What Thanksgiving Looks Like

This past week has been an exciting one for many reasons. For family, for new adventures, for Thanksgiving dinner (especially cranberry sauce. I LOVE cranberry sauce), and for love. I love Thanksgiving!

One of the events that has encapsulated all of those for me this year is the story of our friends the Plamanns who are, as we speak, in India finalizing the adoption of their new daughter, Pratima. The Plamanns heard about Pratima last November from a young woman at our church who visited Pratima's orphanage and put out an email to all her friends asking if there was a family who would consider adopting this beautiful 10 year old. In prayer and love, the Plamann's started the long process, and it has finally come to pass.

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks to God for his great gifts to us. But it is also a time to put that thanksgiving into action with our lives. The Plamann's are living it out, and they are showing me what grace and love look like. I am thankful for them.

You can follow their adoption story at www.plamannadoption.blogspot.com. Please pray for their safety this next week as they are in India.

Happy Thanksgiving (albeit a few days late),
jeff

Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers

This past weekend my family and I went down to Kenosha to visit our dear friends the Prince's (above) who also happen to be Violet's godparents. We stayed with them for a total of about 20 hours, during which we talked, laughed, ate, watched the kids run around like crazed animals, ate some more, went shopping (ladies), watched football (gents), fell asleep on the couch while watching said football (Jeff), and basically just felt at home in each other's presence. We were there literally less than 24 hours--and yet I feel filled up in a way that only happens when you are with friends that you love.

One of the things I've been thinking about lately is how beautiful it is to have friends. Kristi and I have been blessed with some doozy's here in Wisconsin, as well as those around the country.

Friendships that God gives are more than just niceties, aren't they? What they really are is the answer to our prayers. When we ask God for wisdom, how often does that wisdom come through the loving counsel of trusted friends? When we rejoice, is it not our friends who share God's laughter and joy with us? When we need to know that we are worthwhile, is it not the job of our friends (specifically those who believe they are to love us as Christ does) to wrap their arms around us and breathe life back in? When we are in the furnaces of life and can't even think of believing in a benevolent God, is it not our friends who are called to believe for us until we can believe again?

I'm reading Shane Claiborne's new book right now which he coauthored with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove entitled "Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers." As I read this book about what it means for us to become the people God calls us to be together, I can't help but think of all the friends he has given us. They are a part of our becoming who God has called us to be. They truly have become answered prayers for us.

To all of you who have loved and befriended us these past 14 years of marriage (and beyond!), please know how much you are loved and appreciated. You are many of the answers that we have sought.

And thanks Prince's for a fantastic weekend that was just what we needed! And even though my Huskies got killed yet again, I'm glad your Spartans won. God is good.

j