This post is by Ashley Bowie, Jesus lover, coffee mistress, wordsmith, in Christ.

I have always known that I wanted to be a writer. I remember constructing stories for my barbies from earliest memory. I remember doing my chores and having to redo them because I had been day dreaming when I was supposed to be dusting. I wrote my oscar acceptance speech for best original screenplay when I was about 12. I was supposed to win that around age 25. I was supposed to be a well established writer with a vacation home by now. While I'm at it I was supposed to have a husband and children by now also. I was supposed to win a thousand souls to the Lord, and I was supposed to fall asleep at night feeling satisfied that I was living the life I was supposed to.

It's an interesting thought isn't it? "Supposed to." It means, this was my expectation and it's not what I'm seeing. It means this is what was expected of me and I have not measured up. I think we have all been there. You feel like you're not doing enough or enough of the right things. You have an image in your head or heart of what you wanted to be, or you want to define yourself a certain way and you get frustrated because it’s not looking like you thought it would or coming as easily as you expected.

We all battle this in different ways. I was supposed to get that promotion, I was supposed to forgive that person, I was supposed to have succeeded, I was supposed to provide for all my family's needs, I was supposed to stop worrying, I was supposed to grow faster in this area. It means, in so many words, I've failed. And to be fair, we do fail, regularly and spectacularly. But the problem with "supposed to" is that it revolves primarily around our own expectations.

Last weekend I attended the Bible and breakfast event for the women of Redeemer. Our speaker Danielle Dow spoke directly out of Ephesians 1 and something she said hit home so much more clearly than it ever has before. She said, "your identity is in Christ." Earth shattering revelation there right? Maybe I'm a little slow because I think most of us only hear that about 10 times a week. Danielle agreed that it was not new information but went on pressing that our entire identity is in Christ.

It does not mean that your identity is hidden somewhere in Christ and that if you dig around long enough you can find the title you were meant for. As though you're putting on a name tag that says "disciple maker," or "mother," or "christian business executive." If you get a title it's this "In Christ." It's stamped on your soul, written on your heart and grafted into the fibers of your brain. If God is "I am" then I am "in Christ." This is my name, my dwelling place, my purpose and my life's ambition all rolled into one.

It's not like your home, where you sleep and eat and then go out into the world to do the things God has given us to do. It's more than clothes that we put on to show the world who we are and who we want to be known as. It's more than a job title with responsibilities, more than a relationship that we delight in. Being "in Christ" is your very skin. It's your heart and your heart's rhythm. It's neurons and fingerprints. In Christ is every piece of your identity.

I have shortened the passage that we walked through, but if you have time you should read the whole thing.

Ephesians 1:3-14
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us IN CHRIST with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us IN HIM before the foundation of the world, … according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. IN HIM we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, … making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth IN CHRIST as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things IN HIM, things in heaven and things on earth. IN HIM we have obtained an inheritance… so that we who were the first to hope IN CHRIST might be to the praise of his glory. IN HIM you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed IN HIM were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance…”

Look at the rich depth of description of all the things you are. If your name and all that you are made of is "in Christ" you are blessed, you are chosen, you are adopted, you are redeemed, you are a worshiper, you have an inheritance, You are sealed with the Holy Spirit. How much grander is this than a job title or a list of accomplishments? How much more satisfying is this knowledge than chasing down dreams of earthly glory?

When I recognize that my identity is "in Christ" pouring coffee for eight hours a day becomes worship and blessing, my life and work becomes disciple making work simply because I "In Christ" am doing it. Struggling through scriptures in search of understanding, or working through forgiving others becomes the holiness he is working out in me. There is no greater level to be reached by getting a promotion, no better version of myself to be found by adding a relationship. Sure these things are tools of God used for sanctification, but they don't redeem me any more, they don't increase my inheritance, they have no impact on my adoption, and they are not worthy of my worship.

This means that the only thing that I am "supposed to be" is IN CHRIST. There are commands in scripture to remain in Him to abide in Him, to listen to his voice and carry out his will. This does require action on our part and certainly we get it wrong from time to time. But it is your name to worship Him, it is your blood to be blessed in Him. So when you start feeling weighed down by all the things you thought your life would be or look like by now just remember that who you are is IN CHRIST, and as you remain and abide, he is guiding you to exactly what you are supposed to be.

