God's Peace

Tonight I am going to visit a friend 'T' who has struggled with infertility for quite sometime, also dealing with a few miscarriages. She is now pregnant and passed they 'scare stage'!!! I am so excited to go to Gainesville to see her tonight and spend the day with her tomorrow! How am I going to do this you ask? Spend time with someone who is PREGNANT?!? One answer for you: GOD'S PEACE.

If you would have asked me to do this at any point the last 3 years, there would have been NO way that i would be strong enough to do this. But thru LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of prayer God has given Ben and I peace about not being able to conceive (at this point in our lives) and build our family thru Adoption. Matthew 11:28-30 '²⁸If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. ³⁰This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light.'

I am so thankful that we were able to turn our Infertilty over to God. This is not to say that we have NO bad days, because that certainly isn't true. We still have our days where we just dont understand why we arent able to conceive, or why we aren't able to have biological children. But thru this struggle God has shown us that having biological children isn't the only way to have a family. In this he has led us to Adoption, which you can read about in our other posts.

Here are some other verses i love on 'Peace'

John 14:27 ²⁷I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn't like the peace that this world can give. So don't be worried or afraid.

John 16:33³³I have told you this, so that you might have peace in your hearts because of me. While you are in the world, you will have to suffer. But cheer up! I have defeated the world.

Thankful

I must say how THANKFUL and BLESSED Ben and I are feeling. Our friends, and friends we have come to know thru our Adoption process have blessed us TREMENDOUSLY. Baby Rice is so spoiled all ready! I can not even begin to explain all the clothes, baby gear, etc that people have just given us when they heard we are adopting. It is the sweetest feeling in the world to know people are so excited for us to adopt a baby. We feel so humbled. It is AMAZING to see the Lord work thru others as they give. We can't wait to recycle and keep on giving once our baby rice(s) grow out of everything. We are sincerely thankful. 

PAPER PREGNANT

Just to give everyone an idea of time frame you should know that adoption is a paper chase.  That is why we are "paper pregnant."  Much like a normal Mother/Father would come to their child thru Dr.'s appointments and ultrasounds, we too are on a journey to our child, only our journey is with paper work and home visits.

We are so thrilled to be halfway done with our MAPP Training Courses (required parenting classes in the state of FL). We should start our HomeStudy at the end of February. If all goes as planned, we should be liscensed to Adopt in April/May. We are SO ecstatic!

Our MAPP classes are well... interesting. Although the FBCH is required by law to teach the same cirriculum as the state would, it's a little dissapointing to not be able to see the Biblical Aspect of Adoption. It is so NEAT to think on the Biblical side, that we are ALL adopted. Adopted by Christ! Have you read the book 'Adopted for Life' by Russell Moore? Here is just a taste:

Families, the Bible tells us, reflect something eternally true about God. It is God's fatherhood after which every family in heaven and on earth is named (Eph. 3:14-15, '¹⁴I kneel in prayer to the Father. ¹⁵All beings in heaven and on earth receive their life from him.'). We know what human parenting should look like based on our Father's behavior toward us.

The reverse is also true. We see something of God's fatherhood in our relationship with our human fathers. Jesus tells us that our fathers' provision and discipline show us God's active love toward us (Matt. 7:9-11'⁹Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? ¹⁰Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? ¹¹As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask'; Heb. 12:5-17 '⁵But you have forgotten that the Scriptures say to God's children, "When the Lord punishes you, don't make light of it, and when he corrects you, don't be discouraged. ⁶The Lord corrects the people he loves and disciplines those he calls his own." ⁷Be patient when you are being corrected! This is how God treats his children. Don't all parents correct their children? ⁸God corrects all of his children, and if he doesn't correct you, then you don't really belong to him. ⁹Our earthly fathers correct us, and we still respect them. Isn't it even better to be given true life by letting our spiritual Father correct us? ¹⁰Our human fathers correct us for a short time, and they do it as they think best. But God corrects us for our own good, because he wants us to be holy, as he is. ¹¹It is never fun to be corrected. In fact, at the time it is always painful. But if we learn to obey by being corrected, we will do right and live at peace. ¹²Now stand up straight! Stop your knees from shaking ¹³and walk a straight path. Then lame people will be healed, instead of getting worse.  ¹⁴Try to live at peace with everyone! Live a clean life. If you don't, you will never see the Lord. ¹⁵Make sure that no one misses out on God's wonderful kindness. Don't let anyone become bitter and cause trouble for the rest of you. ¹⁶Watch out for immoral and ungodly people like Esau, who sold his future blessing ^[a] for only one meal. ¹⁷You know how he later wanted it back. But there was nothing he could do to change things, even though he begged his father and cried.).

The same principle is at work in adoption. Adoption is, on one hand, gospel. Our identity and inheritance are grounded in our adoption in Christ. Adoption is also mission. In this, our adoption spurs us to join Christ in advocating for the poor, the marginalized, the abandoned, and the fatherless. Without the theological aspect, the growing Christian emphasis on orphan care too often seems like one more cause wristband for compassionate conservative evangelicals to wear until the trend dies down. Without the missional aspect, the doctrine of adoption too easily becomes mere metaphor, just another way to say "saved."

While reading this book i had such a hard time getting thru it thru my tears. This book REALLY puts in life how Christ adopted us, and how we are to 'recycle' that love.