Tag Archive for ‘jesus’ at familybush.com

Tag Archive for 'jesus'

Anthony

Published on May 13, 2008 in promise house. 5 Comments

Wow. I forget. I forget what life is all about way too often. This morning we got a letter from Anthony. He lives in Kenya and is 10 years old. We help make sure he gets enough to eat and a chance to go to school through Compassion International.

My favorite part reads:

During the holiday I visited my grandmother and helped her fetch firewood.

I’ve got a binder crammed full of letters from Anthony and our other little girl, Betzabeth.

We have their pictures up in our apartment, so Sophia sees them all the time. She’ll say their names and point to them. So I’ll pick her up and she’ll examine them more closely. Then, I’ll say “Let’s pray for them. Will you pray with me?”. She’ll fold her hands and close her eyes.

Jesus, please give Anthony and his family enough food for today. Protect them from Aids. Help them escape poverty. And, Jesus, you’re welcome to use us to do it. Amen.

Total [Hair] Transformation

Published on May 6, 2008 in promise house. 6 Comments

I’ve learned so much at the Promise House. And, most of it has to do with hair. For example, I’ve learned that in a matter of 45 minutes big hair can become little hair. Look.

That’s one of our brand new girls. I wish I could show you her huge smile. She’s a cool kid. She’s due mid-September, so we’ll have her all summer. I’m excited to see what Jesus is going to do in her life. Who knows . . . Jesus might do to her life, what she did to her hair. Total transformation.

Let distraction become communion.

Published on May 4, 2008 in promise house. 7 Comments

I was talking to a good friend the other day about what devotion was when we were bachelors. Following Jesus included extended times of solitude, prayer, and bible study. We had the freedom to take hours (or even days) to just be, to study, to think, to pray, to worship, to commune.

Circumstances have changed for both of us. Wives. Kids. Bills.

Now, I have to re-learn to study, to worship, to pray.

Changing a diaper becomes prayer. “Jesus, thank you for my daughter.”

Picking up around the house becomes worship. “O Lord our Lord how majestic is your name . . .”

Driving the Promise House girls to school becomes study. “Jesus, teach me how to respond to what she just said.”

Communion for me once looked kind of monk-ish. It meant being by myself, in the quiet, no distractions.

I’ve had to learn to let distraction become communion.

You feel me?

Vintage 21

Published on March 6, 2008 in promise house. 3 Comments

A lot of folks have gotten pretty upset about the Vintage 21 videos. I can understand why. However, they do make a pretty good point about how a lot of folks have come to view Jesus. Not to mention they are hilarious. You can see them here:

What do you think?

Blogging for Compassion

Published on February 7, 2008 in promise house. 0 Comments

Click on the picture below. This is good stuff. I just wish we were going!

I love this organization. I’m sold on it. Read more about my experience with Compassion International here and here.

Something Amazing

Published on January 16, 2008 in promise house. 5 Comments

Want to do something amazing? Go here. You’re just a few clicks away from making Jesus smile. No, really. Helping lift kids out of poverty is probably in the top 5 of Jesus’ “What I Want My Followers To Do Today” list. Heck! Maybe top 3! Compassion International is the bridge between you and those kids. It’s a great organization. I know first hand. I’ve visited 2 Compassion projects in Lima, Peru multiple times. We sponsor a little girl in Lima and have seen with our own eyes the incredible impact $32 dollars a month has had on her and her family. Need more reasons? Here are a few:

- You will fall in love.

- You will change a child’s life forever.

- Tax deduction.

- The thrill of sacrifice.

- You’ll be obeying the two most important commands. (Mk. 12:29)

- You will make a new friend (I have a notebook full of letters our compassion kids have sent us).

- You will learn about a new culture.

- You will teach your kids (or roommate or whoever) to love God by loving people.

- One less kid will go to bed hungry tonite.

And if that’s not enough, maybe a picture of our beautiful girl in Lima will do the trick . . . Actually, I’m just a proud sponsor who wants to show off his kid.

Do you sponsor a kid?

Things I Almost Believed Once

Published on January 11, 2008 in promise house. 10 Comments

Here is a list of things that I believed at one time or another about God and myself. Some are of more consequence than others.