Hello, I am in Christ and my name is Ashley

Blog post written by Kati Berreth, faithful mom to four kids, loving wife to Rob, and one heck of a Redeemer Kids Coordinator.

From a dad who recently attended one of Redeemer’s Family Dedication classes:

“I would love wisdom on what it practically looks to engage in mission with little kiddos. My wife and I have often heard the encouragement to be on mission at your kids' t-ball games or in their extracurriculars, but what does it look like for a family with really little kids to engage in mission in a regular, repeatable, low-bar (we're just so tired already! :-) ) sort of way. 

I absolutely love this question for three reasons. The first is that this young family is seeking to engage those in Whatcom County so that Everyone, Everywhere, Every-day can experience the Gospel, even though they have young kids and are tired. The second is that this question came from a Dad, who is trying to lead his family to love Jesus, love the local church, and love his neighbors, even though he has young kids and is tired. And the third is that he was honest…being on mission is hard and tiring and takes effort and so they need hints on how to do this in a sustainable sort of way that also allows for them to have rest and to enjoy these three young kids!

So let me take these three great categories (regular, repeatable, low-bar) and give some ways to engage in mission with young kids.

1)    Regular

This word can be used synonymously with every day. I brush my teeth regularly or every day - even a few times a day. And that is how we have to think of mission with our kids. We have to make mission “normal” and something we often do or all the time. So start by having regular conversations and prayer times with your kids for those in your spheres of influence who do not yet believe in their need of the Gospel. This might be those in a playgroup or preschool group with you or family members or physical neighbors. These prayer times will help align your heart and the hearts of your kids with the will of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, so you are ready to share the Gospel when you are given the opportunity. 

Then invite these folks into your home or on a playdate at the park or out for ice cream or even just pursue conversations across the fence if they are your neighbors and invite your kids into these conversations or at the very least, pray with intentionality as a family before you see them. We often try to “cast vision” for our kids to help them feel a part of our mission - whether it be when Rob is traveling to help coach potential church planters, or if we have invited specific people over for dinner just so they know the spiritual importance of the meal and can help us create a hospitable home.  

2)    Repeatable

When Rob and I were first married, we began attending meetings for a new church plant in Boston. The Pastor used these Sunday night meetings to train us in being missional. Although he shared many stories with us, the one that I have always remembered is him talking about going to the same barber every couple of weeks to get his hair cut. He said that he chose the shop intentionally and would go to the same person because he was cultivating a relationship with the barber with the hope that he would be able to share the Gospel with her. 

This advice is good…and easy. I noticed when my kids were young and still able to sit in a grocery cart that I could pick the same person to check out with each week. And the great thing about kids is there is always something to talk about and people tend to remember kids. So whenever possible, I would pick the line with this one specific worker because we could always talk about our kids - she would remember mine - and we got to know each other a bit. And even when her line was super busy, I made a point to at least say “Hi” as we walked by with our cart full of groceries. 

Now that my kids are older, I try and share with them why I have certain conversations with folks, again at the grocery store. As I buy a lot of craft supplies for Redeemer Kids, people often ask what they are for. When I respond that the supplies are for a craft at church and the person checking me out stops talking to me, I know that this is not the right time to pursue that conversation, and I share this with my older kids so they know how to be sensitive to the Spirit working in people's lives as they share their faith with those in their school. I also share it with them so they can see that it is not scary to talk about church or Jesus or their faith even with strangers. Again, this goes back to having regular conversations with our kids so they can be a part of the mission.

3)    Low-bar

We talk with people outside of our homes every day, and we repeatedly go to places in our City. So if you have shared with your kids how you are intentional with your conversations, you have prayed with your kids for specific people and cultivated relationships with those people, and you have prayed with them for opportunities to share the Gospel regularly, then a low-bar approach for being missional with your kids is simply starting conversations with people, as I mentioned before and see if the Holy Spirit is moving in their hearts for more questions to be asked. 

