Frayed Edges & Snags

Fabric can be beautiful and strong. Over time, it can also get snags and the edges can fray. Sometimes, even the most beautiful of fabrics may need some repair or support.

Families can sometimes feel that way too. Christ himself let us know that we would have trouble in this world as well as the reminders not to fear, that He would be with us.

Pain and loss are real. Our children come to us with both. If we're truly honest so do we.

Adoption and foster care both begin with loss. Adoptive and foster parents work through losses of their own-perhaps fertility, marriage, control, privacy to name a few.  It is required part of licensing to look into your own losses and how you've healed from them...or if you are in need of further healing. You cannot give what you do not have. These vulnerable kiddos deserve parents that are themselves whole.

God is the ultimate healer and restorer. His name, Rapha means just that. God is also creator, Elohim. He has the ability to create everything from nothing by speaking the words then truly He has the power to create something new in our hearts and homes too!

We've all struggled or faced challenges. Here are some resources that may help. God is healer and created you. He is sufficient and the master weaver of your family's fabric:)

Local Support & Events
* Tapestry Conference October 23-24, 2015 at Irving Bible Church
* Taco Dads
* Coffee Shop Moms
* Christian Works
*Embrace Texas


Articles
* Adopting after a loss
* Adopting the hurt child
*Hope after the DX
*Helping your child come to Christ
* Protecting What is Sacred

Books
*Telling the Truth To Your Adopted Child
* The Connected Child
* Created to Connect 
*Wounded Hearts Healing Homes
*Shame & Grace

Woven Launch Luncheon

You are invited to attend

 

 Woven Launch Luncheon

Sunday, October 4, 2015, 12:15 pm - 1:30 pm

Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church

1015 Sam Rayburn

Allen, TX 75013

RSVP by September 30th to  WOVEN

Come and be encouraged by special guest speaker Sandy Spengler from Lifesong For Orphans

Learn about the vision for Woven and how CCBC is partnering with the 2nd Story

Meet the WOVEN leadership team of CCBC Worship and Arts Pastor Keith Tyler and Jay & Terra Towne.

Enjoy some time meeting and fellowshipping with adoptive/foster CCBC families.

CAFO Summit 2015

What is CAFO and why do they have a summit?

CAFO, Christian Alliance for Orphans is an amazing group of individuals and leaders from many churches, ministries and nonprofits located from all over the U.S. and beyond with the shared purpose of following after God's heart to care for the vulnerable.

CAFO summit is a yearly gathering that allows folks from all over to connect, share information and help guide leadership and ministries as they follow as God has God's positioned them to reach the vulnerable. Summit gathering has various kinds of trainings and opportunities for ministry and lay leaders to meet with their teams or reps as they prayerfully move forward with excellence as God is leading.

CAFO Summit has a great addition this year, kids CAFO!!!

For more information on CAFO Summit or ways you can become involved with CAFO see their website and facebook page.

Communicating Your Child's Needs-Post by Lifesong

Communicating your child's needs clearly and with respect is vital for creating or strengthening Support.

Lifesong for Orphans has a great post with downloadable pdf to help you communicate. You can also share the post via social media.

Check out their link! 

Helping Others Understand Your Child's Needs

Great Meeting Sunday

Look at the verses that are leading our meetings...

Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

At our meeting, we discussed many different aspects to what an Orphan, Foster Care and Adoption Care ministry would look like, and we know God will lead us to respond to HIS calling on us at Cottonwood Creek. Basically, we all agreed on this simple fact - We desire to support, educate, counsel, and be an advocate for our church in orphan, adoption and foster care. This is a very broad, yet specific calling for us.

Please pray for us as we continue to meet together and define our role as a ministry. Look for our next meeting soon to come. Anyone is welcome to come and participate.

Blessings - Keith Tyler and Terra Towne

Adoption Ministry Interest Meeting

Hello There!

God is still at work and stirring hearts for adoption, foster parenting and orphan care at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church.  If you have or are currently fostering, adopting or orphan advocates, interested in learning about new ministry opportunities or seeking support and making connections with others from CCBC...

Great news!

We're having a meeting and we want you to come! This Sunday, February 15 at 4pm in room B118 at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church!  Sorry, there is no childcare available for this event.

 Looking forward to seeing you there! For more information, email us

Your Adoption

November is known for National Adoption Month, Orphan Sunday and Thanksgiving. This is a great month to reflect on the words of hymn and Scripture that help to set an "attitude of gratitude".


Great Is Thy Faithfulness. 
Chisolm & Runyan

Great is Thy faithfulness!...All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Great is Thy faithfulness,...There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not...


Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19

Great is His faithfulness!! Reflect on what God has done for you, salvation and forgiveness through His son Jesus and your adoption into His family. This November, celebrate your adoption into God's forever family and deepen your commitment to whatever He is calling you to do...gratefully.

Adopt Without Debt

Adoption funding can be a challenge and at times it can feel like it is impossible to fund an adoption of any kind. Great thing we serve a God that specializes in the impossible. God will lead and provide for you. Julie Gumm, trusted God and He led her and her family in an adoptive journey...without debt!
Come and learn some practical ways to fund your adoption from Julie Gumm, author of Adopt Without Debt. We will also have people from Embrace Texas, Abba's Children, Cottonwood Creek and Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University

Who: interested couples and singles  register here 
 
When: Saturday, October 13 from 9:00-11:30 AM 

Where: room A 200-201 Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church 1015 State Hwy 121 Allen, TX 75013   map here 
 
Want more info?

Beyond a Snap

 Beyond a Snap

For a while we've blogged about Lifesong School in Zambia...and earlier this month God allowed me to spend some time with these incredible kiddos and staff. I was able to get to know the precious first grader that we sponsor and to meet some of her family too!

 I went to Zambia initially to deliver sports equipment & underwear, learn, love on the kiddos, serve the amazing teachers and staff at Lifesong School, Shane & Mitzi McBride (fabulous missionaries) and sample the yummy strawberries from Lifesong Farms. On these and in countless other ways God did not disappoint. Oh yes, the berries are amazing!

I had the opportunity to learn from so many gifted and truly incredible people, who serve and minister far beyond the campus.

He revealed more of Himself each time I heard, "Auntie, Auntie take a snap!" as hope filled and often silly kiddos posed for pictures...and took many of their own.

In each fist bump and hug I felt His desire to connect and to know me. Every giggle, song and cheer I heard God's delight.

When the older kids, especially the boys gave some of their lunch (a special lunch of chicken provided by First Baptist of McKinney) to the younger ones, it echoed God's message of provision and sacrifice. There were many moments when His confirmation and blessing were so precious and personal. His lavishness just overwhelmed.

In the compound, He allowed me to touch the hands and to look into the beautifully wrinkled face of love and strength...and to ask for His blessing.

 At times words from Isaiah 6 echoed in my head, “Woe to me!”... “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips...and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”and I was overcome. I knew that I had seen Zambia as God did and I would not ever be the same. 

God had led me halfway across the world to Garneton, Zambia to show me more of Himself beyond a snap.

Corban: Fully Devoted

Earlier today, I was pondering some recent events in my life.  In the confluence of these events plus a sermon preached by our pastor, some devotional thoughts shared by another pastor, and a book I've been reading entitled "Through Gates of Splendor" somehow I recalled some teaching I'd heard on Mark 7:1-13.  In this passage, Jesus is chastising the Pharisees for their hypocrisy.  Specifically, he is challenging a practice of the time in which a religious person might declare property or wealth "Corban", or set aside for God, solely for the purpose of avoiding having to spend it on something they wished to avoid--caring for their aged parents.  They had taken an idea which sounded good--dedicating something to God's use--and were abusing it for personal gain.  All along the way, they considered themselves religious and righteous.

In Acts 5 we find Ananias and Sapphira, an example of hypocrisy in the church.  This couple sold a field and set aside a portion of the proceeds to give to the church.  But something was wrong.  It seems that in fact they attempted to mislead the apostles and the church into believing they had greatly sacrificed in bringing the entire proceeds from the sale before the church when in fact it was only a portion.  For lying to the Holy Spirit they paid with their lives.  Being "religious" was important to them, but living lives for God's glory wasn't.


I don't really know what it was that triggered the recollection of this "Corban" passage, except that I have been reading and thinking a lot about what it means to be fully devoted to God.  Not the false devotion the pharisees were practicing in Mark 7.  So the Spirit must have brought it to mind

Through the complete devotion of five men to Christ, a tribe who had never heard the name of Jesus escaped a cycle of violence and death and saw many come to Christ.  Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian and Pete Fleming understood total devotion.  So did their wives.  Do we understand it today?  Would we give up our lives for the sake of the gospel?

Hopefully we have not gone to the extent of lying to the Holy Spirit like Ananias and Sapphira, but are we completely unlike the Pharisees of Jesus' day?  They had become very good at being religious.  Give a little, serve a little, show up to church, maybe even venture out and attend a Bible study.  A friend of mine recently shared with me how in his spiritual journey, he had been visiting a church hoping to find God but could tell something just wasn't right.  He noticed the people of the church were always talking about what they could do for themselves, what they could build for themselves, yet weren't looking at how they could make an impact outside their four walls.  He saw little to no evidence of anything but a focus on self.  This didn't make sense, even to an unbeliever.  Yes, the church is naturally full of imperfect Christians, of which I am one, but let's not use that as a weak excuse for a lack of self-examination.

