Fulfilled Promise......

I struggle so much with God's promises. I know the Bible says that you can ask anything in His name and you will receive it, and I understand that means it has to be something you have asked because He has initiated it in you for that to hold true. But I know there are things I have asked for when I was walking closer than ever to God and it didn't happen...at least not the way I thought God told me it would. I am really not a name it and claim it type person, but I want to be able to stand firm on God's promises and not waiver. Once again, the word 'balance' comes into play! There is a theme in my life this year!

I got a new Bible because thanks to Ava there was no "in the beginning"....Genesis was gone and the spine was hanging off. I hate getting a new Bible. It is like saying good bye to a best friend. I am a huge note taker, so my Bible is filled with notes of where God has spoken to me and scriptures that have encouraged, convicted or comforted. So I was transferring some of those notes to my new Bible. And I came across so many answered prayers and fulfilled promises. I realized I need to do more laying of stones of remembrance and then revisiting them! I don't do that enough!

So I want to share this with all of you readers. On November 21, 2006, I marked Psalm 37:34 that says, "Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land." I had just underlined it, put Liberia in the margin and dated it. That was right at one year ago. We had two families (our first two for Liberia) in process. We were waiting on paper work. Nearing the end of one and just starting the other which was scary for me because I really wanted to have one totally finished before we involved another family to make sure we knew what we were doing (hows that for comforting for those of you adoptive families reading this! :) ). But I had felt very convicted that God said to walk by faith and find a family for twin baby girls that had been brought to our home (fast forward to April 2007 and both of those families came home with their children! Praise God!). Ok, I digress....back to the scripture. I knew when I read it that with our work in Liberia, I just needed to wait on the Lord and keep His ways (do what He said!) and he would do the rest! We would "inherit" the land of Liberia in that the orphans of that country would be placed in families through our work. Now, exactly one year later, as I read that, we have 22 families adopting 37 children in progress and 12 children already home with their Chrtstian families! I had to just stop and Praise God when I realized that! I don't dwell on our "success" often because frankly it scares the pants off me to think about being responsible for that many lives! And it is not my responsibility anyway! I just have to walk in obedience every day, and God does the rest....so it really has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Him! It is His success story...not mine to boast of anyway! But just reading that gave me so much encouragement as I feel He is about to ask us to step out in some new directions to help orphans in different places as well as possibly here in the US through the foster system. I wonder where I will find the time, how will I make it all work....and then I remember these words, "wait for the Lord and keep His way"! I don't have to have it figured out! I just do what he asks today and wait for Him! Wow that is freedom in Christ!