Was it worth it?

So, I have to confess a little bitterness that has been floating around my thoughts recently. We just finished hosting our girls from Latvia through New Horizons for Children and was thinking about the cost.

The Hosting fee was $5800 ($2950 for one, $2850 for the second). This covered passports, visas, transportation, health insurance, home safety visit, and chaperones. We had the girls in our home for four weeks over Christmas so there was some other expenses (despite their petite size, they could put away some serious food). Thanks to the generosity of friends and family, a grant from our church, some savings of our own, buying bulk fruit at Costco, and some timely income from an unplanned source (a.k.a. God's providential provision), we had it all covered.

And here is where the bitterness kicks in, as I was paying for a new set of tires I hadn't planned for, I thought about our little pile of debt left over from adopting in 2009 and wondered, "maybe we shouldn't have hosted the girls and just paid off some bills instead".

Yes, I know, it is selfish and self-centered and faithless and pathetic, but that is not the point. What I needed was some perspective. I put my business degree to work by asking a question:

What is the return on the $5800 investment?

- my family got to live on mission together for an entire month as we shared our lives with the girls = $1100 per person and we got to sleep in our own beds and eat familiar food without jet lag or passports, not too bad.

- our church, from our church Grandma and Grandpa to the youngest child, and their friends, and their entire families, got to go on a mission trip without leaving the county = $80 per person and no one even packed a suitcase or took time off of work, also not bad.

- two orphaned girls, not only got to hear the Gospel preached, but were able to see the Gospel in our lives, feel the Gospel in our hugs, experience the Gospel as we lived it out with our family and friends, in all of its sinful ugliness and redemptive beauty, every day, for a whole month = $2900. That's a pretty good ROI.

Here is the point:
Pastors/Elders/Church Leaders - how much would it cost to take your entire church on a mission trip for a month? Hosting through New Horizons will cost less, guaranteed.

Families - how awesome would it be to go as family on a mission trip for a month? With New Horizons the mission field comes to your front door, sleeps under your roof, plays with your kids and dogs, and eats all of your oranges.

Dads and Moms - what would you do to share the gospel with children who may never hear it from anyone else? With New Horizons your life becomes a living breathing example of love, grace, mercy, hope, and peace.


Is it worth it? Absolutely, unequivocally, without a doubt, it is worth every penny.

Breaking the rules...

So, I had checked on for my flight and was headed into the security checkpoint when a man decided to break the rules, right in from of me. Instead of walking through the maze of rope and stanchion barriers in the empty cue, he went right under them.

There was nobody in the cue to complain about his flagrant violation, and he did look pretty spectacular for a late 50s guy with a sweet comb-over and a Hawaiian print shirt, ducking under dragging his suitcase behind.

I dutifully followed the designated back and forth path to end up right behind him again while the TSA agent looked over his credentials. It made me wonder why he did it, and why I didn't do it? Is there even a rule against it? Does it matter?

But that is just like us, isn't it? We make up rules for our own conscience sake. We will pick and choose what rules we follow. We criticize and condemn others for breaking our made up rules.

In the end Hawaiian shirt guy didn't hurt anyone or anything, except for maybe his cool factor (although wearing the shirt itself might have already zeroed out any cool points that he had left after the comb-over). He didn't break any laws. He just did something I wouldn't do, is that so wrong?

The wonder of "Why?"...

            So, our little 8 year old has been asking us about her adoption. "Why did you pick me?" It has been 2 1/2 years since we flew to the other side of the world to bring her and her older brother home. At first I was a little taken aback by her question, "Why did you pick me?" How do you explain the convergence of mighty providence and weak faith that brought about such a magnificent change in their lives?

            "We didn't pick you, God planned it and picked you for us." I tried.

            A couple days later she tried it on my wife, "Why did you pick us?" My wife gave the only answer we know "We didn't, God did."

            Again last night she asked, "Why did you pick me?" 

            I tried the same answer but she interrupted this time "No, WHY did you pick me from all the kids in Kichiry? WHY did you pick me?" 

            I tried again "We didn't pick you, God..."

            "No, Daddy, WHY did you pick me?"

            A light bulb clicked on and I finally understood the question. She didn't want to know which of her attributes we based our selection on. She knows it wasn't her pretty eyes, or her mischievous smile, or her skinny chicken legs. She was looking for the purpose behind her adoption. She really wanted to know the answer to "WHY did you pick me?"

            There is a lot of gospel hidden in her two simple questions. Maybe I spend too much time self-absorbed and pondering the unanswerable question of why God picked me. Maybe I should spend more time searching out WHY God picked me.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11