Well it has been a bit since I posted (OK since Oct 2011 but who’s counting). So I thought it might be time to give an update and begin to tell the new story through which the KING has elected I must pass.

One of the reasons for my silence about issues on the homefront has been the journey into foster care that the Lord began taking us in Dec of 2010. The confidentiality rules made it very hard to blog and not get myself in trouble so I didn’t. Needless to say it has been a journey of increased dependence on our Father God and a journey of emptying of self (that part is often not very pretty). We are currently fostering a sibling group that we are praying the Lord will allow us to adopt but for that to happen very God-sized mountains will have to be removed into the sea as you will soon see.

All other issues aside, the single biggest mountain we face in this journey is Cancer. In January I found out that I had cancer. Initially they thought and began planning like it was rectal cancer (very bad stuff and not much hope). “But God” being rich in his grace and goodness saw fit that after 2 biopsies, 1 attempt at a bone marrow biopsy and losing over 6 units of blood that they should discover that I DO NOT have rectal cancer but rather Burkitt’s Lymphoma! Praise God for Lymphoma! (Still bad stuff – see the 6 unit blood loss; but very treatable and highly curable).

Due to the aggressive nature of Burkitt’s the Doctors must be equally aggressive so that meant I spent most of last week in the oncology ward of our hospital. Each day has a regimen of meds so vile that no one can use the same bathroom as me for about 3-4 days AFTER they stop giving it to me. I have had 2 lumbar punctures, 1 bone marrow biopsy, 7 units of blood and more medicine than I have had most of my life. This journey will be at least 9 – 12 weeks and due to the frequent hospitalizations, immune compromise and fatigue I will be out of work on short term disability.  Needless to say, we could use your prayers.

It is my hope to not waste this suffering and to testify of God’s overflowing goodness and mercy in all of this. God is so good and he is good all the time! From the way far flung friends have sent gift cards and tender words of encouragement, to the way we have been surrounded by our church family, to the way my mountain of a man brother continues to tenderly check on me, We have been so richly blessed!

I will leave you with but one of the tender mercies of Our God. After being in the hospital all week, my doctor came into my room late on Friday evening for what we thought was just a regular round of checks before she went home. However, she had come to discharge me since my blood numbers were so good. There was one small issue, there was a medication that I needed which we had thought we had all arranged, small problem – it was not arranged. We tried every pharmacy we could think of and it was no good, the medication was special order and would not arrive until Monday. So it looked like we were going to have to make the 45 min car ride to the doctor’s office each day until the medicine came in. That is until God sent one of my dearest friends to my room in the midst of this madness and reminded him of a pharmacist friend of his. It was after hours and getting later but my friend tried anyway, by God’s providence the pharmacist was in the office late and as a specialty pharmacy had exactly what I needed. A few minutes, a few phone calls later and I had the medicine and was on my way home. God is seldom early, but he is NEVER, EVER late.

If you want your “dream baby,” do not adopt or foster a child: buy a cat and make-believe. Adopting an orphan isn’t ordering a consumer item or buying a pet. Such a mindset hurts the child, and countless other children and families. Adoption is about taking on risk as cross-bearing love. – Dr. Russell Moore

This is an article you should read in its entirety

Ken Ham slam dunks it:

However, the bottom line is that I would rather my children dig ditches and eventually go to heaven than be some highly educated person and go to hell because they received biblical-authority undermining teaching and then rejected the Word of God.

Tiana over at God Made …. Home Grown writes a great piece on why public school is not an option for her family. Her reasons are solid and compelling. On top of that, they mirror many of the reasons State Re-education Camps (a.k.a. public schools) and their government welfare are NOT an option here at the Pauper’s Hovel either. Check out what Tiana has to say:

“Even so, academic mediocrity, peer pressure and bullying, stifled creativity and liberal bureaucratic agendas are not my real reasons for homeschooling.

To say so would imply that if the schools were reformed–if all the legitimate concerns and criticisms about the government school system were to be fixed forever–that I would consider sending my children to public school.

But I wouldn’t.

Why Not?

Because God has said in His Word that educating our children is our job as parents”

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.godmadehomegrown.com/biblical-homeschooling/why-not-public-school-the-real-reason/#ixzz1WFg0XcAK

The groundbreaking full length documentary Divided is now available courtesy of the NCFIC:

Official Divided the Movie (HD Version) from NCFIC on Vimeo

Today is a difficult day for many of our brethren in the South. Please join me in praying for our suffering siblings in God’s family.

One of those families is the Lee family. May I be found as faithful in my fatherhood as Mr. Tom Lee.

Developing Story: Faithful Father of Thirteen Gives His Life for His Children In Alabama Tornado Destruction

By Doug Phillips

Tom Lee was a man who always had a sparkle in his eyes and a Gospel message on his tongue. His family is one of those that people describe as “energy givers.” When Tom, his bride and his family of thirteen children would arrive in town, it always meant encouragement.

Last night as tornado storm winds approached the Lee home in Alabama, Tom gathered his wife and thirteen children in the den. They huddled and they prayed. Two minutes later the tornado descended upon them. The house was instantly destroyed as beams and cinder blocks reigned down upon them.

But in his last great act of fatherhood, Tom Lee had the presence of mind to throw himself on top of his children, including his first born son Jordan. Looking up at his father Jordan saw the blood in his father’s mouth and witnessed as the breath began to leave his father, but was able to hear the last words of his fathers crying out to God for the safety of his family. Then the spirit left the body of Tom Lee.

Read the rest of the story here…

Father,

Please comfort the Lee family. Provide for their needs. Please give Jordan the manly courage he needs as he depends on you. Give him wisdom as he assumes the mantle of manhood passed to him by his father. I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus who is the Christ, Amen.

P.S. – The home of Kelly Crawford at Generationcedar.com was also destroyed. Please pray for them. (You can read her story here.)

I can’t wait to see this one! I expect a good dose of conviction and encouragement. May we all be fathers more like our Heavenly Father and His Word.

In case you have been living under a rock or with your head in the sand, I’ll let you in on a secret – your rights as a parent are quietly being threatened. The stakes could NOT be higher. At risk is your right to raise your children as you see fit. Take a look:



For more information on how you can get involved click here.

For the Historian or Theologian in your life comes a give-a-way you can’t miss. The Uber-blogger Tim Challies is giving away a sermon manuscript page from the Prince of Preachers – Charles Spurgeon.

Click here to read about it and enter.

You’re Welcome!

Dr. Russell Moore has written a great piece on adoption in response to a reader question concerning permanent physical mutilation to prevent children (also known as permanent “birth control”) in order to facilitate the adoption of the maximum number of orphans. You really should read the whole piece, it is spot on. My favorite phrase comes at the very end where he says:

“Adopting for life doesn’t demand accepting the knife.”

Read the rest here.