The God Who KNOWS

The last several nights have fallen into a pattern during our nightly bedtime prayers with the kids. Natalie, who is 9 and recently decided she wants a sister,  prays "I pray that we would adopt a girl and she would get here soon." Micah  (who is 6 years old) prays, "I pray for a boy and he would get here faster!" He wants a "twin" brother who is his age, mostly to play legos with him. So tonight, I decided this was a good time to have a little discussion with them about God and prayers. I explained to them that we need to pray that God would send us the right child, boy or girl, who will fit into our family. I explained to them that there are many boys and girls who have no mommy or daddy, and we need to pray that God has one chosen just for our family and He will bring that child to us at the right time.

As I began to speak to my children, I had one of those mommy-moments. You know, when you are sharing something with your child and you realize that what you are saying is something that you, as the mom, needs to hear! And so as I thought and prayed some more about it I realized just how much God knows about my child whom I know nothing about right now.We don't know if it is a boy or girl, if he or she is 4 or 9 or somewhere in between,  but God knows. He knows the child's name, birthday and personality. He knows where the child is right now and He knows the child's deepest hurts and fears.  He knows the child's deepest desires and longings for a family. He knows the child who needs Natalie to be a sister and Micah to be a brother-God has this child chosen to fit into our family. I know it won't always be easy and there will be transition, but God has hand-picked this child for us. He knows his or her every moment, every joy, every tear..his or her's past, present and future and He has good plans for this child. I cannot imagine this adoption process without knowing the GOD who knows my child's name, who heals my child's hurts and answers my child's cry for a family. Thank you, God, for knowing and loving my child in a way that I cannot. Thank you, God, for allowing me to be a vessel of your love to this child. Thank you, God, for knowing what I can and cannot handle and for hand-picking a child for our family. "God places the lonely in families." Psalm 68:6a

Trying not to stress....

Our final homestudy is Thursday. I have been cleaning for 3 days....My house is pretty close to immacculate. (Now if we can only keep it that way for two days!)  I am not stressing about the homestudy, I'm stressing about the money. I know I shouldn't. God has provided thus far. In fact, we recieved another donation on Sunday in the amount of $550, but we just recieved an e-mail with the total amount owed on Thursday--$3100. We have $2800 in the account.  We can take $300 out of our savings, so we are alright for Thursday, but then, we have paperwork that we have to do which will cost almost $1000 and another $3500 will be due at the completion of the paperwork. I am trying not to stress....I know God will provide, as He has thus far, but it is still difficult! So...please pray for us that God will provide the funds for us and give me strength to make it through the next few months as we work through the stacks and stacks of paperwork. I can't wait to get through the paperwork and get our approval so I can begin the REAL waiting!!

A new year: Reflection and Prayer for the new year

Seriously, I am not normally a resolution kind of gal, but it is a new year and I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on the overwhelming things God has put into motion in my life during 2010, and also put a few "resolutions" down on paper in the form of a prayer. The year 2010 was a year which God really stretched my faith and He began to teach me to listen closely to hear Him speak. He stretched my faith to give more money than I ever thought we would be able to and I cannot even begin to write about all the blessings we saw in return! I cannot wait to give even more in 2011! He asked our family to take a huge step of faith and begin the adoption process. It has been slow going, but I know that He has put into motion in His timing to give us the right child for our family. The past couple days have been busy with cleaning the house for our homestudy scheduled for next week.

Looking ahead to the year 2011, I pray that God opens up more doors of oportunity to share the love of Christ with orphans around the world. I am looking forward to going on the first missions trip planned by Mission 1:27 to the Hillcrest orphanage in Arkansas. I pray that God uses me in ways I never thought possible. I pray that God stretches my faith to give more to missions. I pray that God expands my time, so I can have solitary time to write. I pray that God will open my eyes to the lost of the world and give me creative ways to reach them. I pray that when God speaks, I will listen and obey. I pray that God will protect my children and by some miracle, we will be able to complete our adoption in 2011.  Afterall, we do serve a miracle working God!

I am looking forward to the adventure God has in store for 2011! We serve an awesome and amazing God!