Morton Family Adoption

Great day in Jackson!

2012-01-02T16:16:00.001-08:00

We have had a wonderful day filled with new friends, bowling, roller skating and catfish at Cock of the Walk. Thank you to our friends at Pine Lake Church and 200 Million Flowers for an awesome time!

Our life and ministry future

2012-01-01T20:53:00.001-08:00

Today has been one of those days in ministry that is a mixture of great and difficult.

Today, I announced that I will be leaving Temple Baptist Church to become the Associate Pastor for Equipping and Discipleship at Faith Baptist Church in Bartlett, Tennessee. It has been difficult in that we are saying goodbye to some great friends and to a wonderful season of ministry. We are so grateful for the opportunity to have served and made our home here and to have been able to see God use Temple to plant churches, make disciples, take the gospel to the nations and care for the fatherless.

We have grown and you have ministered to us, and we pray that we have served God well here with you. I look forward to seeing what God will do through Temple to make disciples of all nations into the future!

We have grown as a family (by two), and you were part of that and always will be. We have you as part of our story, and that makes me smile. Thank you!

Soon, we will be transitioning to our new assignment among the people of Faith. We are ready to get started. Me head is swimming already with thoughts of what is to come. I am so excited about the ministry that lies ahead at Faith. I can't wait!

Thank you for praying for us in the transition!

3 Resons Why Orphan Hosting Makes Sense

2011-12-30T07:42:00.001-08:00

Especially since the release of Orphanology, lots of the questions and comments I have fielded from people have centered on the theme of orphan hosting. Many people are really curious or even captivated by the idea. Others are wary or even skeptical. While we are in the middle of another hosting event with Promise 139, it has given me a little perspective to revisit why I think orphan hosting makes sense. Here are some thoughts:

It personalizes the global orphan crisis. Most of the people who volunteer with our hosting program will never set foot an international orphanage. Through hosting, they have an opportunity to put real faces and real names with the huge orphan problem that exists across the globe. I have heard it said that "once you can see their faces and know their names, you are responsible for them." That's a pretty personal interpretation of the charge in James 1:27. In reality, we are responsible for all of them. When we come to know them, it is we that become aware of our responsibility.
Hosting brings hope, and I'm not talking the hope of adoption. One of my favorite stories was the 15-year-old boy who came to us as part of a hosting group. He had been profoundly neglected. He was not sent to school by his mom, and quite frankly, going to the orphanage was a blessing for him. But, he didn't see much of a future for himself. After two weeks among believers in America being loved on unconditionally and shown Christ, he said this. "I am starting to think about the future. Before I didn't think much about it. Seeing how these people love and care for each other inspires me." He had hope. Hope that a good life was possible, and that hope was rooted in Jesus because he had been presented the Good News and it had changed him eternally! He was going home as an adopted son of the King knowing that he had brothers and sisters in America who loved and supported him.
Hosting gives an opportunity to earn the right to be influential in the lives of kids the other 50+ weeks a year. By working well with the orphanage and other government officials, you can earn trust to begin to impact kids through transitional programs and through aid that extends throughout the year. Hosting begins the relationship, but it does not have to define it.

I could go on forever, but these are a few of my thoughts. What are yours? I would love to hear from you. You can send questions or comments at the end of this blog or fine me on twitter (@rick_morton) or facebook (www.facebook.com/dr.rick.morton)

Calling a fashion don't on #1 son

2011-12-08T15:19:00.001-08:00

Taken at Oak Grove Lower-Upper Elementary

Even the tree in my front yard is screaming Roll Tide!

2011-12-08T14:18:00.001-08:00

Just figured out what's worse than a French-Canadian singing in Spanish...a Ukrainian singing in Spanish! Felez La-di-da

2011-12-06T17:43:00.001-08:00

The BCS game announcement made for a nice early Christmas gift

2011-12-04T18:18:00.001-08:00

I think M & M's should hire him as a stunt double

2011-12-02T16:14:00.001-08:00

Decking the Halls

2011-12-02T15:40:00.001-08:00

This is the time of year when I hate having a yard with lots of trees...

2011-12-02T08:39:00.001-08:00

I think Momma must have thought I'd look hip-hop fabulous in this jacket....

2011-12-01T15:47:00.001-08:00

Taken at The Ultimate Field

Sr Adult Christmas Luncheon

2011-12-01T10:05:00.001-08:00

Taken at Temple Baptist Church

Jesus, stuff, a young pastor & the gospel

2011-11-28T09:28:00.001-08:00

So, yesterday was one of those really good days when the Holy Spirit really knit some things together in a special way.

We began in our Bible Fellowship group talking about I Timothy 6:6-21. The ends of all of Paul's letters are always interesting to me because of his tendency to try to pack final important words into the conclusion. It reminds me of the way we parents have a tendency to talk to our kids when they are heading out the door. "remember...just one more thing...don't forget." We want to make sure that they get those important last minute instructions before they go.''

At the end of I Timothy, Paul had those kind of instructions for the young pastor whom he thought of like a son. It makes me pay particular attention to what Paul said because I think Paul paid particular attention to Timothy. It's not that everything Paul wrote isn't terribly valuable (it is). It's just a sense that Paul really loved this young guy, and I know he wanted to see him succeed desperately for the sake of the Kingdom. TImothy was in a difficult situation. He was in a messed up church. They had leadership issues. They had theological issues. The gospel was not their main mission or their main passion any longer, and Timothy's charge was to put things in order. It was a tall order for anyone especially for a young pastor.

Paul's warning to Timothy was one of age and wisdom. You can almost hear the urgency in Paul's voice as he calls out to Timothy to flee the senseless penchant for theological controversy and material wealth that has distracted the church he now pastors and has gotten it so far off mission. Remember, this is the same Paul who wrote to the Phillippian church about being content in every circumstance while imprisoned, chained to a Roman jailer, and paying for his own imprisonment. He understood about embracing the grace of God through Christ at a level that I struggle to comprehend. When Paul instructs Timothy about contentment, he has my attention too, because his life is an example of the fruit of the grace of God in a life yielded to living for the sake of the gospel.

Paul isn't anti-wealth or anti-theology. He is anti-selfishness. He tells Timothy,

17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.
Grace be with you. (I Timothy 6:17-21, ESV)

Paul reminds Timothy that money (and even theology) is a tool. Ultimately, we are given what we have and even what we think for the sake of the gospel to the glory of God. These tools are not given to us to be an end for us. They are given to be a means for us. Does that mean that we should not enjoy the things we have been given to steward over or enjoy thinking about God? Absolutely not! It just means that we should always maintain a proper perspective. The overarching concern in our lives is the gospel and being part of God's mission to extend it to the ends of the earth. That is why we are who we are and why we have what we have. It is the backdrop for everything, and we get the privilege to chase the mission in the freedom of God's grace as his child.

During yesterday morning's sermon on the Rich Young Ruler (how was the for a nice bookend to the start the morning got off to with this passage?), I could not help but be drawn to think of the couplet that the story has in all three of the synoptic gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all three record the story of the Rich Young Ruler immediately after the story of Jesus and the Children. Did it occur that way chronologically? I'm not sure, but the point is striking. On the one hand, you have this group of children who come to Jesus in simplicity, and he uses them as an example of the kind of faith that God desires. On the other hand, you have this young, wealthy man who comes to Jesus trying to justify himself and and hang on to as much of what he "has" as he can. Who does Jesus accept? The children who come with nothing but openness to him but withhold nothing from him. Who walks away sad? The guy who believes the delusion that he actually owns something and is trying to protect his stuff from the One who made it and really owns it! Ironic to say the least.

Today, I am praying that Jesus grants me the wisdom to see Him like those children did and to see the things I steward over like Paul saw his stuff.

I found this little illustration as a helpful way of putting it in perspective.

Who's rich? If we were to take the 6 billion people on the planet today and boil that down to a village of a hundred people, but keep every other statistic the same, here's what that global village of a hundred people would look like. Fifty-seven would be Asian, 21 European, 14 from North or South America, and 8 Africans. Fifty-one would be female and 49 male, 70 would be nonwhite, 30 Anglo, 70 non-Christian, and 30 Christian. Fifty percent of the entire world's wealth would be in the hands of 6 people and all 6 would be citizens of the United States. Eighty would live in substandard housing, 70 would be unable to read, 50 would suffer from malnutrition, 1 would be near death, 1 would be near birth, only 1 would have a college education, and none of them would own a computer.

How do you keep it all in perspective? I would love to hear your comments here or at rickmortononline@gmail.com

Been watching guys shoot anvils 500 ft in the air on TV. I think Erick is inspired. Ruh Roh Raggy!

2011-11-27T13:41:00.001-08:00

What earring?

2011-11-25T17:34:00.001-08:00

Taken at Mississippi State Line

Been driving past the Elvis birthplace exit for years. Decided to stop today. Underwhelmed!

2011-11-25T11:22:00.001-08:00

Taken at Elvis Presley's Birth Place and Museum

Found my current "Occupy" project. Currently taking dominion nicely!

2011-11-25T05:41:00.001-08:00

I am thankful that Thanksgiving will never be the same... @Orphanology

2011-11-23T09:48:00.001-08:00

Eight years ago, Denise and I were about to celebrate a Thanksgiving that was unlike any that we have ever celebrated before (or since). A week before, we had received word that we were being invited to come to Ukraine for our first adoption, and for a week, we had lived in a whirlwind. We traveled to Ukraine with just days notice (although Denise had circled the Monday before thanksgiving on our kitchen calendar months earlier, and we had been praying for that day--that was just one of the little miracles God let us see along the way). We spent two tense days waiting through cancelled appointments and uncertainty only to finally get a referral to meet a child, a little 18-month-old boy.

Just before midnight Thanksgiving Day, we boarded an overnight train headed west to a city that quite frankly neither of us could even remember the name of at the time. It turned out to be Ternopil. We arrived early in the morning as a light snow had begun to fall. Actually, much of the next couple of hours is pretty much a blur to me. We drove around trying to find the orphanage and get permission to see the boy we hoped to adopt. Finally, we met with the orphanage director and head doctor and heard all about him, and then we met him, and that is what will define Thanksgiving forever now!

He was little and frail and sick and cross-eyed and blonde and really cute. Most of all, he is ours, and I am thankful!

I love you Bubs! And, thanks be to God that he brought us to you and you to us, and that none of our Thanksgivings will ever be the same again!

The Gospel and GratitudeZachaeus΄s sycarome in Jericho

2011-11-22T12:05:00.001-08:00

We all love a great story!

This past Friday, literally hundreds of thousands of people lined up to get into movie theaters at 12:01 am to be among the first people to see the latest Twilight film. I love a great story as much as the next guy, but that one I don't get. I mean c'mon. A romance between a kind of wimpy vampire and brooding girl with a side of werewolves thrown in...Really? If any of you dudes are planning to head out to see it, I'm going to need you to turn in your man cards before you click away from this post.

But seriously, there is something about a great story that really grabs our attention and gets inside of us. We love to know the inside scoop about or favorite athletes and singers. We want to know even more about the people we really care about. If people matter, we want to know their stories, and that's why God has made the Bible a book of stories.We love stories because He wired us to crave relationship. God made us with the drive to want to know the story of others ultimately because we were created to know Him.

But you see, there is a huge problem in our knowing God. Our worthiness to have a relationship with God is broken. It is broken because we are broken. God is perfect in every way, and He cannot tolerate even the presence of any evil, wrong, or imperfection with Him. By our choices and our actions, we have driven a wedge in the relationship between us and God. There us a gap that exists between us and God, and for that gap to be bridged, a way had to be made.

So, the Bible is a special kind of story. It is the story of God's love for us and how he has made a way to fix the brokenness the exists between us and himself. The Bible is really hundreds and hundred of little stores plus a few other things, that all add up to show us the way back to God and how to live life with him. How He made a way when we had no way. Why he made a way (for His glory). It is full of real stories of real people. Broken people that God lets us see so that we can ultimately see him.

Each of the little stories has power to tell us something about the big story and it's hero: Jesus.

One of those stories is about a guy named Zacchaeus.

How many of you know the song... "Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he." That is a catchy little kids tune, but Zacchaeus' story is real, gritty, and familiar.

Here it is from Luke 19

Some things we can see from the story:

19 1-6 Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.

5–7 When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”
8 Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”
9–10 Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.” - Th
e Message

Zacchaeus was rich and important - He had all the trappings of a fulfilled life, but something was still missing. Zacchaeus came out that day hoping to find someth

Image via Wikipedia

ing. I'm not sure even he know what, but he knew that his money nor his power had healed the brokenness in his life or given him real peace and purpose.
He was probably not well liked - The writer tells us that Zacchaeus was short. If he had been well liked ( or even well respected) the crowd would have let him through to the front so he could see Jesus as he passed by, but they didn't. He had to climb a tree just to get a glimpse of Jesus. He was so desperate for something to fill the void in his life, he risked further humiliation just to get a glimpse of Jesus.
Ultimately, he acted like a man who knew that there was something wrong in his life - Romans 3:9-26 explains the problem:

We’re All in the Same Sinking Boat
9–20 So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt abo
ut it:
There’s nobody living right, not even one,
nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They’ve all taken the wrong turn;
they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.
No one’s living right;
I can’t find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
their tongues slick as mudslides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don’t know the first thing about living with others.
They never give God the time of day.
This makes it clear, doesn’t it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else’s sin.
God Has Set Things Right

21–24 But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

25–26 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness. - The Message

The law didn't fix his problem, it only exposed it. His effort didn't fix his problem, it only demonstrated how helpless he was. He was separated from God, and he was powerless to do anything about it. So, how was his problem addressed? Jesus came to him. Jesus offered salvation to him, because that's what he came to do (Luke 16:10). And, Zacchaeus responded with overwhelming gratitude. He lives like a guy who was freed from the law and overcome by grace.

That is the gospel in action. Jesus seeks and redeems those who are lost. We are transformed by the power of his Spirit into His likeness, and gratitude dominates. Satan wants us to be preoccupied with the law. Jesus wants us to be caught up in his grace.

Look at the woman caught in adultery in John 8:

To Throw the Stone
8 1–2 Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.
3–6 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
6–8 Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
9–10 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”
11 “No one, Master.” “Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.” - The Message

Forgiveness preceded sanctification. Jesus told her that He did not condemn her. She was forgiven. Freedfrom the penalty of her sin, but then he told her to go away and not sin. How could that be possible? She sure stunk at it up to that point. How was she going to do any better now? She was going to do better now because she was different. She was transformed. She was forgiven, and she was being judged according toJesus' righteousness. Jesus was telling her she was free and that she now needed to go live like it to the glory of God. That is what it means to be a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 2 Corinthinans 5:17 (English Standard Version)

Today, if you are a follower of Jesus, you are free! Let us let take time this Thanksgiving to contemplate the deep riches of the gospel and let our gratitude motivate our lives to the glory of God!

What?

2011-11-19T18:51:00.001-08:00

Taken at Burger King

Pretty sure we have the coolest Upward football field in the world this morning! Thanks @tbcsports

2011-11-19T09:53:00.001-08:00

IMB Missionary Appointment Service Toinght

2011-11-16T07:04:00.001-08:00

Remember, tonight Temple Baptist Church is hosting a MIssionary Appointment Service for the International MIssion Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in partnership with WIlliam Carey University in honor of William Carey's 200th birthday. This is going to be a wonderful time for us to connect with some of our missionaries as they prepare to move to the field. The Schedule will be as follows:

5:00 pm - Supper in the Church Activities Center - Come eat dinner with a missionary. Missionaries and missionary families will be scattered at tables throughout the dining area to give us an opportunity to get to know them and learn about their work and how we can encourage and pray for them.

7:00 pm - Missionary Appointment Worship Service - This will be a memorable time of worship as we gather together to adore God, seek His direction in reaching the nations with the gospel, and set aside these these missionaries to take the gospel to the unreached peoples of the earth.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001 (Ac 1:8). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001 (Ac 13:1–3). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Tuesday night lights w/ UFFL for @tbcsports

2011-11-15T17:20:00.001-08:00

Taken at Optimist Park

This is not nearly going to be enough...Just sayin

2011-11-15T05:00:00.001-08:00

The oil just squirted out on my face... Sure it did son. Sure it did!

2011-11-14T17:34:00.001-08:00

Meet some REAL heroes this week...

2011-11-14T08:57:00.001-08:00

I am so excited about this week! On Wednesday, Temple here in Hattiesburg is hosting a Missionary Commissioning Service for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (IMB). As Southern Baptists, the IMB is our primary missions sending agent to the nations. Through our partnership in giving through the Cooperative Program (CP), we support over 5,000 IMB missionaries who are taking the gospel to the nations.

Sometimes it is easy to feel a little removed from the work that is going on by our missionaries in far away places. Sure, we support them the best we can through praying for them on their birthdays or giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering or just by giving weekly since part of our regular giving goes to the IMB through the CP. Our support for all our missionaries is crucial and right. Still, it can be really hard to feel connected to work we have never seen in places we have never been done by people we have never met.

