beautiful people

A month or two ago, I was browsing through Francis Chan's (well-known pastor from SoCal) website and blog and came upon this post under his Updates.  It made an impression on me.

 

For context, Lisa is Francis' wife and Emily Chapman is Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter!

 

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September 2010

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

 

Last week, I met some of the most beautiful people…  Lisa and I flew to Nashville to film a television show that raised awareness for the 140 million orphans in the world (www.cryoftheorphan.org).  There we met couples that had adopted several kids out of difficult situations.  Some of the children had special needs, and some had medical issues that meant they probably did not have long to live.  Their desire was to show these children as much love as possible during their time on earth.  It was an amazing picture of the love of Christ.  We were inspired.

During dinner, we were speaking to Emily Chapman.  She was telling us about their orphanage in China.  Lisa and I told her that we were going to be in China soon and would love to visit.  We also expressed our desire to adopt any child that was in need.  She proceeded to tell us about a beautiful little boy that she thought would fit perfectly into our family.  We got pretty excited.  Then she explained that the boy had a spinal injury, so his legs did not work… 

After dinner, I asked Lisa, “Did you feel what I felt?  Were you excited until she mentioned that he couldn’t walk?”  We had a long talk that night, examining our lives.  We saw that God was revealing to us our self-centeredness. God did not adopt us because we were perfect.  He loved us because He is love.  He rescued us because He saw our need.  Having His Son die was not the convenient thing to do.  It was painful, sacrificial, and an amazing display of love. 

So we are starting the process of adoption.  We don’t know how long it will take or everything it involves.  If the Lord wills, it will work out for us to take in this little boy.  We know it will mean a huge adjustment to our lifestyle, but we also believe that he will be a major blessing in our lives.  While there is so much unknown, we are at peace.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."    James 1:27
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I could totally hear his voice and the way he would've said, "Did you feel what I felt?  Were you excited until she mentioned that he couldn’t walk?”  That part, that whole paragraph resonated with me because I know I'm lazy, I know I'm self-centered, and too often I don't do thing because they are not convenient.  But to be reminded of Jesus' great love for us, even though I'm lazy and selfish, is a bucket of ice water.  Modern conveniences make life... more convenient.  But loving and serving others, whether that is your brother or sister at church, or the homeless man on the street, takes effort and is frankly, often inconvenient.  But God's love for us surpasses that, so our love for others should as well.

Christmas is a grand time.  Though often clouded by pretty light displays and presents.  But it was only the beginning.  The start of the mission Jesus was rocketed to earth for.  Fueled by love.