need to get sleep where I can find it as long as the Blazers are playing those late (to those of us not in the Pacific Time Zone) West Coast games.
• Bernie Madolff actually made an investment that turned a profit.  Who knew?
• I don’t care how germ free the fancy-pansy Yankees new locker room is.  They’re still dirty on the inside.
• I love Red Box.  They innovated the game and actually get me to rent movies on occasion.  Especially when I can get a large soda and a rental for a grand total of $1.07.   Granted, it’s a little amazing that Blockbuster has never countered and done anything to reasonably allow itself to stay competitive in the marketplace.  It would seem as though the biggest competition to Red Box is currently the Hollywood studios.

Tweet of the Week:

A TEA party was held below my window in the plaza park where were they when Bush was running up the national debt? (@SpeakOutOfTurn)

Lyric of the Week:

Take the pride in me, bring it to it’s knees (Isaiah 40 by Mike Crawford and His Secret Siblings)

So I’ve pretty much given up on Christmas.  I’ll still celebrate it and all, but I’ve lost the lofty idealism that we would be able to stem the cultural tide and flip the thing to a mostly spiritual event.  We do an ok job at our house.  We keep the presents small and meaningful.  We try to set aside some time to just be a family.  We’ve even cut back some of our travel and now celebrate Christmas in July with my family (which is really fun, btw).

But there is so much to fight against.  The hurry, the commercials, the pace of life at that time of year.  It’s a monster.  You can’t stop it. You can only hope to contain it.  Which, if I do say so myself, we have done well.

This weekend though, I learned that Easter could be a different story.  I got a ton of ideas about how we could engage the Lenten season as a family and then parlay that into a sweet Easter Day celebration.  I feel like the ceiling on this thing could be really high, and would make for a great centering of our family calendar in a way that is a bit more in line with the liturgical calendar.

A lot of my inspiration came from stuff I did with work.  On Thursday we did a Seder meal, which would be a great thing to do as a family.  There would be such value in our kids growing up hearing that tradition and history.

We then came back in the next morning and started reading through Exodus.  Probably not the best to do in one sitting with little ones, but it could be helpful to do outloud a few nights a week during Lent.  The narrative is so rich, and just begs to be played out orally.

Friday at Noon we headed out to a Catholic Good Friday service.  Amazing.  It was my first time going to a Catholic service, and they totally nailed it. It was two hours long but flew by.  And as much as I would have thought otherwise, it was a powerful experience to go up and venerate the cross.  My only two regrets are that they wouldn’t let an evangelical lad like myself take communion, and that being the evangelical lad I am I didn’t really dress for the occasion.  Sweet jeans, dogg.

Following church we had a really simple lunch.  Just soup and bread.  But the symbolism was good.

And then the next two days we just did family stuff.  Hung out.  Kicked it.  I got up early on Easter Morning and saw a kickin’ sunrise.  We went to church.  Stacy and Elli baked cookies.  We had a nice dinner together at home.  It was all relational.  It all spoke of newness and life together.

If I had to do it over again, I would have given up meat for Lent and then filled the smoker for a Sunday afternoon bash.  But I didn’t give anything up for Lent this year.  I felt really uninspired on the front end, but I think I’ve found my inspiration for next year.

Renew and Restore

I’ve been working my way through Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers From Prison, and was struck by these thoughts he had on Easter Weekend.

Today the tenth day is finally here again, so that I may write to you. How glad I am to let you know that I am celebrating a happy Easter here. The liberating thing about Good Friday and Easter is that one’s thoughts turn far away from one’s personal fate toward the ultimate meaning of life, suffering, and everything that happens, and one clings to a great hope.

Dated Easter Sunday, April 25, 1943

Renew and Restore

There are exactly 7 days left in the NBA regular season.  For the first time in a good long while, I’m not rooting for the Blazers to loose so that they have a better chance at a good draft pick.  It’s a whole new world (don’t you dare close your eyes!).  Instead, I’m Tivoing games and then waking up well before dawn to watch them before Elli gets up.  Instead of tanking, the Blazers are surging and going to play in the post season like they did when I was a little kid.

Before the season I had modest goals for the team.  I hoped they would have a winning record.  I hoped they would make the playoffs and not get swept in the first round.

I changed my mind.

I think the Blazers need to win a playoff series this year.  I understand that they aren’t very good on the road.  But I also feel like it’s possible they won’t loose a home game for the foreseeable future.  When I see the Rose Garden rockin’ like it is these days, I get chills.  It reminds me of how loud it would get in Memorial Coliseum during the playoffs back in the day.

I don’t think 12,000 people can be louder than they were the Sunday afternoon the Blazers played the Bulls in the NBA Finals. And that’s the kind of home the Blazers are starting to experience again.
Plus, I don’t think anyone this side of Paul Bunyan can block a Lamarcus Aldridge turnaround J these days.

Rip City, baby.  Rip City.
Renew and Restore