Well, you have an opportunity make a personal connection this Wednesday with over 40 missionaries and missionary families at the IMB Commissioning Service at Temple. And, there are some really good reasons that you should:

Image via Wikipedia

These missionaries need our support - This service is a commemoration of the 200th birthday of WIlliam Carey, the father of modern missions. Carey was the first missionary of the Baptist Missionary Society. He responded to the call of the Society to take the gospel to India by saying, "I will go down but remember that you must hold the rope." We have a chance to get to know these missionaries so that we can communicate with them, encourage them, pray for them, and hold them up. Beginning at 4:45 pm. our regular Wednesday night meal will have a twist. Each table will have a missionary or missionary family there for you to be able to eat with and to get to know. We are planning for an extra large group Wednesday night, so plan to come eat with the missionaries and get to know them over a meal.
Our kids can meet some REAL heroes - This week we have been reminded of just how difficult it can be to find role models out in the culture for our children by the Penn State situation. More so, even, if there are athletes or other celebrities that we would desire that our kids look up to as examples, how often are these people actually accessible to them? On Wednesday, our kids have the opportunity to meet REAL people who are giving their lives to take the gospel to the ends of the earth! This is missions education at a whole other level. I want my kids to hang out with them. Some of the riches experiences of my life and in the life of my family have come with friends who are missionaries. Spending time with them is good for us. God uses them in our lives to help keep us focused on healthy priorities. God uses them to challenge my kids as to what they will do with their lives just by their example, and I am thankful for their influence.
It is a way to educate ourselves about SBC mission work - The SBC is a big, diverse group of churches, and we have a pretty complex denominational structure. This can be a great time to catch up on all that God is doing among the nations and how he is doing it through the SBC. It can also be a place for each of us to become better informed of how we can plug in to God's global agenda for the gospel. There is a place for everyone to participate.
It will be a unique worship opportunity - This will be a worship service unlike

Image via Wikipedia

almost any other in that the focus will be on God's gospel mission to the nations. It will also be a time for us to be part of the setting aside and sending of these missionaries for their task. Like the church at Antioch set aside and sent Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13, as Southern Baptists, we are part of the group who are sending these missionaries. God's Spirit is at work in this process, and God's presence will be thick during this time of commissioning. You don't want to miss it!

Please be praying for our missionaries and the rest of the IMB team as the travel to Hattiesburg over the next couple of days for this event. Also, pray for their families and friends who will be traveling to be part of this service. Many of the missionaries will be leaving straight from this service en route to their first field assignments.

Do you have a story from a past missionary commissioning that you would like to share? Let us hear it in the comments section.

Love my little "Paper Lion!"

2011-11-12T12:13:00.001-08:00

My view from the c spire line this am! Couldn't they have released the 4s on a balmy day?!

2011-11-11T06:50:00.001-08:00

Social Media Takes on the Newspaper...and Wins! See How

2011-11-10T08:31:00.001-08:00

I grew up in a home where the newspaper was a big deal. The nightly news at 5 & 6 pm (CDT for those of you in other time zones) was important, but the newspaper was practically elevated to the level of early morning ceremony. I can still remember getting up early with my Dad to have a cup of coffee (o.k., mine was mostly milk and sugar for a few years) and read the paper. It was a multi-sensory experience. Not only was it a way to connect with the world, but it was a delight to the senses. The sooty black of the newsprint that would rub off ever so slightly all over your fingers as you flipped the pages. The tinge of a musty smell that would eminate from the plastic bag when the paper had gotten a little wet from a rain shower. The weight of a huge Sunday paper full of "sale papers" and the "funny papers" as my Dad used to refer to them. What a rush it was to tear into it every morning.

It has been years since the newspaper was a big deal to me. Twenty-four hour television news kind of rendered the newspaper obsolete. I hung on for a while. Tried to maintain the habit. Probably more for nostalgia than anything else. Ultimately, The papers just became something to throw away. The news in them was either out-of-date or uninteresting.

Something else interesting has happened. The 24-hour news channels have lost their shine too. They are just too much, and they are just a little too apologetic for me. I have found myself more and more going to sources that I select to "cherry pick" the news that I am most intersted in consuming from the sources that I trust. And then I found it!!!!!

There is a great web service that helps collect, discriminate, and publish in e-newpaper form the best content from my twitter lists, facebook friends, google + circles, and favorite RSS feeds. It is called Paper.li and I love it. I am able to produce a personalized newspaper once-a day of the to give an over view of those things that are of most interest to me. Narcicistic? I hope not! Efficient? I hope so! It also gives me the ability to share that paper with friends across social media platforms. Since most of the content deals with issues of theology, orphan care, adoption, and ministry, that feature let's me point my friends like you to content that I think would be helpful in a simple way. I love it!

Check out my paper Morton's Most Followed and think about making your own. I'd love to see what you are reading!

What the Church can learn from the JoePa Situation

2011-11-09T07:15:00.001-08:00

Last night as I watched twitter blow up with the news that students were taking to the streets in State College, PA, I couldn't help but wonder "why?" Were they taking to the streets to streets in indignation to clamor for the resignation of an icon in his twilight who has apparently made at least some serious errors in judgment? Or, were they taking to the streets to support a beloved football coach in spite of mounting evidence that he know that abuse was taking place by a trusted figure on his watch. Time will likely tell what JoePa knew and what he did or didn't do. Right now, we do not know, but there are some lessons to be learned, and some reminders to be acknowledged as we watch this story play out for those of us in the Church.

We must protect children. This should go without saying, but I am still amazed at how difficult many churches find it to formulate and implement worker screening and accountability policies. No church in America should have anyone working with minors who has not been through a proper background screening and evaluation process. I do not care who the worker is. She may be the sweetest grandmother the church has ever seen, but she must submit to our screening procedures and safety policies if she is going to work with children in the church, no exceptions! There are an abundance of resources available to churches to assist with this talk, but ultimately, the responsibility falls to the church to act. That responsibility is as much theological as anything else. The psalmist writes in Psalm 82:

      3       Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
      maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
      4       Rescue the weak and the needy;
      deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

As the redeemed people of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a responsibility to live like He would live. Our God is a defender of the defenseless who seeks justice for the oppressed and deliverance for those are in bondage. That is what child abuse is. It is bondage.

We have to take this issue seriously in our churches. We have to safeguard children. We cannot cast a blind eye to abuse because we are a reflection of the Most High God. In fact in 2 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul tells us that we are Christ's ambassadors charged with bringing the ministry of reconciliation into the world.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

How could we be about the ministry of reconciliation if we allow a child (or adolescent) to be hurt by one of the very ones who is supposed to be an ambassador representing the King on this most crucial mission?

So, if your church is struggling to implement a comprehensive policy of worker screening and supervision, take this story as a gentle prompting of the Spirit to do so.

If you are a worker who is resisting complying with your church's screening procedures. Put your pride aside and comply. It is nothing personal.

If you are a pastor who is working in ministry where worker screening is part of the task, be vigilant!

I've Moved

2011-11-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

I probably should have done this long ago, but I wanted to make a post here to let everyone know that I have moved my blog to www.rickmortononline.com. The focus of that blog is more general than this. Mostly, I'll be writing on the issues of adoption and orphan care, but there will be other things relevant to being a disciple of Jesus with a little "lagniappe" sprinkled in from time to time...

Blessings,

Rick

That was a tough stakeout last night... :)

2011-11-01T14:19:00.001-07:00

Reformation Day-Luther's Courage and Ours

2011-10-31T10:46:00.001-07:00

Today is not just Halloween. Something that often gets lost on October 31 amidst all the Halloween chatter is the observance of today as Reformation Day. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther is said to have nailed his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" or as it later became known The 95 Theses to the door of the All Saint's Church in Wittenburg, Germany. This small act is said to have been the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

I think that not only does Reformation Day get a little lost with Halloween, but it may get confused as well. You see, at times I think we may be tempted to blend our Church History with some superhero lore to build an image of Luther. In truth, I think Luther (like the rest of us) didn't change clothes in a phone booth (if they had existed in the 16th Century) or wear pajamas that had an "S" on the chest under his priestly garb. Don't get me wrong. Luther is to be greatly admired. His commentaries and other contributions are significant, but I don't think Luther set out to become the figure that he became.

Over the years, I have read enough about Luther and his actions to convince me that he probably wasn't the bold, courageous figure that we sometimes want to make him out to be, at least not in the beginning. In fact, I think he probably set out to write a more academic paper that would pose some serious questions about the Church. I don't think Luther really ever expected that nailing his treatise to the church door would be the spark that ignited the Protestant Reformation.

Actually, I can imagine that the truth might be quite a bit simpler. Luther saw a great error in the life and practice of the Church. The Church was drawing authority from beyond Scripture and adding to the gospel. Fundamentally, Luther in reflecting on the Church in light of the Scriptures saw something troubling, and he dared to talk about it. His talking about it opened a discussion that God used to spread like wildfire across the world as the Church reawakened to the gospel.

So what do we learn? We must constantly be on our guard for ourselves as the Body of Christ to maintain Scriptural authority and gospel fidelity. And, when we see places (and believe me--we do and will see them) that our practices do not reflect the essentials set forth in the Scriptures or begin to add to the gospel, we must point them out, be open and honest about them, and be ready for a course correction.

In the end, Luther was a man who was unafraid to risk talking about the right things. He didn't waste his words or stir up dissension over unworthy considerations. He talked about what mattered, and he would not be quieted. May we men and women who go and do likewise to the glory of God!

75 Orphans in Haiti Need Your Voice Right Now

2011-10-19T14:29:00.001-07:00

Earlier today Tom Davis, the CEO of Children's HopeChest, posted the following blog about the Son of God Orphanage in Haiti. Children's HopeChest formerly supported this orphanage, but over the past 15 months abuse, neglect, child trafficking and child victimization has been brought to light in the Son of God Orphanage.

I trust Tom and the organization he leads. So, when they bring to light the results of an investigation into orphan abuse and child trafficking, I believe it. That is just what they have done in this case.

They are calling upon all of us who have a voice to stand u and be heard on behalf of these precious, voiceless children. He has created a petition to urge CNN to cover the story as part of their initiative to stop child traffickers. Below is a link to Tom's blog Red Letters. Please follow the link and add your voice to the campaign!

Red Letters

Adoptive parents needed to help with a research project

2011-10-05T19:50:00.001-07:00

Over the last year, I have gotten to know a doctoral candidate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi named Erica Raisanen. Erica's has a real heart for adoptive families, and she is seeking to do her doctoral research with adoptive parents. Since I know that there are a number of folks who have read Orphanology and/or may follow this blog who are adoptive parents of children between the ages of 4 and 17, I would like to encourge you to participate. I really believe the Erica's research is going to be of great benefit for many adoptive families in the future, and your experiences are crucial to her success. I hope you will take time to give her a hand.

The following is the information she is providing to research participants:

I am Erica Raisanen, a counseling psychology doctoral student at The University of Southern Mississippi. I am looking for mothers and fathers of adopted children (between the ages of 4 and 17) for the following study. The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of factors that contribute to a successful adoption experience. In particular, this research aims to better understand factors that may serve as protective resources for adoptive parents against parenting stress. I have a personal interest in adoption so I believe that I have the passion and drive to make a difference, with your help!

Please forward this information on so that we can gain the perspectives of as many adoptive parents as possible. A one-dollar donation will also be donated to the Gift of Adoption Fund, which helps adoptive parents fund their adoption by providing grants (http://www.giftofadoption.org). Your privacy is important to us, therefore this study is completely confidential. To access the survey, please use the following link:

http://www.psychsurveys.org/erica_raisanen/successful_adoption_experience

Any help that you can provide me is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time and patience. Understanding factors that contribute to a successful adoption experience is my personal passion and I hope to be able to make a difference in the future. Questions concerning the research should be directed to Erica Raisanen at Erica.raisanen@eagles.usm.edu or Bonnie C. Nicholson, Ph.D. at Bonnie.Nicholson@usm.edu. This project and this consent form have been reviewed by the Institutional Review Board.

Again, the link is: http://www.psychsurveys.org/erica_raisanen/successful_adoption_experience

Please contact me for the IRB approval or a copy of this letter. I will be glad to provide any further documentation or information for any help you can offer! Thank you so much for your consideration and time. Every bit of help matters!

- Erica

Promise 139 needs your help to share the love of Jesus with some Ukrainian orphans this Christmas

2011-09-30T09:51:00.001-07:00

Click to download this PDF flyer with information about Promise 139's Christmas Camp 2011. Here you will find details about how you can be part of sharing the hope of Christ with 12 Ukrainian orphans during this Christmas season.

Government Shutdown and International Adoption

2011-04-08T18:54:00.001-07:00

I have been watching the news coming out of Washington today as the promise of Congress passing any sort of budget bill becomes more remote, I am drawn to think about some friends of ours that are headed to Ukraine today to adopt. They have been on a long journey, and now they being this leg of the proces with the looming uncertainty of whether they will be able to receive visas for their children from the US government when they complete the international portion of their adoption process.

You see, while we are certainly concerned with the implications of the government shutdown like the lack of pay for the military, and the headlines have been going to things like the fact that the IRS will not be able to process paper tax returns, there are many other consequences ot the shutdown that are yet unreported. New passports will probably not get issued. That will likely have an impact on many mission trips and adoption tripsl. I have also been reading tonight about the likely effects of the shutdown on visa processing for international adoptions. While US embassies will remain open, most will scale back operations and furlough staff. As a result they will begin processing visas for only "emergency adoption cases." Presumably these are cases that involve severe health issues. This is going to leave many families with a huge problem. They will not be able to complete their adoption and bring their children home until the US resumes granting visas. We need to pray that God will move upon the hearts of our officials to resolve this crisis for the benefit of these orphans who are awaiting families.

"learn to do good;
lseek justice,
correct oppression;
mbring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause."

- Isaiah 1:17

Blessings,

Rick

Giving, Feasts, and Orphans

2011-03-16T14:17:00.001-07:00

Today in the chronological Bible reading plan, we are in Deuteronomy 14-16, and there is a ton that could be said. Therer are a couple of things that jump out to me in particular about God's heart for the orphan. In His instruction about the tithe that is to be given every third year, He is careful to instruct the people not to forget the orphan, the widow, and the sojourner. In fact, in the Old Testament, those three groups are most often linked together like a triad. What makes them similar? They have no rights and they have no voice! In telling His people not to forget those three groups, God is telling us something pretty important about himself. He is a defender of the defenseless and a voice for the voiceless. He wants us to emulate Him in that as a way to bring glory to him among the nations. Why do we defend the defenseless? To show who our God is so that people will praise Him! Period!

Later in this passage, instructions are given for the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths. Again the reminder is made not to exclude the orphan, the widow, or the soujourner. Why? In general, the reason is the same as above, but maybe there is something more. In the Feast of Weeks, the people are remembering that they once were slaves in Egypt but now they are free. Could it bee that God is providing us with a beautiful picture? By having the people include the marginalized and voiceless, is He signalling to us that freedom (salvation) is open to everyone? In the Feast of Booths, the people moved out of their homes and lived in tents to remember the temporary homes they lived in while they wandered in the wilderness. It is also a beautiful picture of Jesus leaving his home in heaven and taking up a fragile human home to live among his creation for a time to bring about our redemption through his sacrifice. It is not insignificant that the orphans, widows and soujorners were included in this feast either.

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born gunder the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:4-7 ESV)

I wonder what God is trying to say about Himself to the nations today through my obedience and yours?

Conviction, Universalism, Tsunamis, and the Gospel

2011-03-16T12:12:00.001-07:00

This has been a very interesting week. In evangelical circles (particularly on Twitter), two topics have dominated the conversation: the devastation in Japan and Rob Bell. In their own way, both are tragic, but I am really struck about how much more emotion and outcry Rob Bell and his book have seemed to receive from many evangelical leaders and how little attention the tragedy in Japan has received.

Here is a news flash. This is nothing new or surprising from Rob Bell. He is a wildly creative and captivating voice, but anyone who has taken a careful look and his books and interviews over the past number of years must have seen this coming. His illustration from his earlier book Velvet Elvis of a theological trampoline should have been a warning signal that the current controversy was on its way. Here is what he said in that book:

A trampoline only works if you take your feet off the firm, stable ground and jump into the air and let the trampoline propel you upward. Talking about trampolines isn’t jumping; it’s talking. Two vastly different things. And so we jump and we invite others to jump with us, to live the way of Jesus and see what happens. You don’t have to know anything about the springs to pursue living “the way". (Velvet Elvis, 34)

What is he saying? He is saying that we have outgrown our need for doctrine. We need to let go and feel our way to God. Reason had it's place is a more primitive world, but now we know better. There is a sophisticated name for his idea. It is trajectory theology. His point is fairly simple. The New Testament was aiming in a direction. It was moving toward social changes like the abolition of slavery or the liberation of women but those objectives were incomplete during the writing of the Scriptures, so we are to take the trajectory of the scriptures and continue them. In other words, the Bible is not to be taken as God's Word in the sense that it is to be dissected and studied to understand its meaning with precision. Instead, we are only to get its essence so that we can build from it. To be pointed, that is just rubbish. Jesus didn't believe it. Just look carefully at the gospels. That isn't the way Jesus approached the Old Testament scriptures, and it is not the way we should approach the entirety of God's Word.

