We're Still Alive

Ok. Right now we're on our 4th day of being snowed-in at our home in Atlanta. So yes... we're about to go crazy being stuck in the house, not only for this long but with this amount of kids.

In addition to feeling very slack for going so long without posting a blog it's probably necessary to give an account of how we're doing just in case someone else is considering adopting. It has been almost 3 years since we adopted our children from Brazil. So, let this be a record for anyone who is considering adopting a large sibling group and some of things that they may encounter. (In other words "this is fair warning!")

It would be hard to just sit down and write down all the stuff that's happened over the past 2+ years since I last blogged so I'll just hit some highlights (or lowlights... which ever you prefer). These aren't listed in any particular order. I'm just writing whatever comes to mind:

#1 - Our home has been destroyed.

Yes, I said it. Destroyed. Before we adopted our home was very neat and clean with everything in it's place. Now it looks like a small nuclear device was detonated in each and every room of our house. I don't know if our kids are any more destructive than most but, man!... every room? There are literally holes in our walls big enough to hide dead bodies in. There's one on the landing, on the steps, between the 1st and second floor. This is there because they think it's necessary to jump down the steps to the landing. And the hole (seriously, a whole body could be stuffed in it) is a result of someone flying through the wall because of the momentum that was being exerted as they jumped from the top of the steps.

#2 - Our yard has been destroyed.

Yes, I said yard. "How do you destroy a yard?" you ask. Well, let me break it down for you. In case you didn't know it. I use to own my own landscape company and we specialized in water features and landscape design. So, our yard was literally a "showcase." People use to use our yard for wedding receptions and parties. We would just have random people show-up unannounced wanting to walk through our yard. We would look out of our rear window and there would be some of our neighbors standing at our pond looking at the waterfall and pointing at our koi. It (our yard) was amazing. Perennial beds, annual beds, sweeping bedlines that held within their borders exotic plant material. A water feature that had a 6' waterfall and a stream that had 7 smaller cascading waterfalls that spilled into a pond that had about 40-50 beautiful Japanese koi swimming peacefully in their serene environment (run on sentence, I know... sorry just wanted you to feel my pain).

It was amazing. But now if you look out my rear window you'll see (this is no exaggeration) a used tire in the middle of the yard (I still have no idea where it came from), broken bicycles, a big chair (it use to be in their TV room but they mutilated it) sitting next to our fire pit waiting to be burned, misc. shoes and toys scattered everywhere. All the plant material looks like it's been either trampled or set on fire, which now that I think about it, some actually was. There are broken boulders... yes I said boulders (these were placed in the landscape to tie-in the landscape to the water feature). How do you break boulders? Or a better question would be, why? Why do they find it necessary to break everything?! Seriously. I've asked the question repeatedly and have yet to get an answer. It's crazy!

All of our patio furniture is broken. The turf is crying out for help. We have (or had) about one acre of sodded bermuda grass that covered our entire back yard but now it's only sporadic because of all the foot traffic, soccer games, bike races, random holes dug... the list goes on and on. I better stop before I get more depressed.

#3 - It's hardly ever quiet.

There's always somebody yelling, crying, laughing (that's usually Me and MJ because we're trying not to cry), playing drums, dogs barking... hey wait a minute, this sounds like that Calgon commercial from back in the day, huh? Constant noise.

#4 - A record number of broken DVD players.

I don't know what the world record for this is but I'd like to find out. I think we've got a shot at it. We, or should I say they, have broken 5-6 DVD players in the last 2 years. Now granted they weren't expensive DVD players but they were working DVD players before they got them. And it's not like we constantly put them in front of the TV either. Now yes, on occasion (don't judge us you would do it too) we have put them in front of a TV to watch a DVD just to get a break, but not very often. So these DVD players were getting what I would classify as "minimal use." So, how do they do it? How do they break something that hardly ever gets used? This is just another one of life's mysteries that will probably never be solved.

#5 - We have no friends.

Now let me clarify that. We do have friends. We have some great friends, actually. But not that many and none that we can do a lot of stuff with. I mean, who wants this many people to invade their home or business or store or... you get the point. So, having this many kids has definitely eliminated us doing a lot of stuff with other humans. We're basically stuck at home accept for when we're at church.

#6 - I'm not going to list any more.

I could sit here all day and list out all the things that have drastically changed over the last 2 years since I last blogged. We've had several trips to the emergency room, operations, doctor and dentist visits too numerous to count, thousands of pounds of groceries, 2,737 rolls of toilet paper (that's no joke either), power bills so high they would make you cry, MJ about to lose her mind trying to homeschool a bunch of kids who were already behind academically before we adopted them, no vacations, no extra money... depressing, huh?

