The Joy of Adoption

The concept of adoption has always intrigued me. The idea that someone would go to the orphan child and choose them to be a part of their family is amazing! The beauty of the whole process is that by being adopted you take on the identity of the one who adopted you. No longer called by your former name, you take on the name of the one who chose to love you! How beautiful is it that God, a perfect Father, chose to adopt us as sons and daughters! In Christ we are no longer called by our former identity but instead we are called by our new name, REDEEMED!

Although I have not yet had the privilege of adopting a child myself, I have had the opportunity to support both physically and spiritually a young boy from Zambia, Africa named Jason for the last 2 years. I first met Jason at Camp Life, a ministry that I work for that allows Americans to participate in a camp environment in Africa to tell children about the good news of Jesus Christ. Jason was a part of my small group and I got to experience this 7 year old boy not only surrender his life to Christ but immediately begin proclaiming this good news to anyone that would listen! God is in the business of saving lives and He will do it through whatever means necessary, even through the orphaned child! How awesome is that!!! Jason stole my heart in Zambia and I began sponsoring him to receive an education, basic physical needs and discipleship through Family Legacy.

At Family Legacy our mission is to care for the orphan child. There are over 1 million orphans in Zambia and we are committed to reaching every one of them. The greatest chance that we have to reach these children is through our Father’s Heart program. If you partner with Family Legacy for a small monthly donation you can provide an education, food and discipleship for an orphan child in Zambia! Like Jason there are thousands of children in Zambia that are hungry to learn and eager to have an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. By sponsoring a child you can provide a child the chance for new life, you can point them towards the cross through your love, AND you can participate in the JOY OF ADOPTION!

“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will!” -Ephesians 1:5

If you are interested in sponsoring a child check out this link or send me an email at noah@familylegacy.com I would be thrilled to talk to you more about this incredible opportunity!

http://familylegacy.com/our-ministries/fathers-heart-sponsorship/

God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!

Summer time is in full swing and this is the first time in four years that I haven’t spent at least half of my summer at T Bar M Camps. I learned so much from my time at T Bar M, but the concept that has impacted my life the most is this idea that God is good, all the time! Whenever a director or counselor is trying to get the attention of the rest of camp they will shout out a loud declaration, “God is good!” Then everyone is expected to respond back with matched volume, “All the time!” to which the person in charge will respond again with “All the time!” Then the crowd in final response declares, “God is good!” This is a great way to quiet a crowd but it also functions as a constant reminder that our God really is good… ALL THE TIME!

My job has officially started with Family Legacy and I am loving every minute of it! Although many of our staff is gone for the summer running camp in Africa, most of the accounting staff that I am working with is still here in the states. I feel like I am learning something new every day, and the more that I learn the more responsibility I begin to share with those I am working with. As I become more well versed in Accounting I am also learning more every day about how our ministry functions and the new and exciting projects that we are entering into. The best part of my job is the people that I get to work with! How cool is it that every day when I wake up I get to go work with people who have the same unique dream and vision to see the nation of Zambia transformed for the glory of the Lord! I feel so blessed to be working with such an amazing group of people, doing exactly what I want to be doing! God is good, all the time!

I am really enjoying this new season of life! God is teaching me so much about the sweetness of His gospel and the promises that He has for me. I am actively seeking out a church community and cannot wait to fully plug into a church here in Dallas! I desire to reach the brokenhearted here in Dallas and I want to make absolutely certain that I don’t miss my opportunity to have a ministry here in Dallas because I am too focused on my future ministry in Zambia. Your prayers are felt and your support is overwhelming, thank you for being a part of my adventure! GOD IS GOOD. ALL THE TIME. ALL THE TIME. GOD IS GOOD!!!

How To Give!

After much preparation and prayer I have officially started raising support for my new job with Family Legacy! I am excited about this process and have already been encouraged by friends and family in many ways. The Lord has given me so much peace about this process and I know that He will continue to amaze me every step of the way. In order to step into this new role, I am seeking out a team of faithful supporters that we spiritually and financially support me on this new journey. My financial goal is to reach a monthly donor base of $2,000/mo. I know that God will provide and I am excited to have each of you on board. I would love to have the opportunity to share my vision and story with each of you and would be thrilled to have you on my team!

The easiest way to give is to go online to:

familylegacy.com/noah

If you would like to be added to my newsletter list please send your name, number and address to noah@familylegacy.com

Thank you in advance for partnering with me, I know that the Lord is going to continue to do big things with Family Legacy and I am excited to be a part of the team. Please let me know if you have any questions relating to my role, Family Legacy, or giving. I am so thankful for your presence in my life and your willingness to stay invested!

"Learn to do good. Seek Justice. Reprove the ruthless. Defend the Orphan. Plead for the Widow."

-Isaiah 1:17

Why Do You Believe?