What about you? Share some of your busted myths in the comments.

- God isn’t cool with having fun.

- God expects me to get dressed up for church.

- Knowledge of the Bible equals a relationship with God.

- I should say ‘bless you’ after someone sneezes because ‘That’s what Jesus would do.’

- I can be good enough.

- If I don’t capitalize the word ‘God’ I will be smote.

- If I don’t read the Bible and pray everyday, God gets mad.

- I have to earn God’s acceptance and love.

Necessary Sadness

Published on December 30, 2007 in promise house. 3 Comments

If there is one thing I’ve seen here at the Promise House, it’s pain. Not so much my own, but the girls’. Week after week these kids get jilted by their families and/or their baby’s father. Imagine the kind of pain you might feel you might feel if the only person you have to hold on to no longer cares about you. Maybe you don’t have to imagine it.

Every little thing is gonna be alright. That’s part of a song by Delirious?. I believe it’s true. It might take a while, but everything is going to be ok. And, more than that, pain and sadness are often necessary for growth to occur, for peace and joy to take root (Jn. 16:7). Jesus walks with us and strengthens us through times of brokenness so that we not only survive them, but come out on the other side with a deeper connectedness to him and a clear perspective of what life is all about.

John 15

Published on October 30, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

I’m in the process of writing my Greek paper over this passage. These words are really really good, a foundation on which to build.

Living Space

Published on September 30, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

There’s a great article in Home Life magazine this week about living space, the lack of living space that is. This family of four starting out in a small trailer home 10 years ago. It wasn’t the plan to live there this long . . . but they still do. Here is an excerpt of what the mom had to say about it.

Sure, I dream of having a larger home where I can entertain and host family holiday gatherings . . . My family and friends continue to drop helpful hints about floor plans or affordable building options. We smile, thank them, and stay with the plan God has for us. When the time comes, we’ll have a new house. In the meantime, we’ll continue to tithe and give to build his kingdom. We will not sacrifice that part of our worship for any house, large or small.

I do not want to someday hear my Lord say, “Sherri, why were you so worried about your house on earth? Didn’t you know I was preparing a mansion for you?” . . .

Jesus talked about an eternal perspective. He talked about living life with a proper view of how short it really is . . . and how long eternity will be. It’s not about what we want. It’s not about comfort or all this stuff we spend so much time and energy on.

Please pray for Nemi.

Published on September 24, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

Most of you won’t have a clue who this is, but we would appreciate your prayers anyway. Nemi is one of Amanda’s cousins. She is currently in UAMS. She is in very critical condition and, frankly, doesn’t seem like she is going to live much longer.

Please ask Jesus to heal her. Also, pray that her family (especially her husband and two teenage daughters) will turn to Jesus in their confusion, anger, and sadness.

Thanks.

Why?

Published on September 23, 2007 in promise house. 2 Comments

It’s weird. I really don’t understand why things go like this. I truly do want to follow Jesus and give him every corner of my life. And, there are days when I feel like I’m really close to him and I can see him working in my life and every conversation becomes a prayer and every movement becomes an act of worship.

Then, things change. I don’t feel him. I don’t see him working. Prayer is limited to a forced few minutes a day. Worship becomes an arduous chore.

Why?

Dave H. and I were talking about it. He said the same thing happens to him.

Why would something so satisfying and meaningful (walking with Jesus) get buried under daily routine?? Is walking with Jesus, practicing his presence, supposed to be forced sometimes? I’m really not sure. I don’t want to try to ‘recreate’ times like those just to feel good.

I don’t know . . . . it’s all kind of confusing to me at the moment.

Jesus might not have been a carpenter.

Published on September 12, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

I’ve always heard Jesus was a carpenter. Most people think that’s a given. I did. But really, the greek text says “artisan”. So, a lot of folks assumed that was a word worker and, in a lot of versions, it is translated as such. But, he was just as likely a stone worker. In fact, Nazareth had a lot more stone workers than carpenters due to the nature of building that was going on during that time period.

Transformation

Published on September 11, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

The Christian gospel insists that the transformation of the human personality really is possible. Never easy. Rarely quick. But possible. I see it happening in people sometimes . . . occasionally even in myself. It begins to happen anytime people become intensely serious about learning from Jesus how to arrange their lives.

