Out of Darkness and Into Light

Sixteen years ago last Friday we brought our son home from the Philippines, landing in Boston despite a blizzard that had left eighteen inches of snow.  We strapped him into a snowsuit, then into a car seat, trappings he had never been subjected to during the first eleven months of his life.  We brought our son from a remote tropical village in the jungle of the southern Philippines, a place where the darkness of spiritism and animism continue to reign, and into our home, our family, and our church in snowy New England.

As we brought our sweet boy home, we knew that the eyes of his loving Father had found him, hidden away in that tiny village, having searched for him as for a lost coin or a missing sheep.  His loving hand had drawn him out of the kingdom of darkness, bringing him near the gospel and into the kingdom of light.

And our lives have never been the same.

Sing to God, sing praise to his name...A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing..."  Psalm 68:4-6

72. Our son

73. The children’s home in the Philippines who, because the love of Christ constrained them, cared for him during the first year of his life.

74. Fruit, evidence of God’s work in his life.

75. Encouraging words from our pastor.

76. Grace that is greater than all our sin.

77. A shopping trip with my nephew to replace his fish. Getting to spend one-on-one time with him, seeing him grow and become surer of himself.

78. Moving ever-so-slightly forward toward college plans for next year.

79. A blooming amaryllis.

80. The safe return of college students after Christmas breaks (though they will be missed).

81. A car that starts every morning, even when the thermometer reads 2 degrees.

82. Being challenged to think of happiness as a duty—a gift to give to others