Based on the title, you might think this one will (finally) be a nice, light & fluffy post. Sorry, no such luck. If you're not in the mood for a heavy one, go click on something fun like Cake Wrecks or Awkward Family Photos and have a great weekend.

For those of you who are still here, today I took the triplets (Davis, Hannah and Joseph) and Baby Cici on a little field trip. The weather has warmed up, the kids are playing so well together, we finally had a day with no doctor's appointments or other craziness and I decided it was high time for an adventure.

But where to go? With four children in tow, I needed someplace inexpensive and low key. I also needed a place that we could easily pull away from and make a quick escape, in case things went horribly awry. So we chose PetSmart. Yes, the store. It's right down the street, it's a quick outing and most importantly, it's free. They have birds and lizards and snakes and turtles and fish and bunnies and even a doggie day care. I mean, what more could you really ask for in a free field trip?

We spent at least an hour wandering around the store, laughing at the funny birds and following the fish in their tanks and marveling at the humongous great dane in the doggie day care. But eventually we made our way over to the adoption center.

At our PetSmart, this is a small, quiet room lined with cages of cats and kittens waiting to be adopted. The cages were very clean, the animals were all well fed -- but they all just seemed sad and bored. And very, very lonely. I looked down at Hannah and Joseph and the irony of this entire situation hit me like a ton of bricks. And I started to cry.

"Mommy, Mommy what's wrong?" Davis asks. "Oh, it's ok Buddy. This place just makes me sad. I feel sad for these lonely little kitties."

And I really did feel a little sad for the poor cats. But when I looked into that room what I really saw were the 163 million orphans around the world who are waiting to be adopted. Some of these children have enough food and water and a clean bed to sleep in, like the cats -- but many of them do not. That statement alone should sicken us. Orphaned animals in the United States live in better conditions than many orphaned children around the world.

But whether their physical needs are met or not, they're all hurting, they're all lonely and they are all in need of the love that can only come from a real Daddy, a real Mommy and real siblings.

Do you know the term "waiting child?" This term refers to a child who has been legally cleared for adoption. No one is on a list waiting for this child. Instead, they are waiting for you or for someone to come along. There are literally hundreds of thousands of children in the US and around the world who are classified as "waiting." Most of them are older children, special needs or sibling groups -- the ones that few people are willing to take. So like the cats at PetSmart, they're just waiting. Except they're not cats. They are CHILDREN.

God has done His part -- He's provided more than enough resources (even just to the people in the US) for every waiting child to have a home. The question is this -- how do we use those resources He's put at our disposal? Why are there so many children still waiting?

What's that? You say you like what you've been reading on the Crazy Blog and you may want to try some of this craziness at home? No -- I'm not necessarily saying everyone should go out and adopt two children from Africa (although I'm not necessarily not saying that either).

We're all commanded to care for the widow and the orphan. "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." James 1:27, NLT.

The application of that verse may look different for all of us. But it's not optional. And it is serious.

There are many ways to care for the orphan. And just in case you're at a loss, below I've listed a couple of ideas to get you started.

The Cupcake Kids
If you're looking for a way to raise money and awareness for orphan causes and want to involve your children, look no further. Check out http://www.TheCupcakeKids.org/.

Support a Family in the Process of Adoption
Domestic adoption is expensive. International adoption is crazy expensive. If you're not adopting yourself, you should be supporting a family that is. If you don't know one personally, let me introduce you to my friend Chasity -- adopting not one but two precious children from Uganda. Purchasing her super cute adoption t-shirts will not only help bring home her babies but they are also offering an amazing give away that will help additional adoptive families and orphan causes. Wow!

Blog Project
My friend Lovelyn is on the brink of announcing an amazing project that will serve a serious orphan need in Africa. This opportunity will be open to anyone who follows or regularly reads her blog. Pop on over to http://www.momentswithlove.blogspot.com/, sign up as a follower and then stay tuned. You will be blessed, I promise... don't miss this one.