-John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted. p. II

My plane leaves in 18 hours.

Published on September 8, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

And I have that butterfly feeling in my stomach. I am so excited. And I’m kind of scared. I’m not sure why. I just feel nervous about what it is going to feel like.

We’ll arrive in Lima late tomorrow night. Sunday morning we will begin our journey south on the PanAmerican. I have been communicating with some of the missionaries there and it looks like we might be carrying a load to them at base camp in Ica.

Several of the missionaries are basically living in Ica while they help rebuild and they are in constant need of supplies.

To me, this all feels like a very worshipful experience. Like I’m about to tread on holy ground. These butterflies in my stomach keep turning my heart towards Jesus. I guess because he is who I have to lean on.

What Jesus Spoke

Published on September 5, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

Jesus most likely spoke Aramaic in his home and learned Hebrew in the temple. He probably heard Greek in the marketplace some, but most likely did not speak it or understand it.

That means that Jesus would not have been able to read the New Testament in it’s original form. That also means that when Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote down what they heard, they had to translate from the language Jesus was using to Greek.

That’s crazy! I never knew that.

Big Question

Published on September 4, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

Everybody always asks me this question in one form or another: “So, what are your plans? Are you going back to the mission field after you get your seminary?”

Hhhmmm. That’s a tough question.

First of all, I am on the “mission field”. So, I would never say that I am trying to get to the “mission field” or that I plan on going back to the “mission field.” People who follow Jesus are where they are because Jesus put them there . . . for a purpose . . . with a mission. I guess that makes you a missionary too.

The next tough part of this question is the word “plans”. The problem is . . . we don’t really have any plans. That’s not to say that there aren’t things that we’d like to do. And, we definitely have some options. But, the bottom line is this: Jesus has called us to the Promise House. It’s that simple. So, that’s where we are.

I guess we do have a plan . . . to do what Jesus tells us.

How long are you we going to work at the Promise House? We don’t know. 1 year or 50 years. We’re here until he says go.

My whole life . . .

Published on August 28, 2007 in promise house. 1 Comment

My whole life in one sense, has been an experiment in how to be a portable sanctuary — learning to practice the presence of God in the midst of the stresses and strains of contemporary life. Some people who read my books are surprised that I have never been drawn to a monastic life, as important and valuable as that way of life is. For me, the great challenge has always been to experience the reality of God in the midst of going to work and raising kids and cleaning house and paying the bills.

- Richard Foster, Prayers from the Heart. p. xi.

That’s pretty much what I want my life to be. A continual practice of the presence of God. Nothing fancy. Nothing spiritual. Just life the way it was intended to live. Dang, I’m terrible at it! Thankfully, Jesus is very patient with me.

Obedience

Published on August 19, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

Sometimes obedience downright hurts. Sometimes obedience doesn’t have a happy ending. Jesus wants us to obey him because we love him and because he is our God. Yet, I sometimes find myself agreeing to obey reassuring myself that God must have a big prize in store for me.

I lived on three acres growing up. Mowing the lawn was a constant battle starting in April every year. I remember the first time I mowed the whole 2.5 acre field by myself. As I sat daydreaming, somehow it occurred to me that surely I was going to be greatly rewarded for doing this. I was convinced that my parents were, at that moment, planning my reward. By the end of the three hour job I had myself convinced that a wonderful prize awaited me inside.

When I finished, I parked the mower and bounded inside. As I entered the kitchen through the back door, I eagerly looked around for my prize. I checked the counters. I looked at my parents faces expecting to see a warm glow of pride toward their incredibly helpful son. Nothing. There wasn’t anything. No prize. No “Wow! You mowed the lawn! Great job son!”. Nothing. Then it occurred to me: I’m supposed to mow the lawn out of obedience. It’s not about what I can get. It’s about fulfilling my duty as my Father’s son. And there was satisfaction in that.

Obedience. Sometimes, that’s the only thing that keeps us where we are. Jesus put us here. We are just fulfilling our duty as our Father’s children. And we are learning to be satisfied in him alone.

