This is when God decided to “step on the gas” a little.  We are happy to let everyone of you know we have ACCEPTED A REFERRAL for TWO girls.  Two sisters who’s eyes will melt your hearts.  Two sisters who have two sisters they’ve never met waiting for them in a town they’ve never heard of.  Two sisters who have two sisters who have been praying for them every morning before they get out of the car for school.

We have seen their faces!  We have seen their smiles…well at least one of them.  We know our daughters’ names.  We are in a completely different place than we were two months ago, yet it feels eerily similar…it feels like waiting.

When we feel comfortable sharing with you where they are and what they look like, we will.  You’ve been on this journey with us.  I know you would like to meet them as well.

But Jen and I get the first hugs!

Here are our adoption shirts for women. It is a girls fitted shirt. The diagram is of a regular t, but the shirts will be V-neck. We ask that you donate to support adoption for these shirts. These are pre order so simply comment and we’ll order the shirt and let you know when they arrive. You send your donation and when it is received we will mail the shirts. We hope to be placing an order next week.

These shirts are silver (light grey) with a dark red image.

We are selling adoption shirts for a donation.  Yes, shirts cost money, but we want you to donate what you feel would be fair for a shirt as a fundraiser for international adoption.  When we receive enough interest/orders, we will order the shirts.  I will let you know when the shirts are in and then will request you send your donation and I will send your shirt.  This shirt is mocha with sage green lettering and is considered to be unisex.  We are also hoping to have a “female” shirt up soon that will be v-neck.

Just comment below with size and address (if we need to ship it).  We’ll be in contact when we get the shirts in.

Jarred

80% of students who say in church after high school said their parents provided spiritual guidance compared to 59% who had dropped out.

50% of the students who stayed involved in church said their parents discussed spiritual matters with them on a regular basis.  30% of those who have dropped out of church say they had these discussions

Those whose parents were actively involved in church, %50 stayed in church while 31% dropped out

57% of students who stayed in church said their parents expressed an expectation that they would remain in church while 39% of those who dropped out say their parents had the same expectation.

42% of students who stayed in church said their parents prayed with them regularly.  22% of students who dropped out said the same thing.

Here’s what all these numbers are telling us…a parents involvement (or lack of involvement) in church plays a significant role in the life of a student.  If a parent of a student is actively involved in a growing relationship with Christ will have a major impact on the spiritual life of their student.  Culture might say, “don’t meddle in your student’s life, especially on spiritual matters…they need to choose that for themselves,” but by doing that you’re handing over the reigns to someone who doesn’t have full use of the part of the brain allows students to make fully informed decisions.

If you want your student to grow in their relationship with Christ then you have to expect it and live it.  Is your example one that is leading your student to grow in his/her relationship with Christ or is it reflecting a mindset of convenient Christianity.  Is God convenient for your life or necessary?  Are you portraying that to your child?

I encourage you to expect your student(s) to be at church and I encourage you to live your life as a godly example that your would proud of them to follow!

liveUnhindered/loveUnashamed

JM

*stats are from a LifeWay study…you can find out more at www.lifewayresearch.com

…I just finished Hooked by McIlhaney & Bush and I believe it is a great book for any pastor/student pastor/parent looking to understand the role the brain has in sex.  Great scientific research on the dangers of getting involved in sexual activity before marriage or outside of marriage.

Open our hearts,
To see the things
That make Your heart cry,
To be the church
The You would desire.
Light to be seen.

Break down our pride,
And all the walls
We’ve built up inside,
Our earthly crowns
And all our desires,
We lay at Your feet.

So let hope rise,
And darkness tremble
In Your holy light,
And every eye will see
Jesus, our God,
Great and mighty to be praised.

God of all days,
Glorious in all of Your ways.
Your majesty, the wonder and grace,
In the light of Your name.

With everything,
With everything,
We will shout for your glory.

With everything,
With everything,
We will shout forth your praise.

Our hearts will cry
Be glorified,
Be lifted high,
Above all names.
For You our King,
With everything,
We will shout forth your praise.

Every once in a while the students don’t listen to me and decide to succumb to their hormone filled emotions and get a significant other from the opposite sex.  All I can say, when I’m picking up the pieces after their 3 day whirlwind romance is, “I told you so!.”  But for every 100 of those facebook driven relationships there is one that is different.  This weekend I have the privilege of officiating the wedding ceremony of some awesome students of mine.  I was reading over the vows/message this morning and reminiscing of when it all began.  She was a freshman and he was a junior and I could see in their eyes…I’m was in trouble.  I knew from that point on that whenever I gave the “don’t date ’til you’re in college” speech, they weren’t going to be happy with me and I would have to discuss with them why I believed what I said.

We’ll they made it…and here we are standing at the edge of their future together and I’m nothing but excited for them.  God has a plan (you can find that in scripture) and that plan is awesome and God-filled.  Mitchell and Olivia…I love you and I’m proud of you!  You made it…you proved me wrong!  Your are the exception and not the norm…and that’s a good thing!

I look forward to tomorrow…but probably not as much as Mitchell does!

JM

Why she’s bad:OK, she’s not actually that bad. But her character has morphed from a cute, plump kid in baggy jeans to a svelte tween with a glamorous hairdo. What’s up with that?

Why it matters: Girls are increasingly being sexualized in the media at a younger age, leading to a limited sense of self.

