We're Finally Home!

Friday night at exactly 8pm we drove up the driveway to our home. We had left our home the previous Saturday at 7pm to begin our adventure of driving straight to Miami, Florida to retrieve our two girls. Last Saturday we were a family of six. Now we are a family of eight!

It was a long, but really fun trip home. We sang. We played cards. We listened to music. We laughed. Everybody but me slept. We stopped at various rest stops and fast food joints and hotels. We began our bonding process. It was awesome.

All six of my kids were awesome. I am so proud of each and every one of them. Conor (17) is a loving, caring big brother. He is a leader. To see him interact with the new girls is something that blows me away. Kolten (15) is so considerate and kind. He is constantly making sure everyone is comfortable and safe, while making all of us laugh our heads off. Maria (14) is quiet, shy, and a little freaked out. Yet, with all she's been through recently, she is kind and shows an excitement for what lies ahead. When she experiences something brand new (like snow, Wal-Mart, or sour patch gummy bears) she simply smiles and widens her eyes without saying a word. Caleb (13) has, too, been such a great blessing. He can get our youngest (Merci) laughing like no one else. He let Maria braid his long hair, which I know was painful for him, but barely even whimpered. Michaela (10) is so happy to have two more girls in the family! At times I'd watch her in my rear-view mirror (remember we just spent three days in a van) and marvel at how beautiful and loving she is. Merci Klarrah (5) I've started calling 'Klaire-Bear' for some reason. She is just fun. Everything is new and everything is exciting. Ever since I've known Merci, since meeting her almost four years ago, she has had a curious habit of sucking on three of her fingers with her opposite arm covering her eyes. I've come to learn that she does this when she is feeling nervous or scared. In the past three days I've only seen her do this twice! She is sure loved... and I think she gets that.

We were so excited to show the girls our home. Wow, were we surprised. As we were gone some magic elves came into our house... and transformed it!

Our upstairs bathroom was completely gutted and re-done. New beautiful tile is now on the floor, in the tub, and around the sink! The faucets in the sink and shower/tub are new and super cool. New towels and shower curtain that actually match are hanging.

The upstairs attic was cleaned out, the doors that were falling down were taken out and replaced with drywall, insulation, and a new 36" door that completely keeps the cold out of Caleb's room! (This may not seem like a big deal to anyone, but you just have no idea what a burden this was on me... and what a blessing it is to have done.)

The girls room was rearranged to have three beds, three dressers, and set up cuter than you can imagine! Notes were left for Maria that she immediately read with a huge smile on her face.

The house was dusted from top to bottom. The ceiling fans, that previously had a special science experiment taking place on them in the form of one entire inch of dust, had been wiped cleaner than a plate of food put in front of Merci!

Perhaps the best part, or at least the most meaningful to our new daughters, was the fact that there were pictures of THEM all over the house! Right alongside Conor, Kolten, Caleb, and Michaela's pictures in our main dining room were new, big pictures of Maria and Merci! This actually made Kelli cry and me so appreciative of the friends and family that we have here in Liberty!

I could go on and on, but won't for sake of time. I just want those involved (you elves know who you are) to know that you can never understand what you've done. I love you, I love you, I love you. More than words can say,... I love you.

We were all tired, so after an awesome meal (that was prepared for us and waiting in the crock-pot... another 'thank-you') we got ready for bed. I read a book about monkeys to Merci and brushed her teeth. Maria and Michaela tried on new clothes that had been left for them in their dressers. The boys showered in their new bathroom. Kelli started doing laundry. And then we all held hands and prayed together as a family - thanking God for His mysterious love and care, and for the many blessings we enjoy.

Life is good. We're finally home.

Hiddur Mitzvah

My wife just called me and gave me some awesome news. She told me that a woman that is new to our church, and brand spanking new to this whole "Jesus-Loving" thing, came to our Christmas Eve worship service. If you remember that night, the weather outside was frightful - sleeting ice and snow had put many folks, brave enough to drive in it, in ditches and worse. However, we were all warm and toasty inside the Worship Center, and we worshipped our guts out to the One Who deserves it most. Afterwards, this new-Believer went out to her car, only to find another D.C. lady scraping her windshield for her. Apparently, this unknown "angel" had done this for every car in the parking lot. Again, it was FREEZING cold and absolutely miserable conditions outside!

My wife asked me if I knew who this was. I do not.

Exodus 15:2 - NLT
The LORD is my strength and my song; He has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise Him - my father’s God, and I will exalt Him!

From this line, rabbinic thinkers saw the words "I will exalt him", and asked the question,
"How can mere mortals hope to exalt God, the Creator of the entire universe?"

In the same way we could ask,
“How can we bring more glory to Someone as infinitely wonderful as God's own Son, Jesus?”

The rabbis had a wonderful answer. They said humans can bring more glory to God,… Who had all the glory in the heavens,… by doing His will on earth in the absolute best and most beautiful way possible. They called this "hiddur mitzvah", meaning to beautify God's commands. In the same way, we can do what Jesus commands in the absolute best way possible.

