Tim Boyd's Blog

We picked up Silas from the Orphanage in Jinja for the last time today.  Our trip has gone very well so far. We left Cowden at 8:30am Thursday morning and arrived in Entebbe, Uganda at 10:00pm local time on Friday (that’s 2:00pm in Cowden).  So we travelled for a total of 29.5 hours spending 15 of those in the air (7hrs and 8hrs).  Needless to say we are not ready for the loooong trip home yet.  The entire time we were travelling I kept wishing that we had brought Grace, Will, and Eden.  We have seen so many things that they would have just loved. We arrived in Uganda Friday night and Mindy’s friends Wayne and Tarah picked us up from the airport.  It was nice to be back in Uganda but we couldn’t really see anything because of how dark it was.  Uganda isn't lit well :).  We got back to their compound and basically went straight to bed.  Their home is lovely and our room is very nice. We woke up this morning and went to get Silas....

We have been surrounded by excitement, anticipation, and joy for the past few days, but I am still learning about God's love and God's Kingdom.  Here's the latest. I don't completely understand why so many different people are so invested in our adoption journey.  I hope this doesn't come off as callous, but I am starting to think that I am intensely selfish.  Give me a moment to try and explain this. In the past 2.5 years since Mindy and I have been on this journey we have been receiving a lot of encouragement from friends both old and new.  I mean a lot of encouragement.  We have made many new friends in the world of adoption.  Through the genius of Facebook we have been able to share our story with many old friends as well.  I just don't know why so many people care so much about this. I am overwhelmed each time I hear a new story of someone's excitement for us.  I don't completely understand why so many people hugged me after we ann...

If you are wondering about Mindy's take on the last few days. http://boydsadoption.blogspot.com/2012/04/approved.html

We got our visa approval early this morning.  That means that we are going to Uganda to get Silas, get his visa, and bring him home to the states!  Boom! Last night was absolutely horrible.  We had a board meeting at church that went very well.  So I came home in a great mood around 9:30pm.  Mindy was watching a movie with her friend.  After she left Mindy came in and told me that, unless we hear Friday (this) morning, there is no way that his visa will be ready in time to get him this month.  Then she reminded me that if we don't get him in the next 30 days we have a couple of major things expiring and we would be set back for a few more months. It was a dark night.  It was hopeless.  I can't stress enough just how hopeless everything felt last night. Then the email came this morning and it is CONFIRMED that the visa is approved and there is now no longer any obstacles to us bringing Silas home! It takes a lot of faith to follow Go...

Well, we did not hear yet.  If we don't hear by 9am (which is out of character for them) we will not hear anything today.  So, I say we all pray for tomorrow! Mindy and I would like to leave on Thursday the 26th and come home the next Thursday the 3rd.  This will work out to have our parents split shifts to watch the kids for a week.  (That's a lot of schedules working out incredibly!)  There is a guest preacher already scheduled for that Sunday (funny coincidence!)  This will also mean we are back by Will's birthday (the 5th).  Last night I asked Will what he wanted for his birthday.  We didn't come up with much but after we got the girls in bed and prayed to have news this morning, he asked for Silas to come home for his birthday.  (That's my boy!)  Please continue to pray with us in hopeful anticipation and expectation. If we are to leave on the 26th we must hear from the Embassy very quickly -or- we buy the tickets and fly out in...

When I was in 3rd or 4th grade I was invited to a McDonald's birthday party.  Do you remember those?  For the younger crowd, back in the day McDonald's was thee place to have your big day.  They had a special party room and everyone got awesome party favors, happy meals...Anyways... I remember that I won a Grimace infatable toy.  It was pretty great. After the party was over some of us were being driven home in the back of a pickup with a topper.  It was just boys.  I remember vividly that I was sitting in the corner holding the awesome prize that I won.  Then one of the boys (whom I didn't know) looked at me and called me a fag.  I hadn't talked to him.  I wasn't in the middle of talking.  I was just sitting there waiting to be taken home. I was absolutely devastated.  There I was maybe all of 9 or 10 years old and I was humiliated and felt pure shame.  I had done nothing to provoke this and I didn't know that kid and I ...

We are getting really close.  We have sent in the final amendment and it should arrive in Nairobi on Monday.  Then as soon as they look at it they will let us know that the visa is ready.  At that point we can fly out to get him!  Crazy!!!!!  We actually went out and bought some clothes for him. Please pray that it happens in a week.  Yep, a week. Here are some new pictures that were just posted today.  He's getting bigger, but he's still tiny! Look at that huge belly! He is walking with those tiny legs in the background Can you pick him out?

