Heavy Heart

By now I am sure you've heard that Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter adopted from China went to be with the Lord last evening, Tuesday, May 22nd at the age of five. Her brother accidentally struck her with his vehicle as he was leaving the Chapman home. She was air-cared to a hospital and died there.

Please keep this family in your prayers. Pray that God will allow Maria's brother to forgive himself as it was a complete accident, that they will seek the Lord's face and rest in His care, & that God would grant them Peace that they can only find in Him.

You can visit The Chapman's website to read more... Stevencurtischapman.com.

J-

Blessed part 2

Here's the wrapping paper Brennan decorated my cookbook inHere's the first page in my cookbook
Here's what it says:

This book is dedicated to my Moma on Mother's Day.

I want you to know how much I love you.

Thank you for taking me to practices

and thank you for having my baseball clothes ready

and my regular clothes.

And being so special.

You always play games with me.

You are always cheering me on.

I love you.

Love,
Brennan

His cookbook was precious. He and his classmates submitted their favorite recipes. Brennan's teacher asked the students to "write" the recipe. It was HILARIOUS to see how some of the students thought the recipe was made. Of course she recommended for us to use the recipe submitted by the Moms rather than the students. Too cute!

All I can say is...I am so blessed!!!!

Blessed!

Here's my envelope from Bryson Here's the card he made me
Here is his poem about me
Here's my card from Brennan
Here's the inside of my card

Anticipation

I was reading my Proverbs 31 daily devotion for today, and WOW!! It was definitely what I needed to hear. I didn't realize that there are times that I pray for something desperately, (i.e. Lily Hope coming home from China miraculously soon), but I don't always expect God to come through. Shamefully I admit, there are times that I wonder if we will EVER receive our daughter. My Lord wants to fulfill my desires. He set the lonely in my heart to begin with. He wants me to believe that He will make the provision and do what I ask. I am now going to pray with great anticipation of what MY MIGHTY GOD can do!

May 19, 2008 By Micca Monda Campbell

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” Psalm 62:6 (KJV)

Children anticipate everything from birthdays to family vacations. Yes, they await good things with expectancy. There’s no doubt that we once did too. As we grew older, however, we lost some of our anticipation. Maybe it’s because we’ve been disappointed one too many times. Perhaps we don’t expect anything because we don’t feel worthy of receiving anything good. Or maybe, we just don’t believe it’s meant for good things to come our way.

Take prayer for example. How many times do you and I petition the Lord and then fail to expect an answer? John tells us, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask; because we obey his commands and do what pleases him” (1 John 3:21-22). You and I can have this confidence. In fact, as obedient children of God, we should be so confident in Him that we expect good things like answered prayer, a healed relationship, the home coming of a wayward child, forgiveness of sins—whatever we ask.

When my children ask something of me, they expect an answer. Then they anticipate the fulfilling of that answer. As children of God we should do no less. We should anticipate great things from our great God. We should expect Him to hear our cries and respond, so much so that we are looking with anticipation all around us for His answer and provision.

Bible teacher, Henry Blackaby says, “After we pray, whatever happens next is God’s answer.” Wow. I sometimes miss God’s loving response to my prayer because I don’t anticipate a reply.The Bible teaches us that believing is seeing. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

We must believe in order to see God’s provisions. Let me ask you what I often ask myself: “Do you simply hope God will answer your needs, or do you see God’s generous hand at work in your life? Do you wait with expectancy or do you doubt His provision?” He may seem slow at responding, but He’s always right on time.

While it would be nice if God owned the same watch as we do, you and I can always count on His perfect timing.We will see God when we anticipate His involvement in our lives. We will see Him when we can say, “His answer and provision may come slow, but they are sure to come, and I will wait with expectation!"

Devotion for today

I was reading a blog and stumbled upon this beautiful devotion. Enjoy!

I subscribe to 'Encouragement for Today', so it arrives in my inbox every morning. One Day Completely With God
Lysa TerKeurst
"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere." Psalm 84:10a (NIV)
Devotion:
Why do I often want to settle for less than what God has for me? What if I truly lived today completely obedient to God's word and in tune with His voice? What if before every choice I make today, I held up my options to the Lord and chose obedience over convenience and righteousness over my rights.

God has never asked me to do great things for him. All He has ever required of me is to allow His greatness to enter me, change things around in me, and be revealed through me. Not to do for Him, but rather to simply be with Him.

So, just for today I will live this way. Just for today, I am making the choice to not settle. Just for today, I will not let the subtle influences of pride, what is best for me, what is easiest for me, and what I want overshadow my desire for more of God in my life.Today, I will believe with absolute certainty. Today, I will obey with complete surrender. Today, I will seek with complete abandon. For today, I want God to find in me a haven in which to rest.

Isaiah 66: 1-2 (NASB) says, "Thus says the LORD, 'Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,' declares the LORD. 'But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.'"My soul jumps at God's question, "Where is the house you could build for me -- where is a place that I may rest?" He is the God of the Universe - so big and so mighty and so capable. Yet, asking almost a vulnerable question to a completely unworthy human - "Can I abide with you today?"


If the president of the United States called me today to inquire, "Can I come and stay for a while? I'd like to sit and find rest with your family today," I would be left utterly speechless. How much more so that the God of the Universe actually desires that with each of us today.Unimaginable. Uncontainable. Unfathomable. Yet completely true.

There are no great people in the kingdom of God. Just simple people. But every now and then a simple person makes a great choice. Oh God, let me make that choice today. Even if it is just for a day - how I long for it to be more - but even if it is just for today, may it be completely so. For one day completely with You, is better than a thousand elsewhere.


Dear Lord, I desire You today. Surround me with Your presence. Remove the distractions from my heart and mind so I can see only you. Lead me, guide me and teach me today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Referrals

So happy to see the referrals of the sweet families on Rumor Queen's website. Check them out. http://www.chinaadopttalk.com/. They are precious!

Rumblings from within

Today has been a down day for me. Actually, that last couple of days have been. I read a blog called China Adopt Talk where a "Rumor Queen" gives the latest China adoption news, rumors, and buzzes. Some days I can handle what she has to say and yesterday, I just couldn't take it. I just lost it. I haven't had a good cry about the whole adoption wait times, etc...in a while, so I suppose I was due if you will.

In blog she stated the same things we've been hearing. The wait times continue to increase, the review times are slowing down, BLAH BLAH BLAH. As I read the first couple of statements over and over again, the rest was just a blur. My stomach hurt, and I just felt sick inside. I am tired of hearing the same stuff. I just needed to hear something positive...see some breakthrough, just something~! But that was not the case. For the most part, I try to be very positive. I know that there are people in this world suffering so many unimaginable things. Please don't get me wrong, I am SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED. I know that. I feel it and I am so very thankful to the Lord who has blessed me. But, I suppose I am allowed to kick, scream, and throw a little fit to Him once in a while. I think he wants that from me. He can handle it, I know that. He wants us to "bring it" .

I emailed a sweet friend that God brought into my life. She and her family are also adopting from China. She knew just the right words to say to comfort me. Thank you- Heather G. I am so thankful to God. He knows our every need and he wants to meet those needs down to every last detail of our lives. She reminded me that God is a God of miracles and that All things are possible with Him, and we have to hold on to that, believe in that and STAND on the PROMISES that He's made to us.

So, with that being said, I've taken a DEEP breath and feel a lot better...today anyway! lol. Please pray for my family and me. We need it. Just the uncertainty of it all is so scary, but...
Even in the shadow of death we'll praise Him
Even in the Valley, we'll say
Holy, our God...you are worthy of all our praise!!!

Give Thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever! Psalm 136:1