He Can Move Mountains

Adoptive parents will tell you that this journey leads you through a roller coaster of emotions. There are weeks when we see movement and see God doing such amazing things are we are filled with hope. There are also weeks that are filled with discouragement, anxiety, fear, exahustion...you name it. My problem is that I usually try to ignore all of those emotions as long as possible. I tell God I"m trusting in Him and His timing, but somehow I feel like I'm really just hiding. Instead of praying in FAITH I begin to pray in FEAR. Not good. The most awesome thing is that God always uses something in my life to knock me over the head and remind me of WHO He is. That happened this past Sunday.

Josh and I had the awesome opportunity to fill in for our friend Abi at a church she and her husband lead worship at. Abi had two precious little twins just this past week and called Josh to ask if he could lead. This small downtown church was brimming with people that completely and totally saw God move mountains and I saw that they believe God could do ANYTHING. I walked into see gorgeous hard wood floors and stained glass window and beautiful wood ceiling. The pastor's wife began to tell me about how they found the church and it was a WRECK. Trees were growing through the windows, pews were trashed, evidence of vandalism was all over, and no one wanted the trash dump! What could God possibly do with this place? Well in a matter of months they bought the church, and house beside it, and community hall, plus some of the park for a mere 3000 dollars. OH, and someone had donated exactly 3000 dollars. People poured in from all over to help renovate the church and before they knew it people were filling the church every Sunday. They also run a ministry for drug and alcohol addicts as well as other activities in the community. Ok, that's awesome. I found myself thanking God for His awesome miracles.

After Josh and I finished practicing and were waiting for Sunday School to begin, I opened my Bible to read Psalm 150. I had been meditating on this Praise Psalm written by David. As I read I decided to go back a few Psalms and God led me to Psalm 146. It reads:

1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;

7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Wow, David has been through so much and he praising God with all He has. I came to the part that speaks about not putting your trust in the sons of man. Who have I been putting my trust in? Where is my faith? I also came to the part about the Lord watching over the fatherless and a peace flooded my soul as I thought about our little guy in far off Africa. It was as if God was speaking to me, "I've Got Him. He's in my arms. Peace my daughter." I smiled.

I then sat through a Sunday School class about putting on the full armor of God and standing up for what you believe no matter what others might think. I think God had something for me because during the message the pastor also got up and starting talking about...yep the armor of God. Put on that breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace on the feet, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of The Spirit, and walk forward. What part of us is not protected? Our back side. Never does it tell us to run away or in FEAR. It says to "Be strong and in the power of His might, put on the whole armor of God." When you feel God's leading in your life and you ACT, the adversary doesn't like it, which usually means be ready for a fight. Once again, I felt God saying, "keep fighting. Keep going. I'm here. I'll be with you. Don't turn around and run."

First God gently whispered peace into my heart and replaced the discouragement and fear of such an unknown, and often frustrating journey. Then he reminded me that I need to be ready. I need to prepare myself and stand firm in my faith. He will be there. He will lead. I left that place with an overflowing cup. I left thanking God for speaking. I left thanking God for people that really believe he can MOVE MOUNTAINS. I left praying for our little guy wherever he might be and believing that God's there.