God has been taking Danielle and I on a journey these past four years.  This journey has involved hearing God's voice and following His leading in a specific area of our lives.  Through God's faithful leading and wonderful people like you, Danielle and I are excited to announce that we are preparing to adopt a baby!  We have been chosen by a birth mother who is having a baby boy and is due at the beginning of December.  With God's leading and provision, we are hoping to bring home our baby and begin our family.  Before we explain how you can partner with us in starting our family, I'd like to share a bit of our story with you.

A few years ago, God broke our hearts for the fatherless.  Our eyes were opened to the overwhelming need not only around the world but right here in our backyard.  Not only were our hearts broken and our eyes opened, but we were also convicted by the Spirit of God as to what our role in the lives of orphans must be...

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. - James 1:27

God has also shown me not only my role, but how adoption is a huge part of my story too!  I was a slave to sin, but through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross I was brought into God's family.  He adopted me!  I have been made His son through the forgiveness that Jesus offers me through the cross.  What is crazy to me is that God chose this before the world was created... He knew all of my sin that I was going to commit and He still chose to adopt me into His family as His son!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. - Ephesians 1:3-6

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. ... Beloved, we are God's children now... - 1 John 3:1-2

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. - Galatians 3:25-26

 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. - Romans 8:14-17

Much of the beauty of the gospel is shown in adoption.  Danielle and I have committed to have the gospel saturate every area of our lives... our marriage, our relationships with others, our jobs, our finances... everything!  Adoption is one way that we can show others the beauty of the gospel!

Needless to say... we are so excited!  The more we sought God's direction on this, the more that it became clear that God's plan for us was to adopt.  God has been leading us through this process for years and we are so excited to bring home our baby.  We are learning more and more details about our baby but one thing has been certain... that God is perfectly orchestrating this big event in our life and we couldn't be more excited!  Our ultimate desire is to care for the birthmother and bring home a child for our family!

We don't want our adoption to just be our story though.  We would love to invite you in and play a role in Danielle and I beginning our family.  There are a few ways for you to help us:

1. Prayer.  We are asking that you would commit to praying for us... Regularly!  Pray that we would find a birth mother, that finances would come together and that we would be ready.
2. Financially.  Adoption is expensive.  If you would like to support us financially in bringing home our baby, please click here or you can mail checks or cash to us at:

          The Barry Family
          46536 Greenridge Drive,
          Northville, MI 48167
    3.   Stay updated on here or at Danielle's blog, thebarrygoodlife.wordpress.com, to hear all the news on           
          what's going on with our adoption.

Thank you, in advance, for your heart for our family. We are sincerely grateful for your partnership with us and we can't wait to see where God takes us and this baby that God has provided for us.  Please feel free to contact Danielle and I if you have any questions and we'd love to answer them for you!

- Rick

About four years ago, God called Danielle and I to Keystone Fellowship outside of Philadelphia, PA to be the Student Ministries Pastor where I oversaw students in 6-12th grade.  The past few years at Keystone have been some of my favorite years of ministry that I've ever had.  I've had the privilege of seeing students surrender their lives to Christ, baptizing more students than I ever have before, making incredible relationships with students and leaders, having a ton of fun, and seeing God grow in Danielle and my own life.  God has taught Danielle and I continually through our time at Keystone.  Despite these past few years being some of our hardest years of ministry, we are so thankful for all that God has done in us and through us and we would not trade it for anything.

However, it is with sad hearts that we share that God has released us from our calling to Keystone.  We have loved our time at Keystone and the family that we have created while we have been here.  They have grown with us and helped us go through some of the toughest times of our lives.  Though we are sad to leave, it is with excited hearts that we also announce that I have accepted the position as Middle School Pastor at Oak Pointe Church in Novi, MI!

Danielle and I are so excited to go to Oak Pointe and see all that God wants to do in this next phase of our lives.  About three months ago, Oak Pointe called me to discuss the position and the possibility of coming back to Michigan.  Over the past few months, we have spent significant time in prayer, fasting and listening for God's voice on what His desire and will is for us.  We know completely that God has called us to Oak Pointe and God has confirmed that for us again and again.

We will be moving in the beginning of August to Michigan with a planned start at Oak Pointe in mid August.  Please pray for Keystone during this transition as they seek to find a new youth pastor and for Danielle and I as we seek to sell our home.  While this was not something that we expected to happen, Danielle and I have always committed to doing whatever God calls us to do, whenever God calls us to do it, wherever God calls to us go.  Therefore, when God clearly called us to Oak Pointe we said yes.

