GOD IS SO REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I just borrow your ears for a minute, to testify to how amazing God is. If I don’t share it, I am going to explode. Last week, while going through my bible study book: Knowing and Loving the Bible (that I am doing for women’s bible study at church), I was challenged to “record and memorialize” what the Lord has done in my Life. And, let me tell you this friends: When you write something down, you SEE it, you REALLY SEE IT!! God showed me something amazing when I started writing down what He has done in my life, and how HE has worked in my Life.

I started writing about how He started giving me a renewed LOVE and hunger for His word about three years ago, I started opening up my bible and desiring to read it again. Ashton was about 2 1/2 and I was just coming out of a whirwind of 7 years of raising babies. I had my four babies back to back in 5 years, so you could say that for about 7 years I sorta lost time being in the Word! Heck, I was just trying to survive!!! It was all I could do to steal 2 minutes just to go to the bathroom!! I lived on short small devotions to keep me connected to God, but it wasn’t the same as going to my bible and DIGGIN’ IN!
So, when Ashy was about 2 1/2, I started to feel like I could breathe again, like I had time to sit and read for more than 2 minutes at a time. So, as I dipped back into the Word, I started to crave it even more. And, that’s how it works, folks! You don’t desire it, unless you open it and start feasting…then you realize how much you missed it.
Of course, what I didn’t realize then, now looking back, was that the Lord was preparing me for what would be one of the most hardest seasons of my extended family’s life. It was a very dark time that showed no life…..no hope. But, I WAS ON MY KNEES praying for a miracle. The GOd that I was learning about was capable of miracles. ANd, that’s what HE DID! He brought life from something that was dead. He brought beauty from ashes. Through this tragedy in my family, he brought my sister to Him, my brother in law to Him, my mom to Him, and my dad to Him. We all witnessed a miracle in my family, GOD MADE HIMSELF KNOWN!!!!!
In fact, today my neices and nephews were baptized and it was one of those moments where you feel like you are seeing the “result of a miracle”….the result of God’s intervention!

How beautiful is it to see these precious children prayed over and blessed….to see my pastor holding a living miracle in hands. (tears)

So, I go on to write in my journal that it was ***this summer***….the summer of 2009, that the Lord whispered in my ear HIS WORDS: You will adopt someday, it’s my plan for you to adopt.” And, it was from that moment on that the Lord grew in my heart and overwhelming love, and compassion for orphans.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18)

As I tucked this little revelation into my heart and pondered it, I saw the Lord do the same EXACT thing to my children’s hearts and over 1 1/2 years later, in my husband’s heart as well. His heart was seared with the command: “go get your daughter”. It was God’s timing, not mine. I just had to wait, and claim my adoption verse (even, with all my doubts):

Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”
(Luke 1:45)

****So, while I was writing this, the Lord revealed something SO AMAZING TO ME! As I looked back on my journal entries, seeing the exact month that the Lord revealed to me His plan for us to adopt…..I SAW IT!!!! I ran to my old wall calendars (yes, I save them) and I counted back 9 months from Tahlia’s birthday of April 2010. You guessed it, she was concieved the summer of 2009. And it was this summer, that the Lord had whispered HIS plan into my ear and gave me a “out of no where” desire to adopt. Why did He choose that moment, because the Lord concieved Tahlia in my heart, the SAME EXACT TIME HE WAS CONCIEVING TAHLIA IN HER BIRTH MOM’S BELLY!!!!! I fell off my bed, and to my knees and praised God for giving me a glimpse into HIS LOVE. Then, I ran downstairs to tell Brian…..(he was asleep and snoring) LOL, But, when I told him the next morning, his jaw fell open in disbelief, and we both just sat amazed and even more grounded in GOd’s calling.
I was in shock and awe…I still am. Our God is so soveriegn, He had my little daughter’s life all planned out from the moment she was created. WOW. His Love is so great. In fact, He has each of our days plannned before any of them came to be.
I praised Him for the blessing to have had my eyes opened to His plan. This was a gift.
This has built our faith and increased it even more. I believe the Lord is strengthening our faith, in preperation for what coulf be a possibly hard road in adoption. There will be hard days with adjusting to 5 children, and bringing Tahlia into our family, and dealing with her possible grief and bonding difficulties. I know all these hardships are possible, yeah….I read those scary books about possible scenarios!!! But, by holding tight to this revelation from the Lord, I do believe it will give us the strength to press on when it gets hard. I WILL never doubt that this was HIS PLAN!
But, I would NOT have seen this glimpse into God’s plans if I had not stopped to record what the Lord has done in my life. So, I challenge you to take time to write out times when you knew the Lord had made Himself known to you. I guarantee, it will open your eyes to HIS greatness, and HIS power. AND, His LOVE for you.
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (Jamed 4:8)

I never could have, never would have imagined in the summer of 2009 that the Lord would over 2 years later be leading us to our beautiful daughter. He has carried us each step of the way, He has made Himself known. He has worked powerfully through our prayers and the prayers of friends and family!
Here are my 4 babies holding a very special letter from China stating that we are officially approved to adopt Xiu Xiu. Thank you Jesus for an LOA in 48 days!!!