The Greener Grass Conspiracy by Stephen Altrogge

Lee and I returned Sunday from four days at the beach for a marriage retreat with our church. That even meant we were gone on Sunday morning, which marks the first Sunday away since we began coordinating special needs ministry. It was a delightfully sweet weekend, rejuvenating spiritually and physically.

Returning has been sweet too, particularly because all the laundry in our house was clean and put away when I left, the house was clean (my in-laws were staying here, so I scrubbed things I don't usually get to!), and our kiddos were extra cuddly after having missed us (though they had a blast with the grandparents). Also, I had an IV of six vials of Remicade on Thursday, which has fully kicked in now, making me feel like Superwoman compared to the 150-year-old woman I've felt like for the past few weeks. And, finally, the AC in my car is broken, so we're homebound for a few days while that get fixed, which gives joy to this homebody after I was away from home for a bit. I feel no pressure to be out and about at the store or museum or bouncy places or friends' houses.

I feel very content. More so than last week? I have to admit that the answer is yes.

One of the main points of Altrogge's book is that contentment isn't meant to be circumstantial. I have much to learn before I can say that I can be content in every situation, like Paul learned. (Praise God, though, that Paul says he has learned contentment, because that means there is hope for me to learn it too. Contentment doesn't came naturally, especially not to me!)

It's a light read, with humor and brevity, but it is incredibly powerful as well. I shared that power last week, and now I'll share some more quotes from Altrogge:

This book is not the memoir of a contented man. It's not the poignant reflections of a white-haired guru who has finally figured out the secret to contentment. It's more like sweaty bloody, hastily scribbled notes from a battlefield...I can see contentment in the distances, like a hazy oasis, but I have to pick my way through a minefield to get there. (Introduction, pg. 14)

 (About Paul's words about contentment in Philippians 4:11-12) These words should startle us and cause us to catch our breath. Paul says that he has learned to be content in every situation. Not just the happy, comfortable, "why, yes, I will have another latte" situations. (p. 19)

 ...I really do live every days as if I were the center of the universe. I want each day to unfold in such a way that I receive maximum joy and happiness. I want all the circumstances and people in my life to contribute to my happiness. When something interrupts my wonderful plan for life, such as a crying baby at 2:00 A.M. or a sinus infection, I'm unhappy because this is my world and these kinds of things shouldn't happen in my world. I don't actually speak those words, but every day I'm tempted to believe them, live by them, and treat others according to them. (p. 21-22)

Discontentment is the result of misplaced worship. It's the result of giving our heart to someone or something that should never have it. (p. 37)

When we complain, we're loudly saying that the blessings of the gospel aren't enough. We're saying that the death of Christ isn't enough. We're saying that eternal fellowship with God, purchased at great cost to God, isn't enough to satisfy our souls. We're saying that forgiveness of sins and peace in God is nice, but not that nice...We're saying that God himself, who is the very definition of goodness, isn't good enough. We would like a little something more, if you don't mind. God plus [insert desire of choice] should do the trick. We we complain, we accuse God of being stingy, of not giving us enough. (p. 72) 

 When I complain, I'm declaring that I serve a helpless, bumbling God. That my life is out of control. That he hasn't been faithful. That he isn't using circumstances for good. I'm smearing God's character and forgetting his past faithfulness. I'm telling the world that God is a pathetic, disorganized deity who can't seem to get my life straight. I'm telling a lie about God. (p. 106)

 And finally...

Discontentment begins when I start trying to be God. Discontentment happens when I attempt to displace God from his rightful place at the center of the universe. When I think that everything should run according to my plans instead of God's plans. When I forget that God is God and that he is allowed to do with me whatever he wants, whatever will bring him glory. Discontentment results from a big view of myself and a very little view of God. (p. 24)

Crossway provided this book for my review, but they neither asked for nor required a positive opinion about it.

Introducing Gregory Kirill Davis - praise God!

Kirill has a family. He will be coming home to Alabama as soon as all the paperwork is finalized. Read about it on Tesney's blog here.

And praise God. Even though this news seems delayed to us, it was not to Him. Because of the Davis family's fight for Kirill, many more families - mine included - have heard about the good work being done by Reece's Rainbow to find families for orphans with Down syndrome and other special needs.

And, while we're still in the beginning stages of renovating our home to make room for the children we will adopt, I'm willing to share now that Lee and I have been praying about this for the past two months and have decided that our third child will be adopted through Reece's Rainbow. We still hope to adopt a sibling pair from foster care once our first two are in elementary or middle school and once our third is settled in here. Adoption, for us, isn't an option; God set it on our hearts before we met each other, and we are thankful that He adopted us into His family as well.