Have you ever been posed with the question "Why do you believe what you believe?" In that moment many of us frantically search through our minds for scripture and experiences that might be able to prove the validity of this choice in our life. Everyone has a unique answer to this question involving scripture, experiences, or a combination of the two, but at the end of the day we are still choosing to put our faith completely in a being that we have never physically met or seen. This can be a little unsettling at times but as God says in Philippians, He provides us with a peace that exceeds our understanding!

As I was processing through this question the other day I realized something that I had never really thought about before. The reason that I believe what I believe is because when I have read God's word and followed what it says, His promises proved true. Every time that I have chosen to serve someone else, God fills my heart with joy. Every time that I have placed my worries in His hands, He has given me peace. Every time that I have told His story, He has become an even greater part of mine. And every time that I have chosen to trust Him, He has faithfully directed my paths. OUR GOD IS EXACTLY WHO HE SAYS HE IS! I believe in this God because His words have proven true, His promises have been fulfilled, and He continues to fill my life with joy!

In that moment I made the decision that even if God didn't exist I am convinced that I would follow Him anyways, because following Him has given me greater joy, greater peace, and greater love in my heart than I could ever hope or imagine. The way that we live our life as followers of Christ doesn't make sense to the rest of the world, but what they don't realize is that our lives are abundant IN CHRIST! Our God is real and He loves His children!


"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."   -Hebrews 13:8

The Frozen Gospel

I don't know how many of you have been to the movies lately, but there were some phenomenal movies that came out over the Christmas break. I watched "Saving Mr. Banks" the other day and I was blown away by the story and excited to peer into the life of Walt Disney. Movies do an effective job of captivating an audience and telling a story. They are filled with disaster, triumph and love. Unfortunately many of the movies in our culture have begun to fill our minds with unneccesary language, excessive violence and pornographic images.

I was encouraged however over the holiday season by the movie "Frozen". Disney continues to make movies that are not only appropriate for the entire family, but their movies have a purpose, they tell a story and "Frozen" did not disappoint. Story is an interesting thing, how do you draw in an audience, hold their attention and then create an ending so memorable, and with such purpose that it could even change the way in which people live their lives. After I saw "Frozen" I was talking to a good friend of mine and he began to explain to me the deep parralels between "Frozen" and the Gospel. At the climax of the movie Disney broke away from the norm and true love was not represented by a romantic action but rather a moment of beautiful sacrifice. It wasn't some earthly version of love that destroyed darkness in this movie, it was true sacrificial love.

Now I don't think that Disney intended to share the Gospel with this film, I don't think that was their end goal. What I do know is that the best story ever told is that a Perfect Creator sent His only Son to die a painful death on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins, and that through this unselfish sacrificial gift, darkness was destroyed. Although Disney probably is not trying to spread the Gospel, whether they know it or not the reason their movie is becoming so successful is because they told the story that all of our souls are desperate to hear!



"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."     -Romans 5:8

The Race

I am reading a book that my mom gave me for Christmas called "7 Men" by Eric Metaxas. It is an incredible book about the lives of seven men who have vastly impacted history. The book is really a collection of individual biographies about these men, figures such as George Washington and Jackie Robinson The unique thing is that each man in the book was driven entirely by their faith. My favorite chapter so far is about a man by the name of Eric Liddell, some of you may know his name by the movie "Chariots of Fire" documenting an incredible story of faith during the 1924 Summer Olympics. It is an amazing movie and Liddell is the centerpiece of the entire story. I highly encourage watching the movie! What I was fascinated to learn is that his athletic career is only a small part of his story. Eric Liddell went on to be a missionary in China and live a life completely devoted to his faith, even to the point of death.

This book highlights the lives of seven men and challenges the reader to lead a life of true manhood. Not manhood as our culture depicts, but one that God depicts throughout the Bible, a manhood that each of these incredible men lived out every day. I am particularly drawn to Liddell's story and the way that he lived his life identically to the way in which he raced. It is said in the book that when you watched him run he would throw his head back and open his mouth in an unorthodox manner, almost as if he had to totally rely on God to direct him to the finish line because he could not see it himself. Paul so often talks about the Christian life as a race and the parallels that it brings. I felt that Liddell was a perfect example of those parallels and I was inspired to write something to depict our life as Christ followers.

The Race

This life that we're living is more like a race

If you start out too quickly you'll never keep pace

The goal is to run with a purpose in mind

If you are running for Christ then it's victory you'll find

In a way we are always running

Some run from their past and some run out of fear

But if you are running towards Christ

The finish line is near

When you finish the race no one is looking at time

Rather whose hands you are holding once you've crossed the line

This race is not about timing it's not about speed

But about the people you run with, the people you lead

When you finish the race, when you've given all you are able

It is then when your Father will say "Well done good and faithful"

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win."     -1 Corinthians 9:24