For example, we were having a conversation with one of our kids about one of his friends who he found out is a Christian. It was awesome that he knew that information as he felt bold enough to ask if his friend went to church, but when I asked where his friend attended, he said he didn't know and didn’t know how he might find out. I said, “Ask your friend what he did for Easter. And if he says ‘I went to church’ then ask ‘where?’” 

And these are the same low-bar conversations we need to be having in front of our kids, so they know how to have them. Next time you are with your hope-to-be-Christians-soon friends or neighbors, ask what they did on Saturday and Sunday. And if they ask the question in return, then share how you attended a service on Sunday and what it was about. Or if you are at a playgroup, and one of the moms is looking for some “mom-time” on Saturday, invite her to the next women’s breakfast or even out for a walk and just get to know her and her story. 

4)    Be intentional

I know this wasn’t one of the words mentioned above and I have used it over and over again throughout this post, but I don’t think I can stress this phrase enough. When our family has given itself to mission with intentionality, we have seen our lives and the lives of those around us changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it has been fun and effortless. 

When God brought a family to live in Bellingham for just one year and we felt called to get to know them and spend time with them, not only did we make life long friends, but a thirst for the Gospel became evident and questions about who Jesus was and what He accomplished on the cross just seemed to spill out of the mom. Our kids played sports together; we regularly had them to dinner, we invited them repeatedly to our holiday celebrations since they didn’t have family in town, and I joined her gym with the kids so we could spend time weekly together. We even went on a family vacation with their family right before they moved away from Bellingham. The times of playdates soon turned into a Bible study/playdate and our last holiday together, Easter, the mom, was baptized in front of our whole church. Even as I write this story now, years later, it still makes me cry with joy and amazement that we got to be even a part of this redemption story!

I pray that as you seek to lead your young kids in mission that you too would get to experience the power of the Gospel through the work of the Holy Spirit in your lives and those you minister too.

Current blog post written by Becca Wellan. A devoted and caring friend who loves coffee and talking about Jesus. Oh, and did I mention she loves coffee?

"Twinkle twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are."

I sing this lullaby to lull the sweet babies I nanny to sleep. I can’t sing, so this doesn’t always work. Each time I sing this song, I always think, these words are so odd. I’m no astronomer, by any stretch, but I’m pretty sure stars aren’t diamonds in the sky. I’m also quite positive they’re not little.

Have you ever laid on your back during a clear summer night in the middle of nowhere? Just to watch the stars. Just to see how small you really are. It’s amazing. You know, I tried counting all the stars, once. I believe I got to twenty-nine, then I got distracted.

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

One billion trillion; I was a little off. That’s the number of stars in the observable universe. That’s one billion trillion stars, in the ten billion galaxies we’ve found so far (like I can somehow take credit for this).

That’s a lot of stars.

I don’t know about you, but my view of God is very small. I mean, I know that God created the world, the universe, the one billion trillion stars, me. I know the stars are designed to show us His power and beauty. (I also believe He made them just for fun. Just to paint the sky for us. Just because He’s God, and He can). I know all these truths, but as my heart’s been breaking beneath the weight of my sin, I’ve learned that there’s a difference between “know” and “believe.” The difference between chains and freedom.

And I don’t believe that this God could truly love me. In my doubt, I’ve been drowning.

Does this God actually have a heart big enough to love all of me?
Enough power to truly forgive me?
Enough grace to rescue me?
Enough understanding to heal me?
Enough mercy to let my heart rest, filled up to overflowing with peace?

I don’t know about you, but my view of God is very small. There are days my sin takes a hold of my heart and my mind and yells so loud, with such strength, that this God who counts the countless stars seems to disappear.

Do you ever wonder if God could truly love someone like you? If being fully, totally forgiven for everything you’ve ever done or thought applies to everyone else, but certainly not you?

I don’t actually believe that God would love me enough to pour grace over the dark spaces in my mind. I don’t actually believe that I can rest in His forgiveness, without doing penance to earn His grace. I don’t actually believe Him when He said “it is finished.”