So I guess the question is, would we do it all over again? Would we, knowing everything that we know now, willingly adopt a sibling group of 5 all over again? And the answer is yes. Without hesitation... yes. And not because it's easy. Not because it's comfortable. Not because the good times outnumber the bad, because honestly they don't. You heard me correctly... the good times don't outnumber the bad.

The reason is this: Jesus said in Matthew 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is "easy" that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is "hard" that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

You see, most people look at that verse and apply it only to the act of salvation. But that verse is so much more. Because praying a one time prayer is easy. It's walking out the path that is difficult. It's actually doing everything that Christ asks you to do that is hard. That's why Jesus also said in Matthew 16:24 "if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." I don't know what comes to your mind when you hear that verse but denying yourself and taking up a cross aren't easy and comfortable.

So Mj and I use those verses as a measuring stick to whether or not we're doing what we're suppose to do. Is our life hard or easy. Is what we're doing difficult or simple. Can we honestly say that the only reason we're doing what we're doing is because we've taken up our cross (5 extra kids) and that we're following Christ? The answer is yes, it is hard, it is difficult and the only reason we're doing it is because we're following Christ. We're doing exactly what He's asked us to do. So if our house and our possessions look like Hiroshima after the atomic bomb dropped. And our friends are sparse and our mental stability is always on the brink of collapse... that's ok. It just causes us to press in closer to Christ. Because without Him, not only would we not do it, but, we couldn't do it.

So, I'll ask you the same question... is your life easy or difficult? Is what you're doing only going to be accomplished with the power of the Spirit or is your life so easy that you really don't need Jesus to show up at all because you "got this."? It's really a question we all need to ask ourselves.

God has an exciting, challenging, exhilarating, bigger-than-you-could-imagine-life waiting for you but it's going to take stepping out of the comfortable and into the arena of faith. Because that's where He shows up. And that's where His sustaining grace is. Let's just pray that He doesn't ask you to adopt 5 kids from another country... because that's just too much to ask, right?

Love Ya,

Jim

Have You been Challenged Lately?

How are you doing spiritually? Has anyone asked you that question lately? What would be your answer? Seriously, how are you doing? I don't mean are you happier, healthier, or more prosperous today than any other time in your life either. You could be going through the most difficult time of your life and yet be doing better spiritually now than ever before.
So, how are you doing? Are you closer to God now than you were last week? How about last month? What about last year? You could be walking through a dry season in your spiritual walk right now and you feel alone and isolated from God. (NOTE- if you are walking in sin, that's different. Sin WILL separate and isolate you from God because He's Holy and can't fellowship with sin. So if that's the issue, repent and start doing what is right!)
So back to the question... how are you doing?
If you're in a dry season, have you run to Him during this time or are you just self-medicating yourself with other activities (i.e. TV, sports, shopping, work, etc.) to get you through?
Perhaps God's calling you deeper. Just maybe you're feeling dry because God is calling you out into the deeper water. Maybe He wants you to step out in faith and trust Him in this next season of your life.
You see, if what we're doing right now doesn't require faith (trusting and believing God) to get through... then we need to re-evaluate our lives. Hebrews 11:6 says, "without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him." If the way we are living doesn't require any faith, or if what we're doing can be accomplished whether God shows-up or not, then we need to change the way we're living. He wants us to trust Him and not something else. You know, stuff like our own abilities, money, our job... He wants us to trust Him.
So, if you can't put your finger on what the problem is in your spiritual walk, perhaps He's calling you out deeper?
I know that right now, for me and MJ, we're feeling that call in our lives. The call to go deeper. The call to make a radical step that will require faith for us and our family to make it. I don't know exactly what that is yet but I've got an idea. You may say, "but Jim, you guys are already walking in faith with adopting all those kids and having to trust God to supply your needs already." That's right, we are and we do... but we can never get too comfortable in our walk with Him. We've always got to be in a passionate pursuit of Him and His perfect will for our lives. Even if it seems crazy or it doesn't make sense to the natural mind. We've always got to be sensitive to what He's asking us to do. So, rather than just living safely and easily... we want to live radical, sold-out, we're gonna crash and burn if God doesn't show-up lives for Him. I don't ever want to get too comfortable.
So, one last time... what about you? How's your walk? Are you truly following Christ and His perfect will for your life? If not, why? I'm challenging you to trust Him and go deeper because "He's waiting."
Here's a new book that just came out that I'd highly recommend if you want to be challenged in your walk with Christ. It's called "Radical," by David Platt. I've also attached a short video promo for the book. It's really good but WARNING... if you don't want to be challenged... don't read the book!
Love Ya!
Jim

