Randomness

Life always seems to be quite crazy and blogging lately has been put on hold. Tonight we're finally enjoying a quiet evening after a busy weekend, so I've found a moment to jot down some random happenings.

- last Monday we had our final home study meeting for the adoption. Our social worker came over to the house to make sure everything was safe. I don't think our home ever looked so nice, in large part due to Shanna's nerves approaching this meeting, but I'm continuing to learn that while the home is just a small building to me, it tends to be way more to the wife. We are so grateful to both of our families for taking long drives and overnights to fix sump issues, paint cabinets, landscaping and yard work, and so many other little things that left big impressions. One of the coolest things about the meeting was when we went through the adoption survey again. We had done this same survey last fall at our first meeting, but it was cool to do it again because it shows us how much we've grown/changed in our feelings of openness in adoption and thoughts towards the birth family. I never thought we'd end up here, and I'm so excited for how this new outlook will change everything. For more info on the adoption you can check out our other blog on the right sidebar.

- right now I'm typing this on our new iPad. What an amazing piece of technology and what an amazing blessing to ministry (and it's just plain fun). My brother decided to give it to us out of the blue as an early Christmas present. I love his generosity and giving spirit. We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for.

- it's just over two weeks until we hop on the plane for Mozambique with 6 others from the Student Ministry. I love this group of teens and we've grown so close together over the last 9 months. We had our last training meeting this afternoon, and then celebrated together by doing dinner at The Plum Garden - an amazing hibachi restaurant. So fun. The support from the church has been truly astounding, and it really feels like this is a Lakeshore trip...which is so good on so many levels.

- just came off of our annual all-nighter event... We link up with a few other area youth groups to put on an amazing night of fun, and with our new facilities this year's was really cool. But as an adult leader...I can't stand em. It takes so long to recover from them and I always feel like I'm dragging afterwards. Maybe this was the "thorn In the flesh" that Paul was talking about (back in his youth ministry days).

- just started reading Love Is An Orientation - a book by Andrew Marin that I've been eyeing for a long time. It's a great read for anyone wanting to embrace the LGBT community with love, grace, and compassion. Actually, it's a must read for any Christian because it forces us to stop making excuses and proof texting our arguments, and truly begin to love people the way Jesus loved.