These are just some ideas from my own little world. There are many, many opportunties out there. If God has somehow used this little blog to stir your heart and inspire you for orphan causes, I would urge you not to wait another day to get started. There's no time like the present.

"A couple took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells... Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgement: 'Look, Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy."

So it turns out that prior to our adoption, I didn't think about at all underestimated the fact that my family would look like a bit of a freak show while we're out and about town in the ATL. I honestly had no idea that my children and I would walk into stores or doctor's office waiting rooms or lunch at Chick-fil-a and that people would openly gape at us.

If you've been around for a while, you know I've done some posts on my desire to look different from the rest of the world, to stand out for Christ. One post is here. I'm too tired to go find the rest but there are more.

I guess I knew we'd look different from the average American family. We are now a bi-racial family with five children, ages 7, 5, 4, 3 and 1. Two of my children speak a fairly obscure African language. The five of them together can be a little loud and sometimes the baby is crying and I am usually not the most put-together gal in Atlanta. So, I get it. I know we're a little weird. I was prepared to be a little weird. I was not prepared to become a full-on freak show for everyone who happens to be grocery shopping at the same time as me.

Earlier this week I had no choice but to venture out to good ol' Trader Joes with all 5 kiddos. We're just minding our own business and loading up our cart. Baby is sitting happily in the cart and I have two children on either side of me. What's the big deal??

Well, practically everyone in the store was looking at us. There were people literally staring at us with their mouths hanging open and I am not kidding. When I got to the check out line, someone finally spoke. The lady in front of me had two little girls. She looked right at me and said "wow, how many children do you have??" And of course I'm irritated and I feel like saying " what's wrong with you, can you not count to 5??" But I'm a chicken so instead I smile sweetly and say "I have 5. I'm very blessed." And she says. "Wow. How old are they?" And I feel like saying "are you blind? They are obviously 7, 5, 4, 3 and 1." But I'm a chicken so I say "they are 7, 5, 4, 3 and 1. I know that sounds like a lot but we are doing really well." And she says "Wow, that's crazy. I thought I was brave by having two children." And she turns her back and that ends our conversation.

Seriously. I guess this is my new normal. Turns out that looking different for the sake of Christ is not quite as glamorous as I had imagined. And yet I wouldn't have it any other way.

So for those of you who have not yet seen the Owens Crew out on the town let me prepare you... When you see me I will not be dressed in a cute tennis outfit, my cheeks will not be flushed from my recent workout at the gym, I will probably not be showered and I will almost definitely not have make-up on. Our large family can be loud. We take up way too much space on a grocery aisle and my children will probably not be wearing beautiful smocked clothes.

But I refuse to waste my life. This is the Lord's plan for our family and we'd rather be "weird" and in His will than "normal" and not. Plus, just look at this face. Have you ever in your life seen someone so excited to visit the dentist?

I bet you've never been this excited to be in a dentist chair

This is Joseph today at his very first dental appointment ever. And no cavities! "Weird" is really growing on me. Frankly, I think more people should try it.

"I have a dream... that one day, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

I am so thankful for Dr. King and his willingness to step out in "radical" faith and obedience. Those acts of obedience changed the entire landscape of this country forever. Here's what "the dream" looks like today in my house:


Yes, we got into the dress up clothes today.

Speaking of "radical obedience," and on a completely different note... This is our crazy small group.


Seriously, these people are crazy in a really good way. And Dan and I love them for it. This year our group is all committing to some form of David Platt's "Radical Experiment" as outlined in his best selling book, "Radical."

There are five components to Platt's experiment:

1. Pray for the entire world
2. Read through the entire Word
3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose
4. Spend your time in another context
5. Commit your life to a multiplying community

Now honestly, the second one struck me as a little out of place. I don't know... sitting down for a one-year "power-read" through the New and Old Testaments just didn't seem all that radical to me. And anyways I've already done that... the last time was about 8 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child. But I love me some David Platt so I decided just to go with it and attempt the assignment anyways.