We need doctrine. We need to search the Scriptures to find God, adn to organize what we find there to understand it. It is necessary and vital to our pursuit of Christlikeness, but it is not our pursuit of Christ. Knowing Jesus is so much more then merely knowing about Jesus. And, we have to take seriously what Jesus said about himself. He is "the way, the truth and the life." Mankind has no hope without the gospel. Jesus died for the sins of the world, but millions die every week without ever knowing the way, the truth, or the life. Bell is trying to explain away the uncomfortable reality that they are doomed if they die without responding to the gospel.

While I would love to take hours to dissect and critique Bell's argument, the level of outrage pointed toward him hardly seems worth it. His song is tired. I remember an interview he did with Relevant Magazine in Jan/Feb 2008 that had all the signs that this sort of theological position was his true conviction (or at least where he was heading). The point is he hasn't sneaked up on us all. He's been right here for a long time, and most who are following him are doing so because they are convinced he is right. (Probably more rightly stated, they feel he is right.) True, a lot of ignorant youth ministers and hipster pastors have used the Nooma videos, but the influence of the Emergent movement is waning, He is part of a largely failing movement. His original publisher (Zondervan) has run away from him. He is largely marginalized by those in the mainstream of evangelicalism. The critiques by good evangelical scholars have been thoughtful and appropriate.

Tonight, I have had to say enough all ready personally. Why? While all this is going on, one of the largest Buddhist nations on the planet has suffered one of the most significant natural disasters in recorded history, and until today, Rob Bell has been more of a preoccupation for me than the suffering of the Japanese people. In all of this, I am ashamed of me. Moreover, the opportunities for the gospel to be spread have been of less concern and less focus in my prayer life than the defense of the gospel against a guy that I have known was outside the camp for a long time….I am just being transparent.

To be clear, I am convinced that Rob Bell is dead wrong about the lack of usefulness of objective truth in our faith. Tonight I am equally convicted in my need for feeling and compassion to balance my reason....It's about importance. It's about balance. It's about what is easy and what isn't.

The Burden of the Law and the Blessing of the Savior

2011-03-07T19:28:00.001-08:00

Today's Bible reading if you are on the chronological Bible reading plan is Numbers 28-30. I was really struck today by the burden of the law. I know I have seen it over and over, but wow was it heavy! Daily offerings, sabbath offerings, monthly offerings, and that was to say nothing of all the special sacrifices that were associated with the festivals and feasts. All of the ceremonial washings and rituals and sacrifices in these passages alone make my head spin to say nothing of the rest of the Old Testament. This morning alone, I read this passage three times, and I never could keep it straight! I would have been a terrible Hebrew, but the truth is I am a pretty good ritual keeper. I think it is part of the human condition. We love the familiar, and we find comfort in ritual.Truthfully, I find in myself the tendency all too often to try to reduce following Jesus down to a list of rules and axioms that I need to adhere to rather than a matter of love for Jesus that leads to obedience. Jesus came to set us free from the drudgery and grind of the law. The law wasn't enough anyway. It was just to show us that He alone is enough. Thank you, Jesus!

We are home!!

2011-02-03T04:05:00.001-08:00

Got got home last night and what a homecoming it was! We has a good trip. No problems, just tight connections that caused us to scurry through Amsterdam and Atlanta with no time for even a cup of coffee. I think Nastia slept 13 of the 14 1/2 hours we ere in the air yesterday. If she wasn’t eating or drinking, she was sleeping. It was cool to notice how he eyes brightened and her smile widened throughout the day, Especially when we walked out of the immigration office!

Anyway, we were met in Gulfport by Nana and Papaw and the boys. I think they each have grown a foot! They look so good and are doing so well. They had stuffed animals for her and greeted her with kisses. It was sweet. We were thrilled to see them. It has been a long two months, and it was nice to see them and have a little together time. We all went to Cracker Barrel for a little redneck bonding (not sure Nastia was too impressed—and it really wasn’t their finest hour) and then we headed for home. When we got home, She walked in the door into the arms of so many wonderful friends. Some whom she had grown to love in Sevastopol and others while she was here. It was such a cool thing to see. As her daddy, I was so thankful for friends who love my daughter that way. As a friend, I am thankful for friends who love me that way! Thank you all so much.

Then, they took her to see her new room. All I can say is, WOW! While we were still in Ukraine, we got on-line with her and ordered bedding. Some of our wonderful friends, took that ball and ran with it and created a dream room for a teen girl. I feel like her room was on one of those HGTV (yes, I am man enough to admit I watch those shows with my wife) shows like Trading Spaces.. I would start trying to thank people, but I honestly do not know who all had a hand in this project, but I will find out! For now, please accept a blanket thank you! It is an amazing gift, and she was overwhelmed! She just beamed last night. She just wanted to spend time enjoying her new oasis.

Well, today we begin to find out what normal will begin to look like. Nana and Papaw are heading home for some well deserved rest (although I am sure we’ll see them back in a couple of weeks). The boys will head back to school after being out sick for a couple of days, and I will go back to the church to see if they have changed the locks to the doors on my office :). We look forward to seeing all of you soon. We will easing into a regular schedule over the next few days, but hope to be normal as soon as possible. Nastia’s English is very limited, but her social skills are not, so dot be afraid to come by and say hello “Pree-vee-et”!

Dhatsvidnya,

RIck

We have the visa!

2011-02-01T09:28:00.001-08:00

We have Nastia’s visa and are headed out at 3:30 tomorrow morning. Please pray for us and the family at home. Both boys are home sick with fever!!!!

See you soon!!!

Love,

Rick

Made it to Kyiv

2011-01-28T02:32:00.001-08:00

We woke up this morning to snow and had to rush up a little to get ready. Kostya came a little early to get us since we had to drive north to the airport. The roads were a little icy once we got away from the coast, but we made it fine. The plane was a turboprop, and to tell you the truth, the whole experience reminded me a lot of flying out of Pine Belt International Airport and Jiffy Lube :). The olny difference is that Sevastopol only has one flight a day, and we have two!

Sveta and Igor met us at the airport with another driver. The plan was to split us up. Denise and Nastia went to the clinic to get her medical exam, and I came to the apartment to meet the rental manager to get the keys and check-in. Denise just called and they are on their way after about two hours with the exam complete one shot lunch and a thirty minute wait to make sure there was no adverse reaction later. That should be perfect timing for us to call Joel and make our plans to head off to the Ragains apartment for the evening. All in all it has been a great day! We are settling in for a casual weekend. Thanks for praying!

Blessings,

Rick

One step closer to home

2011-01-27T08:55:00.001-08:00

Today has been a pretty quiet day. Nastia got going at the crack of 2 PM :). I think she watched 4 movies (scary movies at that) from the bed today. It was good for her to have a crash day. We took some time to pack and get ready to go. It has taken a little time to get squared away. At 2 we headed out to our favorite place (NOT), McDonald’s for a bite to eat with her friend Nastia. Sure enough, as soon as we got there and ordered, we got the call that the passport was ready. I had to run back to the apartment and get her birth certificate so we could get another certified copy for the embassy while the girls ate, and then we parted ways. Denise and I headed off to get the passport, and the two friends headed off to walk for a while and enjoy a little time together as a last goodbye.

We now have the passport in hand. Woooo Hoooo! We fly out at 8:15 from the small airport here in Sevastopol and arrive in Kyiv at 10:15. From there it is off to a medical exam and then dinner with our friends Joel and Mary Ellen Ragains. We are so pumped. One because we are getting on the road toward home and two because we will be spending the evening with our kids’ Ukraine Nana and Papaw! We love them so much, and anytime we get a little bit of time with them it is so special!!!!! Joel and Mary Ellen were in the States for some of the time we have been here, but other than that, we have talked virtually every night. What an encouragement and a blessing! They have such a warm home, and we are so blessed to be their guests.

Sunday is also going to be a big day. We will be attending the 5th birthday of Open Hearts Church where Sergey Bochko is the pastor. Many of you know Sergey and his wife Natalie who came and translated for Promise 139 this year. They lead Open Hearts Church and have become dear friends to us. Several of the Open Hearts members were our translators this year in Tetiev when we assisted the planting of another church there as well, so we will have many friends to share with there. It will be a great celebration, and we are thankful that God has allowed us to be here for it!

Monday and Tuesday will be our embassy visits, and Lord willing, we will be flying into Gulfport on Wednesday afternoon at 5 PM. We plan to stop at the first Cracker Barrel we see on the way home :). So we hope to hit Hattiesburg around 7:30 or so! There are probably people nowhere that want to be in Hattiesburg more than we do right now!!!!

We love you all! Thank you for your prayer and your encouragement and support.

Blessings,

Rick

Great First Day...and a Half

2011-01-26T10:27:00.001-08:00

Things are going well! We picked Nastia yesterday at 11ish. The “ish” was because it snowed. Snow in Sevastopol is a little like snow in Hattiesburg just with bigger hills. Our facilitator’s husband Kostya was late picking us up because he had to put chains on his tires to get out of their area to get us and then take them off. When we got to the orphanage, we needed them again. The hill going up the orphanage was a solid sheet of ice. We got about 2/3 of the way up and had to stop and walk the rest of the way. Funny. No matter. We got there. The Inspector didn’t show up, so we waited for a long time. Finally, we finished the rest of the paperwork. They called the Inspector, and she was waiting for us to send her a car! “I beg your pardon! I never promised you a rose garden!” We didn’t offer, and she didn’t ask. The Italian couple was coming later, so they would bring her and she could sign our papers then! Awesome, that meant we were ready. We all went into the Director’s office. That was a neat moment. The Director has become a friend. She has been our guest in Hattiesburg, and we love hosting these kids. She made a real ceremony out of signing the papers. She had some special words for Nastia and for us. It was sweet, and we really appreciated it. We all cried a little, and then with a flourish she stamped the final paper, and all was done. We celebrated with a pizza lunch and a chillaxed afternoon.

Today began with breakfast at McDonald’s. Seriously, I think my car is going to pull to the left when it goes by McDonald’s for a year when we get home. Then we went grocery shopping for a party for the girls that were in Nastia’s group at the Orphanage. We bought candy, cookies, ice cream, mandarin oranges, grape juice, and a fancy tort (cake). (The tort was very elaborate looking but alas, as was the case with many I have had here it was more look than taste in the end) The afternoon was filled with a souvenir shopping trip. We picked up a few gifts for people back home and a few things Nastia wanted to have to remember Ukraine and some Russian movies (including the scary Japanese film overdubbed in Russian that has people using sign language in it that we are watching right now—what a trip).

We appreciate your prayers as we await her passport. We expect it tomorrow, and we need it tomorrow. We have reservations on an 8:15 flight Friday morning to Kyiv. We really want to be on that flight. Our embassy appointment is Monday, and we have to make that appointment if we are to make our scheduled flight home Wednesday. Thank you for your prayers. We have felt them and have been sustained by them. We praise the Lord for His goodness and provision! We love you all and can’t wait to see you!

Blessings,

Rick

Still missing the most important part

2011-01-24T09:08:00.001-08:00

Today was loaded with activity, but we still didn’t get the most important thing, Nastia! We are pretty disappointed. It turns out that we had to have her birth certificate to get her released from the orphanage. Thanks to the lady at the birth certificate office working on her day off, we got it at 2 o’ clock, but the social worker at the orphanage was gone for the day. So, we will have to wait until tomorrow. All in all, today was insanely productive by anything we have to compare it to in our past adoptions.

We started off at the crack of 10 (nothing seems to get rolling too early around here). The first stop was at the notary. She didn’t come in until 11. When she came in at 11, she announced that she wouldn’t complete our documents without Nastia’s birth certificate although the document she was doing for us had nothing to do with a birth certificate! So, we left and went to another notary. Success! Forty-five minutes later we had our document and we were off. Then we ran by the orphanage for a quick stop to pick up papers and then to the birth certificate office where we waited for 2 hours. Once our 2 pm appointment rolled around, we were in and out in 2 minutes. We jumped back in the car and stopped at 2 more notary offices along the way to try to get official copies of the birth certificates. No good...out to lunch at both places at 2:15 in the afternoon. Then, we made a stop by to get started on a police clearance for her passport. That took 10 minutes. We ran in to get the passport process started while Galya’s husband got the birth certificate copies made (multi-tasking!). (Is anyone getting confused or exhausted reading this? I know I am while I am typing it!!!!). Once that was done, we jumped back in the car and ran back downtown to get Nastia a new tax id number and called her to get on a bus and come meet us at the passport office. We stopped by and paid for the tax id and passport and met her to fill out the passport application and have her passport picture taken. Once that was done, we took her back to the orphanage (the not fun moment of the day) and drove home without her one last time.

We should get her passport Thursday morning. We have checked flights, and the bad news is there is nothing to Kyiv until Friday morning. The good news is there is a flight from here that is the same price as the flight from Simferopol. Yeah! That means an hour and a half less driving and a little later that we can sleep. We have already heard from the US embassy and we have an appointment for a week from today. Our flights are still booked for Feb 2, and that looks good right now unless something crazy happens. We will see, but God has moved every obstacle. The birth certificate thing was big and He moved in a very big way with the lady in the office. Praise the Lord!!!!

Thank you for praying. We are exhausted. Love you all!!!

Blessings,

Rick

Last quiet day & that's great!

2011-01-23T07:03:00.001-08:00

Denise and I are spending what we hope is our last quiet Sunday in Sevastopol preparing to leave. We are not sure when we will get to leave, so today is a good day to get things ready. Nastia will be with us for good by tomorrow evening, so we are spending the day washing clothes so we can be packed and out of the way. We have a washer/dryer combo in this apartment (a real luxury here) but it takes forever to do a load and the load are small). We are trying to get everything clean, so we get a fresh start for the run from here until whenever we get home. Who knows what we will have for here until the end.

Yesterday was eventful. Galya got our court decree, but the law says that if it matures on a weekend, it cannot go into force until the first business day after. So, we started the birth certificate and passport petition with the notary (more like a lawyer in America) the morning. Hopefully, we will get those things going in the afternoon Monday. There is still a lot of uncertainty about the passport. We hope to hear more about the process Monday. Please pray that there will be no hurdles with that or picking up the birth certificate Monday. Nastia has one medical test to get at the hospital Monday morning and then we think we can pick her up.

We hope to see the other precious kids at Orphanage #2 one more time as well. It’s going to kill us to say goodbye! Some of them who we have known from visiting Hattiesburg because we know them so well. Others, because we have started to get to know them and see into their lives and personalities while we have been here. They are happy for Nastia, but you don’t have to look hard to see the sadness when we are hanging out with them either. Especially a couple of the older girls. They just have a look of resignation in their eyes sometimes that I catch in a moment when they are looking at Nastia and Denise. It’s like they are sure they will never have a life like that. My question is, “why not?” I’m sure some of them aren’t adoptable, but I’m sure some are. Just thinking out loud. If hanging out with these kids in Hattiesburg changes you, hanging out with these kids in Sevastopol infects you. If not Sevastopol, then somewhere. There are 147 million orphans out there right? Lots of them with the same kind of resignation. Maybe God is calling you to adopt one of the ones who has given up! He did!

Before I get too heavy, when we adopted Nicholas I did a top 10 list of things that I was not going to do for a LONG time (if ever) on our blog. In anticipation of our impending trip homeward I have been working on an updated top 10 list. I am not ready to release the list, but be assured that this list worth the wait!!!!

Have a great Lord’s day. We are looking forward to the service with the Temple family via Livestream and can’t wait to be there in person soon if the Lord wills!

Blessings,

Rick

Just when we think we have it figured out...

2011-01-21T03:49:00.001-08:00

I am done trying to figure out the process. Planning is futile. We have made all our plans around getting our court decree on Monday. About 15 minutes ago, I got a call from Galya. She has reviewed the court decree and made the necessary changes. When she returned it to the court, she found out that the Judge’s secretary plans on working tomorrow! What? Huh? Come again? That’s right folks...so she can pick up our court decree at noon. We will go get Nastia’s birth certificate tomorrow afternoon, and begin working on her passport Monday morning! That changes things considerably...maybe. If we are able to get the passport earlier, and get to Kyiv to have an interview at the embassy before Friday. We are really not sure. We still have to make flight arrangements to Kyiv and get an appointment at the embassy and get seats on a flight home. In the end, it may not make any difference in the day we come home, but there is a window of opportunity for us to be able to get home earlier. We’d appreciate your prayers!!!! Right now, it’s quiet in our apartment, but busy in my head. Soon, we are about to experience life in a blender for a few days. It is going to be crazy.

Also, we found out today that the orphanage is under a flu quarantine. Not sure if that means school is out or not. In the past, we know they have closed schools here when the flu is going around. We will have to visit with Nastia outside today. Please pray for her and the other kids. A flu bug running through the orphanage can be tough particularly with the limited medicines they have access to. We are thankful that we were able to drop off a load of donated medical supplies just a few days ago, and much of that will be things that should be helpful with flu symptoms.

We will keep you updated about our progress, but we would love to see the Pine Belt a few days ahead of schedule!!!!

Blessings,

Rick

Update

2011-01-19T10:01:00.001-08:00

I have not posted in a few days because there is not much noteworthy to report. We are hanging in there. We are getting to the end of our 10-day wait. Things are progressing well. Nothing unexpected in the process. We are really enjoying Nastia. We are seeing a little more of her personality all the time. She has relaxed a lot since court. Many more smiles, and we are even getting some “I love you”’s in English! Now that will melt a Momma and Daddy’s heart!. We can tell that she is getting anxious to get on with things too, but for different reasons. I asked her a couple of nights ago how things were with her friends, and the look on her face needed no translation. It’s tough! On the one hand she want to spend as much time as she can with the girls she has been living with for the past couple of years, and I know they are happy for her, but there is also some tension. She is also going to miss her sister. We hope to see her in the next several days....

