By way of introduction...and a comment about "fear and joy"

Most who come by here probably are referred by my old xanga www.xanga.com/famlifejack
and thus are familiar with the Hagers. But....some may stumble here from another path, and thus I introduce my blessings. The above photo, taken last summer, is the gang: Jack and wife Jane; Joel (21), Jacob (5), Janelle (13), and Josiah (23).

Janelle and Jacob are extra blessings. We adopted them both at birth from birth moms who made mistakes; but not the tragic mistake of abortion.

Adoption has, of course, changed our lives dramatically and in a precious way; and taught us much about the "theology" of adoption. We did not "have" to adopt; we chose to adopt. God did not "have" to adopt us, but chose to adopt us, and to pay the incredible price of His Son in order to redeem, forgive, and declare us righteous in His sight.

Jane and I met in Kansas City while I was on staff of Youth For Christ and she was attending Bible school. We wed in 1982. After serving in Phillipsburg, Ks and Rhinelander, Wi we moved to Bath, NY and Family Life Ministries in 1987. And now the Lord has called us to Midland Ministries in Saint Joseph, Mo; where we plan to move in May of 2008. I am finalizing the Bible quiz season here at Family Life (and therein is a major prayer request - for the Lord to direct someone to oversee the quiz program when I leave).

Serving God means many things...and we can make our plans and set our goals, but God is bigger than them, and our responsibility is to learn what it means to "delight in the Lord" trusting that He will shape our hearts and thus be able to grant us "the desires of our hearts" (Psalm 34). All disciples of the Lord Jesus need to continue to learn to "trust in Him with all," to "not lean on our own understanding," to "in all our ways acknowledge Him," and thereby trust Him to "direct our path." (Prov 3.5,6)

And there are surprises on that path! Certainly not surprising to a sovereign God, but often surprising to us. Sort of like when innocent me took a walk into our backyard and was attacked by Jacob with a watergun strapped to his wrist:

Speaking of surprises, in my reading this morning I was in Matthew 28 where the Word speaks of the two Marys coming to the tomb. Instead of finding a body, they are startled by an angel who tells them to chill and that Jesus has risen. Then comes verse 8, "So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy to tell His disciples." (ESV)

"Fear and great joy." A rather odd combination! Or is it? Of all things lost in what passes for Christianity in America, fear may be the most vital ingredient. After all, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

God is too often a heavenly buddy, a genie in a bottle whose purpose is to give us our "best life now". But is that the God of the Bible?

Serving the Lord...as a forgiven, adopted, child of His...is laced with inconvenience, sacrifice, and great joy. And overshadowing it all is a healthy, "fearful reverence" for the One who is, and was, and ever more shall be.