“Stop
praying for it and start praising me for it.”
“True faith celebrates before the miracle happens, as if the miracle has
already happened, because you know that you know that God is going to deliver
on His promise. God does miracles for
one reason and one reason alone: to
spell HIS GLORY. We just have to be the
beneficiaries.” Mark Batterson-excerpt
from The Circle Maker
The
first time my Heavenly Father spoke that Lily was mine I was standing in a
youth worship service, praising God and singing with my voice that sounds like
a choir of angels. Those of you that
know me well, know that to be true…not really.
However, I was enjoying good music and good worship. I felt the Lord wanted to speak so I closed
my eyes and began to worship inwardly.
Lily had been topic of conversation in our home for weeks at this
point. We did not know if this was the
child the Lord had picked for us, so we had been praying for her, her
circumstances and that a family would pick her and give her a forever home. As I was worshiping that night the Lord
stopped me and spoke as clear as I have ever heard him speak. “Lily is your child. She is coming home and She will walk.” I remember asking the Lord, “I have been
praying for weeks about this child…why are you telling me this now? Why wait so long? His response…”because this is the first time
you have been still long enough to hear me.”
Lesson noted…start being still. I
knew if this was our child it would not only have to be my heart that was
changed but Brad’s as well. Instead of
telling Brad what the Lord revealed to me, I kept it placed in my heart and
began praying for Brad’s heart to be softened to this child. I prayed that if she was ours the Lord would
soften Brad’s heart to His will and the child He wanted Brad to father. I prayed that the Lord would not only reveal
it to me, but to him as well, and let him be the one to make the decision and
lead our family. Over the next couple of
months the Lord worked in Brad’s heart, while he also shut my mouth, so I
wouldn’t get in the way of God’s plan or timing, which in a sense is a small
miracle. Brad came to me one Monday
morning and said he knew Lily was to be our child. I would find out later that my Aunt, that
very same morning had been prompted by the Lord to begin praying for Brad that
very same day the decision was made. This
all took place between the months of November 2012-February 2013. Fast forward over the months of April till
July and we encountered many roadblocks…many doors that seemed to shut. During one of these difficult months I
remember being in “big” church one Sunday morning and again listening to
worship music. My heart was so heavy I
couldn’t even sing. All I could do is
close my eyes, let the tears fall and lift my broken spirit up to heaven. As the tears fell, the Lord spoke gently to
me again…she is your child, she is coming home.
We have been “warned” many times that
Haiti is an unstable country and adoption from Haiti is unstable. We knew going in that this would be an
incredibly long road. Brad and I have
looked at each other many times during the last 2 years and said is this where
we really want to be? If we changed
countries we would have brought our child home by now. If this, if that…and each time we know deep down
God has us right where He wants us. I
think of Hebrews 11:13, “All these people were still living by faith when they
died. They did not receive the things
promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” Abraham received many promises from God, but
he did not receive the inheritance in the land of the living…he only saw it
from a distance and WELCOMED them. I
have thought many times over the last year and a half. What if she doesn’t come home, what if we
bring another child home…then I will set my attitude like that of my ancestor
Abraham…we will welcome it too! However,
right now, right here, in this moment, TODAY I am remembering those two very
sweet intimate moments with just me and God where He whispered into my soul, My
Child, Lily is your child, She is coming home, and She will walk! Now, whether that means she will walk one day
on streets of gold, or in our front yard that is for the Lord to determine, but
for right now for today I am holding onto God’s promise that she is coming
home. I am praising God right now, TODAY
that she will be delivered to us. I am
praising God today, for the transformation that has taken place in our family
in our lives because of a little girl that is in an orphanage in the middle of
a tropical island whose brown eyes have stained our hearts forever. There is a picture that hangs in our hall in
the middle of all our family pictures.
It’s a little brown face with big brown eyes and a smile that melted our
hearts a year ago. Today I praise God
for her. I praise God that He never gave
up on me, as I will not give up on her. Today I choose to let God work His Miracle.
We
have immigration approval! Next
Step…Dossier to Haiti and Haiti to agree with what the Lord has already told
us…She is our child and she is coming home! Please don’t stop praying for us
and for Lily. Pray for God to continue
working. Pray for miracles…
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