Missing Loved Ones

As we celebrate Veterans Day, I can't help but think of LOSS...

I pray the LORD will comfort those who are dealing with the loss of war.

I pray the Prince Of Peace intervene!

I spoke today on the important difference between a healthy grieving process and a spirit of grief...

Remember, Jesus promised: Blessed are they that mourn for they will be comforted...

But, in Jesus name the spirit of grief has to flee!

We all deal with loss. As a church, we have had our share. The first few years I was pastor I performed too many funerals, not to mention past leadership and relational difficulties!

(conflict is inevitable even necessary when there is more than one person in the world)

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Yet, Memorial Services can be the most beautiful part of my job!

I've had the privilege of doing my Grandpa Jolly and Grandma West funerals within the last few years...Jaunita was 99 years old, the last living CHARTER MEMBER of Rogue River Assembly Of God! Her service was amazing...the laughter, the tears, the memories, the LOVE!

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Holly's Grandma (Alice Morton) had the same ticket to Heaven as my grandmother. They died within hours of one another... And then a month later my wife lost her Great Grandma Helen Holly Goodel (my wife's namesake). It is amazing my wife still had a living Great Grandparent, but compound loss is hard, especially when you're in the middle of a failed adoption...

The greatest loss of my life doesn't involve death: our baby is stuck in an orphanage. Holly and I travelled to Russia and met our son, Ilya...

We fought thru paperwork and more paperwork and more paperwork...

Long story short, the justice system of Russia delt us an injustice and closed the door to American adoption in the Saratov region in the middle of our fight for Ilya...

I don't know why God allows some things to happen, but I trust Him anyway! My life-verse, Proverbs 3:5&6 tells me to "not lean on my own understanding." Ilya will forever be in our hearts, our prayers...

Like I said this morning, almost every Ending means a new beginning.

Holly and I are in the middle of a new adoption. We have been much less vocal about this one, because of the trials of the last one. But, it's looking like this one is moving along smoothly, we may have our little Ethiopian boy very soon...