So, I’m not a big reader.  Anyone that knows me knows that reading for me stops at music & art magazines with the occasional comic book.  I’ve been reading a lot of blogs recently… just about anything thought provoking, and one struck me yesterday… It said:

“People will never respect you for what you are ABOUT to do.”

TRUE.  No argument from me here.  The post was a GREAT call to action… “Do what you say you’re going to, get past the fear and start living, follow your dream” kinds of things.

The first statement of the post struck me.  A few examples of things people had said to him was where he started.
“My wife and I have thought about adopting for a while.”

And it hit me…  when Angie and I started the adoption process we were following a dream to be parents.  Not a bad dream.  But, can the pursuit of that dream be a selfish act?  The more I thought about it, the more I think that attempting to follow a dream can surely become selfish.  It doesn’t have to be, but it CAN be.  That’s part of why we went the adoption route instead of pursuing fertility options.  For us to go the route of the latter, we would have been being selfish because we couldn’t afford it.  I’m not saying it’s a bad choice to make.  It just wasn’t the right one for us.  I’m not exactly sure where I was a little over a year ago (other than broken) but, I have to think that our pursuit of parenthood was for better reasons than selfish ones.  But, who am I to judge?

Parenthood is not the only thing where this can happen.  I’ve recently been in conversation with a friend whose church is closing it’s doors after their service this coming Sunday.  Surely, some people will look at their efforts and think that “there must have been something wrong in their lives” or “they could have done this so much better” or maybe even, “GOD must not have liked what was happening there.”  Maybe.  Maybe.  But, maybe it’s not about that building or that church.  Maybe it’s not about the pastor or his family.  Maybe it’s the fact that GOD’s plan is different than our plans.

This is something that I’m seeing a lot right now.  GOD ALWAYS has a plan.  We’re the ones that screw it up.  Not GOD.

Yesterday at Crosspoint we began a new series about the KINGDOM.  The KINGDOM Experiment it’s called.  It’s about radically and sacrificially loving others in the communities in which we reside.  It’s not a difficult concept to grasp, but we keep losing it once we see it.  Part of the conversation is about where we see love being shown.  Part of it is seeing that, in our culture, this kind of sacrificial love isn’t the norm.  It’s also about seeing that this is GOD’s plan.

These are thoughts that keeps coming back to me:
Are my dreams selfish ones?
What will I be respected for?
Remembered for?
How are we loving those around us?
How am I showing the KINGDOM?

So, I pray.  It’s all I can do sometimes.
I’m praying with my friends and their pastor.
I pray for Isaac’s birth parents (speaking of a selfless act).
I pray that I know how to show that love.

PJT//