The Spectacle and what the story is not...

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.  I Corinthians 4:9

Paul was admonishing the church at Corinth.  The Spirit brought this to my mind a few days ago as I was asking myself for the one thousandth time...."why this suffering...why this much?"  

A "spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men".   We are a spectacle.  Not an ugly kind of thing but a beautiful kind of thing.  This is a mystery I am only now coming to grips with: You were meant to see this.  You were meant to see Jacob's entire journey.  

You are wondering..."the Leukemia?"  Yes but that is only a small part of what the High King himself wants you to get.  He wants you to 'get' his life.  Abandoned in a box by a guard shack at the orphanage.  Grew up in that same orphanage - beloved by those who cared for him....never found a family until that day with the chocolate bar offered to him by his best friend's new family.

Jesus uses hundreds of you to help us get him home through the adoption process. Many of you got to know him when he got here in 2012. That smile.  That laugh.  That speed!  Man is he fast! Getting glasses.  "These are mine?"  "Yep, Jacob they are yours."  "I can keep them?"  "Yep."  "Really?"  You see -he never owned anything until he came here.  That summer we were evacuated from Green Mountain Falls because of the Waldo Canyon fire.  That question when he saw the flames 3 miles away "...does this always happen?" 

That beautiful group of vagabond evacuee people God placed at the lodge.  We're worried about our homes - he's in heaven with all of these people that he really loves and who love him back.  Scott Stearman comes to mind - they are friends to this day.  We had a hard time convincing Jacob after we went home:  "...well yeah they are all 'like' your family but we are your family - that make sense Jacob?"  We were wrong - they are his family too.  This boy loves you at the drop of a hat.

Camping.  Jacob wanted a sleeping bag for Christmas this year - so he can sleep outside with Joshua, Noah and Hannah.  Trips to Utah - to Zion.  Jumping off of a 20' boulder into an ice cold canyon pothole then lying next to his sister Naomi on a warm rock under the sun.  Climbing a 5/7 at Penetente with his brothers help - then running back to the car in the rain as lightning closed down the route that day....laughing hysterically all the way.

Playing.  One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen is my two little Pinoys rolling on the grass and laughing until I am sure they are going to wet themselves.  That game with Aden and Naomi - Keep the ball from hitting the deck - belly laughs all around.  Snow forts and snowball fights.  A love for ...Asleep at the Wheel? Running through the woods with 15 other kids playing "monster' at the lodge.

Teaching.  One day at the hospital Dad was having a bit of a moment and being himself - let the offender know he was shall we say...not amused.  Dad comes back into the room.  Jacob:  "You were kind of mean to him Dad - you should apologize" - He was of course  -right.  I try to convince him to have some fun and shoot the nurse when they check his vitals at night with the Nerf pistol.  Jacob:  Why? they are so nice to me."  Jacob is a gentle, loving soul.  I want to be more like him.

This spectacle....this life.  I can't think of a better spectacle of Jesus' love for us than his giving us Jacob's story.  I wont fully understand the richness of this story until Jesus explains it to me one day - kind of like an 8 year old trying to understand the beauty of a Renoir - I know it is beautiful but I can't explain it to you well right now. Here is what I do understand:

I do know Jesus chose us (and some of you) to be his family. Jesus is telling Jacob's story - to you. His story is a "spectacle"  that points squarely to Jesus' love for you.  I think many skeptics would say  ..."well yeah *if* there is a God - he clearly loves this boy".  And you would be right - but still falling way short.  He loves you just as much as he loves Jacob. Feel that.  Let it wash over you.  He loves....you.

Leukemia is NOT the story.  I want to leave you with this picture.  Jacob and Naomi drew on our white board soon after we got Jacob home from the Philippines.  Read what they wrote that day - I praise God....I get to be his Dad, a husband to an amazing woman and a Dad to four other amazing human beings that inspired Jacob and Naomi draw this picture.

Preparing for Home.

Marshall