He-Wood, She-Wood and Wee-Wood

Don’t Stop Believing…

kimist — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:03:17 +0000

Yes we haven’t stopped believing but we have been devastated this past week. Monday morning at 1:30 brought a call from the social worker that the birth mom who choose us was in labor. We dropped the Wee-woods off at the Grand-woods and arrived at the hospital just minutes after he was born. We got to be the first to hold him, see his first bath, give him his first bottle. It was wonderful. Later that day got to be rocky and then things got better. The roller coaster wasn’t fun. We did everything we could to support the birth mom in her decision. Before I left for dinner she asked if I could come back in the morning. I showed up the next day and spent 4 hours with her. Many people were in and out of her room and around lunch I excused myself and went to eat. When I came back she had called her social worker and told her she had decided to parent. This was hard to take…she had previously showed little interest in caring for him but it’s her decision. I shortened the story but lets just say we had some amazing friends that knew every hill and valley of this event.

I feel just like I did when we had our miscarriage…shall it be called a misparent? We feel the same loss even though we guarded our heart (yes I realize there is no loss of life like a miscarriage). In reference to the baby…I wouldn’t do anything differently next time. I didn’t call him by the name we have chosen for him and I often thought well digital film makes it easy to delete if she decides to parent. It took a while for me to cut off my arm bracelet and I still haven’t thrown it away. It represents hope. I know there will be another baby to be born that a mother will put up for adoption.

Overall, I’ve learned to be more assertive…but then again not too much to deter the birth mom. We know ministry is difficult and anyone in ministry has shed lots of tears for what they love and those they minister to. If for nothing else I showed her how a mother truly can love and care for a child, how a husband and wife love each other, God’s love, and prayed many prayers of thanksgiving and blessings into the baby’s life.

I keep on waiting for the world to change…

jla6102 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:51:41 +0000

Last night She-wood and I watched the documentary, “Waiting For Superman.” It is a great film about the failing educational system in the United States. It addresses the fact that there are major problems in the education system that have caused the United States to fall behind nearly all other developed nations when it comes to competency of students in math, reading, and science. Throughout the film it follows the efforts of several pioneers in the education realm who have decided to work to try to change the way things are for students across the country. They have made huge strides in the somewhat confined areas where they are working. They have seen literacy and comprehension rates rise significantly and graduation rates are up sharply as well. However, when they try to take there methods out into the education system at large they are met with disdain, opposition, and dead ends. They are on the cutting edge of their craft, and yet they are being dismissed by the establishment because they are doing differently from how they have always been done.

I could not help but draw a comparison to the way things are at many churches. There are people who are trying to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and they are trying to be innovative in the way they reach people for Christ. However, they are met with opposition, disdain and dead ends from the “establishment” that does not want to have things changed. The problem is that while the “establishment” doesn’t want things to change there are people who are dying and going to hell that are not being reached by a church that is using outdated and ineffective methods to share the gospel. Why is it that pioneers who are trying to advance whatever it is that they are trying to advance are usually met with opposition from the “establishment” that they are trying to help? Are churches so caught up in making things comfortable for themselves that they have lost their zeal for the gospel? The early Christians understood how great the gospel was and they were willing to, literally, give their lives in order to share it and make it better. Has the church gotten so caught up in being “the establishment” that it has forgotten why Jesus created the church in the first place?

It is time for the Body of Christ to get lost in the excitement of the gospel again! That means that Christians of all ages are willing to do whatever it takes to reach those around them who have yet to respond to the gospel of Christ. It invariably means that there will be points in time where every member of the body of Christ will be incredibly uncomfortable, but that is a good thing! God has not called us to comfort. He has called us to service, and that means that there will be times when the Holy Spirit leads us to do things that are outside of our comfort zone. Of course, there will be times when we are met with walls from “the establishment,” but it is at those times that we should look all the more to Christ and follow His leadership to reach the world with the gospel.

I challenge you to be a pioneer for the gospel of Christ wherever you may be.

Well You took my day and You flipped it around

kimist — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:59:32 +0000

Lyrics by Jaime Grace today because our world was flipped around last week. We’ve already mentioned why but one aspect that we haven’t really worked out in print is the aspect of meeting the birth mom. We knew it would be hard…awkward but I didn’t really know I would suddenly see adoption in a different light. As we have tried to work through our fundraising I’ve often felt that people see us as asking for money for a baby…I wish everyone could’ve been in the room last thursday to see it’s so much more than that. Right now she is our primary mission field…they didn’t even respond to God, prayer, anything we mentioned about Christ. Yes I know we will gain a son if this all goes through and the funds are to pay for legal fees etc but right now may be our only chance to show her Christ’s love.

