Middle School Series Starts Next Week

“The XXXceptional Lie”

Addressing the Destructive Power of Pornography

 

Wednesday Night Lesson Series

Lakehoma Church of Christ

Beginning April 22, 2009

For Statistics, go to

http://www.familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html

 

I.                   The Truth: (Genesis 1-2)

Sex- meant for the glory of God and people.

Our bodies:  God said “it was very good”

Porn- Why do we look at it?

 

II.                 The Lies:  (Romans 1: 24-25)

 We can’t trust God’s plan—ours is better. 

          We can always repent later

          Love = one sided relationships

 

III.              The Traps: (II Samuel 11-12)

          Addiction

          Loss of capacity for intimacy

          Crumbled relationships

 

IV.              The Solution: (I Corinthians 6)

Recognition of God’s intent

Repentance and Accountability

Restoration of Holiness and Purity

 

7:00 PM:  Devotional in Auditorium

7:15 PM:  Singing Grades 6^th-12^th in Thunder Alley

7:30 PM:  Lesson Series grades 7^th-8^th  

 

 

 

 

 

Here I am.

Sounds like a great lesson in the works from Isaiah.  Instead, it is me announcing my return to the blogosphere.  Clyde Slimp had the decency to warn people of his coming hiatus;  I just ran out of focus in this general direction.  But after a nice long 3 mile walk, I am brimming with things to say again.  Maybe even something worth your time to read. 

I do want to announce a major milestone in the adoption process.  After over six months of guardianship, we have officially petitioned for adoption on the three children!  The last of the legal hurdles having been struck down by our generous God, we are finally looking forward to finalization in a few months.  YAY!!!!

In addition, I will be updating the Camp 2009 information soon, and hope that many will consider being a part of a week of “Real Commitment: The Greatest Command” .  Camp is June 28-July 4. 

LTC is fast approaching and my third graders are all looking forward to participating in the conference.  Jackson will be leading singing, Sam is in the Chorus, and Brooklyn is designing a T-Shirt.  Each has several other activities as well. 

Agape–or at least the best I can do,

Chris

Plans?!!

It was a fair question. 

 

While enjoying a wonderful early Thanksgiving meal with the kids’ family, their grandmother asked me what our plans were for the children.  I had no good answer, and I have been thinking a lot about the question ever since. 

 

She said that she was wondering if we had any regrets.  That’s a much simpler question; these are now our children as much as Samantha and I can’t even imagine regretting that for a minute.  I am thoroughly in love with all of my family.  But, “plans”? 

 

I can’t plan past today.  We are in over our head.  “Mice and men” look like strategic geniuses compared to Mel and me most days.  Still, I have never felt closer to God.  In fact, as a result, I have never been closer to God.  

 

I have some daily goals:  yell less, praise more; scold less, correct more; punish less, discipline more; love more, love more.  Each day, I have little successes and big failures.  But every day I thank God for the challenges and joys of parenting four children.  Each day, I thank God for the church family we can lean on for support and encouragement.  Each day, I thank God for a biological family that is as interested in healing the broken hearts of these children as much as we.  Each day, I thank God for my family that has reached out to love these kids without reservation. And each day, I thank God for my wife, who never realized what she was getting us into and is learning to rely on strength beyond her own. 

 

I have some broader goals:  I want our children to realize that life is not “all about them”; that it is “all about God.  I want them to get the best education that they can, because it helps them establish a paradigm that is outward looking.  I want them to know the peace and security of two loving parents in a home that is structured and overflowing in love.  And I want them to know Christ and the power His resurrection gives us every day. 

 

Ultimately, I just want a front row seat in seeing the plans God has for our family. 

 

Job 42:2

 

 “I know that you can do all things;
       no plan of yours can be thwarted.”

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

Agape—or at least the best I can do,

Chris

The Son I Never Knew I Really Wanted.

My lone compadre in a sea of femininity

I confess I always enjoyed the thought of a houseful of girls.  They share clothes, toys, make-up (the play kind), hair “thingys”, and even the bathroom.  One Y chromosome in the house was enough, far as I was concerned.  I was happy with my two girls, Mel and Sam, and figured any additions would best just be more riblets. 

Now, I find myself with three girls and an eight year old boy.  Pretty good stuff.  We go fishing regularly with my dad and nephews.  He went to work with me tiling one day, and was the reason I finished on time.  He fights with his sisters, locks the doors when he gets in the car before them, fawns after the teenage girls in the youth group, and can fog up the car when he takes off his shoes.  All in all, he’s well on target for growing into a fine young man. 

Jackson definitely acts sometimes like he has always been surrounded by girls.  He dances a little too well to the songs from High School Musical.  But he is all boy.  And I enjoy having another man in the house, though this one hasn’t figured out how to operate the seat.

Agape…

Chris

School is Coming!

Another year is fast approaching, and Mellodie seems to have a little more appreciation for the beginning of school than in past years.  She’s even starting the “school schedule” at 6:30 AM tomorrow.  I can’t wait…

I have a lot of changes to work through this year for sure.  I have decided to give up academic team so I can focus more on family, church, and work.  I will miss it greatly; but the breakfasts with my kids will more than compensate for the loss.  I leave it in good hands. 

I am excited about the new year with the youth.  We have two activities planned in the next week or so–a lock in and an ice cream social.  I look forward to getting the new sixth graders involved.  I also am excited about the new families at our church.  Hopefully we can grow spiritually through the activities and classes we offer. 

AP classes are full this year, and I have a student teacher!  I hope to make the most of both opportunities.  I expect to assign essays with reckless abandon now that I have time to grade them.  Students, beware. 