But this God, who created the universe and all its stars, will not remain silent. This morning, He broke through my doubts and spoke to me:

“He heals the brokenhearted,

And binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars;

He gives to all of them their names.” // Psalm 147:4.
 

Suddenly, I believed Him. If this God has enough power in His voice to tell the one billion trillion stars to shine, hanging them up like Christmas lights, then He must have enough power to heal my broken heart and bind up my wounds.

If this God is caring enough to name each and every one of the stars, then He must care enough to truly, completely, deeply, relentlessly love me.

To call me by name.

And, this God must have enough power to actually mean it when He hung on the cross and said “it is finished.”

“As far as the east is from the west,
so far does He remove our sin from us.” // Psalm 103:12.

As far as the east is from the west is pretty far, if you think about it. The edge of the observable universe is forty-six billion light years away. One light year is six trillion miles. It keeps going, and going, and going and no one knows where, or if, it ends.

When Christ died on the cross, the sin that separated us from Him is black-hole status gone. He has only grace for us, now. He is not disgusted by you. He is not ashamed of you. To endure your days as though Jesus is not powerful enough to forgive you is not just insulting, it will wreck you.

This morning, as I read these verses through my tears, I finally felt how absolutely adored I am. I could actually see myself wrapped in the arms of Jesus. Sobbing. Letting go of everything but Him. In that moment, I finally felt that I am more valuable to Him than one billion trillion stars. The weight of the guilt I’ve been carrying was lifted. All I could say was “I need you.”

“I know, sweet girl, I know,” He said. “That’s why I came down to rescue you.”  

“When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin.”

This blog post was written by Theresa Adams, a Redeemer member, wife and mom, who would love to have her own roller skating rink & thinks getting her kids to eat kale is a major victory!

Loving others. Serving others. Meeting needs. All of those things can seem so daunting. So overwhelming. It can be paralyzing to know even where to begin. Sometimes people do get immobilized and don't even start. They think the circumstances have to be just so. They think when their kids get older when they have more spare time when they don't have such a heavy class load when they find a cause that breaks their heart then they will begin. I get it. I was that person. I wanted to "do something." I wanted to be a drop in the bucket that would turn into an ocean of loving, compassionate acts. But I didn't even know where to begin. I didn't know what broke my heart. What would make me weep? Sometimes I didn't even want to know that a need was out there. 

When you are living in oblivion/innocence/ignorance, it is so effortless to look the other way. Once you are made aware, it makes it near impossible to go on living without doing something. There is no going back to blissful naivety once you've become acquainted with a need. It's like Nehemiah. He was a Jew, born in Persia during the exile, so he didn't know Jerusalem other than he had relatives there. When he inquired as to the conditions among the Jews there who had survived exile in Jerusalem he went from being unaware of having his heart wrecked. "They told me, "The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still in rubble; the city gates are still cinders." When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven." (NE 1:3,4) The need was not directly affecting Nehemiah, yet he wept. For days. He sought God and then he set out to meet the need.

Perhaps you think: God wouldn't use me.  Why in the world when He has his pick of all the great, kind, loving people on the planet would He ever want to use the likes of me to accomplish something for His Glory? Why would He entrust me to love others?  To serve others? With my past? With my weaknesses? With my judgmental tendencies?  With my greed? With my selfishness?  With my potty mouth? With my grades? Whatever the reason you think you aren't "good" enough to accomplish something for His purpose have you ever thought that when we say we are incapable of being used by Him that we are saying He's made some mistake?  

God made each one of us perfectly and intentionally. He doesn't make mistakes.  It's not as though He had some terrible no-good-very-bad-day when He was creating you.  He knows you from the hairs on your head to the tips of your toes.  He knows your thoughts, your words, your heartbeat and the rhythm of your soul. It's because of the exquisite detail that makes you -you- that no one else can accomplish what you can. No one else can meet a need in the specifically same way as you. No one else can love as you love. Your gifts, skills & compassion differ from mine. What breaks my heart may not break yours. 