We pick up our court decree Monday, and then the fun starts! Please pray with us that we can complete the birth certificate and passport process next week. That way we will be on schedule to be coming come on Feb 2!

Blessings,

Rick

We have a daughter!

2011-01-12T10:11:00.001-08:00

Before I get into the details of the day, let’s get the most important thing out of the way first. It’s official. Denise and I are proud it announce that Anastasia Reagan Morton (or “Nastia” as many of you know her and she prefers to be called) is officially part of our family! I can’t tell you how good it feels to finally be able to type that (or how much I am crying while I am doing it). We have 10 days to wait until we can take custody of her. During that time, we will be visiting with her daily, and getting ready for the sprint to the finish!

Today was the day we have been waiting for, and ultimately, everything turned out well. It has been an exhausting month with more twists and turns than I care to remember, and I am not sure why I thought today would be any different. We headed out this morning about 9:00 and picked Nastia up on the way to the courthouse. There were 3 hearings set for today. Ours, an Italian couple that is adopting a 5-year-old little boys from the same orphanage, and a Ukrainian couple. The Italian couple is really sweet, and we have really enjoyed our encounters with them. We were up first. We didn’t expect much from the hearing, but as we have come to expect, the only thing you know for certain in international adoption is that you don’t know anything for certain. I don’t want to get into a lot of the details of the hearing, but it was a rough experience especially for Nastia. What we expected to be a short process was not, and the judge’s questioning was tough. We are still not sure why. Ultimately, it did not seem to be relevant to the case if we understood what was actually happening. Much can be lost in translation. Here is what we know for sure. We love her, and we chose her! She is ours, and that is all that matters!

After court, we went and had pictures made for her passport. Then we came back to our apartment for a little family time. That was sweet. It was the first time all day it was just us. After a little time to decompress, we were able to “talk” through the translator on the computer about our day. It was good. Then we went an grabbed lunch at McDonald’s. (After we get home, I don’t even want to drive by McDonald’s) Then we went shopping for some clothes for the trip home. We went to the open air market to shop. For those of you who have never been to one of these, it’s a little like a flea market on steroids. It was hilarious. The stores are kind of like little mini-storage rooms. Nastia found a pair of pants she liked at one, so she went to try them on in the back. That was even more hilarious. They pulled a little curtain around in the back of the booth and made a dressing room! Remember this is outside. I am just glad we were in Crimea and not farther north. I’m even going to be thankful for the mall when we get home :). I’m going to be more thankful to send mama and daughter to do the clothes shopping! They had a blast together.

It’s been a great day! We are so anxious to get home and have our three kids under the same roof. We are loving our time with Nastia but we miss the boys terribly! We can’t get home soon enough. Thank you for your prayers.

Blessings,

Rick

Court Tomorrow

2011-01-11T08:32:00.001-08:00

I know we have not updated the blog very much as of late, but we didn’t really think that most of you would really get too much of a charge out of reading that we have done virtually the same thing every day for as long as we can remember. Things are going well with N. We are getting to know her a little better each day. It’s hard with the language barrier, but we are making progress. Most days, we are spending quiet time with her in her room. It has been good. We know those days will be precious and few once we get home, so we are trying to take advantage of them.

Tomorrow, we have our court hearing at 10 a.m. (2 a.m. Hattiesburg time), our plans are to go to lunch and go shopping afterward. We will try to pick up clothes and a few other things that she will need for the trip home. We are praying that the hearing goes smoothly tomorrow, and we value your prayers for us as well. This has been a long and exhausting ordeal in dealing with the legal process ,and we are praying that there and no new developments tomorrow.

We are thankful for the grace that God has extended to us, and the beautiful girl that will be waiting for us at the courthouse tomorrow. Will let you know just as soon as we can tomorrow!

Blessings,

Rick

Merry Christmas Again...

2011-01-07T10:11:00.001-08:00

It’s Orthodox Christmas today in Ukraine. We got to see N today after missing her yesterday. We had been invited to a Christmas program at the orphanage that was scheduled for yesterday at 3. It was rescheduled for today at 2, but we missed the memo. Oh well! It was no big deal. She was feeling pretty bad today. She has a cold. The weather is very cold. I just checked the temperature and it’s 24 here tonight with a wind chill of 17. It couldn’t have been above 50 degrees in her room this evening when we were at the orphanage. We just hate leaving her there, especially when she is sick. We just want to wrap her up, get her warm, and take care of her. It stinks! I know we don’t have much more time to wait, but the time seems to be passing so slowly! We appreciate your prayers for her.

We also learned that one of the boys, K, who was with us in our hosting program is in the hospital with a bad cough. We don’t know anything more, and it’s not unusual for kids to be hospitalized from the orphanage to keep from spreading an illness throughout the orphanage. Please pray for him. We’ll try to find out more as soon as we can.

We miss everyone at home!

Blessings,

Rick

Finding out the little things

2011-01-05T12:39:00.001-08:00

Today was cold. We had snow on the ground for the second day. We may have a white Orthodox Christmas yet. We got to the orphanage this afternoon, and N met us at the door. She was all smiles. We took her a blanket. It has been so cold. We thought it might help a little. We asked about the circus. She said that she doesn’t like clowns. Funny. Denise doesn’t either. We all cracked up. I told her that we have been joking every since we have been here about this little Smart car that has been parked near our apartment. I have been looking for the clowns to come out of it every time we walk by. I pulled up a picture of it and showed her. She thought that was funny. I told her that was the kind of car I would get her when she started driving because there was no room for boys. That got a smile. Then I told her that the boys had to get past me first, and that got a big blush!

Tomorrow is another program at the orphanage, and Friday is Orthodox Christmas. Things will probably slow down around here for another couple of days. Right now we are just praying and waiting for Wednesday and court.

For now, we are getting to know our daughter, and finding out the little things....

Blessings,

Rick

A little more certainty

2011-01-03T10:10:00.001-08:00

We made it through the holiday weekend, and the beginning of a new week brought a little more information about our process. As we have said before, we have our court date next Wednesday, January 12th. Since court is on a Wednesday we will not be able to pick up our court decree until Monday the 24th. So effectively our 10 day wait will be turned into a 12 day wait because of the weekend. Ordinarily, we would pick up the court decree on Monday and apply for N’s tax number and birth certificate, but the office that handles birth certificates isn’t open on Monday, so that will have to wait until Tuesday the 25th. We will then begin working on passports which will probably take 3 days. That will most likely put us in Kyiv on Thursday evening and wait for it...the US embassy doesn’t book any visa appointments for adoptive families on the last Friday of the month! I am beginning to believe that we are on one huge episode of Punk’d. I keep waiting for Aston Kutcher to come running out from some building and tell us that we can go to court and get the over with. I mean seriously! C’mon! It’s like a prank that just keeps getting worse. You just have to laugh at some point! What that all means is that we will probably have our appointment at the embassy on January 31 and be headed home on February 2. That could still vary by a day or two, but barring some unforeseen complication, that should be really close.

N was doing well today. Much more chipper! She had rested up from the New Year’s festivities. She spent a good deal of time working on English today on the computer. She is scoring well on the Rosetta Stone exercises. I think we motivated her by telling her that she had to pass a written test before she could get her learner’s permit even after her birthday in April. She is scoring in the high 90s on every exercise!!! We won’t see her tomorrow because they have an all day outing to the circus. Thursday they have another program for Christmas, so we’ll put up all the details. We expect to spend a quite day tomorrow arounf the apartment. I will try to get some writing done and Dense will probably spend the day immersed in more BBC DVDs (thanks Kimberly!).

We appreciate your prayers and love the many emails, facebook messages, and skype calls we have received. The boredom and isolation is the worst! Thanks for keeping in touch.

Blessings,

Rick

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T09:44:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! Denise and I celebrated by sleeping in late this morning. The weather was dreary in Sevastopol today, and the city was really dead. Nobody was stirring. We had a hard time catching a bus to get to the orphanage because not many were running. Almost nothing was open, and very few people were out on the streets. Our old standby McDonald’s was open for business. They are beginning to recognize us when we walk in the door. They speak to us in English from the start now. Pretty funny!

N was a slppy head today, so we didn’t stay too long. She wasn’t very “talkative” via our computer translator. She and the girls in her group made a big New Year’s feast and had a “discotteka” to celebrate New Year’s last night if we got the story straight. You could tell that she didn’t get nearly as much sleep as we did. We told her we celebrated by sleeping because we are old. She thought that was funny.

I am getting geared up to watch Alabama play in the Capital One Bowl against Michigan State. Some things don’t change no matter how far away from home you are! As I have told many other people who have been through this process, we are in the part of the process that feels like the movie Groundhog Day. Every day feels like a repeat of the last. Nothing too much new or interesting. Thanks for keeping up with is and praying for us!

Blessings,

Rick

The Program

2010-12-30T12:29:00.001-08:00

Today was a special day. It was the day of the program at the orphanage that I wrote about yesterday. We went later today to be there especially for the occasion. We thought we were going to be late because traffic was really heavy getting across town today. We really had to hoof it up the hill from the bus stop to the orphanage. One thing I can tell is that all the walking we are doing is paying off. Even after the charge up the hill, I was felling pretty good! I am looking on the bright side. Loosing weight and getting in better shape are pretty good side effects of this extended stay, but I’d be ready to head home tomorrow if the judge offered!

Anyway, back to the program. We walked in right on time. N and several of the older kids we down by the entrance we used to come in already in costume. I saw her when we walked in the door but Denise was right up on her before she recognized her. She was all made up in her gypsy/babushka costume. It was hilarious. She was adorable. You can tell she loves it, but she has a little bit a of shy streak too. It’s cute. Anyway, we said hello and made our way upstairs to the little theater room. We saw most of the kids we know from visits to Hattiesburg and a few we have met since we have been here. There were lots of “hellos” and hugs, and we snapped a ton of pictures. We’ll be sharing a bunch of those later. I know many of you will be dying to see them. We got away without the cable to download our pictures to the computer so we are looking for a card reader, and if we find one, we’ll send them back. During the program, I also shot a few video segments that I hope turned out so that we can share. The highlight of the program for me was seeing N sing with a quartet of girls including her best friend. She sings beautifully, and you can tell that she really enjoys it. We watched the video of that song back, and we laughed that the video isn’t very good because I kept having to wipe my eyes while I was shooting it. It was wonderful.

We finished the afternoon by having a long Skype conversation with the Drakes. It was hilarious at one point to see Vadik one one side of the computer and 4 girls on our side chatting away. He was the man! We were cracking up!!

On a more serious note, the last couple of days has brought cold weather. The temperature tonight will dip into the lower 20s and the wind chill will be in the teens. Even before we left N’s room tonight it was cold. She was wearing a cost in her room. My heart just breaks for those kids. I can’t get that off my mind tonight! As I sit here just a few miles away in a warm and comfortable apartment, I see the faces in my mind of so many kids that I love who are cold tonight, and I feel helpless.

At least we have certainty

2010-12-29T09:25:00.001-08:00

Today, we finally hear from the judge and received our court date, January 12. Not what we were hoping for but not as bad as we had feared. That will likely put us back in Hattiesburg at the end of January. The time that we lost with the confusion over K’s situation and the holidays are partly to blame I am sure, but in the end it probably does not make more than a few days difference one way or the other.

We are really enjoying out time with N. Today, we spent time watching her and some of the other kids rehearse for a Christmas program. It was great to see N along with a number of the kids from the past 2 summers of our hosting program singing, dancing, and acting. They are adorable and so talented. We have been invited to attend that performance on the 6th of January as well as an New Year’s program tomorrow. We will be taking lots of video and pictures that we can’t wait to share when we get back to Hattiesburg! I know there are many of you that will be anxious to see these performances.

We also got to Skype with Erick, Nicholas, Nana, and Papaw this afternoon. N seemed to enjoy the few minutes of interacting with her new little brothers. We have noticed that she is good with the little ones at the orphanage, and we hope that carries over to home! The boys are very excited about their new big sis, and she seems to be taking the prospect of little brothers in stride. She is really sweet with an esay going disposition. Lot’s of smiles and not too much seems to ruffle her feathers. I really picked at her a little tonight. The second Mississippi State shirt has made it’s appearance, but I haven’t seen the Bama shirt yet. If you’re keeping score, that’s momma 2 and daddy 0! We have got to fix that! We’ll see if my teasing did any good!

We will let you know how the program goes!

Blessings,

Rick

Great Day!

2010-12-27T11:13:00.001-08:00

Today was a really great day! When we found N this morning she was wearing her new Mississippi State hoodie from mama and the necklace we gave her with the daughter inscription. I can’t complain about the hoodie since all the Bama gear we brought is short sleeve, but I have noticed her wearing a houndstooth scarf, so I will be counting on equal time when we get her stateside! Anyway, we got a wireless modem on Saturday, and today was our first day to take it to the orphanage. Boy did that make a big difference. We could “talk” with N and her friends using Google Translate without a lot of difficulty. We found out that N and her best friend were making plans to go to the city center to feed the pigeons. We asked if they would like to meet us at McDonalds for Ice Cream. They wrote a note to the Director and asked permission. She said yes, and we made a date. We hung out in N’s room with several of her friends for a long time just laughing and talking on the computer. It was hilarious hanging out with a bunch of silly girls. I think we are getting a taste of what life will be like. We left at lunch time and came back to the city center for lunch and a little rest. While we were at the apartment, we set up a little surprise. The girls have really been wanting to talk to the Drake boys, so we Skyped with Barbara and set up a call. Then, we rode the bus back to the orphanage at 4 and met them and all rode back to the city center to McDonalds. We grabbed some food and called the Drakes. Watching that video call was a hoot! The kids had a great time. We laughed at N trying to hide outside the camera range eating her hamburger (especially when a pickle fell out of her mouth). Teenage girls are more the same than different no matter where they are from. I think it really began to sink in to us tonight about how different our lives are about to become. Most of our lives have been spent ministering to teenagers, but we are now about to have one! Oh my!!!!!! Let the fun begin!!!! N really seems to be a sweet girl. I know there will be challenges. Everyone is on his/her best behavior right now, and we have yet to start parenting. Pray for us that we bond well during this time and that we use this time wisely. We want to make the most of our time with her.

We still have no word on court. Not that we expect to before next week. Please keep praying. While the Judge holds the power to set the date, God holds ruling authorities in His hand. We assume that everything with our papers is moving along. We expect that our paperwork should be back from the SDA later this week so that we could have court next week.

Blessings,

Rick

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T11:33:00.001-08:00

First off, let me say Merry Christmas to everyone back home. We had a great day today. As some of you know, Ukraine celebrates on the Orthodox calendar, so Christmas here isn’t until January 6-7. In that respect, today was just another day for everyone else around here. We had quite a day in the midst of normal for everyone else. We went to the orphanage early to see N. We took her some Christmas gifts (3 shirts and a watch—2 of the shirts were Mississippi State and 1 was Alabama. Not sure how that happened, but we’ll correct that in due time!) We still couldn’t communicate much. Galya ended up not being able to go with us. We mostly looked at pictures from summer before last. A couple of her friends hung out with us. It was a good thing. The extra girls kept things lively and kept it from being too boring. When we left, we decided that we really needed to get the wireless modem so we could use Google Translate to communicate a little better. We caught the bus thinking that it would loop back by the store where we could get it...we were wrong! It went the other way. We went to the other end of town. We thought the buses went in a loop. The bus driver put us off at the end of the line!!!! Ha!!!! At that point, we just cut our losses and caught a taxi back to our apartment and started over. With a little cellphone translation help from our buddy Sergei once we got on the right bus and got to the store, we got the Internet modem and we are in business. So now I think we are in a better shape to communicate. We are also looking forward to getting on Skype with the Drakes. If the Mills and the Jordans are reading this, look us up on Skype or get our info from Barbara, we’d love to get her on with your kids too! We can arrange a time via facebook.

Technology is amazing. Later in the afternoon, we were able to be with the boys and Nana and Papaw while the boys opened their Christmas presents. They moved their computer into the living room and pointed the camera at the Christmas tree and we sat in front of ours while we were connected by Skype. The connection was a little slow and dropped a few times, but it was sure better than missing it altogether! We could tell that Erick in particular was a little pouty this morning and so were his momma and daddy to be honest. Today was a tough thing to miss. Pray for the boys. We miss them terribly. It is great being able to see them and talk to them every day on the computer, and we are thankful for that, but we miss them so much it hurts. It is balanced some by looking at N and realizing how much of her life we have missed, but we don’t want to be away from any of them.

We plan to go to church tomorrow and then to take the day to rest. We will not see N. Then Monday we will resume a regular schedule. She is out of school, so we will go earlier in the day to see her. On Thursday, they will have a New Year’s program that we have been invited to attend as their guests. We hope that we will get to see her sing. We’ll let you know. Also, Please keep praying that we hear something about our court date. Everything hinges on the Judge’s decision as to when she will schedule our court date.

That’s all for now!

