Happy New Year!!! :)

I read this devotion a couple weeks ago and the truth's in it have been coming back to my mind frequently.

John 18:33-40

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? You own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being haded over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "you say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to truth listens to my voice." Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" They shouted in reply, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a bandit.

The substitution of Jesus for Barabbas seems like a monstrous tragedy -- a preference for mediocre evil over blazing goodness. But the substitution was not fatal, for God made an act of atonement out of it whereby Barabbas might be saved.

Dear Lord, I pretend indignation at the crowd's choice of Barabbas, but I do it too, choosing dull mediocrities over blazing virtues, the familiar and comfortable ways of the world over the challenging, spirit-stretching way of Christ. Forgive me and train me in better choices.

In your precious name I ask these things. Amen.

This devotion was written by Eugene Peterson.

In this coming year:

*May we Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and act according to God's will and leading in our lives.

*May we not be afraid to say "yes" to what He is putting on our hearts.

*May our lives and actions have eternal purpose in not only our own lives but, in the lives that we come into contact with everyday.

*May we keep our eyes and ears in tune to the needs of the widow, the lonely and the orphan and advocate for them.

Proverbs 31:8

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, ensure justice for those being crushed.

Happy New Year to you and your families!!!! :)

Fields of the Fatherless Study Starting Soon

Do you want to know what God's word says about our responsibility as the body of Christ to care for the widow, the lonely and the orphan? The widow, the lonely and the orphan are a broad subject. If you are reading this God is probably already stirring something in your heart. This is a great study to go through with other people to come alongside you and encourage you. I am quite sure it is possible that you will also encourage someone as you attend this study. Some of you may already be in the Fields and want to join this study to confirm what God is already doing and how you can be more effective in what God has already put on your heart.

This class has been approved by Larimer County for training hours available for their families. So if you are a foster family or a prospective foster/adopt family you can use these class hours towards your required training.

Fields of the Fatherless Study is beginning at Timberline Church on Sunday Jan. 17th at 5:00pm

Childcare is available by registration.

Please register here for childcare: http://fs8.formsite.com/timberline/Childcareenrollmentform/index.html

Childcare registration must be submitted no later than one week prior to the first meeting.

In the space that asks for the leaders name put: Jeff and Kari Stewart then for the space that asks for Ministry Group Name put: Welcome Child/Fields of the Fatherless

Please RSVP to me also. I want to make sure that we have enough books for everyone!

Please feel free to forward this email!!

I am looking forward to seeing you there. It is always a blessing!!

:) Kari

Karalot9@gmail.com

Adoption Conference

I heard Russell Moore speak last year at Orphan Summit. It was one of my favorite services of the event. I have shared on this blog about his book "Adopted for Life". This would be an excellent conference to attend. :)

I used to hate adoption.

No, I never thought I hated adoption. As a matter of fact I always saw myself as enthusiastically pro-adoption. I was pro-life, after all. I believed that adoption was a better alternative to abortion. And I even talked about adopting children one day after my wife and I had had our “own kids.”

And then God, through infertility, miscarriage, and two little boys in a Russian orphanage, changed my understanding of the gospel, of mission, and of myself.

Here in Louisville we’re going to be hosting a conference on adoption entitled, “Adopting for Life,” to take place February 26-27, 2010. I hope you’ll be joining us.

You may be wondering whether this will be a conference about the doctrine of adoption or “real” adoption. Well, one of the things that we’ll be discussing is the fact that you can’t talk about the one without talking about the other. Also, it is not as though we master one aspect and then move to the other—from the vertical to the horizontal or the other way around. That’s not the picture God has embedded in his creation work.

The Bible tells us that human families are reflective of an eternal fatherhood (Eph. 3:14-15). We know, then, what human fatherhood ought to look like on the basis of how Father God behaves toward us. But the reverse is also true. We see something of the way our God is fatherly toward us through our relationships with our own human fathers. And so Jesus tells us that in our human father’s provision and discipline we get a glimpse of God’s active love for us (Matt. 7:9-11; cf. Heb. 12:5-7). The same is at work in adoption.




So we’ve invited a number of great speakers to “Adopting for Life” who will seek to equip us to create a culture of adoption in our families and churches. We’ll be answering questions such as, “What does adoption have to do with the Great Commission?”, “How can I pay for adoption?”, and “How can we start an adoption ministry in my church?”—along with so many others.

I would love to see you here in Louisville for the “Adopting for Life” conference, as we think together about how God might be leading us to be on mission with Christ for the sake of the orphans of the world.

For the Kingdom of Christ,



http://events.sbts.edu/adopting-for-life/

SCC - All I really want for Christmas

Waiting for a Family

Name: Alfred B
Child ID: 8762
State: CO
Birthday: 4/2006
Grade in school: P
Special Interests: Trains, animals, outdoors
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Listed On: 12/2009




Name: Alfred B
Profile: Little engines can do big things, according to Thomas the Tank Engine, and train-loving Alfred is a little guy who may surprise you with the big things he'll accomplish in life! In addition to being a huge fan of Thomas, this 3-year-old also loves playing outside, and on a recent trip to the zoo was able to name most of the animals. Alfred is in preschool and loves it. He is good at remembering games and gets along well with the other children. Alfred has a chromosome deletion and is waiting on a developmental evaluation to see the extent of his delays and to determine if he will be able to live independently as an adult. He can have a great life. Financial assistance may be available for adoption-related services. For Colorado children, both homestudied and non-homestudied Colorado families are encouraged to inquire; only homestudied families from other states should do so.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

God sending His son Jesus to us was THE greatest gift ever. In Jesus we find grace, mercy, forgiveness and adoption into our forever family in Heaven.

I find it very interesting that Jesus' earthly life began and ends with adoption. His adoption of us is for eternity there is no beginning and there is no end. While Jesus was on earth he had an adoptive father - Joseph, who I am sure had many days of asking "what have I signed up for?". Then as Jesus hung dying on the cross in:

John 19: 26 - 27

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Eugene Peterson wrote the following about this scripture: Even while doing the cosmic work of atonement, Jesus attended to domestic details; he gave his mother another son, and his disciple a new mother. The gospel creates new family ties, both of affection and responsibility, for us.

Dear Lord, whom do you want me to love? Whom do you want me to care for? Enlarge my sense of family beyond the walls of this house; increase my capacity for affectionate responsibility beyond this immediate family. I ask these things for your glory dear Lord, Amen.

Praises from the Adoption Exchange

Rejoicing over all of these kids who have found their forever families!!! :)

♥ Four brothers and sisters, ages 3 to 12, are spending Christmas together with their new family this week. No longer will they worry that they will grow up separated from each other!

♥ Another sibling group of three will hang their stockings together in their own living room with a new mom and a new dad!

♥ An 18-year-old boy is being adopted! He will now have a family to help send him to college and to be there when he comes home for the holidays!