You know that God is directing your steps when everywhere you turn, He is repeating the same message. The songs on the radio, the devotional book that just arrived in the mail, the pastor's message on Sunday, a word from a friend, and more. I'm thankful that He is patient with me and continues to tell me over and over 'til I "get it" and have my "ahh-ha!" moment. Just as a parent would gently remind their child to hang their coat up after coming in from the cold. "Don't forget to hang your coat up." "Honey, your coat is on the floor again." "Coats belong on the hook or on our bodies, so hang your coat up." Well, God is there to guide us and patiently remind us of His promises and care. Of course our hearts need to be seeking His ways, our thoughts are to be open to hear what He has to tell us, and discerning of the lies the enemy offers, but when we seek, we find where God is working and jump on board.
Galatians 5:25 "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
"Keep in step!" He'll say it over and over again, and in different places to confirm in us that He is in control, knows all, and sees all. He is inviting us to be with Him and His work. Do people say 'no' to God? Sure, everyday opportunities pass by that if we would have said "yes" mighty things could have happened as a result. Maybe it would be a minor thing as a result of our "yes" answer to respond, but a seed planted eventually grows into a bountiful harvest! The Lord will continue to do His thing even when we miss our opportunity to serve. 2 Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the entire earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him."
"The ways of God are without fault. The Lord's words are pure. He is a shield to those who trust Him." Psalm 18:30
Sometimes it is in the most unusual of places, the unexpected, the unplanned, that we hear God's voice. This too is affirmation that it is God's calling in His ways and His time, not from a plan of our own. God's ways are not our ways. His plans are not our plans, so His way to achieve a goal may be something totally different than we could have ever imagined.
Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
Recently, God has spoken to me like I've never experienced. I will remember His words and remind myself of His loyalty to those words when I will again doubt and fail. It's funny how through the Holy Spirit the Lord can speak to us and we think it's an amazing message. It is absolutely! But don't we have the word of God to speak to us everyday? I do, you do I hope. It's the Bible. Sometimes I know I forget how Holy and awesome the Bible is and what an immense privilege it is to even have a copy. When we live in the country that I do, Bibles come in all sizes, font styles, translations, and are even available at the Dollar General. Gotta love the Bible App too! It is a wonderful thing, but don't forget the wonderful gift that it is too. It is a precious book, not by it's rareness in availability (in this country anyway) but by the realness of the precious author, God himself.
When doing our morning devotions with the children today, this is the script that we read. It was another one of those "God given" timely moments when after this weekend of seeking God and hearing His peace, my faulty heart says, "well then when?" Here is His gentle reminder that He meant what He said, and that was to "rest in His peace and He will make this happen."
The following is from the devotional, Jesus Calling 365 Devotional for Kids. It is written in the 1st person, in that that Lord is the writer speaking directly to you.
Three Little Words
"Wait for the Lord's help. Be strong and brave and wait for the Lord's help." - Psalm 27:14
Trust. Wait. Hope. These three little words are all connected- and they also connect you to Me. Your faith begins with trust. Each day, choose to trust Me and My way more than you trust yourself. Trust Me to be there for you to care for you, and to keep My promises.
Then, wait on Me. I will answer your prayers, but it will be in My own perfect time. If you say, "I trust you," but you keep trying to make things happen right away, then you are not really trusting Me. Real trust means waiting for My answer.
But wait with hope. Don't just wish for My answer; expect it! Expect to live a life full of meaning and purpose. Expect your heavenly reward.
Trust. Wait. Hope. Three little words- three keys to My kingdom.
I think on these things as I think of our adoption process. Everything is going fine, and it is in God's timing and in His hands. Confession time: It isn't going according to my timing though, and here is where I need to let go of my control! Not that even in my best efforts I can take any control away from the Lord, but that's how the human mind works anyway. We think we are, or can be greater than God. "Really?" you say, "I don't think I'm greater than God?" Oh, so you follow God's plan for your life and not seek out your own ambitions and worldly passions first? So you seek first the betterment of the Kingdom of God and not the gain of wealth and position here on earth? That's great! But, all of us can admit that we do fall short of acknowledging God's greatness in different areas of our lives.
Things are completely out of my hands, but the fact that I wish they weren't and I could grab documents and fly them to the desk they need to be on, put them on the top of the pile, and bribe the office worker with candy to just read them and get things processed....well, see, that's not God's timing then is it?
Our home study is complete, and has been for over a month now. Unfortunately, our case worker had a bad accident and injured her neck (please pray for her recovery). This of course put her case load on hold and now on overload as she attempts to catch up. We told her that "God holds our timetable," to take care of herself please, and not to stress over her work load. Our home study report is in that pile of 'catch up' right now. I am oddly thankful for this hold up because I know that our adoption is in God's timing and "He's got this." Apparently, in my efforts to figure out God's plan in this delay ( smiling ) our kids in Ethiopia aren't ready yet. That week that our papers would have gone through and the agency would have made our match to our children - well, that wasn't where God wanted us to be to match us with the children He has already chosen. I believe in His ways far beyond mine and while we Trust in Him, we Wait for His timing, and Hope in the promises that He has given.
