I’ve been fascinated by the tiny tent village that was once set up on the lawn of old City Hall. I’d drive by, often on my way to Transit, and secretly wish I could join the solidarity of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  What began in September last year has now spread to over 100 cities across the United States.  It seems people are willing to take a stand against the corruption of colossal banks and multinational corporations, angry at the amount of power these companies so irresponsibly wield.  It got me thinking…

What do we stand for?  It seems (collectively as a nation at least) we stand against corporate greed.  But what about hunger? Upwards of 40 million people go hungry in America daily.  And what about slavery? There are more slaves around the globe today than there were during the times when owning a slave was legal. North Carolina alone ranks as the 8^th most likely state in the nation where human trafficking takes place. I don’t see organized protests demanding these horrible grievances be remedied. 

Why are we willing to stand up against Wall Street, but silent when it comes to the human rights of others?  Is it because we feel the pinch of corporate greed in our wallets, but since our own bellies stay full we remain distanced from the real need of hunger?  Is it because slavery is such an antiquated idea we can’t even fathom what it looks like in the modern world?

It gets me thinking…

What am I willing to occupy?  My answer should be a pursuit to bring the Kingdom of God to earth. Instead of being angry about what the 1% of the rich do with their money, I should be angry about the injustices of poverty and gross violations of freedoms rampant around the world.  And I am enraged, but what do I do about it?  I quietly donate cans of food and I sign petitions, but where is the passion that gets people to live in tents outside government buildings?  Where is the collective outrage that creates a united front to send the message, “we will not stand for this!” I should be shouting from the mountaintops. But I am not.

Jesus occupied with radical love, telling us to not just love our neighbors, but to love our enemies, too.  How can we ever hope to get there when we can’t even love and care for our brothers and sisters who daily suffer?  We don’t bring the Kingdom when we think it is someone else’s problem, or when we think to give only when there is excess to donate.

This Lenten season, I made a change in my annual ritual of sacrificing something; this year, instead of foregoing dessert or soda, I decided to take something on.  I want to occupy my life with the fruits of the spirit: kindness, gentleness, joy, peace, love, and generosity (Galatians 5:22). I want to embrace the message of Jesus, love with radical faith and servitude, and occupy the Kingdom here on earth.  

Written by Shawn Buxton. Sources to facts are linked in story.

Source

 

 

So many of our Watershed families have taken the wonderful step to adopt, and each story has its own unique journey.  Yet, no matter how different the paths may have been, what's central to all these stories is love, Christ, and faith. I asked Billy and Tracy Strickland to share their experience adopting, and I'll share the story in multiple posts as answers to questions.  Below begins their tale:

How did you come to adopt?

Parker was about 16 months old, I think.  I remember asking myself if we wanted another child?  Ironically, my wife, Tracy and I had felt all along we'd be a one child family.  Parker was awesome and sweet and our joy. The thought of another child was almost weird for us.  I'm sure other parents go through this --  "Do I have enough love?"  Seriously, we asked that.

We decided we did.  We were going to have another child and we would try to get "preggers" in the fall of 2009.  At the end of the conversation, Tracy asked me if we'd ever contemplate adoption. We had the adoption conversation in the past, but nothing was set in stone.  Just wouldn't it be nice?  or where would we adopt from?  I answered Tracy's question with a pragmatic answer: "I don't know.  I don't think so.  The economy is bad.  I have my own business and I think I'm too busy to go through that process."  Tracy looked disappointed in my answer, which was odd to me, because not too long ago we had decided (I thought) that we were a one child family,  so I added, "If God wants us to adopt, he will make it abundantly clear."  No Joke!  

Flash forward three days.  A friend of mine who I worked with, and who attended Watershed occasionally, was recently separated from her husband.  She had two teenage daughters, and while she was living in Charlotte, her family were living about 45 minutes away in a small town.  She called with a unique request. That weekend she had found out that her younger daughter was pregnant.  Her daughter had spent the weekend with her in Charlotte which included a visit to Watershed, and after the service her daughter decided that she wanted to go through with her pregnancy and find a family at Watershed who couldn't have a baby adopt her child.  Her mom was calling me to ask me to spread the word and help her find this special family.  "Yes, of course," I replied.   

I asked her to call Tracy and tell her the same story and then I waited for Tracy to call me.  The conversation with Tracy was weird, amazing, and tearful.  I told Tracy to understand we were not going to adopt this baby.  The teen mom was looking for someone who could not have children, and we had a beautiful little girl, but we would help.  That plan lasted for about a day.  We knew we had to share with them the conversation we had had just a few days earlier. It went something like this: 

 "We want you to know that Tracy and have considered adoption and we would be willing to adopt the baby if you can't find the family you are looking for."

"YES!"  The birth mom responded. "I want my baby to have Parker as a big sister."  The birth mom had babysat Parker in the past and they knew each other.

 I think the question we asked each other, Tracy and I, was "What just happened?"  God made it abundantly clear. It makes me smile to think of the road we traveled to find Riley.

Of course, that's not all to this story, and I hope you come back for the continuing passages of this miraculous narrative.  Billy and Tracy's story is a fascinating illustration of the power of God's work in our lives -- He orchestrates such beautiful blessings when we let go of our need to control life. And sometimes, he even gently nudges us in the right direction, regardless of where we think we are going. 

Written by Billy Strickland and Shawn Buxton.