Advocating for one of the least of these...

I want to share the story of a little boy who has been lingering in an orphanage in China for many years...watching as children around him get adopted and still not finding a forever family of his own. 

Please take a moment to visit this website and read about Jackie.  You never know... he may be your son or the son of someone you know!

http://givemeafamily.blogspot.com/2012/07/5-years-is-long-enough-jackie.html

Pass along this information, blog about him, tell your friends and family. You never know who the Holy Spirit could be prompting someone right now to adopt an older child from China.

Sometimes I... (the anniversary edition)

July 21st... our 22nd wedding anniversary... for Larry

Sometimes I…

...think we’ve been together forever

…think that time flies by too fast

…love the smell of the bathroom after you get ready for work

…wonder what you see in me

…wonder if I’ll ever be what you see in me

…am amazed by the children we share

…am amazed by the father you are

…am thankful for your ability to see the big picture and then show it to me

…enjoy your sense of humor

…appreciate your patience with me

…see things from your point of view

…don’t but love you anyway

…want to fall asleep in your arms

…am grateful that you can make a mean breakfast in bed

…am beyond myself when I realize how you love me

…am overwhelmed by how much I love you

Small doors? Not this time!

So my last post was about walking through those small doors that God opens for you and being faithful in them instead of just waiting for big doors to open.  No sooner had I posted those words, then a HUGE door opened in our lives.  We are choosing to walk through this big door, one little door at a time and allowing God to direct this journey.  This door is exciting and scary at the same time and I promise I will reveal more as we walk through the small doors.  Right now I'm holding on to God's promises that he will make a way when there is no other way.

For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19

Are you facing some big doors?  Or maybe some small ones that God is asking you to not discount but to walk through anyway?  I would love to pray with and for you as you take the steps of faith to obediently walk through whatever door he has opened for you.  Leave me a comment and tell me how I can pray for you.

Small Doors

Today I read this in my Lysa TerKeurst devotional:

* Look for the small open doors right in front of you. I always scratch my head when I meet people that tell me they want to write and speak but aren’t willing to teach a small Bible study first. If God is calling you to do something-He’ll have a door open in front of you. But it might be a small door. Look for the small door and walk through it.

I was very convicted.  I have a tendency to look for the big open doors and get disappointed when I don't see any.  Sometimes my disappointment morphs itself into resentment.  Today I pray to learn to recognize these "small doors" and not just ignore them...that once I recognize one, I pray I walk through it...that I take the opportunity to fulfil God's will for me in that particular situation no matter how "small" it may seem.

What Kind of Tunnel Is This?

I'm in a dark place today.  Doors seem to be shutting for me in every area of my life and my question for God right now is "why?".  I long for a "calling".  I long for fulfilment of that calling. I long to be used by God.  Right now I'm struggling with why He doesn't want to use me or if He does why doesn't he show me where.  How do I reach beyond this darkness and keep up with the day to day life that is just frankly boring for me right now?  I can persevere through this but I sure would like to with some kind of light at the end of the tunnel.  This tunnel has been too long.

Today this is what I cling to...with bleeding finger nails...grasping with all my might:

Remember your word to your servant,
because you have given me hope.
This is my comfort in my trouble,
that your promise gives me life.
Psalm 119:49-50

Benediction

I think one of my favorite parts of any church service is the benediction.  I just feel like holding my hands up (and sometimes I do), lifting my face toward heaven and drinking in the blessing.  Today one of my facebook friends posted this benediction from Romans 15:13.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I cling to this blessing today as I am bound to this period of waiting. 

I'm following a voice in faithful pursuit
I'm searching my soul to do what I'm called to do
I need Your benediction, where's Your benediction?
I'm battling the odds through faces of doubt
And it would mean so much if you could send me out
With Your benediction, I need Your benediction
                          -Susan Ashton, "Benediction"

Moving Forward or Moving On

Right now I am at a stage where I'm waiting for answers.  Mostly I want answers so I can move forward or move on.  The problem comes when I start contemplating the option of moving on instead of forward.  What would that look like?  And I come up with no response.  I don't have an option B in many cases.  So do I start planning my life as if I need to move on and create a Plan B?  The fact is that I'm scared to think about moving on.  It's too ambiguous.  I'm clinging to Jeremiah 29:11 and preaching it's truth to myself over and over.  I have to.  Because the minute I lose sight of the fact that God has a plan for me (one with a hope and a future) I lose it...energy, peace, joy... I must preach this to myself and in the next second, preach it again.

What do you do when you're waiting for answers?  What are some of your coping mechanisms or truths from scripture that help sustain you?