To see her and her family heartbroken that they cannot provide for the child like they would like is heartbreaking. It’s even more heartbreaking to know that they might not know God’s love…which through adoption we are trying to show her. Our motives for adoption aren’t because we want a larger family but it’s obedience to his calling for us and his Word. We are so excited to be bringing him home soon and the opportunity to minister to her. Over this past week I’ve often related the experience of ministering to any other type of ministry…it just happens that we get a lifelong ministry in the end, a son. It won’t be easy for us since adoption has many obstacles, especially a transracial adoption.

It happens in a blink…

jla6102 — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:20:31 +0000

It is truly amazing how our lives can change in the blink of an eye. It is astonishing how one phone call can turn your world upside-down (in a good way this time). God orchestrates things in a way that baffles me sometimes. However, I know that I am merely on the ground level and my vision is limited, and God can see it all, the whole big picture. As many of you know, we are in the process of adopting a third Wee-wood. well, we have been chosen by a birthmother to parent her child. It is a totally surreal experience right now. I’m not really sure that it has totally set in yet. We got to meet her and some of her family yesterday. What a sweet experience! I got to pray for her and the baby, and we got to share how we are being led by God to adopt a child. We got to learn about her and why she is placing this child inside her up for adoption. It was somewhat gut wrenching for me to experience her emotions. It became clear to me how difficult of a decision this is for her, but she knows that it is the right decision.

So God is using this situation to change the courses of many lives. It will obviously change our lives. It will change the birthmother’s life. However, it will also change lives for centuries to come. This one decision made by a 24 year old young woman to place her baby for adoption could have astronomical impacts. I don’t mean to oversell the situation, but truly it could have incredible implications in years ahead that we currently have no idea about. It is exciting to think about. I think that same thing for Wee-woods 1 and 2. The could be the next huge impact person to change the world. The potential is huge for them, and I am so glad to get to be a part of parenting them.

The part of this that is a bit scary for me is that she could have this baby at literally any moment! I mean we always knew that this was coming, but now that it is actually here I am kind of taken off guard. I know that this is part of God’s sovereign plan though. It has happened so quickly that that we have not become totally prepared for the finalization of the adoption. This is where She-wood and I are appealing to the Body of Christ to help us bear this burden of sorts. I believe that the words of Paul are true when he tells the church at Galatia, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). We are also clinging to Philippians 4:19 where Paul again writes, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” We know that the financial portion of this adoption is the very small part for God, however the remaining $12,500 that we need to complete this adoption is large to us.

We look forward to watching God provide this as we have seen Him provide over and over for us through our lives. We have partnered with Lifesong for Orphans to help us raise this money. Every bit of the money that you donate to help with our adoption will come to us, but Lifesong provide a tax shelter to make your donation deductible. If you would like to help, and we pray that you do, there are two ways you can help.

You can write a check and mail it:

Write preference Arrowood #2439 Adoption on the note line

Lifesong for Orphans Attn: Arrowood #2439 Adoption

PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St.

Gridley, IL 61744

Or you can donate online through PayPal through this link here just scroll down and click on the donate button in the middle of the page. Also remember to designate preference Arrowood #2439 at the top of the PayPal page.

We strongly believe that God wants the Body, His Church, to help us in this venture that we are taking with Him. I know that He can stir hearts to help us with this. We believe in James 1:27 which states, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, The Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Please don’t read that verse in passing. Apply it to your life. Thank you in advance for what God will lead you to do. We love you.

And I know that You will be Blessed

kimist — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:42:45 +0000

Today’s post stems from a wonderful meeting we had with a sweet lady last night and her family. She’s a woman who has chosen us to parent her son. We are feeling confident in her decision to go through with placement but we know nothing is guaranteed at this point. Now that that’s aside here’s our deal…we really got our eyes opened to how fast this is happening. She is due in 5 weeks but probably won’t be able to make it that long (read here maybe 2 weeks longer). It has always been our goal to not need a loan for the adoption, however when He-wood lost his job last June we needed our savings, my job, and his 2 part-time jobs to stay afloat.

This is where the community of Christ and his church comes in. We hate asking for money but Lifesong has been so gracious to allow donations to be accepted through them with a tax deductible gift for the donor. He-wood has proclaimed Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus”. We have seen God provide for us this past year and look forward to seeing him work this out because to God $12,500 isn’t much. But to me it’s a mountain…it’s something that right now is keeping me from being able to fully minister to this lady and her family. We’ve got the love…we’ve got the means to care for him and crib and everything we just need the money for lawyers and our agency.

So if you would like to donate you have 2 options:

Check: write preference Arrowood #2439 Adoption on the note line

Lifesong for Orphans Attn: Arrowood #2439 Adoption

PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St.