If you find yourself longing to "do something"  to serve your neighborhood, your city, your county, your campus, but you don't know what said something is can I encourage you to pray about it? To ask God what breaks your heart? He will be faithful and reveal something to you. He did to me. Years ago it was human trafficking that first gave an awareness to the myriad of needs of our world, country, state, county. And I began small. Sending letters & cards to a shelter in Greece that housed women freed from trafficking. Then it was building an awareness of what went on in our county and connecting with local resources.

 Since that time there have been many different opportunities I've been able to take part in: from giving my credit at a consignment store to a homeless woman so she could buy clothes with dignity, to having garage sales for at-risk-teens, to providing Christmas presents to kids whose parents were unable to provide one of their own.. I don't share this with you as a "look-at-me-I've-got-it-all-figured-out" kind of pat on the back, because truly, I am pretty sure I mess up & miss opportunities on a regular basis. 

What I hope to do by sharing with you is to encourage you. I too once wanted to love others. I wanted to "do something," I wanted to help to serve to make a difference. Sometimes I wonder if that is what Jesus meant when he told his followers: "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34,35)  He didn't say people would know we were set apart because of the fish logo on the back of our cars. Nor by the verses & well-meaning quotes we share on Facebook. Not even by the in-depth knowledge of doctrine we may have. None of which are insignificant.  But by our love. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it's by the feeling of love, but rather the action. An outpouring of activity regardless of the outcome. Regardless of what we gain in return. Love as He loved us.

 If your heart is to love others (Or you want to have that heart) and you'd like to serve alongside those in our county who are already meeting a need here are some possibilities. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it's a start. And isn't that what we need sometimes? Just a start?

http://www.engedirefuge.com/engedi_house.html

http://www.skookumkids.org/

http://www.bellinghamhopehouse.com/

http://www.amysplaceforyouth.org/

http://thewhatcomdream.org/

http://www.reboundwc.com/who-we-are

http://www.pass-the-hat.org/

This week’s post is by Brandon Adent, a deacon at Redeemer Church. He likes music, words, and words about music.

Hey Redeemer,

I have the honor and privilege to get to serve you as a musician, and I love it.

No matter how many times I’ve been through the songs in a given week, there’s something unique and special that happens when we all sing these songs together, and that’s a major reason I love serving the way I do.

I just love hearing you sing. There’s a couple reasons for that, but one in particular that I really want to highlight.

Up and Out

When we gather to sing, we do so in a few “directions”. I mean, they all resolve “up”, but there’s a few ways to get there.

First, as I mentioned, there’s a direct “upward” orientation to our singing; we sing directly to God, praising Him for who He is and thanking Him for what He's done.

Second, there’s an “outward” orientation. This is when people that don't know Jesus get to overhear our praises, not just in the words of the songs we sing, but in how we sing them. Hopefully, they get to hear changed hearts in raised voices, hearts that cry out “Abba, Father” (Gal 4.4-6). Hopefully, they see the goodness and grace He has extended in the gift of His Son and join their changed hearts and voices to ours as family in Jesus.

Singing Inward

In addition to “upward” and “outward” singing, there’s an “inward” orientation to our singing as well, where we get to encourage our sisters and brothers in Christ in our praise to God.

The Apostle Paul writes in the letter to the Colossians:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3.16)

One of the main reasons I love hearing you sing, from the platform or not, is that we all get to hear “the word of Christ” dwelling in us richly. On the surface, we're "just" a bunch of people singing. But united in our songs and praises to God, when we consider the Holy Spirit moving in our hearts and causing us to worship Him, we realize that something profound is occurring in the ordinary.

I get to lift my voice with you to sing and hear that God is holy, holy, holy, whose glory sinful people can’t see apart from Jesus.

I get to sing and hear where your hope is built, and on Whom you stand and are secure, though we’re prone to wander and leave the God we love.

In the midst of my frailty, I get to sing and hear of God’s amazing grace, that He would bear my cross, that He’d lay down His life so I could be set free.

I get to hear about the cross, the empty tomb, the risen and ascended Lamb, His victory over Satan, sin and death. That forever He is glorified, forever He is lifted High.

And when things don’t seem to be going so well, I know that before His throne I have a strong and perfect plea.

All these things remind me who God is, who I am, and what He’s done for me in the gift of His Son.

