Monday Morning Ramblings . . .

Well, I must admit ... I just hesitate to post anything on here lately. I often sit and ponder just how much to share. While writing a friend last night, I told her ... "I feel like there is no more stretch left in my rubber band." There's this wonderful little devotional put out by the Shaohannah's Hope ministry. In it a parent is giving some insight in one section and one sentence really stood out to me this morning. "God isn't going to send you where He is absent." How true this is! I have to say that this journey I've been on is something I have never experienced before, even having adopted once already. It's like all the layers of my heart have been peeled back and God is using this time to teach me so much about HIS children.

As a mom we take on so much responsibility for the day-to-day needs of our children. I think this is in part what makes this section of the waiting so difficult. In our babe's pictures I see her moving out of the "innocent baby stage" into this cautious season of wondering what on earth is going on in her life. It is a comfort to know how much the Gladney staff cares about these precious children. Yet we are eager to move on to the next phase of this journey and begin the process of earning her trust and helping her to heal.

Scott Hasenbalg in this devotional says this: "The adoption journey is not easy, but every hour of toil, every obstacle encountered, every tear shed, every sleepless night - all are but a shadow of the price that God paid for us. Jesus came to be a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28), and if God was willing to pay that ransom for us, how much more will He be willing to lead us in ransoming His beloved children from their state as orphans? And it is His love that compels us onward in obedience, whatever the cost, for He who calls us is faithful. Our God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who is rich in mercy and grace, who generously provides for all that we need, this God knows the costs we will incur, and promises to be with us and for us every step of the way. This is about faith in action. This is an invitation to experience God in ways we've never experienced Him before". Wow! ... how true. And so we walk on and trust Him. Little did I know back a year ago when God was speaking to my heart that there was a child in Ethiopia that we were to go and bring home ... little did I know all that this journey would entail. One thing is for sure ... we will never be the same. God has done something in our family that has changed us forever ... and we are only part way there. God is not sending us where He is absent ... He will walk us through each step, sometimes carrying us. His grace is sufficient both for us and for this precious child that He's bringing into our family. He has a wonderful plan for her life. He has sustained her and He will continue to work out every detail of her future because He loves her ... because she belongs to Him ... because she is HIS child.

As we approach Easter ... do you realize that for your own life? You are HIS, He loves you and He doesn't want to leave you just as you are, but He has a plan for your life. His plan for our lives doesn't always look familiar to us. But I can tell you that there is no better place to be.