Gridley, IL 61744

Or donations can be taken online here: Please remember to designate in the purpose line preference Arrowood #2439 Adoption

We are just needing some financial assistance as we try and obey James 1:27. Can you help bear our burden? Any donation helps and we are eternally grateful.

Life brings on unexpected changes but we must carry on despite it…

jla6102 — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:57:24 +0000

Well 2011 has been quite a year for our family! (That may be the understatement of the year right there.) The year began with a big change for our family as we began at a new place in ministry, and the year will end with the hope of yet another new place in ministry. We have been through some very trying times this year. However, I know that God led us every step of the way.

There were times during the big transitions that we were going through that I wondered what God was doing. I wondered if I had done something wrong. I wondered if I had made a wrong turn or ill-advised decision. However, through it all I can now look back and see where God was molding me and shaping me into the man that He has created me to be. I know that I am simply the clay. I cannot see what God is shaping me to be, but I know that He, as the Potter, has infinitely more wisdom than I do. He alone can envision what He wants me to be. Who am I to question how He is shaping me? As the clay, I have learned, I may not like how I must be pounded and reshaped at times, but it will ultimately bring God glory for me to be shaped the way He has planned. I know that I must endure the shaping process in order to fulfill the purpose that God has for me. I wait for Him to shape me knowing that He has promised future glory in the life to come. I can look and identify with the sailors on the boat with Jonah in Jonah 2. They were caught up in a storm due to events that were completely out of their control. However, God in His infinite grace used that storm that was meant for Jonah to draw the sailors closer to Himself. I have been drawn to God the Father over the past six months like never before. His provision and grace and mercy never cease to amaze me. It truly is incredible to look over the past year and see time after time where God has provided in ways that I would never have imagined. It has been a crazy year.

There were times where I spoke out loud, “God I would not have done things this way.” How arrogant?! Again, I go back to the fact that I am merely the clay. However, I can see that I am now in a place spiritually, relationally, and mentally that I would not yet be had I not gone through the circumstances that God saw fit to put us through. She-Wood and I are much closer as husband and wife because of this year, and I was afforded the opportunity to spend invaluable time with the Wee-Woods as well. It has been a great year.

I think of God’s words in Isaiah 43. He spends the first half of that chapter reminding Israel of the many great things that He had done for them and through them. I love how God recounts the ways that He has guided and protected the Israelites. It is inspiring and comforting! I also love what one commentator said regarding what God says in Isaiah 43. He writes, “Our past is meant to be a guidepost and not a hitching post.” You see, God is my one and only amazing Savior who has done amazing things both in and through me. However, I cannot hold to those things of the past simply because they were great in the past. Nor can I dwell on the hard things I have had to learn in the past. God still has great things to do in and through me. Great new things! I must press forward knowing that God has great things in store for His glory.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “How blessed the hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone.” WOW! I want to be in that storm so that God should be magnified. While this past year has held things that I would not have willingly put myself or my family through, I know that I can cling to the words of Paul in Romans 8:28 when he states, “He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” I know that the “good” Paul is referring to is whatever ultimately results in God’s glory, and I am perfectly okay with that.

So I look forward with great expectation and enthusiasm to 2012. There are HUGE things planned for the coming year. We await the call for our adoption to be finalized. We await the decision to move to another city and begin a new ministry in earnest. We await a trip to visit the greatest place on earth. We await whatever God has up His sleeves for our family. It is sure to be a year of ups and downs, joy and strife, victories and set backs, but through it all God will be glorified in He-Wood, She-Wood and the Wee-Woods.

What are You waiting for

jla6102 — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:53:33 +0000

Isaiah 30:18 reads, “Therefore the Lord wait to be gracious to you…” What an incredible idea!?! God wants to be gracious to me but my stupidity, arrogance, pride, stubbornness, or laziness is making Him decide to hold out and wait. I wonder how many times I have caused God to wait to pour out graciousness until I am in the right place. I don’t in any way see it as God being stingy, but rather I see it as God being merciful and patient. He is waiting for me to be in the right state of mind or heart to receive the grace, and I see that as an incredible act of love.

Thoughts?

I’m so thankful that I’m incapable Of doing any good on my own

kimist — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:09:53 +0000

Okay so I’ve not blogged in a WHILE but in honor of thanksgiving I will.

Trying to be thankful during tough times may be easier than being thankful during “easy” times. We see so much to be thankful for. This year has been very rough. He-wood has often said he has been thankful during this time. I have too but probably for much different reasons.

Provision for us financially has probably been my favorite to see during this time. It hasn’t been easy and thankfully we had a little bit of savings to help us through too. I think it’s important that God has always laid it on my heart to have money in savings for a rainy day and not that we should depend on it as a crutch but it’s fiscally responsible. Wonderfully we haven’t had to touch it much since I’m going to need it to get a crown and not the kind a king wears (arg dentists).