Our singing gives glory to our Father in heaven, and strengthens and encourages us until either when His Son returns or our time on this planet is done.

All that said, thank you.

Thank you for singing. It is deeply encouraging to me as I try to figure out what it looks like to love and serve Jesus.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I really like to hear you sing.

 

-This weeks post is by Ashley Bowie, a member at Redeemer. She pours an excellent cup of coffee, and loves words the way some people love their pets, or children.

Every March my family celebrates a special holiday. On March 19, 1988, my parents adopted three children from the bad side of life. I was only four; I had a sister who was five and had taught me how to tie my shoes, and how to talk to people and a happy rowdy brother who had just turned two. We were a mess for sure. We had been through a lot in our collective short years and had all the fears and bad habits that came with it. But on that special day, we walked into a new home. We had new beds that were just for us, a big back yard with a wooden swing set, clothes, toys, and family, oh boy was there family. On our first night, there was a huge party. It sort of happened by accident. Everyone knew we were coming home, and they all wanted to stop by and say hello to the kids my parents had chosen. We met neighbors and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. Everyone who had prayed and cried with my parents as they went through the soul trying process of adoption was there to celebrate. I still remember meeting our next door neighbors who had a girl my age, and proudly showing her my bed, a top bunk if you can believe it, and the first stuffed animal that was ever mine. 

After all the cake had been eaten, and the presents had been put away, I was staring up into the passionate blue eyes of my new Mom and the gentle hazel of my new Dad. They kissed me and said, "Welcome home, I love you." I don't have many memories before that day; maybe I was too young, or maybe God was protecting me, but I remember every moment of that day. To this day, we all remember and cherish March 19th. It's the day the orphans came home, the day the emptiness was made full, the day we became a family. We call it Gotcha Day because as my Mom and Dad always said, "that's the day we got-cha."

God adopted you. You were born into hardship and subjected to the neglect and abuse of this world; you carry the fears and bad habits that come with it. And then one day, God brought you home. He gave you a safe place, He cares for your needs and gives you family, so much family. Do you remember the day that God "Got-cha?" 

Easter is just around the corner. This is the time of year we remember with sober minds that God sent His only son, to die on our behalf, to bridge the gap between creator and created. This is also the day that God "got-cha." On that day, He paid the price and decided that you belonged to Him, that you would come home, and you would be His child. 

Romans 8:14-17 "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..."

Maybe you think the day that God gotcha was a day that you finally gave up or a day your eyes finally opened. Maybe you were at the end of your rope or at the bottom of the pit. Maybe that's when you saw it, when you finally realized that God has adopted you. But He has wanted you from the beginning and has been calling you home to Himself since the day you were born.

Romans 8:29 "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers."

When I was adopted, I was rescued. I was rescued from neglect, and abuse and fear. But I was also brought home. I was given care instead of neglect, compassion instead of abuse, and love instead of fear. It took a while for my little heart to understand that. I didn't realize that I would be fed, so I hid food. I didn't know that mistakes would be met with kindness, so I lied. I think sometimes we focus so much on what God has saved us from, that we forget to recognize what he has saved us to. You were pulled out of the filth of the world so that He could embrace you as His child. You have no need to hide, or cover up. You are home. You are safe. 

No one was going to send me back, this wasn't an accident, there were no regrets and no "plan B" incase this didn't pan out the way they had hoped. If you know anything about post infant adoption, you know that children who have been through a lot, take a lot of love and a lot of work. Attachment disorders, identity disorders, stunted emotional growth, and pathologically deceitful tendencies, these words were in the file of myself, my brother and sister. Imagine what would be in your file right now. Imagine the labels the world would put on you and try to convince you that you don't deserve the love of a Good Father, or that it would be too much work to make you whole again. 

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Now imagine the impromptu party that happened on your gotcha day. The angels that stopped by to see the child that God had chosen, the family and friends that had prayed for you and were so proud and thrilled that you are now a member of the family. And when the lights go out, and everyone goes home, there He is, your good and great heavenly father looking at you with bright and unending love saying "Welcome home, I love you.”