There is nothing else that we can do but Trust, Wait, and Hope. And isn't that enough?
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understandings. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
We are thankful for your prayers, support, and encouragement throughout this adoption process! Please continue to pray specifically for the work of the Lord to proceed, for lives to be touched as others hear the gospel in an adoption story, and for funds to be raised. We are so grateful that you are along for the ride because this journey is going to have an awesome ending!
Todd and Erin
Galatians 5:25 "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
"Keep in step!" He'll say it over and over again, and in different places to confirm in us that He is in control, knows all, and sees all. He is inviting us to be with Him and His work. Do people say 'no' to God? Sure, everyday opportunities pass by that if we would have said "yes" mighty things could have happened as a result. Maybe it would be a minor thing as a result of our "yes" answer to respond, but a seed planted eventually grows into a bountiful harvest! The Lord will continue to do His thing even when we miss our opportunity to serve. 2 Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the entire earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him."
"The ways of God are without fault. The Lord's words are pure. He is a shield to those who trust Him." Psalm 18:30
Sometimes it is in the most unusual of places, the unexpected, the unplanned, that we hear God's voice. This too is affirmation that it is God's calling in His ways and His time, not from a plan of our own. God's ways are not our ways. His plans are not our plans, so His way to achieve a goal may be something totally different than we could have ever imagined.
Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
Recently, God has spoken to me like I've never experienced. I will remember His words and remind myself of His loyalty to those words when I will again doubt and fail. It's funny how through the Holy Spirit the Lord can speak to us and we think it's an amazing message. It is absolutely! But don't we have the word of God to speak to us everyday? I do, you do I hope. It's the Bible. Sometimes I know I forget how Holy and awesome the Bible is and what an immense privilege it is to even have a copy. When we live in the country that I do, Bibles come in all sizes, font styles, translations, and are even available at the Dollar General. Gotta love the Bible App too! It is a wonderful thing, but don't forget the wonderful gift that it is too. It is a precious book, not by it's rareness in availability (in this country anyway) but by the realness of the precious author, God himself.
When doing our morning devotions with the children today, this is the script that we read. It was another one of those "God given" timely moments when after this weekend of seeking God and hearing His peace, my faulty heart says, "well then when?" Here is His gentle reminder that He meant what He said, and that was to "rest in His peace and He will make this happen."
The following is from the devotional, Jesus Calling 365 Devotional for Kids. It is written in the 1st person, in that that Lord is the writer speaking directly to you.
Three Little Words
"Wait for the Lord's help. Be strong and brave and wait for the Lord's help." - Psalm 27:14
Trust. Wait. Hope. These three little words are all connected- and they also connect you to Me. Your faith begins with trust. Each day, choose to trust Me and My way more than you trust yourself. Trust Me to be there for you to care for you, and to keep My promises.
Then, wait on Me. I will answer your prayers, but it will be in My own perfect time. If you say, "I trust you," but you keep trying to make things happen right away, then you are not really trusting Me. Real trust means waiting for My answer.
But wait with hope. Don't just wish for My answer; expect it! Expect to live a life full of meaning and purpose. Expect your heavenly reward.
Trust. Wait. Hope. Three little words- three keys to My kingdom.
I think on these things as I think of our adoption process. Everything is going fine, and it is in God's timing and in His hands. Confession time: It isn't going according to my timing though, and here is where I need to let go of my control! Not that even in my best efforts I can take any control away from the Lord, but that's how the human mind works anyway. We think we are, or can be greater than God. "Really?" you say, "I don't think I'm greater than God?" Oh, so you follow God's plan for your life and not seek out your own ambitions and worldly passions first? So you seek first the betterment of the Kingdom of God and not the gain of wealth and position here on earth? That's great! But, all of us can admit that we do fall short of acknowledging God's greatness in different areas of our lives.
Things are completely out of my hands, but the fact that I wish they weren't and I could grab documents and fly them to the desk they need to be on, put them on the top of the pile, and bribe the office worker with candy to just read them and get things processed....well, see, that's not God's timing then is it?
Our home study is complete, and has been for over a month now. Unfortunately, our case worker had a bad accident and injured her neck (please pray for her recovery). This of course put her case load on hold and now on overload as she attempts to catch up. We told her that "God holds our timetable," to take care of herself please, and not to stress over her work load. Our home study report is in that pile of 'catch up' right now. I am oddly thankful for this hold up because I know that our adoption is in God's timing and "He's got this." Apparently, in my efforts to figure out God's plan in this delay ( smiling ) our kids in Ethiopia aren't ready yet. That week that our papers would have gone through and the agency would have made our match to our children - well, that wasn't where God wanted us to be to match us with the children He has already chosen. I believe in His ways far beyond mine and while we Trust in Him, we Wait for His timing, and Hope in the promises that He has given.
There is nothing else that we can do but Trust, Wait, and Hope. And isn't that enough?
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understandings. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
We are thankful for your prayers, support, and encouragement throughout this adoption process! Please continue to pray specifically for the work of the Lord to proceed, for lives to be touched as others hear the gospel in an adoption story, and for funds to be raised. We are so grateful that you are along for the ride because this journey is going to have an awesome ending!
Todd and Erin
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