We attended Catalyst this year again. If you remember from earlier posts, this is where we really felt a definite answer to adopt vs. pursue a bio pregnancy last year (little did we know that God would respond and we’d be doing both!) This year’s topic was Tension – as in the Tension in good. We’ve had quite a year of tension, and yes, we can honestly say it has been good. It’s good to feel a tug at your heart, or a tug at your wallet or just a downright tension that makes you get up and do something about an issue. Without the tension in our lives, I think we’d be content just to sit around and wait for things to happen or complain about why things aren’t happening.
One of our biggest tensions over this past year has been trying to ‘explain’ to people why we feel we were called to adopt, why we are adopting from Ethiopia, and why we are adding to our ‘seemingly’ perfect family. Then, on top of that, we got pregnant – which was deemed medically impossible. Honestly some people think we are downright nuts, and I totally understand. Adoption is not for everyone. But it is something that we’ve been called to do. But still, we have those looks from people, and the ‘what the heck are you thinking’ comments from people, especially now that we are pregnant on top of adopting. Big families are definitely not the norm these days.
That was where my head had been as we went to Catalyst this year. Not that I feel the need to explain myself or my actions to ANYONE here on earth, but it still has me scratching my head and sometimes thinking, “maybe we are crazy…”… you know??
Thursday night’s speaker was Francis Chan. Brad and I adore this guy. We had the privilege to have breakfast with him last year and he is such a genuine and compassionate person. He started Cornerstone Church in California in 1994 with 30 people and by 2000, it had grown beyond 1600. This guy donates like 90% of his income, doesn’t take a salary, and donates all of his book royalties to charities. His home is always open to anyone, any time. Anyway, lately he has taken a slight beating because he and his wife, along with their kiddos, have decided to step away from Cornerstone Church and go to Asia to follow God’s calling. So they are packing up, saying goodbye to their family and friends, and moving to Asia for an indefinite period of time. He said he’d be hypocritical if he didn’t do what God was asking… but yet even some of his peers disagree with his decision.
What is remarkable is that he is feeling the same tension as we are… slightly different scenarios, but same type of tension. He spoke of this issue, and it made my heart happy about what he had to say, or specifically what his wife had to say. This clip is over 7 minutes long, but if you can, at least listen to the first few minutes. It made us breathe a sigh of relief… not that everyone in our circle live their lives according to scripture… but if you did, would your story fit… or would you be the weird one?
See video below to watch Francis
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