Again, Merry Christmas,

Rick

Making Progress

2010-12-23T12:04:00.001-08:00

Today was a good day on the adoption process front. We didn’t hear much in the morning. I tried to write some this morning on a curriculum project that Tony and I have in the works. I got a little bit accomplished while we were waiting to go for our interview late this afternoon with the Inspector’s boss. At about 1:30, we decided to walk down to McDonald’s. (Btw, we have decided that we may be like Jim Bob and Crystal and eat there every day! I am admitting it. It’s such a drag to shop here and we don’t really trust the meats the in little groceries in downtown. The Potato House is good too, but we figure McDonald’s for one meal plus fruit and vegetables will probably balance out. With all the walking, we’re going to be in great shape by the time we get home!) Anyway, just as we sat down to eat my phone rang and said we needed to get to the Inspector’s ASAP. They were ready for us. So we choked down our lunch and dashed back to the apartment.

We got to the Inspector’s office and waited for Galya to go over our paperwork to edit out any mistakes. Then, we went into an interview with the Department Director. We have been through two of these interviews before. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have been concerned. This is the interview where they ask about why you want to adopt. Why you want to adopt from Ukraine. Do you know about the child’s history and medical condition and can you afford another child and so on. Our concern was the unknown from all the drama of the past week. Well, I am happy to report that there was nothing to be concerned about. The interview was routine. It took about five minutes. There is an Italian couple here adopting now too and their interview was much longer! I guess he figured if we had done this here twice before how much could there be left for him to ask!!! Anyway, our paperwork is done here and off to the SDA for processing. It should be submitted there Monday and picked up Wednesday. That would mean that it would be back here Thursday evening or Friday morning. From that point, we are just waiting on the Judge to set a court date. As we understand it, the Judge will not consider our petition for a court date until January 4 but could act on it almost immediately as the court docket is empty until January 13. Since there is this Italian couple also trying to get a hearing now, we are hoping and praying that the judge will go ahead and get us out of the way while she has time in her schedule.

We had a little confusion about seeing N today. We were supposed to see her after our meeting, but she was late coming back after a holiday outing. We waited at the orphanage for 2 hours and only got to see her for a couple of minutes. We hope to get to see her more tomorrow. We did get to sit in on a presentation that one of the local businesses did giving a bunch of toys and sports equipment to the orphanage as a Christmas gift. We got to see two of the older boys from this past summer and the one boy left from last summer and the two remaining girls from this past summer. There were hugs and smiles all around. I did think it was pretty funny at one point. I caught a look at the Italian couple who saw us hugging and greeting so many of the kids, they look a little puzzled. We’re going to have to figure out how to point and grunt our way through explaining it to them! They probably won’t care. They have their hands full with a 5-year-old little ball of energy from the boys group that will keep them on their toes for sure.

We know that things are winding down and gearing up back home as everyone gets ready to celebrate Christmas. We love and miss you all so much. Half a world away, it brings an interesting perspective on the Season and the Reason. Don’t forget as you treasure the gifts and the foods or the family and the friends that the greatest gift of all is the news God sent forth His only Son into the world that we might have the opportunity to be adopted into the family of the Most High!

Blessings,

Rick

Finally

2010-12-22T10:36:00.001-08:00

So, finally after all the drama, we actually got a day to spend with N. It was beginning to seem like we were never actually going to see her! It was awesome! We rolled out early to take her to see the Psychiatrist. (It’s not a big deal. That is a fairly new procedure that they have added for all adoptions.) When we got to the orphanage, we had a little trouble finding her, but when we found her, she came bounding down the stairs with a big grin on her face and greeted us both with big hugs. This greeting was much different than the one a few days ago. We could tell that the tension over K and the “stuff” surrounding her decision had created a great discomfort for her. All of that is clearly gone now. Back to the visit to the Psychiatrist. I don’t think she even sat down in the chair. The interview couldn’t have lasted more than 2 minutes. We were kidding her on the way over about what Lee and Barbara told us about the boys’ interviews, and that if she stayed more than a few minutes we would assume she was crazier than Vitaly. Everyone thought that was funny! Apparently Vitally is still crazier!!!! We can talk that over the next time we Skype :)

After that, we got a cab back to the orphanage. We went by the director’s office for a minute for Galya to get some paperwork together and to set up a schedule for visits. After the next couple of days, we will be able to visit earlier in the day since N will be out of school for the holidays. We are going to give riding the bus a shot. That should be fun.

For most of the rest of the time, we hung out in Irena’s room with N looking at pictures on our computer and working on English on Rosetta Stone. She really didn’t like Rosetta Stone. I don’t think the microphone worked too well on the computer and it was frustrating. I think we are going to need to look into a better plan for a way to communicate as well. Our facilitator will not be with us at the orphanage, and it’s going to be much tougher with a teenager than with a 7-year-old to keep from being bored, so we will need to work on that fast. Barbara, if you read this and can message me Irena’s contact info, I would appreciate it. We think that it might be a good idea to talk to her about translating for us some.

On the legal front, we didn’t get to see the Inspector’s boss today, so it looks like we will get to see him tomorrow at 4 and our paperwork will go to Kyiv on Friday. We are still uncertain about a court date, but coming home looks out because we don’t think they will actually schedule a court date before Jan. 4. That means we might only know a day or two before the actual court date. We couldn’t take the chance of being gone and missing our opportunity. Today, an Italian couple showed up at the orphanage to adopt and we hear that there is a Ukrainian couple seeking to foster a child that will likely both be done on the same day as our hearing. Apparently, they are in no hurry and would be content with mid-January. We hope not. Please continue to pray! I must admit that I am really frustrated!!!

The last thing for tonight was as funny little story. We needed a taxi to leave the orphanage today. Galya gave the phone number and instructions to N. At the time, she called and arranged for our taxi and took us down to meet it. It didn’t come. She called again. It still didn’t come. She called again. We walked to look for it. She called again...assertively. I wish you could have seen her. She was so confident and took care of things so well! She was large and in charge. Finally, she walked us down to the corner, flagged down the driver, put us in the taxi, hugged, us goodbye, and sent us safely home. It was so sweet! She has spent so much of her life taking care of herself. We are really looking forward to talking care of her! Thank you God for the opportunity to care for her and thank you for caring for us...

Blessings,

Rick

Another day...another twist!

2010-12-21T11:39:00.001-08:00

Today brought another twist in the process. We got going this morning at 10 (which seems like the starting time around here. The workday for the government offices seems to be 10-4 with a lunch break. Sweet hours if you can get them! Anyway, we began at the notary getting petitions done to take to the Inspector and the Judge. Then off to the Inspector’s office. That’s where the fun began. When we got there, the Inspector informed us that no matter what letters we had from the girls, she was not going to order the separation of them because the law didn’t allow it (why she didn’t tell us that days ago, I have no idea). She said that only a health condition or being in different orphanages was a legal cause. Over the next three hours, we made many calls to Kyiv to the SDA, our facilitator in Kyiv, another facilitator in a case where they are separating kids under the same circumstances, the Inspector in that case, and others. Still, she was unmoved. She insisted that this was the law and it was in the best interests of the girls. After 3 hours, it looked bad, and I must admit, I lost it! Denise and I both ended up in a pretty emotional shouting match with the Inspector. I finally asked her if she was going to be the one to go to the orphanage and tell N the it was in her best interests not to be adopted! Was she going to be the grandparent to her children? Was she going to plan her wedding? She just kept saying “it’s not me, it’s the law.”I told her that was not true because we knew of this other case. Finally was were asked to wait outside. After a while, they came out and said that they had discovered a new update to the law dated November 15th of this year that allowed other exceptions for separation! Because the law is vague and everyone here is wanting to cover themselves, they said that they would take our petition to a counsel on Thursday. At that time they would give us the necessary paperwork to send to the SDA but really they are not approving out petition, just passing the buck to the judge because they say the law is too new and vague to know what it means.

So, we left with that over. We decided against going to see N today. Until we have the petition, we thought it best not to go. So, we headed off to the open air market for some fruit and a very late lunch. Just before ordering lunch, Galya called. It seems that something else turned up. There has been a medical exception that has been discovered. We are choosing not to share it, but as of right now, we think everything changed at about 2:30 this afternoon, and the Inspector has no more basis to deny our petition to adopt N. We have been wrong before...today, but now we think we are right. We still have to meet with the Inspector's boss for an interview and that may take another day or two or schedule. We are frustrated beyond belief at the pace of things here! In our previous two adoptions in Ukraine, we have never seen a region operate this slowly!!!!

So, there are several big prayer requests that we are making tonight (today for you in the US):

That the Inspector will follow through with the adoption petition
That N will have no problems in the Psychologist visit tomorrow (routine visit for a report to be part of the adoption file)
That was can get a quick appt w/ the Inspector’s boss & get his report
That we can get our papers off to the SDA quickly
That the Ukrainian Gov’t halts the proposed adoption moratorium

Yes, the adoption moratorium goes before the Ukrainian Rada again this week! We are watching our email to see what the US embassy is saying. Pray that it goes away! We had hoped to be done before it came to a vote but at this rate, we don’t know.

Thanks for praying. It is noteworthy that every day we seem to be having major breakthroughs around 2 or 2:30 in the afternoon here. We have wondered if that has anything to do with the numbers of people that are going before the Father on our behalf in the mornings as they rise to meet the day back home. We know you are praying!!!!

We love you,

Rick

Not a Fairly Tale

2010-12-20T11:54:00.001-08:00

We often tell people that adoption of older kids is not a fairy tale. Today is an example of why. It’s messy.

We got going this morning after a rather crazy night last night. Our evening was cut short due to a city-wide power outage. It’s Ukraine! It happens! The good news is that our Alias marathon ended early. The bad news is that we were awakened at 1 in the morning by a horrible beeping sound that we finally discovered was coming from the apartment next door.

When we finally got going this morning, Galya called and said that K had not returned to the orphanage all weekend, and there was no word. We went to the orphanage and then to the inspector’s office only to find out the final conclusion that without her providing a letter either accepting or declining our offer of adoption, we could do nothing about N’s adoption. The Inspector indicated that if she was not found we would have to leave or go and get another referral for other children. She seemed puzzled that we would not want to do that. It was really discouraging. We decided to head to lunch at around 2:30 and regroup. Just as we ordered lunch, the orphanage called and said K was back. We cancelled our order and headed back.

When we arrived, we were ushered into a room where K was waiting for us with a caregiver and the psychologist. We all sat down. She never really even looked at us. She said something to our facilitator that seemed to indicate that she was going to accept our offer to be adopted. Then she began to write her letter. She paused and asked Galya how to word something and then it was done...she had refused our offer of adoption. Just that quickly, it was over. She cried. We cried. We hugged and talked to her her about the place that she would have in our lives regardless of her decision. She will always be the sister of our adopted daughter, but we wanted to bring her home to Hattiesburg too. We’ve learned more over the last few days. More than can be shared here, and more than we could have known before we arrived.

Our next big complication is in scheduling the court hearing. Galya went to see the Judge after we got K’s letter. She saw the Judge after court, and the judge blew her off about giving us a court date. She said she would not even consider our petition until Jan. 4. That would mean that we might not get a hearing until the week of Jan. 10. Galya spent most of dinner tonight trying to convince us to consider flying home for a couple of weeks until we have court. We are going to see what the next few days bring. Please pray with us for wisdom and discernment. We want to do what is best for everyone here and at home.

N comes back tomorrow. We are anxious to see her. We understand that she has been calling the orphanage often. She has been worried that the adoption will not take place. It will be good to reassure her.

We are thankful for your prayers and love!

Gone Again

2010-12-18T01:00:00.001-08:00

Seriously. At this point, you are beginning to need a scorecard to keep up or at least I am. We heard from Galya, our facilitator, this morning, and K is gone again. Since it’s the weekend, details are a little sketchier. Here is what we know now. Apparently she has a boyfriend in Orphanage #1. Great, one more time in my life that I wish that a teenager had kissed dating goodbye! (Sorry, but at this point if we don’t start finding humor in some of this, we’ll go crazy). Anyway, they think she has run off with her boyfriend. The good news is that she hasn’t said no to us. Everyone here thinks that is an encouraging thing. The Psychologist at the orphanage also thinks that if we try coming around while she is there, that we may spook her, and cause her to run harder. That’s her pattern. She doesn’t face stress and problems. She runs. Oh how we just what to grab her up and hold her and tell her it will be alright! She’s 15-years-old, and what seems like it is bigger than the world is really so small. How many of us would love to forget who we were dating or what we were doing or wearing at 15?!?!?! The old youth minister in me is freaking out!!!!!

So, we are going to get ready and go explore Sevastopol. If we can’t see K and N won’t be back until mid-week, then we might as well start figuring this place out. So far, without our facilitator we have discovered a little “producti” (mini-mart) near our flat where we bought a few things, a bank to exchange money, and McDonald’s (c’mon we’re Americans). Outside of that, we really haven’t seen much. So, it’s time to get out sightseeing on! Tomorrow we are going to church with Galya and her husband Kostya. Not sure what kind of church it is other then it isn’t Orthodox! Their small group has been praying for us, and we are looking forward to meeting them. It will be good to meet some fellow believers here and fellowship!

We’ll update if we know anything else.

Blessings,

Rick

Marking time

2010-12-17T03:10:00.001-08:00

The morning brought a little more news. K is back at the orphanage. We are not sure when she came back. She has talked with people there and says she needs more time to decide. We understand that she is very upset, crying a lot and generally miserable. We are just really heartbroken. We assumed this would be difficult for her, but not like this. Right now, they will not let us have any contact with her. They are afraid that it may be misconstrued as us trying to “unduly influence” her decision. I am really frustrated with that part. It seems that kids in the orphanage and even family members may be telling her all kinds of things right now to scare her about America nad to scare her away from joining our family yet we are being prevented from the chance to even see her. I see that they are trying to protect her and us, but it just makes me want to scream. Sometimes the process just seems so crazy!

The policies here say that a family has 5 days to decide whether or not to adopt a child. We are being told that Monday is really a key day for her decision. I’m not sure if that is absolute or not. Please continue praying. Pray that we can spend some time with her. We don’t intend to pressure her. We only want to get to know her and for her to get to know us. We think that will be enough. Right now we are tired and emotionally spent and this is really too early in the process to feel this way. We’ve been through this before and we know what lies ahead. Our tanks need to be more full and the last couple of days have been tough. We are mostly cooped up in the apartment sitting and waiting on news. The last time I remember anything like this it was after we evacuated for Katrina. I guess God gives you one trial to prepare you for another. It’s funny though, the sense of concern and brokenness in all of this is for K. Right now, she is in agony, and we just want to make it better. It’s why we came here! Please pray with us that she can see that!

Blessings,

Rick

Adoption Roller Coaster

2010-12-16T07:18:00.001-08:00

When I was a kid, I loved roller coasters. Now that I am older...not so much. Well today was a not so much day. We were expecting that we were going to head to the orphanage at 2:30 this afternoon to see K and hear their decision. Instead, as I posted this morning (or at least as I think I posted this morning—it’s been a little crazy), we were awakened at 8:30 this morning to the news that N had signed a letter agreeing to be adopted before heading off to a singing competition in the west this morning. We got ready and waited. The plan was to go to the orphanage and see K. The word was she was still thinking it over but open. Our driver had car trouble, and we didn’t get there until after noon. By the time we got there, she had run away. We waited for over 3 hours while they tried to find her to no avail. Apparently, a friend who she runs away with convinced her that being adopted is a bad idea (the people at the orphanage think because of jealousy) and convinced her to run away. Right now this leaves us in a holding pattern.

We cannot process any paperwork to move forward until we get her letter declaring her intention and that cannot be done until she is found. We are willing to wait on her for as long as we can. She needs to know we are not going to quit on her. We can’t schedule a court hearing or anything else until this set is done but that all pales in comparison to a 15-year-old girl who hurts so much. We will see what tomorrow brings. Please continue to pray with us. We are gripped by our powerlessness and God’s sovereignty! We are so appreciative of all the encouraging skypes, emails, fb messages, and tweets. Our friends and family in the Body of Christ are such a gift. We thank God for each of you!

Blessings,

Rick

Morning Update

2010-12-15T23:03:00.001-08:00

We just received an update from Galya. N left a letter this morning that said that she does want to be adopted by us. That's a big relief, but K is refusing to be adopted. We are heading to the orphanage in a little while to talk to her in person one more time. We will let you know what happens. I am convinced this is not a battle of flesh and blood but of principalities and powers being fought in the heavenly places and the stakes are much higher than where she will spend her physical days. It is a gospel issue. Whether or not she will be raised to hear about and know the one true King. Please pray!

Love you all,

Rick

Uncertainty

2010-12-15T08:03:00.001-08:00

Today was not really what we expected. We have been planning today for a long time, and I must be honest that I had it pictured a hundred different ways in my mind. It didn’t turn out like any of the ways that we had pictured.

Everything was going pretty much as planned. Typical day with a visit to the Inspector and then to the Children’s Home for the meeting with the Inspector, Director of Social Services, the Children’s Home Director, the Children’s Home Psychologist, and the Doctor. While we were waiting outside the Children’s Home for that meeting, the Director sent one of the workers out to invite us inside to wait in the library. Nice! After a time, the Director brought Irena, the caregiver who came to Mississippi last summer by the Library! We had a big reunion! It was great!!!! Irena took us to see her group and we saw one of the girls from the summer and two of the girls who were supposed to come but were prevented by travel problems. They showed us their school work and we laughed with them for a little while. It was good. Then it came time for our meeting.