And today we are so very, very, very thankful that Kirill has been adopted into the Davis family.

Praying for Kirill and the Davis family!

Update: The Supreme Court reversed the decision, effective immediately, and Kirill is now Gregory Kirill Davis. See the exciting update HERE!

A couple months ago I wrote about Kirll, a sweet boy in Russia who is awaiting adoption and who has Down syndrome, and the Davis family, a Christian couple from Alabama who wants to adopt them. Because of his disability, the judge in his province said no. Here's that original post.

Today - right now, actually! - Tesney and Gary are before the Supreme Court in Russia, hoping that a different decision will be made and that Kirill - who they already consider to be part of their family - can come home.

This could have implications for how people around the world view the value of children with Down syndrome and other disabilities, children who were fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together in their mother's wombs, and formed by God and in God's image. I'll be posting more in the coming weeks about the abortion and adoption of children with special needs, but for now I'll leave you with this exhortation:

Pray.

Only sharing the Gospel with 5/6 of our children? Not an option.

We have close friends with six kids. I can imagine their response if we suggested that they choose five of their kids to share Christ with and ignore the sixth one. NO! they would cry. All six of our children need Jesus. How about if I suggested that they only nurture the gifts of five of their six children? Once again, they would say Absolutely NOT!

That sounds awful, doesn't it? Why would I ever suggest such a thing? I wouldn't, but that's what many churches are doing.

According to a new government study, nearly one in six children has a developmental disability. The research, published today and found here in the journal Pediatrics, included the following disabilities, as reported by parents: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; intellectual disability; cerebral palsy; autism; seizures; stuttering or stammering; moderate to profound hearing loss; blindness; learning disorders; and/or other developmental delays. Here's the article from USA Today, and here's one from Reuters Health.

If the church doesn't embrace these families, then we are effectively saying that we're okay with only sharing the Gospel with 5 out of 6 kids. And we're saying that we only value the gifts and talents that those five out of six have to offer.

The sixth one? It's just too hard. We might have to change. And, hey, 83% is definitely a passing grade. Why "waste" the extra resources that might be necessary to only reach around 15%? Especially when the resources per child might need to be higher for that one child in every six?

If you can find any justification in scripture for that sort of attitude, go for it.

The thing is, though, you're not going to find that justification. You'll find a God who champions the poor and marginalized. You'll find his prophets in the Old Testament calling His people out for not loving those in need with mercy and justice. You'll find His Son not only hanging out with folks who aren't the typical church crowd but going the extra mile - a phrase which, by the way, comes from Him - to die because they weren't only disabled by their own sin but dead in it. You'll find verse after verse that encourages us to let our lives be a living sacrifice to Him, which doesn't sound like taking the easy way out to me.

Should we share Christ with the five in six who don't have developmental disabilities? Yes. (And we ought to keep in mind that some of those kids have other special needs that don't fit in the label "developmental disabilities.") Should we encourage their gifts and talents so that they can serve within our body of believers? Yes. Should we stop there, though? Certainly not.

Just as my friends wouldn't choose five out of their six kids to disciple in Christ, neither should we.

What the church can learn from pop culture

A couple weeks ago James Durbin's loss on American Idol nearly broke Twitter; he was a front runner who also happens to have Asperger and Tourette syndromes. Celebrity Apprentice had Marlee Matlin and her intepreter (who I really, really wish had been female, because it's disconcerting to have the communication of a woman expressed with a male voice). On Oprah, a guy with cerebral palsy named Zach Anner won his own show on her new network. Parenthood, which I've never watched, has a character named Max with Asperger syndrome. I'm one of about three people in the US who doesn't watch Glee, but I have loved seeing the positive reception of Lauren Potter's character; Lauren has Down syndrome. Bones, a show I do watch faithfully, has candidly and artfully handled the complex issue of an expectant couple who knows that they have a one in four chance that their baby is blind during this season. While it was cancelled before it really began, Paul Reiser's show made some headlines by casting Brock Waidmann, an actor who uses a wheelchair due to spina bifida and agenesis of the corpus callosum, to play a character who uses a wheelchair. And, of course, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition regularly features families with at least one member with special needs.

I have read many blogs and articles exalting all this as an indication that pop culture becoming more accepting of people with disabilities.

So, church, what are you doing? Are you really going to let pop culture do a better job of embracing those created by God than we do?

I didn't think so. Let's step it up.