Sunday, April 18, 2010

We Will Run The Race!

I have been reading all these other blogs on my sidebar about how God is providing for all these adoptions for inspiration and encouragement. Honestly sometimes they leave me sad, but most of the time they make me feel hopeful. Sometimes it's hard to imagine yourself special enough for God to use you in big ways or provide for you in big ways. I'm glad that the reality of that is that we don't have to be special or jump through any hoops for God to love us any more than He already does, or care just as much as He does about the next person. To be honest, this whole adoption experience this far hasn't been the most pleasant or uplifting experience. It started out great. We got "the call," and I will say it again, was the most amazing God experience I think my heart has felt since I first decided to give my heart to Jesus. It was so exciting and just unbelievable to hear God speaking so loud and clear about everything. The one thing He didn't tell us at that time was that this road wasn't going to be an easy one to walk. There's always a price, whether it be financial or emotional. We knew about the financial, and even somewhat knew of the possibilities of the emotional, but was kinda hoping that it would be smooth sailing for us...you know...we were being optimistic:)
Have I mentioned before that I have an awesome husband? I just want to brag a little on the man behind this woman. He's always positive and so full of faith. I don't know if I can remember a time when he worried about money. When my faith is low, Aaron's is always high. He keeps reminding me that it's not easy because God is stretching us and growing us along the way. I totally believe that, but can be whiny about it too. Aaron encourages me to always see the Jesus in every situation. It's not hard to do, when I have a man who to me mirrors the heart of Jesus and cheers me on. When I am feeling beat down, he'll say "Honey put on your shield of faith." I'm a blessed woman!
So anyway, if I sound a little down in this post, it's because I kinda am, but I am still full of hope. I am holding on tight to that!
Our pastor, Keith has been doing a series at our church on seeds. Pretty much for the last 3 Sundays, they have been words that I felt were spoken just for me. I love that I can go and get refreshed and learn something new each week. He talked about holding onto your commitments and not letting go, and not going to a place of apathy but running after those commitments. So that is what we are gonna do. Our whole time of waiting is over. We are ready to move forward. We have felt like God is saying, 'What are you waiting for? I said go, now run.'
So we will run the race.
"So therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance this race that is set before us." Heb. 12:1
I will be posting some changes we have decided on soon.

3 comments:

Dawn S. said...

I am Kim Jewett's cousin and saw your comment on her post. We received a miracle when the earthquake in Haiti brought home our children. It has been amazing to see God use this situation, for Haiti and in our specific case. I see that you say that your experience has not always been pleasant. If you want to bend my ear, I am there for you! Believe me, I know the challenges of waiting. I am giving you my email address flipflopfleet@gmail.com

Blessings!

Heather said...

I can't wait to hear more. I've been waiting to see what you had to say since your post a little while ago, where you seemed a little disheartened (is that a word?). I'm so happy to see that you have decided to run the race set before you! :) And I know our Lord is happy too!

Isn't it awesome for God to "call" you to do something? It is an amazing feeling.

He's gonna provide. He will. Watch and be amazed.

Laurel said...

Just wanted to share our adoption miracle story ...

When the Lord called us to adopt 3 siblings from Ghana ...

... my husband was a school teacher (NOT a big salary)

... we already had 10 bio. children (yes, ten)

... we had NO idea how the Lord was going to pay for it, but we knew that we were called, so we stepped out in faith.

Just one month after saying YES to adoption, we met a couple who gave us $15,000 for the adoption. Seriously. They said, "Are you just thinking about this, or are you really going to do this." We said, "We are going to adopt these 3 children, but we have no idea how the Lord is going to pay for it." They said, "We want to help."

Then, the Lord provided extra jobs for my husband, so that he could earn the extra $10,000 that we needed.

God is BIGGER than we can even imagine. Trust HIM, and HE will provide.

Laurel :)