With all the changes in my life, I realize now more than ever how little I know about what the future holds.    And that doesn’t bother me in the least.  I pray that the peace I currently enjoy (amid a little chaos) never goes away. 

So, off to school I go. 

Dear Lord, Please grant me the strength to live each day.  Please make my path straight when I am going in the right direction and please defeat me when I stray.  Thank you for blessing my family, and please help my family be a blessing to others.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Agape–or at least the best I can do,

Chris

My Youngest.

A ball of fire, and a tireless predatory female.

I have to admit it.  There are times she is way too cute to punish.  When she is the most angry, and she stomps off after the obligatory, “Yes, Suh!”, it is almost impossible to keep the smile off of my face.

She wants so badly to be as big as the eight-year-olds, and she can’t understand why we don’t always let her go with them.  She constantly runs up against the brick wall that is my wife, and gets so angry she can’t see straight.  Despite her frustrations, though, this child is the most clear about the best thing she has by living with us–her momma. 

She starts kindergarten this year, and I can’t wait to see how she does.  I do feel sorry for the boys, or at least as sorry as I can.  She is a tenacious flirt and is hopelessly enamored with whatever cute boy happens to be around at the time.  She does however swoon most for one of our middle-schoolers at church.  He takes it all in stride, and is wonderful with her. 

I struggle with trying to reign in some of her attachment to the boys, because it is so cute and generally harmless.  I do try my best to teach her appropriate ways to express herself and to convince her that “hugging” and “clinging” are not synonymous terms.  Still, her spirit and outgoing nature are to be admired, not limited.

I am so thankful that we have these children, but I feel especially blessed that the “baby” is a five-year-old, and not an infant.  She is exactly what I needed as my youngest.  

Agape–or at least the best I can do,

Chris

Bedtime.

I have to say that the biggest change around here is bedtime.  It is a great time of prayer and talking, but it also is usually a struggle.  Each of them has different ways of coping with the stress of the nightly “shutting down” process. 

Samantha organizes her stuff.  She never was a neat freak but now has a touch of OCD.  She can’t shut down until her belongings are accounted for.  That doesn’t necessarily mean her room is neat–but she definitely checks to see that everything is all there.

Jackson straightens up his room, then reads to himself until I come in to pray with him.  He usually has the physical ailments to report:  “It’s too hot”, “My throat hurts”, and “My nose itches” are the most common current themes. 

Maddie falls asleep in our bed until Brooklyn is asleep, but her complaints are straightforward.  “I’m not sleepy” and  ”I’m thirsty” get repeated often.  But she is out pretty quickly. 

Then there is Brooklyn.  This is her time to process all that has happened.  She is struggling with the situation and wants to be in control.  She gets up over and over until she is exhausted from the confrontations with Momma.  It’s so hard to know how best to handle the situation.  Later, eventually, FINALLY, she falls asleep. 

The funny thing is, there is something in all of this that is so common to the human experience. 

Our task is to embrace the rest offered by God.  Most of us never enter that rest until we are forced by sheer exhaustion to give up and let Him reign.  Like Jackson or Samantha, we spend countless hours worrying about material things that never really give us comfort.  Like Maddie, we act as though the rest is simply not necessary–until such time as we collapse from our own failures.  And, like Brooklyn, we want to be in control.  We don’t know why we aren’t content, we don’t know how to make it better, and we don’t want to surrender.  We wander about, refusing to acknowlege the obvious–that the we can’t fix it, that we don’t know what is best for us, and that if we will simply let it go, life will look much better in the morning.   

Dear Lord, help us to enter your rest.  Give us the strength to quit fighting the battles we can’t win and embrace the victories you have already secured for us.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Agape…

Chris

A Great Day.

We took the kids to Duncan today to visit with a family counselor who is the father of one of our great friends.  He had lots of helpful things to say to us, and lots of good things to say about the kids.  Afterwards, we took the bikes to the Oklahoma River to ride.  The trails are great and the kids had a blast!  Sam hurt her arm and puked up a lung, but she is ready to go again tomorrow.  We are expecting family to come into town tomorrow.  I am excited to get to spend some time with them.  

Agape–or at least the best I can do,

Chris

So tired…

It’s 11:39, and the twins have just fallen asleep–only two hours after they were sent to bed for the last time.  Usually Jackson is asleep first, but he had a long and much needed nap this afternoon.  Brooklyn usually is the last to sleep.  She is the one with the most turmoil in her mind at this point.  She talked about not having any choice; but also admitted that she needed the adults in her life to do what’s best for her.  These kids are so smart–and so loving.  I am so thankful that we are the family God has chosen for them–and pray it is in His plan for this to be permanent.  Samantha is adjusting more everyday.  She is on an emotional roller coaster, but today really seemed to relish having a brother to wrestle and play with.  She is trying really hard to be a good sister, but I know it is a nagging fear of hers that this could be taken away. 

So I’m tired.  God blessed us with an awesome week of camp!  I can’t imagine a better transition environment. 

Have I mentioned I’m tired?  Church is so much more fun with four kids in the pew!  They ran around before and after service hugging everyone they remembered from camp, and they were really pretty good for the service.  Mellodie’s rule:  they only get up once during the service and no two go together to the bathroom. 

So I’m tired.  God has blessed me with abundant work right now, so I can pay for the half-beef that I bought from a friend, and hopefully pay off the freezer before 12 months no interest runs out. 

I guess I’m tired enough that I just seem to ramble on the page.  No matter.  I may be tired, but I am oh, so happy.

“The joy of the Lord will be my strength.“ 

 

It’s great to have a full quiver.  

Agape–or at least the best I can do,

Chris