What if we practiced "Corban" in the spirit of Romans 12?  What if we the church declared our lives "Corban", set aside for God's purpose, and unlike the hypocrites of Jesus' day, we meant it and lived it?  This is not a new idea, nor is it mine!  In Romans 12:1 Paul beseeches believers to offer our bodies as living sacrifice, because of the mercy God has shown us, after having just explained a miracle.  That as Gentiles, we are graciously grafted in to God's family, and that Israel's salvation is not forgotten either.  He then spends the rest of chapter 12 describing practical ways in which we'll see fruit if we are living fully devoted to the Lord.  How different and how powerful a force would the church be for the gospel of Christ if we lived this?



By no means can I say I've "arrived".  That won't happen until I go to be with God in Christ.  I am asking God to show me more of Himself and to help me yield everything to Him, even those things that all of us have in the flesh we don't want to allow Him control over.  So it's not about what I do in my own strength or flesh.  I am finding that a better understanding of who He is through a closer and closer walk with him -- both how much He loves and how just He is -- lead me to a natural worship response that has me wanting to entrust everything in my life to Him.  And as I do, He is faithful. 

So, what then?  And what does this have to do with an Orphan Ministry blog?  Well, as someone who cares about orphans I know just how much work there is to be done for the cause of Christ in ministry to orphans.  Since God cares deeply for the brokenhearted he has called the church to uphold the cause of the widow, the orphan, and the alien.  They need the hope the gospel provides.  But the task is daunting.  How can the church make an impact in the lives of 150 million orphans, many who are dying apart from Christ?  Sometimes I need a reminder.  The answer is found in God's word and starts simply with the Gospel.  That out of a natural response to the outpouring of grace in our lives, we will respond and offer our bodies as living sacrifices.  Then it's no-holds-barred.  It's not up to us.  We're God's vessels to do with as He pleases for His glory.  Fully devoted.

Do Good on Good Friday for Zambia!

***Impact Zambia Update: 77 commitments with 1 day to go!


Will you consider impacting a life like Lyness?

Lyness is just ONE of the twenty-two 7th grade students at Lifesong Zambia. Like Lyness, each student has their own story, their own past, and their own hurts. Because of the opportunity to attend the Lifesong School, each student now has the chance to find HOPE as they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ while receiving a quality education from the Lifesong Staff.
 
They are receiving HOPE in a way that many of them have never experienced before. A hope that never dies.

Grade 7 students

It is our desire to build High School classrooms for these 22 students by the fall school year. Not only to see them through graduation, but to invest in the rest of their lives as they grown into young men and women for Christ, breaking the cycle of poverty & unemployment. 
 
Thankfully, in lieu of this expansion, a donor has generously offered to MATCH dollar-for-dollar the funds raised! The time to give is now!
 
We have 1 day left of the Impact Zambia 100 campaign. We are still praying for 41 commitments to supporting students like Lyness.  
 
Will you consider joining Lifesong Zambia in changing lives for Christ? 

To join Impact Zambia 100, email info@lifesongfororphans.org

"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'" Matthew 24:40

Impact Zambia in Progress!

***Impact Zambia Update: 30 commitments...4 days to go. Needing 70 more Impacters!

Impact children like Bwalya Bwayla & have your gift MATCHED!!

As you saw in the video, Bwalya Bwalya became a double orphan because of HIV/Aids when he was only five years and now he, too, is HIV+.  Thankfully, Bwalya Bwalya lives with his grandparents and is able to attend the Lifesong Zambia School. Despite his uncertain past, he has a hopeful future because of the presence of Christ in his life and the opportunity to receive an education.

We have launched an Impact Zambia 100 campaign that will help build a high school for Bwalya Bwayla and other children in similar life situations.  We are nearly 1/3 of the way there and have only 4 days left.  

We are looking for 100 people to make a monthly commitment of $20 for one year to help complete this building project.

MATCHING GIFT OPPORTUNITY! 
(that's right--gifts will be matched dollar-for-dollar thanks to a generous donor!)


Sixty-seven cents a day from 100 people for a year can make this vision a reality for children like Bwalya Bwalya.

4 days left 70 people to go...Will you join us?

To join Impact Zambia 100, email info@lifesongfororphans.org

To learn more about Impact Zambia 100, click here.

