matched!

Wow! Now that we've shared the news with many of our family and friends, I can get away with blogging about it. My wife and I were matched with our daughter this past week!!!!

We have been in the process of adopting a daughter from China for a long time now. About this time three years ago, we first began filling out paperwork. January 2006 we sent our homestudy along with many documents, forms and pictures to China and received back a log-in date (LID) of March 7, 2006. So now after 28 months of waiting to be matched, we finally received the referral for our little girl. (See my blog entry puzzle pieces from 1/26/07... who knew that at the time I was writing my daughter would be three months old?)

My daughter, Kate, is so beautiful! There's a lot we can't post online until we receive our official Letter of Acceptance (LOA)-- including her picture-- but she is absolutely amazing. I am so in love with her already! After some more paperwork gets processed, probably in about two or three months, we will travel to China to get her.

Pray for us as we prepare ourselves, our family and our home to welcome our new daughter. Ask God to give us the wisdom it takes to respond to her special circumstances and needs as she goes through this huge change in her life. Thanks!

...just wanted to share the good news :) Oh, and check out the link to Amy's blog, "Raising Tomatoes."

a week at Grandma's house

Last December my grandmother passed away... she would have been 91 in two weeks. She lived a very interesting and full life. A month ago we finally began what will be a very long process of cleaning out the house she left behind. My mom, my brother (and his family), and me and my family took a week off and met in Ohio to start cleaning.

This house is amazing. It has a total of 4 floors. A basement, first and second floor and a large attic. Because she was such a huge collector and because she had lived there since my mom was little, it is crammed-pack full of "things." I always remember it being full, but in the later years of her life, Grandma was less able to manage the clutter and had let all the stuff get out of hand. Just sifting through the layers is bound to uncover years and years of history (specifically since she was an only child and still has many previous generations' belongings in boxes around the house, she was a member of a ton of organizations, like Eastern Star, DAR, DAC, church committees, library board, museum curator, former teacher, etc., and she survived two husbands).

Here are some pictures to try to show what we are facing...
Stairs to the third floor (before & after): Grandma's room (before & after):

Hallway (before & after): Library (before & after): Den (before & after):

Attic:

In that week, we filled an industrial dumpster three times... mostly full of old food (some as old as 30 years), magazines, and bills and receipts that she had held onto over the years. We took four van-loads of clothes to Goodwill, including probably over 100 pairs of shoes. We sorted through stamp collections, coin collections, doll collections, Boyd's Bear collections, decorative plate collections, postcard collections, and so on. And the problem is that it seems like we barely scratched the surface.

I hard to imagine an end in sight, especially since it is so far away and difficult to carve out the time that it will take to make progress.

Obama Rally in Louisville

I am a self-proclaimed cynic when it comes to politics, which makes it surprising that I have been so excited about the candidacy of Barack Obama and the potential democratic nomination. In fact, when I learned Obama was coming to Louisville on Monday, May 12th (on my day off) I was excited to be able to go with my high school friend, Adrian, who lives and teaches there.

The doors opened at 5:00pm, and already by the time I got there at 4:30pm the line was wrapped around two sides of the building. Once through the long wait and security checks, we found a spot about 15 yards from the front of the podium and waited. We ended up standing for about three and a half hours in all.

For many, it was indeed a rally. There was no lack of signs, shirts, buttons and other visible markers to identify the crowd as being pro-Barack. By the time Barack Obama came out, the audience had worked themselves into quite a frenzy. (There were even a couple people who had to be attended to by paramedics in the midst of it all.)

But for me, though I am a supporter, I wanted to check it out with my own eyes. For one, I wanted to be a part of this monumental historical moment, with all of its enormity. I want to be able to tell my grandkids I was there, present in the midst of it. I believe 2008 will be indelibly etched into America's history because of Barack Obama. The thought of it makes me proud and excited for our country.

Secondly, I wanted to be more than an observer of history, I wanted to hear him and think through some of the issues together with him. I wanted to be further engaged in the dialogue... to think about what his campaign means and what he really hopes to accomplish through the office of the President of the United States.

A few things I've pondered since that night:
1. I am still in many ways a Republican... I like the thought of smaller government and believe there are some moral issues that ought to be protected (or at least seriously considered) by our legislatures, including abortion, cloning, expanded gambling, gay marriage, etc. However, most Republicans don't seem to actually wrestle with the issues; they take rigid stances that align with the party platform. I am also a little ambiguous about my feelings concerning socialist policies sometimes supported by the Democrats. I believe in as free a market as possible (I recommend the Econtalk podcast, hosted by Russ Roberts of the Library of Economics and Liberty), but I have also witnessed socialized medicine at work (while my wife and I lived in England). So though my concerns linger in regards to several issues and policies supported by the Democratic party, I will not let myself be defined by only one issue and let it determine the legitimacy of a candidate.

More than that, I'm willing to admit that maybe I'm wrong about some things. I used to think that people should be allowed to own guns with few restrictions (a traditional Republican stance). I don't think so anymore. I now favor as strict a gun control as you can possibly pass. Once again, simply look at the results of crime in England because of its gun policies. I'm okay accepting that I may not be an expert on foreign policy, social security, economics or even how to legislate morality in our country. It may just be that another way would work better.

