90 Days for Noelle - Day 19

**  I apologize for the post being later tonight than usual. It has been a crazy evening. I will try and keep it short and sweet. **

Back on day 13, I talked about the awesomeness of God. I gave some examples of just how vast and holy He is. I followed that with some thoughts about how he knows and cares for us. Then on day 16, I wrote about our priorities and how my views on life are changing. Today, I want to build on these thoughts. I've discussed thoughts on who God is but I want us to look more at who we are. What is our purpose? Is it to attend church regularly, be a "good" person, and as Francis Chan puts it, "try not to cuss". It is more than that. Everyone's purpose or will in life is exactly the same. To serve God with everything in you. We all have a desire in our hearts to do something amazing, to really make a difference in this world. The only way to do that is through Him. I am preaching to myself here. Things I know I should do, I don't for lots of reasons. I have bills to pay, or obligations, and all kinds of responsibilities covering this and that. Do we take the time to really think about what is truly important? I know that with this adoption we are doing something that God wants us to do. We are stepping out in faith because we have a lot of unanswered questions. Where will the money come from? What happens if we have "roadblocks" in the Congo and have to stay longer than expected? How will we handle any attachment issues? We don't have the answers, but God does and He will work these out in His time as long as we serve Him.

Proverbs 3:5-6

 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight.

Heavenly Father, we love You and worship You. We are here for one purpose and that is to serve You. We pray for Your provision as we proceed through this adoption. You will make the crooked path straight, and for that, we thank You. Amen.

90 Days for Noelle - Day 14

I am humbled and stand amazed at God's faithfulness today.  I mentioned back on Day 7 that the only factor throughout making the decision to adopt that made me think twice was finances.  I talked about how God had taken that fear away one Sunday morning a couple of months ago, and how God had come through already with his promise to provide.  Well, He is an on time God, yes He is.  Tonight I went to workout at the Y and Jason decided to work over a little.  It was close to the end of my step class so I told Jason just to wait on me and we would leave together.  We picked up Cora and were discussing dinner plans.  Jason didn't feel quite up to what I had planned to fix for dinner due to his wisdom teeth extraction last week.  We thought of a couple of places to eat at that had "soft" food.  We decided on a place and then changed our mind at the last minute.  We ended up at the local Chinese restaurant.  The hostess sat us near a former student and her family.  We said hello and got Cora ready to eat her chicken nuggets that we had picked up at McDonald's on the way (something that Jason and I had said pre-Cora that we would never do).  A few moments later my student's mom came over and sat at the table with tears in her eyes.  She said "you are going to think I am crazy, but I heard that you all were adopting and God put it on my heart to give you a donation."  She continued to tell me that she had thought about the fact that she doesn't really see me very often and that when I walked into the restaurant, God confirmed it for her.  She handed us a check for just the amount that Jason had spent (today) to pay for our adoption training classes (a requirement for our homestudy).  Actually the check was $20 more than the classes which just so happened to be the amount of our "divine appointment" dinner tonight.  God doesn't leave out one detail.  Just like Jason said last night, God knows the number of hairs on our head.   Jason and I are overwhelmed by God's handiwork.   

Psalm 77:12-15

¹² I will consider all your works
   and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

 ¹³ Your ways, God, are holy.
   What god is as great as our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who performs miracles;
   you display your power among the peoples.
¹⁵ With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
   the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. 

God, I am standing in awe of your limitless love.  You are faithful to your promises.  You are truly awesome.  My vocabulary cannot even describe all that You are.  Thank you for these moments of confirmation.  As you manifest yourself, You whisper that You are here.  You are an ever-present help in our time of need and doubt. Help us continue to walk out our faith. We praise You and give You glory for all that You have done and are going to do.  Amen!

90 Days for Noelle - Day 7

As Jason and I discussed adoption, the only concern we had was finances.  We weren't worried about loving a child that wasn't born to us or what other people might think about us having a child of a different ethnicity.  Jason and I had led Financial Peace classes at church helping people learn how to get out of debt and now we were contemplating taking on the cost of adoption which we obviously didn't have laying around in some obscure bank account. One Sunday morning, our pastor was speaking on the many blessings that God has given us.  He was covering the many different P's...God's pardon, purpose, precepts, providence, provision, presence, and peace.  All of these spoke to my life, but as Pastor Scott gave examples of God's provision, faith burst forth on the scene.  In the car on the way home, I told Jason that I was no longer held back by anything concerning our daughter's adoption.  I knew that the Holy Spirit had confirmed God's word in my heart and that everything would come together.  Over the next few weeks, financial blessings seemed to roll in.  I received an unforeseen bonus at work, Jason's Christmas bonus came, and we were pledged our first donation toward our adoption.  Everything was coming together.  

      Christmas Day came and went.  Cora woke up the next day with fever.  Two days later we found out that she had the flu.  New Year's weekend the heat upstairs went out, Jason came down with flu symptoms the following Monday, then Wednesday we discovered that Jason's wisdom teeth had to come out.  I'm not going to lie.  I became very discouraged.  Where were the blessings, now?  We are trying to save for our adoption and we are having one thing after another pop up with dollar signs attached.  So I did what every good woman does, right?  My husband likes to call it "snowballing".  I cried about the heat unit, the new insurance with its new deductibles, the fact that if Jason would have got his wisdom teeth out last year when they bothered him it would have only cost $25, and then I got upset about being upset..."I should be more thankful"..."I shouldn't complain"...you know, the usual guilt trip I give myself when I am reacting in flesh instead of spirit.  God's word is a sword that pierces even those pity parties we throw ourselves when things aren't quite going the way we planned. Galatians 6:9 says "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

     God is still providing.  He provided the means for us to take care of everything that He already knew was coming our way these past two weeks, and I am thankful for His provision. 

Genesis 22:13-14

 ¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide…..


Lord, I thank You that You are our Provider.  You make a way when there seems to be no way.  We trust in your word that says You will provide.  We know that you have called us to adopt and that you will make provision.