Just before our meeting began, N popped in. It was a little weird. She seemed happy to see us but something seemed wrong. It was hard to place. The Director asked her to leave (that much we got) and something was said about K and then our meeting began. From there, everything settled in as expected. We got information about the girls. We learned how they got to the orphanage, about their health, and etc. Then, it was time to sit down with them and ask them. The Director suggested that we go with Galya, our facilitator, to the Library with the girls to be with them and talk to them. So, we did. It was awkward at best. N greeted us more warmly, but K greeted us like a shy girl who was scared. We tried to make a little small talk. No good. So, we went ahead and asked them...and they said they would think about it and tell us later. N was the spokeswoman. K just welled up with tears. Wow! Not what I was expecting.... Not yes. Not no. Wait.

So, we all went back to the Director’s office, and the meeting broke up with the promise to meet again at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon. The girls hadn’t eaten lunch, so the Director said that they would eat lunch and meet us back at the Library and we could visit until 4. They stayed gone a long time. I am sure much more than lunch was going on to be sure. When they finally came back from lunch, we were able to talk for an hour or so before we decided it was best to let them have time to be alone to visit and decide.

The time we spent with them seemed to go well. We explained why we had taken so long to come and why we not been able to give them any advance warning that we intended to come and adopt them, but there was one strange piece to the puzzle that we cannot figure out. N seemed to think that we had intended to adopt someone else before coming for her. We tried to reassure her that was never the case. They were always our first choice. I don’t really know what she means. I don’t know if she know that we were in Irena’s group today and thought we were looking at another child and does not understand the process. I really just don’t know. What I do feel is that this is a spiritual battle at the deepest level. The enemy does not want these girls to come to Hattiesburg under the influence of the gospel. We were talking about it with our facilitator before we went to the orphanage. Please pray with us that this barrier would be torn down.

K is a shy young woman with a load of hurts and it shows. N is leaving tomorrow morning for a singing competition in western Ukraine. She will be gone until December 22 and will have to write a letter before she leaves in the morning to make her decision whether or not to be adopted. We will get to spend the next several days with K alone. Please pray that a bond of trust begins to be built with her.

So, we are praying and trying to adjust to our new surroundings...trusting God that His plan is working out in His time and in His way. They don’t all have to be Kodak moments....do they?

Blessings,

Rick

We're in Sevastopol

2010-12-14T14:36:00.001-08:00

It's 12:30 PM local time and we just made it to Sevastopol after a long day. Today involved an afternoon trip to the SDA to pick up our referral, a quick goodbye to Sergey and Natalie, a 1 hour flight to Simferopol, and a 1.5 hour drive to Sevastopol. Tomorrow we will get going at 9 with a visit to the Inspector's office to register and get permission to visit the orphanage. Then we will make an official visit to meet with the Director. After that, we presume that we will get to see N and K when they get out of school, and get to talk to them for the first time. We'll keep you posted!

P.S. Our apartment is swank!!! Looks like we are a long way from the orphanage but we'll see...

Blessings,

Rick

SDA Visit

2010-12-14T02:13:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we visited the SDA. It went as planned. We saw the files for N & K and learned that they have been in the orphanage for 2 years. It was a short meeting. We will return at 4 today to pick up out paperwork and dash back by Sergey and Natalie's to get out luggage and then head for the airport. Tonight we fly to Simferopol and then drive to Sevastopol to our new home for the next month or so.

We heard yesterday that adoption court for this month is tomorrow. So, we are going to ask you to pray with us that the judge will make an exception and hear our case when our papers return from Kyiv in about 8-10 days. It would be miracle to us but nothing to God!

Seeing N & K's pictures in their files yesterday was tough. So much sadness and pain. We pray that God breaks through it and praticularly with K that he gives her a heart inclined to say yes to joining our family!

Also, the US embassy has posted more information on the updated changes to the Ukrainian adoption laws. Not sure what they mean. Please continue to pray for us that we would not be hindered.

We are well and will write more when we getti Sevastopol.

Blessings,

Rick Morton

Sent from my iPhone

Great first day

2010-12-11T10:25:00.001-08:00

We have had a great first day in Ukraine. We got a pretty good nights rest. We are so glad to be staying with Sergey and Natalie. There is a huge difference enjoying the hospitality of friends! This afternoon we went to a baptism service with Open Hearts Church, the church Sergey founded and pastors. What a huge blessing. SIx sisters in Christ made their public confession and were baptized. It was great! The service was very similar to our New Life service at Temple including video testimonies from each of the candidates. The main difference was that Sergey preached a much longer sermon then Tony! Tony will be glad to hear that and I'm sure will use this as ammunition in our next planning session! They also shared a fellowship meal afterwards. That's an idea we should consider.

We have spent a quiet evening back at the Bochko apartment. Tomorrow our plans call for church and the afternooon/evening with Joel and Mary Ellen. We can't wait. We just Skyped with the boys and Nana and Papaw. Everyone seems to be doing well. So far so good. Thanks for praying. Keep it up! We feel the prayers of all our friends!

Blessings,

RIck

We made it!

2010-12-10T10:33:00.001-08:00

We have arrived in Ukraine safe and sound. It is cold!! I am so glad to have the first travel portion of the trip over. They have opened up a new terminal at the Ukraine airport, and we just flew through it with a little help.

Sergey and Natasha are wonderful hosts. They provided a great meal and wonderful fellowhip. It is good to be staying with friends instead of some generic flat in the city. We are looking forward to tomorrow with them. They are having a baptisim at their church, and I can't wait to participate in the worship service with them.

I miss my boys so could some of you love on them a little extra for us.

I know this is short, but I am sitting next to a comfortable bed that seems to be calling my name louder every second.

The schedule so far for the adoption is that we go to the SDA Monday to get the referral for the girls, then return Tuesday for the official letter to take to the orphanage. Then we will be off to Sevestapol Tues evening. We should meet with the girls Wed so we would appreciate your prayers that all goes smoothly with that.

Thanks for your prayers, we have been feeling them.

Twas the night before....

2010-12-08T20:25:00.001-08:00

Well obviously it's not the night before Christmas, but it is in the Morton house. Tomorrow is the big day. Denise & I are off at 4:25 tomorrow afternoon from Gulfport headed to Ukraine for our next adoption. Before then, we will be celebrating Christmas tomorrow morning with the boys. Santa is going to make an early trip by the house tonight, and tomorrow, we will take time to remember the most important birthday ever when Jesus came that we might be adopted into God's family before we head for the airport!

Today it really hit how much we are going to miss the boys, and I can really tell it is hitting them, especially Erick. Please pray for us. It is going to be agonizing to be separated for so long! In the grand scheme of all the years, I guess that a few weeks is not that big a thing, but when I look at our little boys, I just hurt thinking about missing so much time with them! Then, I think of how much of the girl's lives we have missed. We just have to start where we are and work with what God has blessed us to have. I am thankful.

The first several days of the process will be fairly uneventful on the adoption front. If travel goes as planned, we will spend the weekend in Kyiv getting adjusted to the time and hanging out with friends. We will be staying with Sergey and Natalie Bochko who translated for us this summer with Promise 139 and have been good friends for years. Sergey pastors Open Hearts church in Kyiv, and a number of his church members worked with us on our mission trip to Tetiev this past summer. I really developed a great bond with a number of the church folks there, so it will be great to be with his church family. They will be baptizing 8 people on Saturday at noon. Hopefully jet lag won't be killing us too much, and we can enjoy that time with our friends.

We will also get some quality time with some of our dearest friends in the world, Joel and Mary Ellen Ragains. I am so looking forward to hanging out with them! They have had such an impact on us, and we love them dearly. anytime we can be with them the fellowship is sweet and the laughter is plentiful. I cannot wait!!!

We are anxiously anticipating our trip, but not before we have a little more fun here....

Goodnight,

Rick

Random Thoughts for Saturday....

2010-12-04T08:22:00.001-08:00

Today started at O' Dark Thirty. Typically, a Saturday that begins at that hour cannot be anything good. Today is an exception. Right now, I am sitting in a training event with about 40 other guys getting ready for the Momentum Men's Conference that will be held in Hattiesburg at Temple in February 11-12. This is going to be a great conference with Crawford Loritts and Rick Burgess. Last year, we had around 1,100 guys take part in this event and most of them began to be discipled in small groups as a result. I am pumped about this event. Tickets will go on sale soon at Temple. Be on the lookout!

Last night, I received some sad news. Shan Bagwell, a friend and seminary student from Austin, Texas, went home to be with Jesus earlier this week. Shan's parents Billy and Betty are members here at Temple, and I would appreciate you joining me in praying for me as they grieve. I got to know Shan this summer while he was home visiting his parents. He was a great guy. I enjoyed the visits that I had with him. He had lived in Santa Fe, and Santa Fe is one of Denise and my favorite cities. We hit it off, and talked about restaurants and other great things, but mostly what we talked about was Jesus. Shan had taken a long road to get where he was, and he understood Grace! He loved God in this life, and now he is with Jesus. I grieve with Billy and Betty, but I rejoice with Shan for he is well with Jesus, and I will see him again one day!

The Morton house is a beehive of activity. We are in an endless state of packing or at least it seems that way! Things are falling into place. We are pulling last minute details together. I am thankful for God's grace! I am experiencing a calm that I cannot explain, and all I can call it is "the peace of God that passes all understanding!" Wow! It's cool! There are a few things that I would ask you to pray with us about:

That God would continue to prepare the hearts of the girls. In little more than a week, we will show up on the doorstep of their children's home, and they don't know we are coming, and we will ask them to join their family. One of them knows us, and the other doesn't. We are continually asking God to go before us and to prepare them. We are asking for a supernatural readiness. We want them desperately, and we believe that our desire is God placed, so we trust, and we pray.
For the timing of our appointments. We have an appointment at the SDA on Monday, December 13 at noon. We are flying out on Thursday to give us a little leeway for travel disruptions. We have a flight scheduled to Simferopol on Tuesday night, December 14. For us to be able to keep that appointment, we will have to have our travel/visit permission documentation prepared by the SDA by the close of business Tuesday afternoon. That would be the norm, but as we have come to understand about international adoption, the only thing you know for sure is that you really don't know anything for sure! Please pray for these appointments and processes specifically.
Once we ask the girls, assuming everything is in order, we will have a series of paperwork/appointments that will have to be accomplished quickly to be able to send paperwork back to Kyiv to make a formal petition to adopt to the SDA. Again, pray for quick resolution!
Court. This is the biggie. Our big prayer is that we can get a court date before the end of the year. Best case scenario would be that we could get on the court docket for around December 23. Not trying to sound like a broken record....please pray for the earliest possible court date.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Blessings,

Rick

Orphanologybook.com is officially launched today!

2010-12-01T10:18:00.001-08:00

Today is a really exciting day. www.orphanologybook.com officially went live this morning. Many of you have known that the website was out there, but it has been a work in progress over the past couple of months as content has been coming together. Today, all of the pieces are together, and the site is officially 100% a go!!!! Praise the Lord!!!! From today, that means that we are about 4 months away from the book's release. Today is a great day of anticipation and a great day of thanksgiving.

God is up to something in His Church for His Glory on behalf of the fatherless, and I am so excited to be swept up on the crest of the wave. As Tony and I have continued to talk to people about God's heart for the fatherless and the theological and practical implications of ministering to the orphan, we continue to see that God is up to something. This is not something that men and women are manufacturing. God is moving, and we are merely being swept up in the current of God's active grace! For a long time, the Church has seemed to lose the image of God as Adopter, but we are beginning to see Him that way afresh. To His Glory, we are learning to love him more, to respond to Him differently, and to mirror Him in a way that has been lost to many evangelical believers for generations. If our objective is to truly Know Him and make Him known, then orphan ministry has to be part of our missional strategy, period! O.K., enough preaching, but I am excited. I am ready for the book to be out as a catalyst for action and to encourage others to explore ways to live out theology by coming after, loving and caring for the orphan in the same way that God pursued, loved, and adopted us!

I am also anticipating some big news regarding Orphanology that we can't quite share yet....but hopefully soon! Give us a few days....It's big and exciting.....trust me ;-)

As for being thankful, I am thankful for a lot today as well.

I am thankful for a great co-author like Tony. It is such a privilege to get to do a project like this with such a close friend. Our lives and families have been so intertwined over the years, and I am thankful that God has given us the years to minister together for the sake of the Gospel. We are having a ball, and there really isn't anyone I would rather do this with! Thanks bro...I love you and your family!

Jonathan Howe at New Hope Publishes has become a great friend through this process, and he is an amazing gift. The website is his baby, and he has worked hard to produce most of what you see. Much props, my friend! You are the stuff!

Tanner Cade, the Video Director here at Temple, did a great job in helping us put together the video on the website. Thanks @tcade! Ummm, uhhhh, mmmm, that was very professional of you!

Tony and I have joked as endorsements have come in for the book that they are a little intimidating because they may actually be better than the book! Really, we are humbled by our friends and the affirming and gracious things they have said about the book. In particular, the book's foreword which has been written by our good friend David Platt has been posted on the website. I just saw it for the first time last night. When I read it, I cried like a baby! Wow! It sums up the heart of our message, and what we hope to inspire our readers to be equipped to live out.

I am thankful for my family. Every day they teach me the real life lessons of Orphanology. Lots of days, we are a mess. I told someone the other day, that life for us seems like it is being lived in a blender. But, through it all we are learning about the grace and the sufficiency of God that has been made known and available to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. In 8 days, Denise and I get on a plane to head to Ukraine. If the Lord wills, we will be expanding our family by two teenage girls. I can't even imagine what that will be like. This is what I do know....

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:11-13

***Shameless Plug Alert***

In case you are interested, the book can be pre-ordered now at Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com and it will ship as soon as they are in stock or it will be available from the Oasis or LifeWay Christian Stores in early March. Sorry for the plug, but between the Meridas and the Mortons, we have 9 junior college tuitions to pay for (and many of you have seen both my boys run...just sayin')!

Blessings,

Rick

Reflective and Thankful

2010-11-25T14:53:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Today is a day of reflection, and I am enjoying every minute of it! As is our custom,we are at Denise's parent's enjoying a quiet Thanksgiving day. Right now we are full of good food and watching the Saints beat the stuffing out of the Cowboys. Everyone but Denise is pretty happy.

Each Thanksgiving day I can't help but think back on where we were on Thanksgiving day 2003. On that day, we were half a wolrd away in Ternopil Ukraine. Seven years ago today was the first day that we laid eyes on our precious Erick. What a day. Whew! We had no idea what the years would bring. I love you son. You have brought so much joy to my life, and I cannot imagine our family without you! I thank God that He led us to you!!!!

As we stand on the brink of adding to our familiy again, I am again reminded of God's grace and of His lovingkindness toward us! We are so thankful for Erick and Nicholas and for the daughters that we pray to be able to bring home! Thank you Father for adopting us into your family through Jesus' sacrifice and thank you for the provledge of being blessed ot be the dad of some great kids. I am thankful!!!!

Quite a week....

2010-10-30T06:28:00.001-07:00

I am a child of the 80s, and I love Ferris Bueller! My favorite quote from the movie is, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” well, this was one of those fast moving weeks in our lives.

Our adoption dossier was submitted in Ukraine on Tuesday!!!! That means we are a giant step closer to travelling to get our kids. Unfortunately, we found out yesterday that our medical paperwork has to be redone. Apparently (as is quite common in Ukraine), the requirements for the paperwork had changed, but those changes we not communicated well. We had to wait until we submitted the paperwork, and then, they told us after a review that it was wrong. Urrrgh!!! One step forward and two steps back. We hope that this still means that we will get an appointment within twenty business days from Tuesday. Pray with us that is the case. We are anxious to travel.

The renovation to our home to accommodate the new arrivals is shaping up nicely. Nana and Papaw are here this weekend, and we are nearing completion. I am so thankful for them! We are down to trim work and drywall. Then it will be on to getting carpet laid and paint. Then, Erick can move into his new little room, and we’ll be ready for our girls to come home.

We are still waiting and trusting.

Gospel implications for the disappearance of physical books?

2010-10-20T06:29:00.001-07:00

Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop per Child, thinks so. In a recent interview on CNN (http://bit.ly/bbZg78), Negroponte projects that like the adoption of cell phones, the developing world will drive the adoption of e-books. This makes for interesting implications for the spread of the Scriptures and Gospel related “print” materials. I wonder if the church, missions organizations, and the Christian publishing community is at the leading edge of this coming revolution. I fear we are not. For the sake of the advance of the Kingdom, I perceive that we must be. One more area of technology that the Church must gain ground quickly if we are to be missional into a rapidly changing world!

Adoption Update

2010-10-19T20:01:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick update about where things stand as of tonight on our adoption.

