God speaks through Star Wars, Snow, & 4x4 Rescues

I have been reflecting lately on how wonderful it is that God almighty desires a relationship with each of us. This idea of God having a real relationship with us is a cornerstone of our Christian faith. It's the difference between practicing a dead religion with a bunch of do's and don'ts and enjoying a thriving, growing relationship with our Creator.

So lately, God has been stirring in the heart of my 5 year old. It's funny how we as parents spend countless moments worrying about the salvation of our kids... will they have their own relationship with God or eventually let go of their parent's Chrsitian faith. But then we come across moments when we recognize that God is working in our kids' hearts without our help.

Makes me realize that I truly don't have anything to do with the salvation of my kids.

Anyway, God has been working in my little 5 year old's heart. Just before Halloween, we were taking inventory of our Star Wars costumes and my son Gabe wanted to wear the same costume he did last year. For the life of me, I could only find the mask of his costume and we realized we'd have to buy a new costume this year. So we went searching and Gabe wanted the same exact costume he had last year. We went to Target, no luck. Went to Fred Meyer, no luck. We decided to pray and ask God to help us find the right costume and then ended up at Value Village. There, hanging on the rack for $5, was HIS very costume without the mask. We couldn't believe it! Somehow his costume got mixed up in a "to be donated" pile and made it all the way from a Sammamish Goodwill drop-off site to Value Village in Redmond! Not kidding!

So then, Gabe decides on Sunday night that he'd love it if school could be cancelled due to too much snow. Sunday night he prayed like I've never heard him pray and he was convinced that he'd wake up to snow. The next morning, I got up about 6am and noticed the snow hadn't fallen yet but sure enough, as Gabe's 7am wake-up time came near, the snow began to fall! Gabe was so excited when he woke up and exclaimed over and over again on the way to school that God had answered his prayers! Sure enough, school was cancelled for today. Gabe continued to exclaim that God listened to him and gave him the snow he so badly wanted! Sounds like Psalm 37, doesn't it? Verse 3 and 4 say, "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. "

Finally, last night, we were getting a bit concerned. OK, so downright worried. Andrew hopped on a bus headed for home at 3:30 and by 5:00 his phone was dead, making it difficult to keep us posted. At 7:15, I gathered the boys together and we all decided to pray for Daddy. We prayed that someone would come to his aid and offer to take him home safely or help him in some way. We prayed and thanked God that He would send Daddy home very soon. Not 15 minutes later, Andrew walked in and it turns out he had been stuck in the bus just a few miles from our house for the last few hours. The bus couldn't make it up a nearby hill and continued to spin out in one particular spot for over 50 minutes. At 7:15, two guys in trucks offered to pull the bus up the hill. Not kidding! Andrew was home 15 minutes later. Again, God had built up my son's faith. And again, I am eternally grateful for HIS plan for my children.

Thank you, Lord, for working in my child's heart! Thank you, God, that he is learning how to have a true and authentic relationship with you! Thank you for speaking to a 5 year old in 5 year old language...through Star Wars, Snow, and 4x4 rescues.

Record Levels of Rain At The Happiest Place On Earth

I have been reflecting on a few scriptures lately that show us how God sees us and what His vision is for us.

Ephesians 1:4-6 NIV •"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

Matthew 5:48 Message Translation (read all of chapter 5 to get the full lesson in this... AWESOME and convicting). It's all summed up in verse 48..."In a word, what I'm saying is, grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."

When we were in Disneyland, things didn't really go our way most of the time. For 3 days of our vacation, we had record rain... more than it had in 8 years. Ike got a fever,Gabe caught a cold and had an extremely difficult time with all of the activity, our room ended up two floors away from my sister's room, we never got to see some shows at Disneyland that we wanted to see, and our bag was lost on the way home. I was disappointed with how easily I became frustrated, short with my family, and downright mad. (I was tempted to buy a "GRUMPY" shirt for myself!!!) Is this it, Lord? Am I a lost cause, unable to be refined any more than I've been over the last 20 years of my relationship with you? It sure doesn't seem like it takes much to push my fleshly buttons. I found myself thinking that the Godly responses I see coming out of others seemed to be so far from reality for me.

