A bit of my Heart

"A man's steps are established by the LORD, and He takes pleasure in his way."
My devotional this morning from the Journey by Lifway was about infertility and adoption. I must confess that my knowledge of these two things is by no means Grade A, top notch...in fact, it's more on the lines of less than beginner status. Three years ago when Jeremy and I prayed and asked the Lord about His timing on us having children, we had no idea of when the Lord would bless us with a child or even that He would ever...He hadn't made that promise to us and He hadn't not made that promise to us. But we trusted His plan. His purpose. His desire for us. And we "adopted" those desires, purposes, and plans to our lives. Just because we did that does not mean that we would automatically be granted a baby, although some people think that and others resent it.
Since we got pregnant with David in July '03, I have had the privelege of walking the road alongside many of my friends who have battled infertility and adoption. I call it a privelege because to call it anything else would be denying who God says He is and His calling on my life. See, during my pregnancy God called my husband and I to pray. Pray hard. Pray often. Pray steadily for a group of people. The four couples God laid on our hearts were battling the road of desiring a child, desiring God's best and those weren't lining up...or at least, it seemed that way at the time. Throughout that year, God rewarded our obedience to pray by blessing those families with pregnancy and throughout an 18 month span following our call to pray, God delivered a set of twin girls, a little girl, a little boy, and another little girl to each of those couples. I was amazed and astonished and even more than that, grateful. I was grateful that God gave them all their desires in His timing. I was grateful even more that I got to play a small role in it...not prideful, but grateful. I don't know what I would have missed had He not burdened my heart for them. I learned an even greater lesson too...while God is working through my life, He is also working in others. While my friends were walking that road and learning to trust in His great timing and not their own, I was learning to pray more. I was learning to hear God's heart. I was learning to turn over my friends to Jesus, and He will supply all their needs. (Needs....) Oh Lord, it's sooooo NOT about US, but ALL ABOUT YOU!

When we moved last August, I had no idea what kind of new door God would open up. The adoption door was it...I had only known one couple to adopt a baby EVER. In the first months of being in our new church, I met two incredible women that I am so excited to call my friends. A & G are truly incredible God-fearing women. One of them has two children, one natural, one adopted. She jokes that the adopted one looks more like her than her natural child, who favors her father. The other one looks so much like the parents, I never would have known she wasn't theirs naturally. Their stories are unique and breathtaking. G's story brought me to tears the night she shared just a part of it with me. God is truly amazing.
I recently have been able to watch three couples adopt babies, one from overseas, two locally in the states, and I tell you, I don't ever get tired of watching God do great things in the lives of His people.
My devotional story wrapped up by saying how the writer's adoptive parents taught her as she got older that "God had decided long before I was born who would give birth to me and who would raise me. So I learned at an early age that my adoption was part of God's plan for me."
Wow...perspective. That is some amazing perspective.
For those with the battles of these roads, my prayers are raised to the Father for you. My words cry out for you. My tears are in a bottle with your name on them.
I love you!

Tags: Devotionals, Christian, Church