I Had to post This

Hey Guys! I know I haven't posted on this blog since January (I have been posting on http://www.wearethrev.blogspot.com/ though) but when I read this I just had to post it. Someone fowarded this to me (usually I immediately erase all fowarded emails... I despise those 'chain emails!' Come'on you do too... just admit it.) Anyway, I've been fired-up lately about being a "true Follower of Christ" and almost all of my talks (or sermons if you're old school) for the last year have been about this subject. I received an email this week that was a prayer that Billy Graham had prayed for our Nation. Now if there is anyone in the "Christian world" that deserves respect, it's Billy Graham. This great man of God is 90 years old and has been in the ministry forever. In all the years of ministry he has never been involved in anything scandalous or inappropriate. Just a solid example of what it means to be a true Follower of Christ. Anyway, this is a prayer he prayed for our nation:

'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'

When I read that prayer it reminded me that, for us as true Christ Followers, to just sit idly by and just let things happen is sin. We weren't called to just roll with the punches and let the "chips fall where they may" in our country. God called us to make a difference. And the first place is in prayer ( see II Chron. 7:14 and I Timothy 2:1). So, Lord forgive me for not praying for my country enough. Forgive me for not being willing to spend as much time praying for my government as I do in criticizing them (although they are an easy target. lol! jk.). Let us all not be found guilty in underestimating the power of prayer.

On His Knees,

Jim

Happy New Year It's 2010!

Well, it's a new year. A new decade. A new start... wait a minute. Why do we always wait until the new year to start with diets and exercise plans... with promises to spend more time in our Bibles or to give up something that isn't good for us? It's one of life's mysteries I guess. Something I'll probably never understand. One thing that, for some reason, really annoyed me this year was TV preachers. Now I'm not against TV evangelists or that the Word of God is being taught (on some of the programs) over the airwaves... it's just that every channel I turned to had someone telling me a new slogan for the year. And all of them had the same theme... new levels of breakthrough, the best year yet, prosperity, victory, heaven on earth! All kinds of really cool stuff that God was supposedly telling them to tell me. Now again, don't get me wrong... I'm not opposed to victory and breakthrough. I'm not opposed to prosperity or having the best year yet. But isn't that the same thing we heard last year and the year before that? And if I'm not mistaking last year was one of the worst years economically that we've seen since the great depression. What about all my Christian friends who are in the housing and construction market right now? I don't think they would tell you that 09' was an awesome year of breakthrough. For some reason I've really gotten frustrated with ministers always preaching and telling me that all I'm going to see is prosperity and breakthrough. That's not in the Bible and that's not true! Sure I will have periods of prosperity in my life but there will probably be times of famine as well. Sure, I'm going to have periods of breakthrough in my life but there are also going to be times of having to press through difficulty. That's where the beauty of having a true relationship with Christ comes in. That's where we can say along with the Apostle Paul that, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and that "I've learned to be content no matter what my circumstance." You see 2010 could be the best year yet and I hope it is. But 2010 might be a difficult year, who knows? But one thing I do know is that even if there is a fight... we win. Even if there is a struggle... we'll come out on top. Even if the gates of hell are unleashed against me and everyone I know... they will not prevail! For greater is He who's in me than he who's in the world. Now having said all of that, let me say this... as I was reading the other day, a scripture jumped out at me. I really felt like the Lord was speaking to me about 2010. It was in Joshua 3:5. It's where Joshua was leading the people of God into the promised land and they were just about to cross over the Jordan river into what God had been promising them forever... remember the story? Anyway, right before they crossed he said this. "sanctify yourselves because tomorrow the Lord is going to do amazing things among you." This is what I feel like God is telling us. He IS going to do great things for us in 2010 but we need to sanctify our self first. We need to totally set our self apart for Him and him alone. We need to get rid of all the unholy things and all of the things that aren't necessarily sinful but the things that are slowing our spiritual progress too. We've got a saying for this year (just like all those TV preacher guys. LOL!) and it's "Lean In 2010 (twenty ten)". Lean In to God... press in to Him and His presence, totally pursue Him and nothing else. So that's what I'm doing this year. My resolution is to go after God like I never have before. Me and my family are going to fervently run after Him and everything He has for us... good or bad, happy or sad, easy or difficult. We're Leaning In to 2010!