We had a little hiccup on our paperwork. Not a big deal. Just a little inconvenience. We misunderstood about the number of copies of one document and the requirements of a couple of others. We think we have it worked out. Everthing is done, notarized, and Denise will be off to get them authenticated at the Secretary of State's office in the morning. Lord willing, that paperwork will arrive in Ukraine by Monday and our dossier will be submitted Tuesday.
Our dear friends, Barbara and Lee Drake, are in Ukraine adopting from where we are planning to adopt from if all goes according to the plan. They are doing well, and we would ask that you pray for them as they progress thorugh the adoption of 3 boys. The news they are sending us is great, but there are some surprises as well. We really can't share anything, but we would just ask you to pray. We feel like we are living with our feet planted firmly in mid air right now. There is a lot of uncertainty swirling. It is at times like this that we are confident that we can be certainof God and His soverignty and little else. God has a plan, and in that we are supremely confident, but in us we are not. I wish I xould be more transperent, but right now is not the time. Thanks for your intercession on our behalf. God knows our circumstances and our needs better than we do and He provides better then we can ask. So thanks for laboring in prayer with us.

If our dossier get submitted Tuesday, we should get an appointment for travel in 20 business days from next Tuesday. From there God knows and we trust, and that is always a good place to be....

Blessings,

Rick

Our Book's Website is Up

2010-10-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

The Book

The website for my upcoming book with Tony Merida called Orphanology: Gospel Centered Adoption and Orphan Care is up. The book is a call to the Church to rise up and respond to the cause of the fatherless. The book will be available in April 2011 locally through:

The Oasis

and nationally through:

LifeWay Christian Stores
Family Christian Stores
Mardel
Christian Book Distributors
Barnes and Noble
WMUStore.com
Amazon

Adoption Update and Stuff

2010-10-13T00:41:00.001-07:00

This morning I am on an early morning flight headed for Memphis. My final destination is Newark and then on the Staten Island to meet up with Pastor Ray Parascondo and the folks from Crossroads church to take part in the process of ordaining their first pastoral candidate. Our church, Temple has had an on going partnership with them for years, it is very special to be able to be part of this occasion with them. It will be a quick trip, and I’ll be back in the ‘Burg by mid-morning tomorrow, but what a cool opportunity!

So, on to the adoption stuff! As many of you know who have followed our journey for very long, international adoption can be a lot like begin in the military, it is a lot of hurry up and wait. Well we are in a hurry up phase right now for sure! As of Friday, we received our approval from USCIS (The Department of Homeland Security) for advanced processing of immigrant visas of up to 3 (no our plans have not changed—but you never can be sure) orphaned children to become US citizens. Wooo Hooo! That is a big hurdle cleared. Not that we expected not to be cleared, but it takes time, and time is not on our side.

With that approval, we are assembling our dossier with the goal of having it FedExed to Ukraine by Friday! We will fax copies of the notarized documents to Ukraine tomorrow for translations to begin even before the documents arrive. There are several things that we are praying for in particular:

That our documents are right the first time and able to be submitted without incident at the earliest possible date.
That we find favor in the eyes of the Ukrainian SDA and get a quick appointment. There is a new wrinkle in the law that an Interpol clearance has to be run on adoptive couples that slows things down by 40-days. Please pray that they will run the check while we are in process for the appointment and not make us wait for the check to be the appointment
For N & K’s encouragement. Two of our dear friends, Lee and Barbara Drake and in Ukraine right now pursuing the adoption of 3 boys from the same orphanage. N & K don’t know we are coming. K has never met us. N desperately wants to be adopted. Pay that they make good choices, and that they hang on just a little longer. We are on the way!
Pray for things on the home front too! We are definitely seeing the stress in both Erick and Nicholas and it isn’t pretty. Lot’s of bad behavior. They aren’t dealing well with the immediacy of the change or the prospect of momma and daddy being gone for 6 weeks, Adoption ain’t a fairy tale! :)

That’s a lot, and it’s enough for now.

Thanks for loving us and for praying!

Blessings,

Rick

Thoughts on human trafficking--how you can help and Bible translations

2010-09-17T06:51:00.001-07:00

I guess today could be called random Friday! Sometimes, it just seems to happen that way.

A couple of weeks ago, Denise and Nina Mixon represented our Promise 139 Orphan Hosting Program as they had an opportunity to meet with members of the staffs of Mississippi Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker to lobby for their support of the Child Protection Compact Act of 2010 (CPCA). The CPCA will go a long way to strengthening the US position as a world leader in protecting children in targeted countries from slavery and sex trafficking. Denise, Nina, and the rest of the group were well received, and Senate committee hearings are underway considering the bill. Now is the time for the rest of the Church to be heard!

How can you help. Your Senator’s need to hear your voice clearly. They need to know that we expect our government to enact laws to restrict trade and international aid to countries who turn a deaf ear to the plight of enslaved children. International Justice Mission has prepared a website to tell you what to do. This Monday, September 20 has been set aside as a call-in day for us all to call in to our Senators’ offices and be head on this issue. Please follow this link to the IJM website for more details and make the calls on Monday on behalf of the fatherless! http://www.ijm.org/nationalcallinday

Also this morning I ran across a blog that I wanted to share. It comes from Bill Mounce. He served as the New Testament chair of the English Standard Version Bible translation, and is currently on the Committee for Bible Translation for the NIV. Mounce is a co-author of one of the best selling biblical Greek texts of all time, and he is one of the most gifted linguistic scholars we have ever known.

His blog from this past week is a great introduction for common men and women like us who try to understand the nuances of what makes a biblical translation accurate. It is worth your time to read. And, his blog is worth your time to check out periodically. It can be found here: http://www.koinoniablog.net/2010/09/mounce75.html

My source for this and many other thought provoking little tidbits is Tim Challies’ blog A La Carte which can be found at http://www.challies.com/ or you can follow him on twitter as “challies.” Thanks Tim for keeping many of us in the loop!

I hope you Friday is a great one. Look for opportunities today to be a Kingdom builder and to use your life to bring the glory to the King that He deserves!

Blessings,

Rick

One step closer to our next adoption

2010-09-16T05:49:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update. Denise and I got word this week that we have received our appointments for fingerprinting with USCIS (the immigration service) in Jackson, MS for next Wednesday. That means that Denise, my mom and I will be heading to Jackson for a 9 a.m. appointment to have an electronic scan taken of our fingerprints so that an FBI background check can be run on us. Typically, the review takes 2-3 weeks from this point until we should receive final approval from the US government to travel.

Anyone who has followed this saga knows the story of my mom’s fingerprints, and the hassle we went through with the FBI and USCIS the last time since her prints we not readable. We are hoping to avoid a long delay and were given great reason for that hope this week! Please pray with us that the delay will be minimal. We want to be on our way, but we don’t want to be in Ukraine a minute before God has appointed for us to be there. It is a balancing act emotionally sometimes....

From the point of our approval from the US government, we could be in Ukraine within 5-6 weeks! Much has to happen, and we are just praying and waiting.

Excellent Blog on Relativism and the Ground Zero Mosque

2010-09-16T04:59:00.001-07:00

Nancy Pearcey, the author of Total Truth, has just posted an excellent blog on moral relativism and the secularization of America and its relationship to the controversy surrounding the Ground Zero mosque. She has an excellent eye for culture, and God has gifted her with the ability to look deeply into the heart of the soul of the matter to draw out how the encroachment of secularism has provided an open forum for the incipient agenda of radical Islam in America. It is a must read for evangelical Christians. The blog can be found here: http://www.pearceyreport.com/archives/2010/09/secular_values.php

We are about to adopt 2 more kids....

2010-08-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

and sometimes that means a little shameless contest entry here and there. Seriously, the folks over at Logos Bible Software are giving away some Macs to promote their software and we could use a new one. After all, we are adopting two teenage girls from Ukraine, but I use Logos software. I love it. I use it on a Mac. I use it every day. Tony Merida and I just completed a book called that will be published by New Hope Publishers April 2011 (I'm getting pretty good at this shameless plug stuff), and I used it a lot in the writing of the book. So check them out...
Logos Bible Software is giving away thousands of dollars of prizes to celebrate the launch of Logos Bible Software 4 Mac on October 1. Prizes include an iMac, a MacBook Pro, an iPad, an iPod Touch, and more than 100 other prizes!

They’re also having a special limited-time sale on their Mac and PC base packages and upgrades. Check it out! Click the link below to go to their site for details

www.logos.com/mac

Reflections on Pat Roberson's Recent Comments on Adoption

2010-05-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, The 700 Club ran a story about the Christian Alliance for Orphans and the recent Summit VI in Minneapolis. After attending the Summit, I had great anticipation for the story and was excited to see what they produced. After all, the Christian Broadcasting Network is meaningfully engaged in ministry to the fatherless. CBN’s ministry Orphan’s Promise is a wonderful ministry. Their website explains the ministry’s objective and tie to CBN:

“Orphan’s Promise is a special part of CBN and is aimed at helping orphans and vulnerable children around the world through academic programs and life skills training as well as mentoring and career placement; food and clothing assistance; health care programs; housing and orphan and adoption advocacy. “

Terry Meeuwsen, co-host of the 700 Club and Director of Orphan’s Promise is an adoptive mom and recognized orphan advocate. This news story promised to be a wonderful emphasis on orphan care and adoption. Truly, the news story itself was, but the commentary that followed was appalling. It is interesting that in less than 24 hours from the initial airing of the segment, CBN has re-edited the segment on their website and have removed the commentary by Pat Robertson and Meeuwsen that followed the piece. Rev. Robertson’s comments were both offensive and theologically inappropriate. Despite Meeuwsen’s attempts to redirect the commentary and rescue the segment, Robertson remained undeterred.

As an adoptive father, pastor, orphan advocate, and author, I feel the burden to respond to Rev. Robertson’s comments. Foremost is my concern that they are theologically inappropriate. Sadly, I am afraid that this poor theology has led to similar feelings from many in the Church.

I have no ill will toward Rev. Robertson. I also have no forum to address him directly, so I am making my public response to his very public comments. Somehow, I would hope that these thoughts would provoke reflection, and correction of error. If not with Pat Robertson, then I hope with others. Truly, I would hope that Rev. Roberson would not be satisfied to have his comments removed from the public as a means to avoid controversy. I hope that he will take this opportunity to reconsider his thinking and his theological position on the issue of orphan ministry and adoption and make a public statement of apology.

Here are my comments regarding each of Rev. Robertson's statements:

“I think we need to caution people, it isn’t like you’re having a dog and you can drop him off at the pound.”

I am part of an orphan hosting ministry that brings older children to the US from foreign orphanages to show them love and hope. Our ministry is called Promise 139 because we are claiming the promises of Psalm 139 for these children. There are at least 7 promises in the Psalm for all people: God knows me (1), God knows where I go (2 & 3), God knows my thoughts (4), God has put his hand on me (5), God is always with me (7 – 12), God has made me (13 & 14), God has made me unique (15). These promises reflect the sanctity of human life. This is a value that is measured in terms of the one placing the value. Orphaned children, like the rest of us, have great worth because of the value placed upon us by our Creator. We are not valuable because of our emotional health, our intellect, or our potential to make a contribution to the world. We are valuable because God loved us enough to pay the ultimate price for our redemption to the praise of His glorious grace. Our worth is found in the Gospel. He is our worth. To equate the life of a child to that of a dog is to dishonor the giver of that life, the one who placed value upon that life. I have heard similar comments from others particularly in the wake of the adopted child who was returned to Russia. In many cases adoption is difficult. That difficulty and the brokenness that many orphaned children experience is no reason to equate them with being less than human. I realize that Robertson would probably say that he is just making an illustrative analogy, but the implications of the analogy have a sting. I am not a proponent of hypersensitivity and draconian political correctness, but I think this statement goes too far and sets a poor context for the rest of his comments. By celebrating the being and dignity of the orphan, we acknowledge the worth of God as Creator.

“If they have demonic influence, some of the dark arts in their background, you can’t tell what is going to come out. You also can’t tell if they’ve been brain damaged as a child.”

Even if you accept the premise of Robertson’s notion about demonic influence, he is wrong. What did Jesus do in the face of demonic oppression? He had compassion and cast out demons. Jesus also charged the early disciples with casting out demons as a ministry of mercy. If Robertson truly believes these children are demon possessed or oppressed, why would it not be the role of Christians to cast out the demons in the name of Jesus? Are we not supposed to adopt brain damaged or emotionally disturbed children? As the adoptive father of an emotionally disturbed son, I am deeply saddened by this notion. Parenting a child who was severely abused and neglected for the first 7 years of his life is the most difficult thing I have ever done, but it is worthy and necessary. It is an act of love for my son and an act of obedience to Jesus. Suppose the God had decided that we were too broken and deprave for His Grace? In Romans 1, Paul tells us that we were without hope. Nothing in us merited the least hint of being worthy of redemption, yet God sent His Son as a ransom. In Ephesians 1, Paul goes on to tell us that through Jesus, we have been adopted by God, and this adoption was the plan from before the foundation of the world. Our adoption in Christ was not “plan B. ” It was not God’s response to some gigantic, cosmic accident caused by Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Our adoption was the result of God’s working out of His plan for His glory, and we are the beneficiaries who are counted among the children of the Most High.

“I think it (adoption) is all real lovely, but…”

I think Rev. Robertson missed the point that adoption is not just a nice thing to do. It is part of living the Gospel. I am not suggesting that adoption is for everyone, but it is more than an optional activity for the Body of Christ.

“I want to say again, the Bible says count the cost. There is a cost. It can be a blessing if you get the right child. I mean, it becomes a part of your family, and you love it like your own, but…”

No one is suggesting that families should not be prayerful and deliberate in a decision to adopt. Suggesting that counting the cost of adoption for believers is somehow especially different than counting the cost in all other aspects of life seems narrow. Christians should count the cost before having biological children, yet I doubt Rev. Robertson would have the same response in relation to the biblical idea of being fruitful and multiplying. Should we stop birthing children because there is a risk that they will have birth defects or will suffer with other disabilities? Of course not! The notion is absurd as is the idea that we should not adopt children with disabilities.

“It becomes part of your family.” Again, I must admit offense at the use of the word “it.” Orphans are boys and girls not objects or animals. Moreover, you don’t love an adopted child “like your own.” They are your own! Those who were once aliens have been brought in. What a wonderful thing. It is the same with us. We who were once not just aliens but enemies of God have been grafted into the family. Our adoption in Christ gives us the fullness of childhood in God’s family.

“During the first year or two of growth, a child can be badly damaged mentally and emotionally, and uh, there can be deprivation. Not enough food, not enough love. You know. Those kids in the orphanages in Romania just break your heart. They put them in those cribs, and leave them there. They are banging their heads and rocking back and forth. They are so emotionally scared. It’s a difficult thing once they never adjust to adulthood.”

As one who has both studied and taught human development, there is a grain of truth to Rev. Robertson’s comments. The first two years of life are crucial for brain development, but developmental dysfunction is not a reason not to adopt these children. Developmental delays and deficits are not the end of the world. Love, nurture, and therapy can be productive, and we trust should trust the power of the Holy Spirit to heal more than we trust any of these other avenues of help. My younger son was 18-months-old when we adopted him from a Ukrainian orphanage. He used to violently shake his head as a way of comforting himself. He still has challenges, but he has a hope for a future. He has made great progress, and he will grow to be a fully functioning adult. More importantly, he is a little boy who is being raised to know Jesus, and we anticipate the day when he responds to Jesus in faith. I really believe Rev. Roberson speaks at this point based upon stereotypes and ignorance. Orphaned children need homes. All of them need homes. They need families that will give them love and security, and parents who will show them Jesus, and love them like Jesus does: unconditionally.

Previously, I posted a sermon by Dr. John Piper from Summit VI. Piper’s sermon is the antithesis of Robertson’s comments from yesterday. I hope you will take time to hear his sermon and feast on the truth of the Word!

Rick Morton

Excellent Sermon on Adoption and Orphan Care

2010-05-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

This is John Piper's sermon from the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit VI. I believe this is a word that every adoptive parent and orphan care advocate needs to hear. Life changing words from Hebrews!

Here we go again....

2010-04-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought it was about time to resurrect the blog. The word has been getting out (not that we have been trying to keep it from getting out), so here is the deal. We are pursuing another adoption. At this point there is more that is uncertain than is certain, but this much we know. We are interested in pursuing a teenage girl from Ukraine that we met in a past hosting experience. We are aware that she has at least one sibling. In coming days, we will seek to clarify that situation, but we are beginning the process anticipating adopting two teen girls!!! We are unsure of their exact availability, and in Ukraine, we are aware that we can only request to be considered to be their parents. Ultimately, our ability to pursue them is up to the discretion of the Ukrainian government. Please pray for favor in that process.

For years, I joked with Denise that my perfect child rearing plan would be to have kids and let someone else raise them until 13. That was the youth minister in me talking. Boy how a few years and a little perspective change you. I am no longer so confident in my abilities, but I am confident in our God.

We are really unsure of the details or the path that we will be led down, but we are confident in God's call to pursue this addition to our family. We will post details as we can, but for now, the information will be pretty scant. Just pray for us. God knows the details, and we will find out in time!

Blessings,

Rick

Praying for our friends tonight

2009-04-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight as we settle down, we are praying for our dear friends, Kimberly and Tony Merida. In just a few minutes they will be setting out to visit a sibling group in Ukraine as they continue their adoption journey. We are praying that God will go before them and grant them extraordinary discernment in the decisions that lay ahead. We are also praying that they will be met with a spirit of truth and openness by all those that they will deal with along the way.