I’m a Dad (thoughts on being a dad)

Published on August 15, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

I’m a dad. My daughter is over a year old now . . . and it still feels weird to think of myself as a dad. But I love being a dad! Seriously, it is absolutely amazing to hold this beautiful little life in my arms. I still can’t believe that Jesus has entrusted her to us. We definitely didn’t deserve it. One of my constant prayers is: “Jesus, THANK YOU for letting me be a dad.”

I used to think that it was impossible to be a dad and still be cool. I’m glad to report that it isn’t. That is to say, I’m a dad and I’m cool. At least, that’s what Sophia says.

I think one of the best things about being a dad is that Sophia is mine, but she’s not. She is my daughter. Legally, no one has more say than her mom and I. Actually, no one really has any say except for her mom and I. But, at the same time she’s not ours. She has been entrusted to us by Jesus. He created her. And he will be the one in the end who will judge her. He is the one who loves her enough to be nailed to a cross. No one loves her more than he does. And he will be the one who will give her true life and satisfaction on this earth. Our job is raise her in a way that helps her to know Jesus intimately.

Going out to eat is a lot more stressful now. That’s mainly because Sophia is not cool with sitting in a high-chair calmly and quietly. It’s just not her style.

Sophia amazes me daily. With her smile, her little steps, her curiosity, her big eyes, by the way she says “baby” to everything.

“Look Sophia, it’s a frog. Can you say ‘frog’?” . . . . . “Baby”

“Sophia, this is a cow. Can you say ‘cow’?” . . . . . “Baby.”

“Let’s drink some milk. Can you say ‘milk’?” . . . . . “Baby.”

How God Worked in Kayla

Published on August 13, 2007 in promise house. 2 Comments

After spending two years in Peru serving as missionaries with the International Mission Board, we never expected that God would put us where he did. In fact, when we were first approached about being houseparents at the Promise House, a maternity home for teens, we laughed. “That’s not really what we had in mind,” we said. God probably laughed too, because two months later we were moving into the Promise House with our 6-month-old daughter to begin making our home at the Arkansas Baptist Children’s Home located in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Now, we’re on mission in Little Rock, offering Jesus our feeble efforts to make a difference in the lives of our new ‘daughters.’ And, day after day, God continues to amaze us as he does what he does best: fix broken lives. Lives like Kayla’s

Kayla was full of life. She had a contagious smile and her laugh lit up a room. Just by meeting her once you wouldn’t have realized that her life up to that point could have been a made-for-TV lifetime movie.

Now, pregnant and unwanted, she found herself at the Promise House.

When Kayla first arrived, she, like most new girls, tested the boundaries. On her second day at the Promise House, I mentioned something about going to church. “I’m not going to church. You can send me to jail, but I’m not going” she declared. “OK” I said, “I guess you’ll have to go to jail.” She went to church. And the amazing thing was that she loved it. She made friends, she sang her heart out, and she took notes when the preacher spoke.

At the Promise House, each week the girls memorize the verse of the week. If the girls memorize the verses and repeat them they earn points to buy things for their baby. Kayla memorized them all, word for word. By the time her due date arrived, she had memorized over 20 verses.

Kayla had a c-section. Everything went well until the next evening. Her baby, Natalie, started acting strange. Her oxygen count dropped to nothing and she became unresponsive. The nurses rushed her to NICU where they inserted oxygen tubes and carefully monitored her vitals. They tried desperately to figure out what in the world was going wrong. Meanwhile, Kayla was beside herself. She was crying uncontrollably in the hospital bed begging the nurses to let her see her baby.

It would have been a lot for any mother, but for a 17-year-old with absolutely no family there to lend support and encouragement, it was almost unbearable.

This all happened around 10pm. Amanda, my wife, was at the hospital with her. She called me at the Promise House to pray and get others to pray. Then she asked me to talk to Kayla. Maybe, she said, that I could help her calm down.

In the brief seconds between me saying, “OK. Put her on” and Kayla saying “Hey, Mr. Ryan” my mind raced. What in the world could I say that would be meaningful and comforting?

“Kayla, do you remember what Philippians 4:6-7 says?” It was the very first verse she memorized at the Promise House. She repeated it to me each week, so I had heard her say it lots of times, but this time was different. “Yeah. I remember.” she said. “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” It was different because now it was real. I could almost hear the hope coming back to her voice.