Happy New Year,
Jim

PS - I'm also going to lose weight, exercise and manage my time better this year. For the first few weeks anyway. haha

Looking Past Ourselves

Well, it's the holiday season and it's that time of year where we think about family and friends, exchanging presents and eating really good food, right? It's so easy to get caught up in the frenzy of what we encounter each year, with all the parties we're invited to, all the relatives we have to divide our time between so we can keep everyone happy (or maybe that's just my family?), all the cards to send out, all the presents to buy... it's crazy! But then there's the Great Commission. The command to deny our self, pick-up our cross and follow Jesus. And there's that thing about caring for orphans and widows in their distress... the list could go on and on. Bottom line is this... we're told to do these things all the time 24/7, 365 (or 366 on leap year), all the time. We're not suppose to take a break during the holiday's and put ourselves on "spiritual cruise control" until the New Year (when we make all of those awesome resolutions that last the first week or two, LOL!). We're suppose to continue right through the holidays. As a matter of fact, we should probably step it up during the holidays. This is the time of year where depression is at the highest level and the suicide rate is at it's peak. People are hurting and people are searching for the solution to life's problems. And that's why we as true "followers of Christ' need to be on point and out there where the people are. Not just with our families, but out among the lost. So, why not start thinking outside the box? I'm not saying that we should abandon all of our holiday traditions, no! But why not start showing our children that the holidays don't need to about us but it should also be about others. About 12 years ago a friend of mine in Oklahoma told me that he would take his teenage sons to a homeless shelter to feed the homeless every Thanksgiving so that they could see that there were people who were hurting. This friend was very well off and lived extravagantly. He was very blessed financially. But he didn't want his sons growing up disillusioned to the fact that 'not everybody' was as blessed as them. As I listened to him I thought, "what a good concept." So 12 years ago we started doing things during the holidays to reach out to people outside of our family... and we 'always' minister with the kids. We feel it's an important tradition to incorporate into their lives, and they love it. They look forward to it every year.

One thing we started doing at our church, several years back, was a Thanksgiving Outreach. It started out where we would prepare meals and serve dinner at the church to people who didn't have families to enjoy Thanksgiving with. Then we stepped it up and started preparing meals and delivering them to people who were staying in extended stay hotels in our city. I don't know how it is where you live but here in Atlanta there is so much drug activity, prostitution, crime... you name it, and it's happening in these hotels. These people need Jesus! The response the people have given us has been amazing. People are so receptive to us. We give them food, clothing, children's toys, Bibles and we pray with as many people that let us. We've prayed with people to receive Christ, we've prayed with people who've needed healing in their bodies, we've prayed and ministered to people with all kinds of issues. For the last 4 years we've been doing this outreach and what started out small has grown into something bigger than we ever imagined. We had over 250 volunteers show up today (on Thanksgiving morning) and we handed out over 500 meals that our volunteers cooked at home and brought in. And we were still able to do all this AND spend time at home with our families eating, watching football and goofing off. I think that's the thing... we can minister to others AND do stuff with our families. It doesn't have to be either or... it can be both. I know I'm kinda on a rant but I'm just trying to encourage you to not go into a "holiday coma" and just pass by the opportunity to be Jesus' hands and feet this holiday season. He wants to use all of us who follow Him to reach a world that truly needs Him NOW. But the first step is "Looking Past Ourselves."

Love You Guys!