Impact Zambia 100, Join With Us to Support Zambia!

 Join us to IMPACT lives in Zambia...   

    

"Hi.  My name is Richard.  I am in grade 7.  I stay with my sister, Josephine.  I have three brothers and two sisters.  My other sister attends Lifesong and is in grade 5.  Her name is Emelia.  My mother stays in a village far away.  My father died in 2006.  Thank you for supporting me and may God bless you and add more days to your life.  My favorite subject is art."

Richard is just ONE of the 253 students that we are blessed to serve at Lifesong Zambia.  He is also one of the students that will be moving on to grade 8 this fall.  

Without the construction of new classrooms, Richard may join the 95% of Zambian children that are not able to attend High School. 

Will you join us in impacting the lives of children like Richard?

To add to the excitement--thanks to a generous donor, all donations will be matched up to $225,000!!

  

To join the Impact Zambia 100 team, email info@lifesongfororphans.org! be sure to mention Abba CCBC or Nuckels if you decide to join with us to Impact Zambia

Shopping Intentionally

Living intentionally takes practice and discipline. There are times that I struggle with my desire for something new and cute for me or my children, the temptation of want vs the realities of others in need. Budgeting for our family needs and additional giving or gifting was realty hard a few years ago...and sometimes a challenge when looking at what is not needed but would be super cute on my daughter. Shifting my focus and wallet to others is getting easier, but at times is not easy.

Shopping intentionally with our children has been a powerful lesson for them and for me. We've taken the children with us to shop for the vulnerable in Russia, China, Ethiopia, Joplin, DFW metroplex and right here in Collin County. The temporary pleasure of purchasing something we wanted pales in the lasting joy of purchasing for others in need. It is for Our Father's glory and His heart for the world that motivates us. It is amazing to watch the way the kids make their selections. Guiding them through the process of looking at the needs and how they can make the most of their purchases. It is also amusing to hear the kiddos sweetly answer some of the questions we sometimes hear about the amount and kinds of items we may be purchasing. Try to not giggle when you hear your child say, "We're buying for orphans/homeless/hungry etc because God loves orphans/homeless/hungry. and we love God." Be sure to give the glory to God and not yourself or your kiddos...it is easy to get caught in a compliment and not realize that you are actually taking glory that is not yours...a lesson that your kiddos will find difficult to unlearn.

* I challenge you to shop intentionally this week for the vulnerable needs of your community or if you are in Collin County purchase shoes in various kid sizes from toddler to teen for Orphan Soles and drop them off at Cottonwood Creek Saturday Morning.

Family Fun Run & Shoe Drive

Come join us on March 31 for the 2012 Family Fun Run at CCBC.

This is great event for the whole family. There is a 1 mile fun run or 5K with chip timing. Face painting, bounce houses and an Easter Egg hunt too!


Make an additional donation to Buckner International's "Shoes for Orphan Souls".
Each gift of $25 will help provide a pair of shoes for at-risk children and orphans in the U.S. and around the world. If you would prefer to bring a new pair of shoes we will have a collection box at the church now until race day.

How awesome to have fun with your family and reach out with the love of Christ by providing new shoes for children!

Check out Cottonwood Creek to register and for more details.

Empowered to Connect & Show Hope

Brian & I went to the recent Empowered to Connect Conference held at Irving Bible Church. It was our first time to hear Dr. Karen Purvis speak. We were greatly encouraged by the speakers and by a few surprises that God had planned for us.

We went to a local fast food place on the lunch break. I was excited by what we were learning and kind of tired too. We sat down at the only open seats and waited for our food. There was an older man sitting alone eating at the table next to us. I knew God was speaking to me to talk to the man, I didn't want to. I tried to relax and eat, but couldn't ignore the pull in my heart.

God is pretty persistent and reluctantly, I commented to the man on how yummy the food was or something like that. Over the next forty minutes or so I listened to how God has moved in this man's life. I was blessed in this reminder of how God makes beauty from ashes and hope where there was only shame. It was time for him to get back to work and we quickly prayed together.

It was His power that we were able to connect. A blessing. But God wasn't done yet.

There were a few other people that God put in our path over the next two days. Videos of parents speaking who had journeyed much like we had from hopeless to hope-filled. Speakers that understood what it was like to come from a hard place and to love children that also come from hard places. The Show Hope banners that served as stage backdrop, reminded me of why we were there...to show hope.

There have been some big challenges and lonely valleys in growing an adoption & orphan care ministry. There have also been some difficult and painful places in this mountain climb of an international adoptive journey over the past seven months.

