Walking Through the Crashing Waves

We just returned home from a week at the beach! It was a much needed vacation....although I have discovered with 10 children, four of whom are 5 and under, even a vacation is not really a vacation for the parents.  But all the same, it was a wonderful break from the every day demands of work and home! It was good to focus on family, and to have time to just sit and listen to the waves....and to the still, small voice of my Savior!

School doesn't start for another three weeks, but our "fall" is gearing up already this week! Callie starts band camp for color guard, Toben and Ava have some prep classes for the coming year that finish this week, Toben starts football next weekend, Noah starts in two weeks, and school supply shopping has already begun!  And the agency is busier than it has ever been with tons of work demands waiting for me first thing Monday morning.

It's all very exciting stuff!  But honestly, it is all very overwhelming for a girl who just wanted to be a stay at home mom of not quite this many children! Don't get me wrong, I love every single one of my children and am so grateful for them, as I am my job! But all together, all of it is....well....a lot!  Add to that the things God has placed on my heart for the agency, and the waves just seem to be crashing over my head!  So how exactly am I going to do it all?  I know God has called me to be a mom to all of these 9 children, and I know He has called me to this work in adoption.  But I don't always know how I am going to walk through the waters that both of those callings place me in at times.  When the demands hit, it feels like the waves are knocking me down and pushing me under....but God knew I would feel this way as I geared up for the coming days, weeks and months!  And as He is so faithful to do, He spoke to me about it before I even knew I needed to hear it!

One of Ava's struggles with her disorder (no, we still do not know what it is! But should have more testing soon that will hopefully give more definitive answers!) is that she has very weak muscle tone.  She also has very little core strength making balance a real challenge.  So when she would want to go out in the waves with us to ride her boogie-board, it was a real struggle to get out far enough for the waves to be big enough to carry her.  On one of the trips out with her, I told her to get behind me and hold onto my waist.  My body would break the wave for her taking less of a toll on her body, and her hanging onto me would help her balance in the unsteady waters.  As I crashed into the waves with her behind me, I heard God say, "this is how you will do it too! I know I am asking you to go into deep waters that feel like they are knocking you over as the waves crash around you, but if you will follow me - don't get ahead or too far behind, but follow me just as I instruct- I will break the waves for you and make a path for you to walk steadily just as you are for Ava."

Can I tell you how comforting that is?! As I face Monday morning, there are so many heavy burdens that threaten to overcome me from personal, to family, to ministry! But as I think back on that moment, I feel the same excitement Ava did about riding the boogie-board even though it meant getting through the crashing waves first! Those words have given me a renewed desire to press in even closer to my Abba Father and walk where His feet walk as I try to walk in obedience to what He has called me to!

So whatever God is calling you to do, can I encourage you?  Just step out and do it!  He will either calm the waters all together or break the waves for you as you walk with Him! I love my Jesus! Life with Him is always an adventure!


Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. ~ Psalm 138:7