"Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord... Our God, You reign forever... Our hope, our strong Deliverer! You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God. You do not faint, You won't grow weary... You're the defender of the weak. You comfort those in need. You lift us up on wings like eagles." (Chris Tomlin - Everlasting God)
"Now I don't have to look across the ages. His voice is speaking in my heart today... I will follow Christ. I will run the race. Fighting the good fight. Standing on my faith. I will wear the name of Jesus. I will give Him all my life. As for me no matter what the sacrifice, I will follow Christ!" (Clay Crosse - I Will Follow Christ)
"I surrender all my silent hopes and dreams, though the price to follow costs me everything. I surrender all my human soul desires. If sacrifice requires that all my kingdoms fall, I surrender all. Everything I am, all I've done, and all I've known now belongs to You. The life I live is not my own. Just as Abraham laid Isaac on the sacrificial fire, if all I have is all that You desire, I surrender all." (Clay Crosse - I Surrender All)
"When I Think about the Lord, how He saved me, how He raised me, how He filled me, with the Holy Ghost, how He healed me to the uttermost... When I Think about the Lord, how He picked me up and turned me around, how He placed my feet on solid ground... It makes me wanna shout, Hallelujah, Thank you JESUS, LORD, you're worthy of all the glory, and all the honor, and all the praise... It makes me wanna shout!" (James Huey - When I Think About the Lord)
As we walked into the sanctuary following Sunday School this morning, I must admit that I did not want to be there. My mind was not in the right place, and to say I was in need of a "new perspective" would be very gracious and somewhat of an understatement. However, it only took a moment to recognize that the Spirit of God was very present among His people. While I have no doubt that God spoke to many of His children this morning, the experience that followed for me was very personal. Allow me to explain...
While I am surprised, excited, grateful, and delighted that we have passed the initial approval for adoption, I realized this week that it was time to come back down to earth and have a reality check. The process is tedious, the cost exorbitant, and the outcome uncertain... If I am honest, the temptation exists to simply chalk the whole thing up to an overzealous ~ poorly timed ~ bad idea, and just give up.
But then, I remember ~ He didn't say how we would get there or when we would arrive at our destination. Even so, I know that God told us to "get moving". I just wish that knowledge made the journey a little - no, a LOT - easier.
So, that is where I was this morning as we entered God's house. Confused, overwhelmed, scared, and sad. But then, with each song, God spoke TRUTH to change my mind and encourage my heart. He said... you may grow faint, weary, and weak, but I will not. I am everlasting. I reign forever. I will defend, comfort, and lift you up. He said... I am speaking to you today. Run the race. Fight the good fight. Stand on faith. Wear MY name. Give ME your life, and sacrifice everything. He said... surrender all your hopes, dreams, and desires to follow ME. Your life is not your own. He said... remember all I have done for you and how I have placed your feet on solid ground. Think about ME. Glorify ME. Praise ME.
...and THEN came the sermon, which outlined God's response to brokenness and our response to brokenness. The short version of what the pastor presented is that God cares about us (1 Peter 5:7) and that He has the power to heal any need (spiritual, physical, or emotional). On the other hand, we doubt His care (Mark 4:37-40). He concluded with the encouragement to pray for stronger faith (Mark 9:23-24), healing, and peace in the midst of our circumstances.
So, having said all that, I guess the adoption update is that we are just taking one step at a time. We will attend the training weekend at the beginning of April. After that, we will continue to pray for God to strengthen our faith, to make the path clear, to provide for each need~ as it comes, and to give us peace, as we trust in Him. Please continue to pray with us and for us.
Embracing His Joy, Hope, & Peace...
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