Is that not laughable?  Well it is to me, and I’m a father of two 6 year old girls…who, by the way, enjoy their guilty pleasure of an episode or two of Strawberry Shortcake.  I hope we don’t have to start shutting our blinds so the neighbors can’t see and judge us.  I guess I’m not sure we (believers) should be throwing our support behind an article so critical and so judgmental.  Some of them I can understand and yes, “common sense,” but it’s easy to see why the world hates us for all the wrong reasons.  Is this done in Jesus’ name?  Can we, in good conscience, say that Strawberry Shortcake is a bad role model because she “grew up?”

If the world’s gonna hate me, it better be for all the right reasons…not because I’m picketing a soldier’s funeral or passing along an article discussing why you shouldn’t like an individual or cartoon.  Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m tired of giving people a reason to not follow Jesus rather than showing the grace offered at the cross.

Then again maybe Strawberry Shortcake was wrong when she sang about you being beautiful on the outside because you are beautiful on the inside.  That’s not a message I want my girls hearing or knowing.

JM

]]> http://jarred0723.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/and-you-will-be-hated-by-all/feed/ 0 jarred0723 http://jarred0723.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/the-view-from-here/ http://jarred0723.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/the-view-from-here/#comments Thu, 30 Jun 2011 23:23:08 +0000 jarred0723 https://jarred0723.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/the-view-from-here/ Continue reading →]]> I think it’s safe ton say that I want my family with me all the time…i think it’s also safe to say they can’t be with me all the time…bummer, right? At this very moment I’m flying into Montana and as I do so I’m staring at one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen! I’ve never seen the Rockies befor…but now, I look at them as if they have been hand crafted by the Maker…and then there’s the snow that seems to be painted on with a simple brush-stroke here and there. NOW is definitely one of those times I would like to be with my family. My words will never do it justice. Even as the clouds interrupt my vantage point nothing can take away from it’s majesty.

I’m excited about going to Montana…I’m excited about serving alongside doubleU students and The Rock Church…I’m excited about be the Hands and Feet of the one who painted this picture…I’m NOT excited about doing this without my family…and I don’t think I’m wrong for saying that.

With that said…may God IMPACT Montana!!

JM

You gotta love a Trapper Keeper!!  Surely I’m not the only one who has come to this conclusion.  If fact, I’m going to say if Trapper Keepers were still around, test grades would be higher.  I’m not sure how you could test that scientifically, but I do know you could store the results in a Trapper Keeper quite nicely (you have your choice of compartments to put it in as well).  I’m not sure when the fad faded, but it did, and now students just use multiple sizes of 3-ring binders…LAME!  I’m not sure who invented the Trapper Keeper (probably someone who has their own show on HGTV), but it was a GREAT idea.  You may question my reasoning, but think about it for a second-Lots of pockets and folders, and the folders that went with them were more futuristic than any other folder around complete with a ruler on the edge (the pockets were on the sides of the folder not the bottom…I know right?  It’s hard to believe how “star trek” that is).  College-Ruled paper and and pencil pouch rounded out the greatness of the Trapper Keeper!

The thing about the Trapper Keeper is this…it did what it said it would do.  It “trapped” and “kept” you paper…plus any other micro-organism one might find in your 4th grade classroom.  The classic image is the Trapper Keeper velcroed shut and paper coming out of the sides like a fat kid in spandex.  Yeah…it was pretty disturbing.  But…it kept the papers…it trapped the papers.  It wasn’t interested in beauty, it was only interested in keeping everything in one place no matter the chaos.  It wasn’t rare to find a piece of homework in your TK from two months earlier…but those were the dangers…and the “cool” points were worth it.

Sometimes I think we need a Trapper Keeper for out ideas.  Somewhere we can put them other than our own minds (we all know how messy those can be).  I’m hopefully just going to give you a few helpful hints in organizing and collecting your thoughts/ideas/brilliance!  These are some of the things that help me…

EVERNOTE:  It’s a program that allows you to do a lot and keep it in one place while sharing it with multiple mobile devices.  Now I’m sure that’s clear as mud, but let me explain in further (maybe less obscure) detail.  I can collect websites, notes, files, pics, etc., in one place on my computer, but I can also have in on my phone so if I ever needed to get something while away form my computer, I will be able to get it instantly.  I know there some other programs that may be able to do this, but I haven’t found one that can do it better.

TO DO LIST: That’s simple enough.  Make a to do list at the beginning of the day (or the end of the previous day).  #1 it feels good to check things off and see progress, #2 It helps you keep your list in one place and not on post it notes throughout your office.  Now how does this help with collecting ideas.  Well, a to do list helps with the follow through of the ideas.  An idea is of no value if you’re not willing to cash it in!  A to do list will help you cash it in.

NOTEBOOK: A little notebook is perfect.  I like to write things down, so I keep a notebook with me pretty much all the time to jot down some notes.  At some point I will take a pic of the notes with my phone and send it to EVERNOTE so I will have an electronic copy (I told you…EVERNOTE is pretty cool).

iCal: Any Calendar will do, but the iCal syncs with my wife’s phone and keeps me out of trouble.  I have trouble relaying information…this simply helps me put my ideas on a calendar and then Jen knows what’s going on in my head too…that’s not a bad thing all the time…There’s a “to do” lest on the iCal if your heart desires.

For someone who is pretty scattered (like myself), these are just helps.  I’ve got a lot of ideas…I just need to trap them and keep them in one place.  But after you trap them and keep them…I think it’s best that you work them out.  What good is your idea if you keep it trapped up…no good at all.  You might say, “But if I don’t do something about it, then I won’t have to worry about failing!”  I think Seth Godin says it best, “If you can’t fail, it doesn’t count.”

Here’s a new idea I just trapped…Trapper Keeper iPad cases…you know that would be crazy cool.

JM