2. I'm still a cynic, though. I'm going to doubt a lot of the suggestions and ideas for change that are thrown around by each of the candidates. I'm glad Obama rejected McCain's suggestion of a federal gas tax three-month holiday, but I'm not convinced he will be able to "take on" the oil industry without a ton of problems. In fact, I'm probably more cynical about some of Obama's ideas because they rely more heavily on the good faith of the American people. I would love to believe otherwise, but it seems like more and more people are interested in taking advantage of the government for their own self interests instead of working for the overall good. For example, it's obvious to me that the gas tax break is wrong in so many ways, but I don't put it past Americans to think it's a great idea because they think it will help them (even if only a little bit for a brief time).

One of the most promising aspects of his campaign is that it has set the goal of being free from lobbyists and special interest groups by not taking their money. There is so much hope in just the prospect that maybe his administration would actually be free from the big money corporations that would try to control and his set agendas through their financial backing and lobbying. He seems to actually be listening to those who have never before had a voice in politics.

3. Since he does put so much faith in the American people, he has a real hope for fostering community service. It seems to be his vision to see us take care of one another and the communities we live in. Here's a video I took of his plan to help fund further education, with the deal that students would then give back through community services, like working in a veteran's home, homeless shelter or join the peace corp. "We invest in you; you invest in America."


4. Finally, I appreciate that Obama made the comment not to blame one person or one administration. I am not a Bush-hater, and it really bothers me when people attack George W. Bush so severely and try to blame all the problems of America on him and his administration. Of coarse there are things he could have and should have done better, but he simply cannot be as bad as it seems everyone wants to make him out to be. There's no doubt Obama is now wanting to reach out to Republicans and Independents to help him get elected in November, but it is important for me that the focus not be only what Bush has done wrong but also to put the responsibility for making it better back on us--the people.

When we are unified and working together, we can make America better.

Bob Perry

* I had the honor to preach the funeral for Bob Perry yesterday morning in Versailles, Kentucky. The following is the eulogy that I delivered.


What an honor and a joy it was for me to serve Bob Perry and much of his family as a pastor. My name is Tim Schindler and I was the pastor of Hillsboro Baptist Church several years ago while I attended seminary in Wilmore. Hillsboro is the church that Bob grew up in, and Bob was serving there as a deacon when I came to the church in 2000.

Many of you here were fortunate enough to know Bob Perry well. The words that come to my mind come to yours, too. Big-hearted. Love for family. Devoted husband. Pride in his kids and grandkids. Faithful. Straightforward with his opinions. Welcoming. Dedicated to God.

One word that I keep coming back to again and again is generous. He lived a generous life. I don’t mean that he was simply charitable. What I mean is that he lived his life in such a way that his focus wasn't self-centered… the direction of his heart was toward others. Bob extended himself outward in self-giving. Whether it was welcoming a new family in the neighborhood or working to make sure someone had a warm place to sleep at night; maybe it was an act of kindness to someone who worked on his farm or trying to impart wisdom to a grandkid on their slow ride through the country—“Let me tell you about the tortoise and the hare.” Maybe it was hearing him go on and on again how precious Clara was to him, or even assuring a young nervous preacher, “You did a fine job.” There’s even this story going around that when he and his twin sister, Ruth, were in the crib with their bottle, that after she finished hers she helped herself to Bob’s bottle. Knowing Bob and how much he loved his sister, I wonder if he didn’t just offer it to her. Bob gave of himself for the benefit of others. Listen to how Jesus describes it in Luke 6:35-36, “I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You'll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.”

What I think Bob knew (at least intuitively) was that you have to make a choice. You can choose to be self-centered and hold on to those things that fill our lives… our time, our affections, our attention, our possessions, our comfort. Or we can choose to give it all away to gain something of greater value.

Let me see if I can explain. (Since Bob was a farmer, I figured I would use these heads of lettuce.) This lettuce represents the many things we cling to for ourselves… maybe this is our food, this is our free time, this is our abilities. Pretty soon all of our energy is going to be used in holding on to our own stuff. So imagine Bob with an armful of lettuce and along comes Victoria, the little girl who lives next door to him, what do you think he would do? Would he say, “Sorry, my arms are full, no hugs today”? Or would he gladly set aside the armful of lettuce for his greatly-treasured hug? No question. You let go of the things less valuable in order to have the freedom to embrace the greater things. Bob Perry knew that the more you give yourself away, the more capacity you have for filling your life with the things that truly matter… love, kindness, grace, mercy, joy… a life that is truly full.

Maybe these words from 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 would express Bob’s word to you today: “I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!” Live generously.

In case there is any question where Bob Perry’s generosity came from, let me assure you this morning that this is a result of his faith in God. Bob had a sincere love for Jesus and followed the example set by Christ himself, who gave us the greatest expression of self-giving generosity by laying down his life for us on the cross. See the pattern of Bob’s life in these words from Philippians chapter two, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” You see, Bob knew he could never be more generous than his Savior had already been to him.

And may you also receive God’s generous love. Amen.