Bridge Families - James127 Father

           Growing up in a Bible believing household with incredible loving parents is only the beginning of my story.  There are at least 4 generations of Bible believing heroes that go before me.  My own name sake great-grandfather took in entire families to love on and support those in need around him.  In many ways our lives are extensions of those who went before us, both good and bad. The sins of the father can trickle down many generations see Numbers 14:18. I believe that in many ways likewise the blessings trickle down from the generations before us who loved the un-loved well and lived out their faith well.            As a child my parents taught my brother and sister what healthy spousal love should look like out in everyday life.  They loved each other well in every action, re-action and moment.  My parents are still happily married and love each other very well.  Both sets of my grandparents modeled exactly what God intended marriage to be.  As matter of fact, my grandpar

Okay, people this is a vent post.  This is a regular vent topic with me, so I guess that means keep praying (for me).             First, there are multiple techniques for merging when a lane closure is before you.  To be clear you are driving along in multiple unified direction lanes and there is a sign that states one lane is going to end soon.  What do you do? Merge and continue along your path or use every last bit of "closing" lane pavement before you merge. Well, lets be honest, the wait until the last bit of pavement is used has become a hot topic in the last few years.  Prior to living in Texas the merge at the last second was titled "moron driving" in my head, turns out it is called the "zipper-in". There are even articles promoting the virtues of the "zipper-in". Read one here:  http://www.dot.state.mn.us/zippermerge/ Here is the problem in the real world, we are not mere drivers getting to our destination. We (drive like we) are actua

We live in a broken world and our calling to serve the un-loved is so simple. Yet we struggle by making everything so completely complex. Today, I have been struck by the second half of the verse in the title of this blog.  Our family is in the midst of loving the orphan yet we also must strive to be "unstained" or "polluted" by this world.  In loving the orphan we have come face to face with everything this broken world offers.  We have learned more from these children in our home about just how broken us humans truly are.  Only through Christ can we ever be sanctified and remain unstained as we serve in these sweet blessings. Christ knew us and died for us before we were formed in the womb.  As a parent we all hope to reflect Christ's love and lead these children into their own relationship with Christ. That is the hope of this world.