Christians may be surprised that the word mitzvah, meaning "command" or "commandment", is positive rather than negative in Jewish culture. The word is found in many verses, like the following: >"Keep my commands >(mitzvot, pl.) and follow them. I am the LORD." (Lev. 22:31) We tend to assume it refers to burdensome regulations, but the usual Jewish usage of mitzvah is that it is an opportunity to do something good that God told you to do. People say things like, "I had a chance to do a mitzvah today when the elderly woman asked for my help." The word is always used in a positive way, suggesting that doing what God has asked is a joy and a spiritual opportunity, not a burden.

The idea of hiddur mitzvah (beautifying the command) goes even beyond this - that if God tells us to do something, we shouldn't just do the minimum, but to perform it in the best way possible, sparing no expense or trouble.

Even if it's freezing outside.

We can see Jesus describing this behavior of hiddur mitzvah, going far beyond the minimum, in His story about the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan man obeyed God's command to love his neighbor by personally caring for the wounded traveler, carrying him to the inn on his own donkey, and investing a large sum of his own money to care for him. Because he was a Samaritan in Israel he even risked his own life, because as an enemy of the Jews, he could have been accused of being the attacker (Luke 10:33-35).

There are so many of Jesus’ commands that have to do with physically showing love to someone: Whether it’s giving water (Mark 9:41), giving away your clothes (Matt. 5:40), visiting the sick or imprisoned (Matt. 25:36), or just carrying their bag a bit further than they originally had asked (Matt. 5:41). May you and I be those that scrape windshields and ‘beautify the commands’ of Jesus, by going far beyond the minimum, and thus, may we bring our Lord massive amounts of glory!

And to the unknown, ice-scraping 'angel'... I want to say that you were Jesus to a brand new Believer, her two-week-old-in-Jesus husband, their small children... and their appreciative, humbled, and blown-away pastor.

A big 'thank you' to Lois Tverberg, who's book I'm reading currently. Her insight into the Hebrew Scriptures has been so exciting to me. Most of this information comes from her book, "Sitting At The Feet Of Our Rabbi Jesus".

For Posterity's Sake

Psalm 37:35-40
"I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.
Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found.
Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity.
But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off.
But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him."


What is life all about? Who are we to look up to as an example? Who are to be our heroes? Our culture exalts the ones with the most wealth, the most power, the ones with the most fame... regardless of how it came to them. Yet, if we are patient and stick around long enough, it seems we become witnesses of these very ones falling from grace, being soon forgotten... and simply being 'no more'. What exactly is the legacy that they leave?


My son, Caleb, has one of those red-laser pointer thingys. He likes to hide in another room (or across the worship center!) and point that thing at my chest while I'm talking to someone. They start snickering and giggling... and pretty soon I realize that I need to introduce my son to the wonders of duct tape once again (that was a joke, please don't call DFS). He's obviously using that laser-pointer for something that it was never intended for. It is meant to be a tool used in lectures to direct an audience's attention to the speaker's main points. It was originally found only on certain types of guns and used for the purpose of targeting something. In both cases, it's purpose is to 'mark' something.


We are admonished to keep an eye on the lives of others in this passage, to literally 'mark' them. The writer speaks of how he watched a bad, violent man who was successful in life, but when he died, he was no more - simply forgotten. However, when we watch the blameless, upright and peaceful man we'll find a very different story. He'll have something called "posterity". "Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have posterity" (Psalm 37:37).

• The dictionary says that "posterity" is a noun meaning: 'Generations or time to come. The body of descendants from an ancestor.'

The idea of 'posterity' is what I'll call a 'legacy'. It is something that a person hands down to the next generation when they die. However, it is really more than that because 'posterity' speaks of more than something, it speaks of the very people themselves!

Let me re-set this: We are to 'mark' those (watch them, look up to them) that are blameless, upright, and peaceful, because THEY are the ones that, rather than just fade away, will leave a lasting legacy, which is the people that carry on their righteous way of living.

We are a culture of hero worshippers. And the heroes we choose to lift up and 'mark' are all too often undeserving. They exemplify greed, materialism, lust, and selfishness. This passage in Psalm 37 ends by stating that those we should be watching are ultimately the ones that "take refuge in God". In other words, they may not be perfect, wealthy, or even have all their 'stuff' together, yet "He is their strength in time of trouble".


Do you know someone like that? Maybe they aren't the perfect picture of 'success', as far as this world might define it. However, they live lives of total dependence upon God. They are peaceful. They are upright. They are simple, but they are blameless. If you are lucky enough to be around someone like that, then point your laser at them. Mark them. Watch them. Do it for posterity's sake. Keep your eye on them... understanding that you too are being watched.

I look down... I see a red dot... I realize that my son has marked me.

What will I pass on?

What will I leave him?

What's important today?

R.S.V.P.

"You've been especially and specifically chosen to come and test-drive our car," the invitation read in my mailbox. But when I saw that it was addressed to "Occupant," I wondered how specifically chosen I really was. Many invitations are humorous. Some are dubious. But some are actually pretty awesome. The Bible has a bunch of invitations like that - that have meant a great deal to me over the years...

Exodus 32:26a
"then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!"...

