i want this someday…

I was looking through Greg and Kara’s wedding pictures again from a few weeks ago and came across this photo again:

I’m so thankful I had my camera poised and ready. I love this captured moment. They are Jenna’s grandparents. Grand-pop is almost 90 and Grand-mom is in her early 80s, and they’re acting like teenagers! In this shot, you almost feel the love they still have for each other after all of these years.

I pray this same love for Jenna and me someday: fifty-plus years of blood, sweat, and tears that result in still being willing to feed each other roasted marshmallows.

That is commitment and love at some of it’s finest.

last weekend:this weekend

Last weekend, my family and I enjoyed this:

This weekend was quite different. It rained, and I needed to work on this:
We have a bathroom in the basement that we desperately need to redo…next summer after the adoption in finalized. We’re trying to make it work until then.

So when things go wrong, we do this ourselves. Usually this includes an industrial plunger and a pipe snake. This time neither of those things worked. We hit the Internet and found that the next step for us would be a little more time consuming. Knowing what was coming, I went to the hardware store and got another wax seal….

Next it was time to do the deed and take off the toilet. Thankfully the issue wasn’t in the sewer line. That was nice and clear.

However, the toilet itself… not so much. Not sure who’s the culprit here. We’ve got very curious and mischievous kids of our own, not to mention the two other cousins here a couple of weeks ago. I have a feeling this could have been a joint effort. But everyone is pleading the Fifth so I guess we’ll never know.

So I got on my gloves and went to work.

We’re good now, flushing like pros. This job only cost us $4.00 for the seal. Do your own work if you can… we’re so glad that we didn’t call a plumber for a wad of Q-tips.

why i’m never in photographs.

My brother-in-law shot this picture of me and posted on it on his Flickr page under the title, “The Pro”. It’s not great, but it tells you why I’m never in photographs of my family… I just wish that camera was mine.

mastering the art of waiting for what’s next.

I have a hard time waiting.

This is nothing new. It’s been part of my make up since I was a child. I have not mastered the art of waiting for what’s next…

In line.

For mail.

In traffic!

For a new child.

Even… for the pot to boil.

Horrible at it, but trying to get better because I know that I have some long stretches of waiting in the days ahead.

We’re almost done with our home study for the adoption (our last meeting starts in an hour). Unbelievable really, but we’re cooking thanks to my super speedy and driven (not to mention incredibly beautiful) wife. She’s rockin’ this thing, keeping us all going. Once the home study is complete we send it off to immigration with our I-600 form and WAIT, for anywhere between one and three months to give us yet one more round of approval.

Waiting.

I have two positions open in my department at church. One is filled but the person doesn’t start until mid-August. I already have a job list a mile long. He can’t start soon enough! However, I have no prospects for the other job. At all. And it’s not an easy job to fill. And I’m the one who has to fill the roll in the meantime. I’ve got some good volunteer help in place, but I need a staff member to carry the weight of care for all of those people. I needed this unknown person yesterday!

Waiting.

I have so many friends waiting for houses to sell, babies to come, for a birth-mother to choose them, for adoptions to finalize and work to pick up… we’re praying for them and would like some positive answers to those prayers any time now…

Waiting… Waiting… WAITING!

It’s not easy, and it’s kind of rotten. But I’m learning (slowly) that waiting shouldn’t always be associated with that which is bad. The question is no longer, how long will this waiting last? The question becomes, what can I learn why I’m waiting?

Perhaps the most familiar passage on waiting comes from Isaiah 40; I keep thinking on this as I know these words to be true….

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

It’s inevitable, we will all wait during periods of our life. I know that soon my family is going to sit around and wait for months just to see a picture of our little guy. And probably for a few months after that until we can go get him. I love how Isaiah presents our God as the Everlasting One who does not grow tired or weary. I love even more that he gives us his strength when ours fails us during the times in between the now and the not yet.

So as we wait… What does God want us to learn about ourselves? Or perhaps more importantly, what does God want us to learn about himself?

my girls like to sing loudly!

And sometimes, they even sing in unison… clicky.

BTW, this was absolutely ear-splitting while I was driving.

I would make this my album cover…

I didn’t know that Jenna shot this until tonight while going through some pics from the weekend. She made me look like a rock star!

boys in the jeep.

One of the cool things about having my in-laws have a place out here in Michigan is that they have to keep a car here for when they fly into town. The car they just happen to leave here is a Jeep Wrangler, one of my favorite vehicles ever!

Liam and I drove it back to our house last night. For the first five minutes of the trip he was giddy. I had my window down; he put his down. I popped open the triangle window, and he did the same. I had my arm out the window, and as you can see… he now knows how to ride in a Jeep. The only thing I wasn’t able to teach him was the Jeep, “hi-sign” that only is exchanged from Wrangler to Wrangler.

The jeep only has a radio and a tape deck. He wanted to listen to a tape. This must be something like a novelty as he operates my iPod with ease and techno savvy. I threw in Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits, not sure what he’d like. 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy) was the first track he heard. He smiles and says, “I LIKE this!”

For fun, when Cecilia came on I clapped a rhythm. He put down whatever he was holding in his hand. He ended up synchronizing his clapping with me, the whole time with a huge smile on his face.