This might sound morbid, but I think about my funeral quite a bit.  Maybe it's because I perform funerals and I spend a lot of time with grieving people.  I don't know. I know exactly how I want my funeral to start off.  I want everyone to be assembled.  Then I want the lights to dim down and I want "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi to play over the sounds system.  This is for a couple of reasons: 1) I can't imagine anything funnier happening at a funeral.  That makes me giggle every time I think about it.  Can't you imagine everyone looking around at each other?  I can see my dad laughing and my mom have that funny look on her face.  It's one of the funniest things that I can think of. -and- 2) That's just an awesome song. Have you thought about your funeral?  What elements do you want at it?

I'm pretty excited for a new sermon series that I am starting this Sunday (4/15).  There are some topics that I have wanted to preach on for quite a while but I haven't been able to squeeze them into my schedule. So the series is 6 weeks and I'm calling it "Restoring instead of buying new."  The idea is that new things are always more exciting than old things.  They are shiny, smell good, and still have everything in working order.  However, there is something to be said for restoring something to original quality.  Anyone can go out and buy a new car, motorcycle, or whatever, but it takes special skill to get something that has been buried under years or even decades of weather, dirt, and debris and go through the work that it takes to bring back the majesty that it once had.  For instance, (gas mileage aside) a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback will always be better than the latest Mustang, always. There are many things in the Christian faith that are better...

No, we are not any closer to the conclusion of our adoption.  Yes, we are waiting on one signature in Illinois.  Then we will be waiting for one signature in Kenya.  Then we will be flying to Uganda.  Then we will have our boy home.  (Please pray with us that we will have him home by the end of April.) My easter sermon this year was based on John chapter 14.  Jesus tells his disciples not to worry because He is preparing a room for them and He IS coming back for them.  I wove the story of Jesus and the disciples with the story of our adopting Silas.  Here is the link: http://www.cowdenchurch.org/Cowden_Church/Podcast/Entries/2012/4/9_No_Longer_Orphans.html Speaking of links.  I wish I had watched it, but I guess Bubba Watson, the guy who won the Masters, adopted his first child just a few weeks ago.   Here is the article : I am so happy that Bubba Watson won the Masters.  I had no idea who he was except for the weird name. ...

What I think I deserve and what I think you deserve. Boom. (The other 1.7% you ask?  Which way the toilet paper is supposed to hang.)

All alone on an island.  Well, maybe there are a few other people, but not very many. I spend anywhere from 15-20 hours every week reading, writing, investigating, and foraging for a sermon.  I spend way more time thinking about the sermon.  If I'm not thinking about the sermon that I am preaching for the upcoming Sunday, I'm thinking about future sermons, or I'm watching TV, reading, or just observing life trying to find connections between the Word of God and life as we know it.  I pour my heart into it more than I do for most anything else.  I am, basically, always writing a sermon in my head.  It's a sickness and it's a great love. The sermons that I write and preach affect me more than any other person.  I am pretty certain about that.  They change my behavior, attitudes, and actions.  They are forming me as a human being, parent, friend, husband, and citizen. So then I preach the sermon in about 30 minutes to about 160 people, wel...

I woke up this morning around 2:30am.  Well, I kind of woke up.  My right eye hurt so bad that I thought I was going blind.  Not figuratively.  I actually thought I was going blind.  It's one of those thoughts that seem to make sense when you are in the world somewhere in the middle of asleep and awake. The remarkable thing was that I was very calm about it.  I laid there in bed pretty sure that I was going blind very quickly and I was completely rational about it.  I thought that I should probably see the doctor but I didn't really want to because I had lunch plans and I have an Easter sermon to write.  (For Pastors - this is like the week before the Super Bowl).  I figured when I got up I would have Mindy call for an appointment. Then I thought about our upcoming trip to pick up Silas in Africa.  Well if I'm blind I guess Mindy will have to go by herself.  I will stay here with the kids.  That's good because then we won't...

This weekend the world celebrates the Easter Holiday.  Millions of people all around the world will reflect on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God.  Millions of people will also not really care.  Millions of people will take advantage of egg hunts and brunches with mimosas (alcohol at 10:00am - what kind of holiday is this!)  Possibly, millions of people will watch golf on television. Why is church so important this weekend? Well, our God died. Then, He came back to life. That opens up a large series of questions. 1) Is there really a god? 2) Is there just one of them? 3) Is it really all powerful? 4) Is it a good god? 5) Why did he or she or it have to die? 6) Does this god not control death?  How powerful is it? Here is what I believe from my understanding of the Bible teaching.  (Which I believe.) Jesus is God.  He created the heavens and the earth and he is creating a new heaven a...