-I’m thankful for all the churches who allowed my husband to come play for their worship service and helped to pay our bills

-I’m thankful for being allowed to visit and sit under different pastors, worship leaders, experience different children’s departments; something a full-time ministry family doesn’t get to do much

-I’m thankful for those who have bought us dinner or sent us gift cards to help us get by or invited us to dinner at their house

-I’m thankful for those friends we’ve made who allow me to vent my frustration and befriend my children to make them feel welcome and loved at church

-I’m thankful for the time we got to spend as a family these last several months

-I’m thankful for the prayers that Wee-wood 1 would pray for daddy to find a new job. Breaks my heart she has to endure this but it’s a great lesson on bringing everything to God.

-I’m thankful for my job that allowed me to pick up more classes at the last minute so we could stay afloat.

-I’m thankful for place to stay saturday nights before church-it’s incredibly more than the floor or couch in a strangers basement or living room that I was praying we could have to avoid a long drive Sunday morning.

-I’m thankful for a summer visit to my mom’s that wouldn’t have happened without this situation

-I’m thankful for my grandma giving me Kohl’s cash and getting $10 off a $10 purchase at JCP and other retailers to help us afford clothes and to satisfy a shopping desire when our budget didn’t really have room for one

-I’m thankful for family members who bought shoes and clothes for the Wee-woods so they would always look super cute!

-I’m thankful for a wonderful anniversary dinner prepared by He-wood…some of the best italian food he’s made!

-I’m thankful for the place I sort produce that helps us afford healthy fruits and veggies-oh how I will miss them!

-I’m thankful that our adoption home study is complete and we are waiting on a birthmother to choose us!

-I’m thankful for He-wood bringing Chick-Fil-A home from work and I’m thrilled he got the job in the first place!

Okay I’m stopping but we have so much to be grateful for and if I don’t express it then I can’t truly say I’m being thankful. I’m so thankful that we’ve survived this season of life thus far. It scares me to death but I’m proud to say we have done it. I’ve always been so happy to pay the bills but now it almost brings me to tears.

-I’m also thankful for the way God brought us to our current church…it’s a great story and I guess I should make He-wood explain it when he has time.

And it caught me by surprise…

jla6102 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:07:52 +0000

So as you possibly know She-wood and I are in the process of adopting a child right now. We are at the point where we are simply waiting for the call. It is so stressful to wait. Everyone knows how hard it is to wait for something that you want so badly. It has stretched me to rely on Jesus to sustain me through the waiting. However, I know that it is going to happen on God’s timetable.

That being said, things took a great turn last night. We got a call from our social worker last night saying that there is a birthmother who fits into our criteria that is due just after the first of the year that she wants to show our profile to. It is incredibly exciting to think of the possibility of having a child in as little as five or six weeks! I can’t even begin to express all of the emotions and thoughts that are cycling through my mind even now over 12 hours later. I am in one moment elated, scared, hopeful, cautious, encouraged and prayerful.

I know that this does not definitively mean that this will be the child God has for us, but it most definitely took us by surprise. We covet your prayers as we move forward and desire that you covenant to support us in prayer. We will also accept financial support as we seek how God will lead us to financially do what He has called us to do. Thanks for reading our blog also.

Serve justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God

jla6102 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:21:55 +0000

She-wood and I went to see the movie Courageous last night, and can I just say, “Wow!” I know that we are a little late on seeing it, but better late than never, right? I was so moved by it that I had to blog about. I won’t give anything away if you haven’t seen it, but I would like to share how I plan to change a couple if things.

There is a point in the movie where one of the characters tells the main character that he thinks that he’s been a good enough father. The main character responds, “That’s the problem. I don’t want to be a good enough father. I want to be the father that God has called me to be!” When he said that line, I felt like someone had punched me in the chest. I couldn’t breathe. There are many times where I have only been a “good enough” father. I don’t want to be remembered as a father who just did enough to get by. I want to be remembered as a great father who loved his kids and their mother well. I want to be remembered as a father who led his kids to Jesus and led his family with godly principles. I want to be a father who shows his girls how a young man should treat her with respect and honor while they are dating. I want to be a father who calls out the man in my sons.

I know that the only way I can do this is with God’s power working in and through me. I will also need the help of my wonderful wife. I will also need other Christian fathers to partner alongside me to help keep me accountable. However, I believe that with God’s help and direction I can leave a legacy of Christian leadership for my children to pass on to their families as well.

I’m so glad that this movie was made to bring the issue of Christian fatherhood to the forefront.