So we listened to the rest of the classic album in its entirety. When it was finished, I ejected it and tuned the radio. He was all, “NO, I want Simon and Garfunkel!”

Yes! I’ve done my job…

I blinked, and it was over.

I’m here sitting on the couch after a quick-paced, flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sort of day.

1. Woke up. Grabbed quick shower. Got dressed. - You’d think I wouldn’t have to write this, but sometimes showers in our house are a luxury. Today with all that was going on, a shower was a crucial part of my morning.

2. Quick meeting at work to decide: a. colors for love seats, bean bags, and butterfly chairs for our 4/5th and Jr. High environments for Ada Bible Church North Campus launch. b. colors for rubber mats in the nursery for same North Campus. c. how to finish off our lamp posts so they look more like a permanent installation in the the welcome center….(three words: plastic. landscaping. bricks.)

3. Back home so Jenna could get a shower and get ready and I could get the kids packed up for the beach.

4. The kids went to the beach with the grandparents and cousins. Jenna and I went to round two of the home study for our adoption. I had a great time. Basically I had an hour to answer questions about myself. and WHO doesn’t like to talk about himself?! Exactly. It was great! I enjoyed every minute of it.

5. While Jenna was in her session. I worked from the adoption agency designed the particle-check pattern for covering our sound paneling in our first grade environment: The DV Diner… I love Adobe Illustrator - not as much as I once loved Freehand (right, Kedron?)… but I’ll get over it one of these days. It does the trick after all. I can’t WAIT until we get these coverings installed; they will really finish off the room.

6. JENNA AND I GOT TO GO OUT TO LUNCH!!! We went to a Thai place in Jenison that we didn’t know existed. Some of the best Thai I’ve had around here. (Not to mention seeing the entire Mars Hill student min staff AND Daybreak’s programming staff… Grand Rapids is just a really small world sometimes.)

7. Rushed back to the cabin to pick up the kids but not before stopping at a road-side farmer’s market for handpicked strawberries. Dropped Jenna and the kids off at home. Rushed out to drop adoption paperwork off at Jenna’s doctor before heading to my own for a physical for the adoption. Have no worries, I am cleared to adopt a child. After my HIV and STD blood work (never thought I’d ever write THAT in a blog post), I’ll have it all notarized and ready to send off to Ethiopia.

8. Home for a nice family dinner of grilled cheese with the best cheddar cheese (Cabot White Cheddar from Vermont).

9. Went with the family to the local farmer’s market downtown to pick up some fresh produce thanks to the Hammond/Dobson clan who allowed us to pick up their co-op veggies in exchange for looking after the Hammond’s cat for the week.

10. Back home to have some strawberry short cake for dessert and put very excited kids in bed. Natural sugars have amazing shelf-life in a child’s system. With all of the ups and downs and drinks of water, I don’t think they fell asleep until around 9:30ish.

11. And here I am. 10:45p.m. Ready to start it all over again tomorrow. These are busy but exciting times in the life of the Scott family. So much joy on the horizon that all of these busy days leading up to getting our son home will be worth it! Just can’t come fast enough!

on my first wedding.

This past weekend I had a chance to officiate my first wedding. Here are some of my thoughts:

I was surprised at how nervous I was. I felt prepared, had everything under control, and knew what needed to be done. Maybe it was the fact that I had never done this before or that this was family. I speak all of the time, but there seemed more at stake for this event. I had geared up for the worst and none of it happened. The rehearsal was great; everyone was in good spirits… and the food was amazing.

I really enjoyed performing the ceremony, more than I thought I would actually. I actually had fun. All of the stress left and joy appeared in it’s place. The celebratory atmosphere was infectious, and with Greg and Kara giddy in love, everyone in attendance knew that they were completely meant for each other.

I’ve always thought of marriage as being holy, and being a part of that ceremony was quite sacred. I pray that Greg and Kara grasped as much of those special moments as I did. They chose a text from Ephesians 3 and 4 that perfectly captured what’s happening in the covenant of individuals to Christ and each other…

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one hope when you were called– one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

As I gave my sermonette and lead them in the exchanging of vows, I felt as if I was renewing my own wedding vows taken almost nine years ago. I remembered the time it took to write and memorize the vows we made. I thought about our first year of marriage and the moments we’d like to remove from the books. I thought about Greg and Kara and the unknown that lies ahead of them. And I prayed really hard.

When we get married, We know at the time that we’re meant to be together. We make vows from our heart and intend to keep every word. We try our best to fulfill them, but fail so often with our attitude or our selfishness.

Our role as husband and wife is to keep fighting for keeping that “unity of the spirit” Paul talks about in his letter to the church at Ephesus. I think God honors that fight as we work through failures and arrive on the other side stronger albeit a little bruised and battered (NOT LITERALLY!). But this is the test of marriage: how willing are we to work our butts off to make it work in better and worse. One of the amazing qualities of marriage is the capacity to make us holy, that in our failures God is working in and through us to make us more like his son.

I was blessed to play a roll in their wedding. Seriously, can’t wait for the next one in August…

my. hot. wife.

Seriously, am I the luckiest man in the world or what?!