Jim

Never Say Never

We leave Brazil later this afternoon and I'm ready to get back to my family and to church (I'm really missing the Youth... which is so weird to hear myself say since youth wasn't even a passion 3 months ago. It's amazing how God can ignite something in you that you never realized was there, huh?). Anyway, we're going to be leaving to go look at the property again in about an hour. We're going to take a closer look at the structural integrity of the houses and map out places for new buildings. This will help us to plan for future ministry here in Brazil. The one thing this trip has shown me is that God truly is in control and that if we allow Him to, he will give us opportunities to expand His Kingdom if we're willing. And His plans don't always jive with what we're thinking sometimes. It's crazy. When we first came to Brazil a year and a half ago to adopt our children (which MJ and I always said we didn't want anymore kids, now we have 8), I hated Brazil and couldn't wait to get home. Then we returned for a mission trip a year later and I fell in love with this country and it's people. I really feel called to do ministry here whereas a year and a half ago I couldn't stand this place! But God changed my heart. Actually I guess you could say that I listened to His voice and aligned myself with His activity. Let me give you another example of how His plans don't always jive with ours... I've been on staff at our church for almost 8 years now. I had been an Associate Pastor and loved my job. Couldn't see myself doing anything different. I was seeing people's lives impacted, I was comfortable and didn't want to change what I was doing. Then the Lord spoke to my Pastor and told him that MJ and I were to be the new Youth Pastors. When he told me I thought he had lost his mind. I would have never wanted to even volunteer in the Youth much less have that be my position. I would have rather worked full time in the Nursery... well, maybe that's going too far... anyway, I never desired youth ministry. EVER. Actually teenagers always got on my nerves! I'm serious. But I submitted to my Pastor because I trust him and I believe that he heard from God and look what God has done! I have passion and a vision for the youth that can't be explained. It's something that I can see myself doing for a very long time now. And this wasn't even a blip on the radar 3 months ago. The reason I said all of that is this: Never say never. By doing that you are selling yourself short of what God could be planning for you and your family. He wants to take us out of our comfortable places and put us in a position that we have to trust Him to get by or we crash and burn. Because there's no way the Dunn's can do ministry in Brazil without Jesus. And there's no way MJ and I can be effective Youth Pastors without Jesus. We need Him and His ability every day or we can't make it. Sure we could have just stayed doing what we were doing and not reached out to Brazil or we could have refused the youth position (actually pastor would have fired me, just kidding...lol!) but that would have been the easy road. And denying myself and taking up my cross to follow Jesus isn't always easy. But the best way is His way. That's the way where we'll reach the most people for the Kingdom of God. So don't sell yourself short by saying "never." Allow God to direct your ministry and your path.

Love Ya, Jim

OMG! I Can't Believe What I'm Looking At.

Yesterday we went back into Villa Zumbie to make home visits with Pastor Bart. These were visits to people who had either left the church or people that had promised to come to the church and never did. Our first visit was to a lady who had been in the hospital and hadn't returned after she had gotten out. As we entered her front gate the front yard was full of trash (you can see it in the picture). I think she just threw it out the window rather than into a trash can. Then when we entered the house, the smell was overwhelming. It was really unsanitary. The house she lived in was so poorly constructed. The walls were made of 1x4 boards (kind of like the wood that we make pallets out of) and you could see daylight shining through them! It was so sad. As we started speaking with her she began to tell us that her husband had just died and that one of her daughters had just left home to live with a drug dealer. She had 6 daughters total. Then in walked one of her daughters with 2 children. These children were beautiful! It was so weird seeing children so beautiful living in these conditions. Anyway, we ministered and prayed with them and then it was off to the next house. One house we went to was the home of a woman who's son was an alcoholic and he was also demon possessed. He had attended Daniel's Camp (that's the property we are looking at) a few years ago and gave his heart to Christ there! That was pretty cool to hear. Then we visited the home of a woman who had been walking down the street and a motorcycle hit her at full speed. She had been injured so severely that the doctors didn't think she would live. So when they repaired her leg (put it back together) they did it half-heartedly thinking she was going to die anyway. The Lord performed a miracle and she lived. But was still having problems with her leg. When you looked at her you could tell that she had lived a rough life but she actually looked like she took care of herself. She looked in shape, hair fixed, make-up... just a normal looking 30+ year old woman. As we spoke with her she began to tell us about the problems she was having with her leg. Then for some reason she decided to show us her leg. It totally took me by surprise! One minute we're talking about Jesus and the next minute she's pulling her pant leg up to her thigh. Now I'm not known to be squeamish but what I saw next freaked me out. I didn't know if I should throw up (which I did a little... in my mouth, lol!) or run. Her leg was healed but it was all crooked at the bottom because the doctors didn't set it right. Also you could see what looked like 10 or so holes from where the pins were in her leg. But then there it was... this course hair all over her leg (her legs were harrier then mine!). It was so freaky because here was this woman who looked like she cared about her appearance and hidden away under her pant leg was this leg full of hair! You had to be there because it just totally freaked me out. It was so unexpected. It's like this was the leg of somebody else. Totally bizarre. But if you think about it, that's kind of like some our lives. To most people we look like we're pretty normal. Like we are taking good care of ourselves with no issues. But tucked away where nobody sees we have these issues and secret sins that we've hidden and not dealt with. But God sees them. And He's totally grossed out by them. Just like I was with having to look at that lady's leg.

Lord please forgive us for not dealing with the hidden things in our lives.

Well, it's off to the lawyer's office this morning then we're going to try and go back to the property.

Love ya,

Jim