Reservation for Two

There's a couple that have been attending our church. Retired from first careers into owning and operating a functional cattle ranch nearby, they have been married 34 years. Several months ago, I went to their home to visit them. They've been very faithful in attending the worship service since then. She's lost; he's a Christian. Until last night. I wish I were eloquent enough to describe to you the spiritual celebration we had in that living room. And the celebration spread for the remainder of the evening, as members of our congregation arranged Sunday School connections, and made preparation for Sunday (I'll be out-of-town when they are presented to the congregation). Until late in the evening I was sharing this good news with members of our church as we worked to welcome this new sister in Christ. It is always a great thing to witness Christ bringing a new member into the family. Always. But there's just something special about seeing a family united in their faith. I grew up going to church at just the right time to be exposed to films like "A Thief in the Night" while at an impressionable age. Thinking about the return of Christ often conjures up in my mind glimpses of Patty Myers wondering where her husband went. Whatever your eschatological convictions, we know that eternity will separate husbands from wives... ...but not in this family. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

More Gushing over Baby Sarah

Aren't new parents hard to be around? We think that the whole world ought to drop everything and join into our private celebrations.

So...have you dropped everything yet? I've got some more celebration for you.

First you have to know a little bit about the bad in order to appreciate the wonder of the good. I've lost track of the adoption leads we have pursued that have fizzled out. The aggregation of those can eventually discourage you a little bit. But the most painful experience in the adoption world is what adoption experts have termed the "adoption loss." An adoption loss comes when you get all the way down to the end of the adoption process and it flies apart at the last minute. An adoption loss often involves having taken custody of a baby, only to have to give it back. Adoption loss is like a death. It is a brutal ordeal.

We have done that twice.

Now that will knock the wind out of you.

But on the other hand, we already have one adopted son, Jim. We had gone for a weekend at SWBTS's conference center. Tracy was attending a ministers' wives event; I was buried in books, working on seminar papers. On our return voyage to Farmersville, Tracy and I met our friends Keith and Melissa Sanders (at that time not yet married) to watch Gods and Generals at the Grapevine Mills movie theater. We finally got home, where we found a string of messages on our answering machine. At the opening syllables of the very first message, our heartbeats stopped.

A doctor in Arkansas had received one of our fliers. A baby was about to be born in need of an adoptive family. The call was more than a day old. The ensuing messages reiterated the proposal and wondered why we hadn't returned the call. They wanted to give us the first chance at adopting this baby, and didn't want to move on down the list until they heard from us. We were terrified that we had waited too long. That was on Saturday.

We immediately called the provided numbers, got in touch with the doctor, and started to make arrangements. On Wednesday, Jim was born and we started the process of adopting him. Now he's three years old and wonderful.

Entire elapsed time from our first knowledge of Jim until we were holding him—less than four days.

Fast forward to last week...our journey home from Greensboro. On the way home we stopped to spend the night with Dr. Joe Early, a friend who lives in Corbin, KY. Sitting on his back deck and looking into the forest, we discussed the convention (Joe and I have strikingly different perspectives upon convention politics), lots of boring Baptist History stuff, and the other things that very good friends explore. At one point the conversation turned to our prospects for adopting another baby. Joe asked how that was going.

I told Joe, "Well, we haven't really gotten any good leads lately. Not even that many nibbles. Sometimes we can get a little discsouraged. We need to do something to stir the pot a little and generate some more inquiries. But whenever we get down in the mouth, we always think about our experience with Jim. That happened so quickly. We always remind ourselves that we could be a week away from having a baby, but just not know it yet."

That conversation took place Thursday night. Exactly one week later, Sarah was born. Now we've cleared enough hurdles to be really confident that this adoption is going to go through.

Now I'm Going to Preach a Little

You never know what God is doing right now for you that you just don't know about yet. He is indeed faithful. He really does work all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

OK. You have permission to resume your life now. Thanks for listening.

Ain't God Wonderful

Welcome to the wonderful world of private adoption, where you conceive, gestate, and deliver in 24 hours! That's right—as of noon yesterday, we knew absolutely nothing. By yesterday afternoon, our world was turned upside down. Last night at 9:30, Sarah Ann Barber was delivered. I am currently posting from a room in Labor & Delivery at an area hospital, where Tracy is holding our new baby girl!

This Is My Father's World

God has created a remarkably beautiful world:

• I-40 through the Great Smoky Mountains is spectacular.
• Morristown, TN, at the entrance to the Cumberland Gap, is breathtaking. A lake as calm as a mirror lies at the base of Clinch Mountain. From the moment I saw it, I got this powerful sense that God had called me to plant a church there and stay forever. :-)
• At Cumberland Falls in Williamsburg, KY, the Cumberland River plunges 60 feet in a dramatic display of creation's power.

Flying would have been cheaper, quicker, and easier on my body. Thank you, Lord, that we drove instead. Your creation is awesome and inspiring!