“God is going to take care of you and Natalie.” I told her.

The doctors never really figured out why Natalie’s little body began shutting down that night. And neither could they explain why she all of sudden started doing better. I think I might know.

We get a letter from Kayla every once and a while. It seems like she and Natalie are doing well. When I get discouraged about life or lose sight of why we are here, I think about that night, and I can almost feel the hope coming back into my heart. The same God who inspired Paul to pen Philippians is the God who is piecing back together the broken lives here in our home.

Our home is anything but conventional. We share space with up to nine pregnant teenagers at one time. But, they are our family and we love them like daughters. I often joke with people telling them that, at 26 years old, I’m probably the youngest grandfather around. Since starting at the Promise House, we’ve been a part of nine brand new lives coming into the world.

This is a hard job.

Published on March 29, 2007 in promise house. 0 Comments

This is a hard job. We knew that coming in, but we didn’t know it. You can only know how hard it is by doing it. But . . . the amazing thing is that God has given us the heart to do it. We very much enjoy the job, despite its hardness.

We’re getting dirty . . . . because we’re getting involved in messy lives. Real messy. About as messy as they come. And sometimes we find ourselves asking “Jesus, why did you put us here? What have you gotten us into?” To me, he always seems to say things like:

It’s not about you.
I love these girls as much as I love you.
These are the kinds of lives I got involved in when I was on earth.

So we keep on keeping on in a spirit of worship and thankfulness. Jesus put us here and it’s a joy to work hard in his orchard.

He has guided us this far . . .

Published on January 11, 2007 in peru. 0 Comments

As followers of Jesus Christ, our lives are built around him. We go where he shows us. We do what he asks of us. So, as our time in Peru drew to an end we began asking ourselves “What’s the next step?”. Then, we starting asking Jesus “What’s the next step?”.

It’s really hard to be patient. It’s also hard to keep the proper focus and perspective. A part of us really wanted to make a decision about a job based on salary, geogpraphy, fit, etc., etc. . . . We had to constatly remind ourselves that Jesus had something for us.

So we waited. We sent out resumes. We made it known we were coming home and that we need a job!! We waited and waited . . . and heard nothing.

I often reminded myself and Amanda that it would “come together” . . . meaning that Jesus would make it really clear where we were to go and what we were to do.

Finally, he did! A good friend emailed us about the possibility of becoming houseparents at the Promise House. Initially, it seemed out of the question. It wasn’t really what we were looking for. It wasn’t in a city with a seminary. The job itself seemed very daunting!

But then, as we started talking to each other and Jesus about it, a strange thing happened. Both Amanda’s and my heart changed. We got excited about stepping into that role as houseparents. It quickly became clear that it was “coming together.” And from then on, it was all open doors and affirmation.

So, here we are. We’ll move into the Promise House in about a week and begin that next phase in our journey with Jesus. And we are SO excited.

We visited the home and met the girls a few days ago. Yesterday, two of the girls had their babies.

He has guided us this far . . . and we are certain that he will continue to draw us close to him and lead us through life. That’s the great thing . . . our focus is being close to him. We don’t have to worry about all the other stuff (new houses, cars, retirement, clothes, food, etc. etc.). . . he knows what we need, and he’s never failed in providing it.

Betzabeth (Updated)

Published on April 2, 2005 in peru. 3 Comments

About 7 years ago Compassion International came to Ouachita Baptist University where my wife (then girlfriend) and I were studying to share about their ministry and give students the chance to partner with them by sponsoring a little boy or girl. Amanda and I decided to sponsor a child together. There were four or five tables set up with hundreds of pictures of children. We picked a little girl from Peru.

Would you believe it, three years later, we moved to Lima, Peru to serve as missionaries just minutes from where she lived and the Compassion project! We were able to visit the her at the project and her home on a regular basis for about two years. We saw first hand what an incredible impact our 32$ a month had on her life and the lives of her family members.

We literally have been able to watch Betzabeth grow from a shy, scared little 4-year-old to an outgoing, healthy, loving young lady.

We definitely believe in this ministry. We’ve seen it’s fruits firsthand. If you’d like to know more about Compassion International visit www.ci.org.

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