Isaiah 55:1
"Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost."

Matthew 11:28
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

John 7:37-38
"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"

Revelation 22:17
"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost."

See what I mean, there are some pretty cool invitations in the Bible. Maybe none as powerful and meaningful as the one I read this morning during my Desperation Journal time:

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, 'Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool."

Isaiah was writing to people who were totally abandoning their former religious beliefs (apostasy). They were rebelling against the Lord and not interested in obeying Him. Yet, instead of giving a word of annihilation, the Lord, in His matchless grace and mercy, offers a word of invitation. To people who were, at best, apathetic toward Him, the Lord says, "Come on... let's reason together. Think with Me. Consider with Me."

And that's the message for me today too. "Come now, Michael, let's reason together." Sin is sick. It's not bad because it's forbidden by God. Rather sin is forbidden by God because it's bad. He knows it destroys, erodes, ruins, and harms. So He invites us to come to Him and learn why it is unreasonable for us to continue in sin any longer.

I presently know people who were at one time 'radical' for God, but are now in rebellion. All of a sudden, they seem to be apathetic towards God. They skip church, they're involved in things that previously they would have NEVER been involved in. For some reason, sin has become MORE attractive to them than God and living for His Kingdom. Oh, how I wish they could sit for a moment with the Lord... and consider... reason... learn... why it is unreasonable for them to continue in sin any longer.

Here's some things I think they'd have to consider(For sake of time, I won't type out the Bible verses, but trust me, they're worth checking out):

First, sin is like a disgusting disease that pollutes the entire body. (Isaiah 1:5-6). The Book of Romans further describes how sin takes over every part of our being and influences us negatively. A person might look healthy on the outside, but if he is knowingly walking in sin, his very nature is being eroded and destroyed. That is why it's only reasonable for us to consider our sin and repent from it.

Second, sin is a binding cord that holds man in its power (Proverbs 5:22). "I'm free," the sinner insists. "It doesn't matter what I do." And yet when he finds himself addicted, infected with disease, or haunted by guilt; when his family, integrity, and personality are destroyed, he realizes that he is anything but free - that he is bound by the cord of sin.

Third, sin is a destroyer of rest, a disturber of peace. (Psalm 38:3). Sin robs us of the rest, peace, and tranquility we long for and which we once enjoyed. That's why our Father says, "Because I want you to have peace and I want you to be at rest, I want you to stay away from sin.

Fourth, sin is like a foggy cloud that hides the face of God from us. (Isaiah 59:2). Just like when the clouds are in the sky and we can't see the sun, when people say, "Where is God? I can't feel Him. I can't sense Him. Where is He?" very frequently, it's usually due to sin that has come between them and the Son, muting His voice or obscuring His face from them.

Fifth, sin is a clever detective that will find us out (Numbers 32:23). Not only does sin suck us in, but it makes our sin known. There really are no secret sins. We might think we get away with sin for awhile, but according to the Word, we can be sure that sin is a clever detective that will suck us in and then seek us out.

Finally, sin is a thief. It actually robs of blessings and it strips and starves the soul (Jeremiah 5:24-25). God wants to rain blessings upon us and give tremendous harvests to us. It is only our sin that prevents the rain of blessings and abundant harvest that God desires for us to have.

You see,... sin stinks. It holds back God's blessings from our lives, obscures God's vision from our eyes, sneaks up on us and then makes itself known to all people. It erodes, corrupts, and torments. But God says that even though our sins be as bright as crimson and as visible as scarlet, even though they can be seen for miles away, we are invited to come to Him and let Him deal with them.

"No matter how glaring and bright your sin might be, I can make it white as snow," our Father in heaven says to us. I think maybe that I've heard that so many times that it has lost a bit of its meaning to me.

In London many years ago, a minister and his young son were standing in their window, looking down at the street as a parade passed by. In this parade, along with the clown and marching bands, British soldiers marched in their red coats.
"Look at those soldiers, Daddy!" the little boy said. "Look how white their coats are!"
"Their coats are red, son," the minister said.
"No, Daddy, they're white," the little boy insisted.
And when the minister stooped down to his son's vantage point, he saw that his son was looking through a pane of stained glass that bordered the window. Seen through the red glass, the red coats appeared to be white.
Suddenly a light went on in the minister's head. "That's it!" he thought. "Though my sins are scarlet, the Father looks at them through the filter of the blood of His Son and sees me white and pure and clean."

Though my own sins are as scarlet - glaring and ugly - I choose to heed the invitation of my Father who says, "Come, let us reason together. Stay away from sin in the future and confess the sin of your past. Realize it can be white as snow because of the blood of My Son."

Today, I am encouraged to take the Lord up on His invitation. If you've actually read this far, then I hope you are encouraged too. Come to Him. Reason with Him. Repent of any sin the Holy Spirit is bringing to your mind right now. It might be something obvious or something subtle, but you know it's a cord that is beginning to wrap itself tightly around you, a worm eating away inside of you, a detective beginning to follow you, a cloud obscuring God's glory from you, a thief robbing the harvest from you.

"Come," Jesus says. "Come now."