Dan and I are up to chapter 46 in Genesis and chapter 13 in Matthew and over the last few weeks, the reality of what Platt was asking his readers to do... the "radical" part of reading the entire Bible in one year, hit me right between the eyes. Platt says Christians need to read the Bible and KNOW the Bible... because "we desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical." Yikes.

Pushing through the Bible in one year may not leave much time to meditate on individual verses or to contemplate everything you've read every day... but this "power read" will give you an overall picture of God and His character. It will help you to see Him and know Him better. And boy, oh boy, it will help you discern which parts of our faith are purely American and which parts are truly biblical.

Here's a truth that REALLY struck me this week... the whole idea of being "called" to do something is not really biblical. It's American. The idea of needing to feel great peace and ease before we're willing to act for God... well, that's nice. But that's not biblical.

Because here's what I've learned this week... The Bible is CHOCK FULL of people who did things they didn't want to do, did not desire to do, things they didn't feel peaceful about -- but they did them anyways, out of pure obedience.

When Abraham walked up the mountain to sacrifice his only son Isaac, the son for whom he'd waited 100 years, he did not have a warm fuzzy feeling. He did not feel happy and "called" to do this thing. He was acting on obedience. In the New Testament, when Joseph agreed to take a pregnant woman for his wife and to be a father to a child (to adopt a child!) who was not his biological son, he was probaby not joyful or excited about this. It was an act of obedience.

MLK's story may not be one in the Bible, but he was certainly inspired by it. Dr. King was willing to stand for freedom and justice in the face of persecution, imprisonment and police brutality. Taking that stand was not easy or comfortable. I doubt MLK was joyful about going to prison for protesting -- but he acted on obedience.

May our warm, fuzzy, peaceful, happy, comfortable feelings NOT dicate the way we live our lives and be the baramometer for what God is or is not calling us to do. Sorry friends, but that's just not biblical.

But don't take my word for it. If you want to read along with our small group, we're following Ligonier's Tabletalk reading plan for 2010. I'm going to try and do a post every other week or so with some thoughts on what I've read. Dan and I would love to hear your thoughts too so please send them our way. You're also welcome to read along with us on Radical. This week we're doing chapter 3 and we will cover approximately one chapter per week over the next 6 weeks. Come on, just look at these faces... yes, we may have a few issues but don't we look like a fun group to hang out with? Read with us and email me or send us your comments!

Hannah

It's been two weeks and this precious girl has melded beautifully into our family. She's a big sister to Baby Charlotte, a little sister to Madeline, a faithful friend and great playmate to Davis and Joseph and a daughter -- a real daughter!! to Dan and me.

But here's the thing -- our Hannah seems a little confused by the American way of life. While it may be perfectly normal for young American children to wake up in the morning, hang out in their jammies, eat some breakfast, eventually get dressed and then play the day away, that pattern is sort of weird to the rest of the world, even children. Hannah enjoys playing with her brothers and sisters but she's just not comfortable with the idea of simply "hanging around" all day. She's used to working and serving and spending her day in purposeful, necessary ways with perhaps a little time for play. Here in America it's the exact opposite scenario; our children play and relax and watch cartoons and entertain themselves (or have someone entertain them) with perhaps a few light "chores" here and there. There is no water to fetch, no fields or cattle to tend to, no pan of dishes to clean, no washboard for scrubbing clothes. It's just fun, fun, fun all the time.

Hannah doesn't really want fun, fun, fun all the time. When I get out the broom, she is begging to help. After dinner, she sticks by my side until the very last crumb is wiped from the table. She loves helping with laundry and dishes and jumps at any opportunity to simply be useful. She just seems to think all the free, idle time is kind of weird.


This is just an observation, I don't really know what I'm trying to say about all this -- except that I think I am inclined to agree with little Hannah. When you think about it, this is kind of a weird way to spend so much time, and I confess that it makes me wonder what I'm really teaching my children with this typical American way of life.

One of my goals for this year is to be more intentional about the way my children spend their time. I'm all for playing and laughter and kids being kids. But I'm also for having children who understand that free time and playtime is a luxury and not a God-given right for every minute of every day.