Thank you for your continued support of our ministry at Keystone over these past few years and we look forward to sharing with you all that God is going to do in our ministry at Oak Pointe!

- Rick

Most of us have been in desert times... Those times where we feel like God has been completely absent from our lives or we feel like the Israelites who are crying out against God.  This song has been a comfort to Danielle and I as we sought God through the desert.  In the bridge of the song, John Piper speaks on 2 Corinthians 4:17-18:

I don't know where all of you are at, but I hope this song comes as an encouragement to you right where you are.  Deserts are meant to be a blessing.  Israel wandered through the desert so that they could take hold of the promised land.  Jesus went through the wilderness and received the power for His ministry.

This passage is from the book How To Worship A King and has given Danielle and I clarity on why we are going through the desert. 

I pray that your hearts are being prepared to receive and hold onto the promises of God.  Take heart... God is preparing for you an eternal weight of glory.

- Rick

The Super Bowl was pretty rough yesterday.  From the very first snap to the last play of the game, it wasn't quite the Super Bowl that most people expected.   To make matters worse, the commercials weren't that great either (in my opinion)! But here are a few of my favorite from last night!

What were your favorite commercials?  Did I miss any?

- Rick

Hands down the best commercial from the Super Bowl!  "It's the future!"

This is just a clever commercial...

This was funny just because of the guy saying "Doberhuahua" in the beginning of this commercial.

"Detroit made cars and cars made America." Enough said.

I can't wait to have Jack back!  May can't come soon enough! #JackIsBack

No this is not a post about how you should attend your church's Sunday night service instead of watching the Super Bowl (unless you go to Keystone... just kidding).  With the Super Bowl being tonight, I thought this was a cool video from some of the members of the Seattle Seahawks.  Win or lose the big game... they always win because in the end they know Christ!  They've already received the best that they could get!

Jesus is so much better than the Super Bowl!  Hope you have fun tonight watching the game and the commercials!  Who do you think will win?  Comment and let me know!

- Rick

I watched this video this morning and I was blown away by the love that God gives us for His people!  Unbelievable faith, mercy and restoration!  Take some time today and watch this powerful story of a youth pastor and the man who killed his wife and son.

- Rick

Relevant Magazine posted this article late last week about some wise social media habits and I think it is so good!  Therefore, I'm passing it on to you!  Below is just an overview of the article... I highly recommend clicking the link and reading the rest of the article!

Social Media has become part of our very fabric of life... everyone and their grandma is on Facebook, we're tweeting, posting to Instagram and snapping selfies on Snapchat!  The writer of this article suggests that instead of posting for the fifteenth time today, we should take a break and ask ourselves these 5 questions:

1. Am I Seeking Approval? - If your interaction with the internet is driven by a need for approval, consider healthier ways to address this issue and choose to stop reinforcing the unhealthy ones.
2. Am I Boasting? - There’s sharing excitement and then there’s bragging.  Examine your motivations and walk away before using social media as the adult version of show-and-tell.
3. Am I Discontent? - Are you looking for something “better”? If so, walk away. Nothing you will read, write or see is going to solve this one.  Instead, ask yourself why you are discontent and address those needs.
4. Is This A Moment To Protect? - Not every great moment needs to be shared. In fact, some of the best times are most enjoyed privately. If we suspend the present in an attempt to capture its beauty in 140 characters or less, we sacrifice our experience of the moment itself. We also rob each other of something that has been lost in our digital age—keeping a handful of memories between us and those we are closest to, or even just between us and God.
5. Is It Kind? - Our culture tells us it’s our right to comment on everything, regardless of whether it was addressed to us and without consideration for how it might affect others.  What message are we sending?

The writer ends with challenging us to use these questions to help us pause and give ourselves an honest moment to reflect—bringing discernment, love and wisdom to each picture and word we share.

Do you ask any questions before posting to social media?  Comment and let me know!

- Rick

I found this video today that I think is especially relevant since the Seahawks are heading to the SuperBowl.  I love to hear peoples stories... and this video is all about some of the Seahawks players stories of how they came to play football in the NFL and how they came to know Christ.

Do yourself a favor and take 15 minutes to watch this video.  Share it with your friends too... this is a great video to have go viral!  You can also check out their site at makingofachampion.org.

Comment and let me know who you want to win the SuperBowl!  I'm going with the Seahawks!

- Rick