As I contemplate the journey that they have ahead, I would ask that all who know and love them hold them up in prayer and support them. Part of that support is going to be in giving them the space and freedom to find their children and to become a family. We all are anxious to be part of their journey and to share in their progress, but we have to remember to take it slow. They will have much to adjust to and much to accomplish in the coming days. That need for adjustment will be compounded by every new member of their new forever family.

We are so thankful that God has led our path to intersect with Tony and Kimberly so many times in so many ways!!! Godspeed as to journey today. You are our dear friends and some of our favorite siblings in God's family!!!

Thrilled for Friends

2009-04-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

We've been home 4 weeks today, and life is good. Last night included a trip to the emergency room for Nicholas. A bump on the head, but all is well. But, enough about us...

This morning, we got fantastic news. Our dear friends Tony and Kimberly got news about their appointment at the SDA. They have an appointment this coming Wednesday!!!!!! Yep, that's right. They are scrambling to get things together to fly out on Sunday. This takes me back to our adoption of Erick. We traveled with 3 days notice, so we know it can be done. God is good and He is enough. Please pray that they will be ready and for peace and rest in the coming days.

We'll keep you posted!!!!

Rick

Two weeks down....

2009-03-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

As of bedtime tonight, we've been home two weeks!!! How time flies when you're having fun. We have been very busy, but everything is going well. Nicholas seems to be adjusting well. He's really settled in and seems to be getting more comfortable by the day.

He and Erick are doing much better together. They have their moments, but more and more, we can see them accepting each other and acting like brothers. I think they are also figuring out how to gang up on us! Oh well, we knew it was bound to happen. I guess that;s just one more thing to be thankful for:)!

Part of our busy week was a trip to the doctor with Nicholas for a checkup. That was an experience. Our pediatrician, Dr. Greg Parvin, was great. Greg and Denise have been friends since elementary school and their families go way back. He really made Nicholas feel at ease right up until he told us that Nicholas needed one vaccination and some blood tests. The only way we had to prepare Nicholas for what was coming was to use Denise's iPhone to translate what was about to happen. First, I found the translation for vaccnation and played it for him. He got the picture and was not a happy camper. We got through that and headed for the lab. Again, I played the phrase for draw blood, and it got worse. He screamed like bloody murder (pun acknowledged). Once it was over and we went back to wait, I got the iPhone out to translate "all done." When I put the phone up to his ear again, he pushed it away and started screaming again. Poor baby! Though it was't funny at the time, his reaction has gotten funnier as the days have passed. We still have one more medical test to go...but the iPhone doesn't seem to have a translation for "stool sample," and for the life of me, I haven't figured out the charades signals to explain it :)!

Today, we did some running around including a trip by the church. We wanted to take him in and show him around on a day when things were quiet before bringing him on a Sunday. It doesn't get much quieter than 3 P.M. on the Friday of Spring Break week!!! Assuming all continues to go well, we are planning for everyone to be at church on Sunday. We can't wait to get him acclamated to Temple.

Well, that's about it for now. Once again, I want to say thanks to the many people who have done so many kind things for us in the days since we have been home. We have been fed and provided for by so many and we are grateful. We love you all.

Blessings,

Rick

It's 8 o' clock and all is well!

2009-03-09T17:54:00.001-07:00

Sorry we haven't updated in a couple of days, but as you can imagine, it has been rather hectic. Yesterday was a good day. Denise and I got to go to church for worship as the boys stayed home with her parents. What a blessing! It was so good to be back and experience the presence of God together with our beloved Temple family. Tony preached one of the finest sermons I have ever heard him preach (and that's saying something--as many as I have heard over the years). It will be a tough act to follow, but I am excited about preaching. It's pretty hard to mess up a message on the Cross!!!!

Things seem to be getting better with the boys. Erick is really seeming to get more comfortable with Nicholas, and they are really beginning to enjoy each other. It's good to see. Nicholas has done well. He really is a good natured boy, and I think we are seeing more of his stress-free personality. We haven't seen any of the aggressive child we saw in the orphanage. Not to say that we won't, but so far so good. Our communication seems to be pretty good as well. Denise and I are begining ot recognize more Russian, and we can tell he is understanding us more as well. His first clear English phrase came courtesy of a Madegascar (sp?) Happy Meal Toy. It is, "I'd Like to Move It, Move It!" So appropriate for Gene, Gene the Dancin Machine! He has also added the phrase "double trouble" from our Pop-A-Shot. I am sure that one will be said of him and Erick soon. The one phrase he hasn't mastered yet came while he was rifing in the car a couple of weeks ago. I said he was "chillin' like a villian." That comes out "chicken like a billian." Nobody will take him seriously as a "gangsta" anytime soon.

Nicholas is eating well and sleeping well. He is easy to get to sleep and he has slept all night every night since we got home without incident. Pretty cool.

Denise's parents went home today. We were sad to see them go. They were a big help, and we love having them here. But, today with just the four of us, it seemed like we settled in pretty well. Erick heads back to school tomorrow, and I'll put in my first full day of work after a half day today. My mom returns home from Florida tomorrow as well, so after tomorrow, we'll get down to the business of a routine. Yeah!!!!!!!!!

One more thing. Nicholas nad i had a breakthrough today. This afternoon, I turned on a game from the World Baseball Classic. He loved it! I expected that it would just be background noise while the boys played, but he crawled up in my lap and watched for a while, and he even imitated the pitcher and the hitters! Cool. Nevermind that he kept calling it "basketball." At least he's not a soccer only man. He also watched a little NASCAR yesterday. Between those two sporting interests, there's something I can work with :)!

Have a great night,

Rick

Home Sweet Home...and it's all good.

2009-03-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry we didn't get to update from Memphis last night. Northwest threw us a bit of a curve. The information we had said the flight was departing 30 minutes later than it did. We had time to grab a quick bite to eat (Popeye's Chicken was a hit) and hit the road.

The reception at the airport was awesome. We were so grateful for the friends and family who came out to greet us. I am not really sure what Nicholas thought of it all, but he's got to have a big clue to how many people have been been praying for him and what the Body of Christ is all about. We will take a few weeks before we introduce him to church, but we're ready for him to begin to get the idea of a church family as well as his new family.

After we got home last night. Nicholas was hilarious. He just walked around from room to room taking it all in with a huge grin on his face. At one point, he looked at Denise and said, "Momma, Poppa Dome?" (Momma and Poppa's Home?). She looked back at him with a big smile and told him, "Nicholas Dome!" With a huge grin, he seemed satisfied. Another highlight was a pair of black dress shoes that Nanna and Papaw brought. I think we missed a little on our size estimate and they are really big, but he was so proud of his new shoes. This morning, he had to have them on with his pajamas as soon as he got up. Too funny! Last night, the boys settled into bed about 10 and we all slept until about 6 this morning. It really exceeded our expectations.

This morning has been fun. We introduced him to pop tarts and chocolate milk. They were a big hit! He and Erick have been enjoying Nanna and Papaw, and we're had a great morning just playing together.

We're home and we're grateful. Grateful for a great God and his mercies and for his people.

Blessings,

Rick

On the road again....

2009-03-06T00:33:00.000-08:00

We are in Amsterdam. No problem getting out of Kyiv (except for the eye rolling and sighing of the passport agent who processed our paperwork...I guess doing his job was a little much to ask so early in the morning :)). The flight was 3 hours and uneventful. The boys are tired, and I am hoping and praying that the next flight (10 hours) is as uneventful. Looks like we are on schedule. We'll try to update again from Memphis. We should be there @ 4:40 and out of customs later...

See you soon,

Rick

We're on go for home....

2009-03-05T06:05:00.000-08:00

First, let me say that after looking at the post from last night, it looked like Erick wrote it. Sorry about all the typos and junk. I was beyond spell check at that hour and didn't really even notice. Slush, you know I love you like the brother I never had. I have 6-weeks worth of trash talk stored up, and I know I won't get to cut up with you while you are over here teaching...sorry I had to rib you, but I just couldn't resist.

Anyway, we got Nick's visa at about noon, and everything looks good for a 6:45 A.M. departure in the morning. None too soon. The zipper on Nick's new winter coat is shot. Every toy we bought had either broken or the batteries are run down. We have about an hour until the manager from our Ukrainian agency stops for a visit, and then Joel and Mary Ellen are coming over to this side of the river to have dinner with us. We'll have to meet up with Yana sometime to get the copies of our court decree and Nick's birth certificate with the translations to make us legit going through passport control in Kyiv tomorrow. That should polish off the evening, and get us to bedtime. We'll be up at 3 A.M.ish. Then we'll be off to the airport at 4ish. Then....nothing to it. Just 20 hours worth of flights and layovers. Piece of cake. Please pray with us. Assuming no delays, we'll be into Pine Belt International Airport (Ha, ha--at least we won't have to wait long for bags) at 8:15.

That's about it...see you stateside.

Thanks for everything,

Rick

Somebody call coach Cal.....

2009-03-04T13:46:00.001-08:00

We ain't quite got this switch from zone to man to man defense worked out yet?!?!?! I figured as an alum of the #5 U of Memphis TIgers, he could give us some pointers.

Seriously, I an writing a quick post in the middle of the night to let you know we are o.k. Exhaused but doing pretty well. Yesterday began at 7 and ended with dinner at TGI Friday's across the street from out flat 13 hours later. IN exhasustion, we fell in the bed with two wired boys are were able to get them to sleep before 10.

This morning, a run to the eembassy for paperwork, to get a medical exam (with good news--the doctor saw little evidence of the developmental delays indicated by the orphanage. He leaned to believe it is lack of opportunity to develop). We'll see One funny moment, when the doctor asked what language he spoke...he asked "Russian" and Nick sayed "nyet. He asked Urrainian and Nick sayed nyet. He asked English and without missing a beat Nick said dah (Russian for yes). Everybody got a big laugh.

We thought up until late this afternoon that we might het his visa this afternoon. Delta had seats for us Thurday morning. Instead we should get it tomorrow morning and with a chunk of change put down later, we are heaeded home Friday. We will Fly into PIB (HAttiesburg/LAurel) at about 8:15 P.M. Also means Nick will become a citizen in Memphis (my childood home--pronounced--Meffis for those of ya'll not from there.) Kinda cool.

GOnna run, I'm sleeping with Nick tonight and don't want to disturb him. He snores like a buzz saw and every once in a while an odor wafts over that might explain why that counter=terrorism check might be taking a little longer. It's like rooming with Slusher. BTW, SLush, any of your middle eastern relations made it over this way in 2001. Cause come to think of it, Nick likes to throw his hands over his head and yell "OOpah" while he dances> Just wondering?

Thanks for praying. We're all well and ready to see you all.

Blessings,

Rick

False Start

2009-03-02T08:08:00.000-08:00

Wow! The last couple of hours had been wild. Today was pretty typical except that we have been waiting for word about Nick's passport. No word at 2 P.M. Then, a little after 4, Yana called and the passport is done! So, we were thinking, "Great, we'll pick Nick up in the morning." Not so fast my friend. Yana called right back and said that the Director would not be at the orphanage tomorrow, so we either needed to get him right now or wait until Wednesday. We talked for about 30 seconds and decided to go ahead and get him. So we hurried and got his clothes together along with the gifts for the people at the orphange and some other stuff we had accumulated to donate, and we headed off to the orphanage.

Once we got there, we went to the director's office fully expecting to sign the papers and get Nick to bring him back to the hotel for the night. The director welcomed us into the office, and she tried to tell us something as we were getting reasy to sign the papers. One problem...no translator. Yana is still in Kyiv. A qiuck call to get her on the phone, and we understood. The director was willing to make special arrangments for us to pick him up at 7 in the morning. Whew! I think that will be a little easier for everyone.

So, we are headed to get him in the morning at 7 with a quick stop in Odessa to get the passport and then on to Kyiv. If everything goes well, we should be in Kyiv tomorrow afternoon around 4 or 5. One giant step closer to home!

This last couple of hours has been a blur. We just prayed from the time we got the call that God would order our steps. We're pretty sure the director's unexpected offer was just that. It's not that we don't want him with us. It's just that we want to minimize the trauma for everyone.

Erick's pretty whiny tonight. He went from being excited to get his brother, to crying over not getting him, to crying over wanting his old life back! Well at least he'll have his "old life" for one more night:)! Pretty funny. I'm sure every child that has ever gotten a sibling has wanted that from time to time.

Erick has been facinated with the hotel cat while we have been here. He's also been pretending to be a cat and coined a new term, "cat-tastic." I hope we have a cattastic day tomorrow....

I think from the post tonight, you can tell how to pray for us. Thanks for checking in on us. We'll write when we can.

Blessings,

Rick

One day closer to home

2009-03-01T05:38:00.000-08:00

You know how it is when you get a blister. The longer it goes. the more irritated it gets, and when you know you are about to be able to take your shoes off...it gets unbearable. That pretty much sums up the emotion of this afternoon. We are ready to go.

The visit at the orphanage was pretty tough. Nicholas was fine. The last two days, he has brought this little pink phone out with him to play. It plays music. I think it hit us both today, he had it because he was imitating momma's iPhone with the hot pink cover. Too funny! Anyway, he was pretty low key for the beginning of the visit. The last couple of days, he is really enjoying just sitting in one of our laps or being carried around. He hardly wants us to put him down. The tough part was the other kids. One of the other groups came over to play by us today, and after a while, some of the kids made their way to come play with us. It was fun right up until the part when they all started to call me "Poppa." Whoa, that was tough. I guess they are pretty used to seeing women, so Denise didn't draw as much attention, but they were really paying attention to me and trying to get my attention. The hopeful look in their eyes was so sad. All those little boys and girls need a poppa and a momma. They need homes, and I wish I could give it to them. In the end, I am crushed that I can't give it to them. That hurts. That stinks.

Tommorrow is the last day of life as we know it :). Barring something really unusual, Tuesday we will become a family of 4 24/7. I am tired just thinking about it. For all the anxiety and what-ifs, in about a day and a half it's going to be a reality. We're pretty nervous/scared/excited. For now...we wait.

Blessings,

Rick

Pretty good visit....and why bother with logic???

2009-02-28T03:51:00.000-08:00

We talked with our facilitator before we went to the orphanage today. She had spoken with the folks there, and they had talked to Nicholas. The bottom line is that they all said this behavior was atypical of him. I hope that is a good sign. It's going to be difficult, and outbursts are a given. I just hope it's not his preferred coping mechanism.

Another thing that is going to make this hard is that ha is a very verbal child. Not being able to communicate verbally is going to be hard for him. Basically, we've tied a knot near the end of the rope and are hanging on...

When we got him today, they were in the middle of a music program. All the kids were dressed up in their dress clothes. We went and had him put on his outside pants, but couldn't find his boots. He was really reluctant to get his "good" shoes dirty. We could tell that it was something that was drilled into him pretty seriously.

His group was having cookies and fruit, and we could tell he really wanted to go back because he thought he was missing out. We took him back a little early, and he had to take Erick in with him to "show off" his brother to the rest of the kids. There were several big squeezing hugs today, but nothing aggressive. Maybe yesterday got the point across. We'll just keep a close watch and be consistent.

In my conversation with Yana this morning, I get the idea that going back to Kyiv on Monday is pretty much out of the picture. I think part of it is that our driver has to work on Monday. It's only a day. That pretty much means that Friday would be the earliest we could get home. We'll see. At any rate, we are less than a week from leaving for home. Whoo Hooo!!!!!!

I'll leave you today with a top ten list of things that we hope to do (or never to do) once we get home.

10. I need somebody to stop by the house and turn our hot water heater up to the thermonuclear range. You also might want to alert the North Lamar Water District of an unusual spike in demand on the night we get home 'cause I want a long, hot shower!

9. I will not wash anymore underwear or socks in the sink--ever!

8. I will not fight with Erick to wear a hat!!!!

7. I will not willingly watch soccer, and I will tell anyone that football is a sport where guys wear helmets and can use their hands.

6. I will not sleep on a box spring, and I want a top and bottom (fitted) sheet on my bed.

5. I will not eat salami on pizza or with eggs.

4. I will thank God every day for Charmin.

3. I will not drink another hot Coke without ice.

2. I will go several days without wearing a black article of clothing.

1. I will use a clean bath towel everyday and I will not share my towel with anyone!!!!

I hope you see the humor in this list. We have been stretched a little in our surroundings and lifestyle over the last few weeks. We're not complaining, and there is pretty funny story behind each of these items that we'll look forward to sharing a laugh with you about when we get home. Until then...you'll just have to let your minds wander ;)!

Hope you have a great Saturday,

Rick

Got some good news this morning

2009-02-27T22:45:00.000-08:00

I went down to the hotel's communal kitchen this morning, and the couple from Minnesota was there with their kids having breakfast. They got word that their passports were picked up yesterday afternoon. They applied for them at the close of business on Tuesday. We applied for Nick's in the late morning on Wednesday....if logic works at all....We should get Nick's on Monday afternoon. That probably means a 6-hour car trip to Kyiv on Monday night. As soon as we know for sure, we'll start working the phones with Delta to see about changing flights. The earliest that we could probably get home would be Thursday. We'll see what happens?????

Boy, that was a little good news to wake up to over a cup of java!