My Soul Rest in Him!

Praise the Lord.  Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in his mighty heavens.  Praise Him for his acts of power; praise Him for his surpassing greatness.  Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with tambourine and dancing, praise Him with the strings and flute, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with the resounding cymbals.  Let everything that has breath Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord.  Psalm150

He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  Ecclesiastes 3:11

Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.  Psalm 144:15

Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  Psalm 46:10

God is our refuge and strength.  Psalm 46:1-3

Yous, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor.  For everything in Heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.  

1 Chronicles 29:11

The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior, so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.  They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.  Oh, Lord Almighty, You who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind.  Let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.  Jeremiah 20:11

Forget the former things, do not dwell on the pass.  See I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it.  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.  Isaiah 43:18-19

“All is well with the Child?”  And she answered, “All is well.”” 2 Kings 4:26

So do not fear for I am with you, Do not be dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 40:10

Even youths grown tired and weary and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength!  They will sour on wings like eagles they will run and not grow weary, and they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:30

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.  2 Timothy 1:7

Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.  In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-for He grants sleep to those he loves.  Psalm 127:1-2

Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Deuteronomy 31:6

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know they hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.  Ephesians 1:15-23

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1

But now, this is what the Lord says-he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you , O Israel; “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; Isaiah 43:1-3

Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.  I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!” and to the south, “Do not hold them back.” Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.  Isaiah 43:5-7

If we are faithless, he remains faithful-for he cannot deny himself.  2 Timothy 2:13

For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.  John 16:33

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

This is the day the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  Romans 12:12

        These are all scriptures sent to me in the last 6 days from my family and friends.  These are all scriptures that declare who God is.  These are all scriptures that were needed at a certain point during this trip, but exactly what I needed to read again as I type these precious promises.  I am reminded to cast my cares on my almighty Father who holds me, who goes before me, who makes all things new and who fights my battles for me.  If I opened my heart to you from the last few days you would see the multitude of emotions I have encountered in a small 72 hour period.  It has felt as if all the emotions of the last couple of years during this journey have been wrapped right into 72 hours and put into my heart.  If it wasn’t for all the scripture that has come pouring into me the last few days I don’t think I would be okay.  God’s word is active.  It’s alive and pierces the heart.  It has mine.  Every scripture that I have dwelled on, poured over and written in prayer journals and plastered all over my home just happens to be every scripture that my friends have been prompted by the Lord to send to me this week.  His word is what’s kept me going and kept me sane!  Friends, I have many stories to tell about this journey but the most important story happened on a cross.  It’s the story of Jesus and without His story none of mine matter.  You see without Him none of this matters.  Without Him I don’t have the strength to keep going.  Without Him I cannot fight the battles of this world, nor do I want to.  If there is one thing I have learned this week it’s that without Him my life is dull, it’s meaningless and my goal is to bring Him glory.  He will get the glory when Lily comes home!  But, for now He gets the glory for our protection this week.  He gets the glory for memories made with friends.  For now He gets the glory for divine intervention and divine appointments that would not have happened without His provision.  He gets the glory for the strength He has given me to get on a plane again without my baby and still have joy!  He gets the glory for the awesome husband I have that continues to find adventure with me even when we think life stinks.  And He gets the glory for every statement of how our faith has stayed strong throughout this process.  Let me tell you friend… 2 Timothy 2:13 spoke loudly to me today.  If we are faithless, he remains faithful-For HE CAN NOT DENY HIMSELF.  There have been more times than not my faith has wavered.  It’s not my faith that has stayed strong.  It’s His faith in me that has.  It’s not my strength that has carried us through, it’s His.  And it’s certainly not any of my doing that has gotten us this far…It’s His.  He is certainly sovereign, and to Him and His will I submit.   

        (I wrote this Tuesday night.) Monday, through divine intervention God granted Lily a visa.  She isn’t coming home as I thought she would when we started this adoption process through adoption just yet.  But for now, for this time, this is how He chose to bring her home.  And in Him I trust.  I trust His timing, His placement, His will.  I trust He knows her future and He knows what’s best.  This journey hasn’t been normal from day one.  With each step He has taught me something more, something bigger and the one thing I am most grateful to be learning (notice I didn’t say learned) is to fully trust in Him.  We still have some hurdles to climb.  We leave on a plane at 3:30 tomorrow…I am supposed to pick her visa up at 8 am in the morning for her to be able to leave with us….now before I started typing this post my stomach was in knots…my stomach wanted to throw up and my emotions are shot at this point.  But as a gentle reminder from a sweet friend reminded me the Lord did not bring us this far to let us down.  And as I typed each scripture above I could feel the weight being carried away.   

        Today is Wednesday and I am sitting in an airport…without Lily.  Her visa is done but do to a system malfunction at all US Embassy’s her visa could not be printed today…and at the sake of owing Delta a small fortune, we decided to come home and go get her next week.  I have watched the Lord move mountains and work miracles for us that man could not do.  So in that I rest.  In that, I am forced to see the blessings, some of those being some of our closest friends who circled around us Sunday evening and prayed some very powerful prayers.  Not only did they pray, they got to rejoice with us Monday morning.  God picked some of the most special people in our life to rejoice with us in person, in Haiti, over life changing news.  Some of those being special friends He transplanted in Haiti to hang out and cook us dinner like friends in the states to take our minds off worry.  Some of those being I get one more week with Anna lee all to myself.  One of those being is I get to see how my husband carries me through this with his humor and nurturing nature.  He almost broke on me leaving the embassy this morning.  He doesn’t break often but when he does it wrecks me.  I looked at his defeated eyes and asked him to be strong, because in this moment if he broke I felt as if I couldn’t be put back together.  Somehow we looked at each other grabbed the strength of the Lord and realized we would have yet another adventure in Haiti together very soon…like again next week.  I realized our relationship has grown, its stronger than it’s ever been.  And all this is to prepare us for the changes that will be taking place in our life next week.  As excited as I am, I realize I am bringing home a little girl who is broken.  I realized that this week.  Her world is changing, her heart is grieving and her new normal is all messed up.  Beauty comes from Ashes.  Her life has been broken up till this point, and this week I realized mine has too.  But next week…next week two broken lives come together.  A family of four will be formed.  Not in the way I ever pictured, but only the way God can.  Today I am thankful for His never leaving me…never forsaking me…what a mighty God I serve.  Today, even in the questions, even in the hope I have a God that goes before me, I have a God that stands behind.   I have two special friends who have sent me the words to this song twice today…it is my heart song…my song to Him!

You call me out upon the waters…The great unknown where feet may fail…And there I find You in the mystery…In oceans deep…My Faith will Stand!  And I will call upon Your name…And keep my eyes above the waves…When oceans rise My soul will rest in Your embrace…For I am Yours and You are mine.  Your Grace abounds in deepest waters…Your sovereign hand…Will be my guide…Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me…You’ve never failed and You won’t start now…So I will call upon Your name…And keep my eyes above the waves…When oceans rise My soul will rest in Your embrace…For I am Yours and You are mine.  Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders…Let me walk upon the waters…Wherever You would call me…Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior!! Oh, Jesus, you’re my God! I will call upon Your name…Keep my eyes above the waves…My soul will rest in Your embrace…I am Yours and You are mine!