We have not been alone and until God says stop, we will keep moving. Grateful for the experiences and wisdom shared to help us be empowered to connect. Humbled by His divine appointments and surprise blessings in the reminders to keep moving and to show hope.

Why we are grateful for birthmoms and how we can tell our kiddos they were always loved:)

Radical Change

This Sunday January 22 is Sanctity of Life Sunday. Cottonwood Creek will have empty baby bottles and fliers with additional details for you about Real Options on tables in the atrium. Please take an empty baby bottle or two home with you this Sunday. Over the next 4 weeks you and your family fill the bottles with change or as God leads you to give as well as pray for the unborn and sanctity of all life. Bring back the bottles to Cottonwood Creek on or before February 19th.

Little Things to Help Bring Change

Sanctity of Life Sunday is coming up in a few weeks. This is a time to specifically remember the millions of unborn children and to pray for post abortive healing as well as legislative change. Sanctity of Life is a time when you can join with your family and fight on your knees as well as act on behalf of those that have no voice. Consider organizing a baby bottles or Radical $hange event.

This is an easy church wide, whole family activity. Real Options, makes it easy for you to lead your family to act on behalf of the unborn. Focus on the Family also has great resources and information for you. Discussing social issues from a Biblical perspective is a family activity. It is also a way to affirm your family's commitment to pray for and defend life. Don't let feeling uncomfortable keep you from disusing truth and biblical perspective on life. We struggled as parents to young children how to discus unborn children and what Sanctity of Life is about. We asked God for wisdom, and in His faithfulness He answered.

Will you join with us at Cottonwood Creek and participate in the baby bottles or Radical $hange event on Sanctity of Life Sunday? All you do is take a baby bottle or two that Real Options will have for you at Cottonwood Creek and over the following 3 weeks you and your family fill the bottles with spare change as well as pray for the unborn and sanctity of all life. Bring back the filled bottles to Cottonwood Creek. Your donation can be of any amount, this is a little thing that your family can do to help bring BIG change. This is modeling a faith at home:)


Additional Ideas:

• donate baby diapers and wipes to a local maternity home or outreach to unwed/underprivileged mothers

• eat sandwiches at home and donate the money you planned to spend dining out to Real Options

• in lieu of birthday gifts, ask friends to purchase toys for children in foster care or donate directly to organizations like Embrace 

• watch The Dignity of Human Life short video from Focus on the Family

• vote pro-life in upcoming elections, research candidates and be sure you know where he/she stands on Sanctity of Life

• consider sponsoring a child in need (we know of many needs both local and abroad)

• consider fostering or adopting  (we know of many needs both local and abroad

Possible ways to communicate with young children about Sanctity of Life Sunday:

"We're praying for safety for children in their birthmothers' tummies."

"We're filling the baby bottles to help people that help mommies."

"We care about life, because God cares about life."

"We are moving beyond our car's bumper sticker for life."

Empowered to Connect

Feeling connected  to God, self and others is important. To thrive we must be connected to God and allow Him to grow us daily. Once our hearts are connected to Him then we are in a place of being able to healthily connect to others. Maintaining a healthy and thriving connection to God is hard and takes being intentional...so do connections with others.

It's hard sometimes to make effort to be connected, it means being compassionate, tender, vulnerable and open. I've struggled with being vulnerable and open with others and sadly being tender and compassionate towards myself and others.

Joyfully, God is at work in my life and promises to stay at work until he is done and he has completed His work...as His adopted child I sometimes struggle with memories of pain, loss and abandonment. I remember what my heart was like before I was adopted and sometimes I find myself going back to my old ways and unhealthy habits of detachment and withdrawal, especially when life circumstances are challenging. In my flesh, sometimes I think it is easier to disconnect and stop allowing God to work in my heart and in the hearts of my family. Thankfully, I come from a long line of strong women that do not take the words "no" or "can't" very well. I have seen generations of determination, and I am very grateful. Even better, through adoption, my Heavenly Father is the inventor of determination, hope and healthy connection. He is the life-long joy giver and specializes in the impossible...and the seemingly-impossible connections!!

If you are looking for a way to improve the connections within your family, start with the source, your Heavenly Father. He is the one that created connections and deeply desires to establish a close and healthy connection to you and for you to have the same with those closest to you. Empowered to Connect Conference is coming here to Dallas in February. Even better, if you register before January 15th it is $35 a person and $50 for a couple.

Visit and explore the site Empowered to Connect, to learn more about healthy connections and how connection to God can allow you to be empowered to connect with others!

If you need more information or well formulated thoughts for presenting to your church leadership check out:
Letter to Church Ministry Leaders 
(be sure to notice the dates and locations)