Then God brought hope back into my heart with these scriptures. He sees us as kingdom subjects. Before we were created, He saw us as holy and blameless. He is not dejected by our moments of misbehavior and sinful resonses to our circumstances. He continues to see us as something great, a subject in His courts, His FRIEND. I also recently found out that the true translation of the word "friend" in the bible, as God uses it to describe us, is similar to a friend of the King. The king typically gave some of his closest friends access to his inner courts. They knew more about the king's plans and details of his life than anyone else. Even though they still reported to the king and were required to submit to his authority, they were also considered his friends and were brought in on the secrets of the kingdom. AWESOME that we are considered friends of our great King!!!!

Anyway, God has been giving me hope lately through these scriptures and now I see that this email on prayer just buttoned it all up! How do we move toward the heart of God? How do we learn to depend more on His spirit to carry us through situations and circumstances that are challenging? How do we ensure the fruits of His spirit come out of us in order to give Him glory in our daily lives? Through prayer. We enter into His inner courts and talk to Him. Listen to Him. Get to know Him. As we pray, we get to know the heart of God. As we pray, we become friends with God. As we pray, we learn to listen to our Father's instruction. As we pray, our desire to spend time with Him in prayer grows. God will never leave me nor fosake me. Even if I lose my patience in the rain at Disneyland. :)

And, by the way, by God's grace the clouds opened up and the rain stopped in the afternoon of our very last day! It was so wonderful to get rid of the rain ponchos!!! We managed to eat candied apples, see a show and a parade, go on California Screaming yet again, eat ice cream for lunch, and see most of the shows we had not been able to see yet. And it ended with a fantastic dinner with the entire family.. nana, boppa, my sis and her family from Australia... all together! What FUN! I'll never forget sitting on a bench seat in Red Robin with Gabe spread out on one side and Anna on the other... both resting their heads on my lap after an incredible day. It was a magical day and I was so grateful that God blessed us wih an incredible ending to our family vacation!

a·dopt: (v) To take into one's family through legal means and raise as one's own child.

Synonyms: accept, implement, take on, embrace, approve, agree, assume

Well, I'm not the most creative person in the world, but I thought I'd try this blog thing. Adoption has changed my life forever and I know there are other adoptive parents out there shouting "AMEN" to that! I have been known to tell people that "adoption ruined my life". I considered my life to be very normal, predictable until I adopted. Then it got messy, unpredictable, and downright crazy. I found myself having irrational thoughts like, "just how many kids could we actually fit in this house?" This thought is from a girl who used to think it was INSANE and downright irresponsible to have more than 3 kids... I used to desire the same things everyone else wanted... 2.3 kids, house in the burbs, and a perfectly well behaved (and groomed) Golden Retriever. But then I realized that my "normal" life isn't normal at all. It's an existance that is void of making a real difference in anyone's life, including my own. Nowadays, I can't even keep my kids well behaved and groomed let alone my dog!

But life is good. Life has only just begun to get interesting. People often describe the adoption process like a roller coaster, and I guess they are right. The first time is quite scary and we feel like we're going to spin out of control at every corner. But after awhile, it becomes a thrill of a lifetime that just gets better and better each time we go for a ride! We've been on a private birth parent adoption ride, a foster/adopt ride, and are now on another ride of foster/adoption with our third child. People ask me all the time if we're done... usually when I'm half crazed, trying to control my kids in the doctor's office or restaurant. But I've learned to hold back the instant urge to say "YES!"... the urge to get back to a normal life. The urge to get back to predictability and control. Naaaaa . Who wants that, anyway? True and undefiled religion is taking care of the widows and orphans (James 1:27). Why? Because it gets you out of your comfort zone and forces you to lean into God like never before. It forces you to give up your expectations of a comfortable life and realize that love is a verb! It's action! It's loving the unlovable or the unloved. It's driving kids to doctors, specialists, therapists and never getting thanked. It's sacrificing your retirement savings for a child who will never pay you back. It's messy. It's hard at times. It's sacrificial most of the time. It's uncomfortable.

Whenever I begin to have a "poor me" attitude, dreaming of the day my life gets back under control, I'm reminded of the life of so many men and women of God in the bible. On the run, living in the wilderness, giving up a life of comfort and predictability for a life of ministry, loving those who don't love back, etc. What is "control anyway?" "Control" is assuming that I know best for my life. "Control" is falsley assuming that I can be in the driver's seat and avoid the vulnerability of not being in charge of where I'm going or how I'm getting there. When I really stop to think about it, that is not what I want at all! God, I give you control of my life! Lead me, Lord! Uphold me when it feels overwhelming. Guide me back when I get off track. Go before me and behind me on this wild adventure called life!