I'm so blessed to share with you all some answered prayers I have seen in the last few weeks. May they inspire you to believe in the power of prayer and the faith that God DOES love and care for the details of our lives. He is so good!
If you have been following this blog at all you already know I've gotten the praying itch and am scratching like I haven't ever before in my life! This has been an amazing ride. I love God and I love what He is doing. It is an honor to watch His Divine Work happening in my life and in the lives around me. I don't think I will ever get over the rush that comes from seeing prayers answered.
In the past two weeks I have been BLESSED to see the paperwork of 6 other Rivers of Hope families move forward in their processes. SIX!!!! Praise You, God! Praise You for moving their mountains!!! Let me give you a visual of what that means...
This is Christenson--he just got his passport and has one more hurdle to jump through in Haiti before coming HOME!!!
This is Little Stevenson. He also just got his passport and has one more hurdle to jump through in Haiti before coming HOME!!!
This is Big Stevenson. His paperwork just got approved by the President of Haiti and they are through the first BIG step of the process in Haiti. They have been in that step since LAST SPRING (ugh)!
This is Gabe. His paperwork also just got approved by the President of Haiti and they are through the first BIG step of the process in Haiti. They have also been in that step since LAST SPRING (ugh)!
This is Garry. Garry has now been approved by the President of Haiti twice (he had to restart the whole process over when they found out the woman claiming to be his birth mom wasn't actually his birth mom). They will move forward in the process now too...Praise God!
This is Giselle (Nora's half-sister). Her paperwork has entered one of the last big steps (MOI) in Haiti before getting a passport and visa!
This is Big Stevenson. His paperwork just got approved by the President of Haiti and they are through the first BIG step of the process in Haiti. They have been in that step since LAST SPRING (ugh)!
This is Gabe. His paperwork also just got approved by the President of Haiti and they are through the first BIG step of the process in Haiti. They have also been in that step since LAST SPRING (ugh)!
This is Garry. Garry has now been approved by the President of Haiti twice (he had to restart the whole process over when they found out the woman claiming to be his birth mom wasn't actually his birth mom). They will move forward in the process now too...Praise God!
This is Giselle (Nora's half-sister). Her paperwork has entered one of the last big steps (MOI) in Haiti before getting a passport and visa!
I can not get over the fact that as I have been praying for God to move, move, move on behalf of the adoption processes in Haiti, He has answered by moving SIX of our very own orphanage's processes! I'm not saying I am the cause of this movement--God is the cause of all movement and I am just so incredibly blessed to witness this Divine Movement. It is truly awesome! Especially to see paperwork that has been "stuck" for a YEAR move again is simply nothing less than awesome!
Hearing these reports of movement bolsters up my faith even more and I believe God is also moving our paperwork along. It is still in IBESR, but I believe in my heart He is having someone review it and approve it as I speak it out in my prayer life. He is GOOD!
On a slightly different note, but one that blesses my heart just as greatly...another huge answer to prayer this past week has to do with Toby and preschool. As I have been preparing for Toby to head off to preschool 3 mornings a week this fall, I have had a sad heart. Knowing Quinn and Toby would be loosing their brother/playmate time 3 mornings a week was hard for me to imagine. With Quinn sleeping in the afternoon they would not have nearly as much time together and that was sad for me. As sad as I was, however, I knew there was nothing that could be done about it--8th Street Preschool is in the mornings and that's just what I need to deal with. Then I got the registration form and low and behold, they were offering a NEW afternoon class--are you kidding me!?!? God, You are sooo good! No brainer really for me...I could adjust our lunch and Quinn's afternoon naptime slightly and the boys would still get to play every morning together. What a blessing! I didn't even pray about that one--God just knew my heart before I did! However, having Toby go to the afternoon session of preschool then presented another problem in my head...
I knew of two other boys going to this particular preschool, but I already knew they were signed up for the morning classes. Toby has such a tender, sensitive spirit and I feared he would be scared to start this new adventure without knowing anyone else in his class. I could easily picture the scene of his first days of preschool--him crying at the bottom of the steps of the school not wanting to go inside. Just rips a Mama's heart when she can not convince a child to overcome their fears and just have fun! With those thoughts I prayed that God would just bring ONE other child into His class he would know so those hesitations to go inside would be lessened. God had already answered my heart's cry about my boys having time together without me even praying about it, so surely He could answer my prayer for ONE other person in Toby's class he would know.
And here is where God is SO cool! A few Sundays ago at church one of our closest friends, Kris, approached me and asked if Toby was heading to 8th Street for preschool. "Yep!" I answered her and then questioned, "Why? Are you thinking of sending Jude there?" "Well, yeah, we are sending Jude there," Kris replied, "But they said the morning classes are full already so he'll have to be in the afternoon class." Kris said with a sound of disappointment in her voice.
**Pause for explanation--Toby has three boys he would probably call his BEST friends right now in life. Caleb--who is currently in 1st grade and our neighbor, Nathan--who would be attending the same preschool in the morning class (bummer), and Jude--who goes to our church and is the boy I am talking about right now!**
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????
I still tear up as I type this post several days later--God, You are SO good!!!! Not only did You create an afternoon class for Toby so my boys could still be together in the mornings, You orchestrated the most DIVINE and AWESOME plan...to not only answer my prayer with ONE other child in Toby's class he knew, but instead You answered it with one of Toby's BEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!!! Seriously, how can a person NOT want to sing for joy for the love God has for us.
He is worthy of our praise, friends. He is worthy of our faith. He is worthy of our hope. He is in the business of answering our prayers because He adores us so. I am so in love with Him and so grateful for His listening ears to the desires of my heart. May these testimonies of His goodness spur you on in your own faith journeys, friends. May they spur you on to TRUST God's will for your life too. I have many other prayers being prayed with the hope and faith He will answer them just as awesomely as He has answered these. I'm sure you do too!
Because He heard my heart and my prayers, friends, these little loves will enter preschool this fall together and that gives this Mama's heart so much peace and joy!
Hearing these reports of movement bolsters up my faith even more and I believe God is also moving our paperwork along. It is still in IBESR, but I believe in my heart He is having someone review it and approve it as I speak it out in my prayer life. He is GOOD!
On a slightly different note, but one that blesses my heart just as greatly...another huge answer to prayer this past week has to do with Toby and preschool. As I have been preparing for Toby to head off to preschool 3 mornings a week this fall, I have had a sad heart. Knowing Quinn and Toby would be loosing their brother/playmate time 3 mornings a week was hard for me to imagine. With Quinn sleeping in the afternoon they would not have nearly as much time together and that was sad for me. As sad as I was, however, I knew there was nothing that could be done about it--8th Street Preschool is in the mornings and that's just what I need to deal with. Then I got the registration form and low and behold, they were offering a NEW afternoon class--are you kidding me!?!? God, You are sooo good! No brainer really for me...I could adjust our lunch and Quinn's afternoon naptime slightly and the boys would still get to play every morning together. What a blessing! I didn't even pray about that one--God just knew my heart before I did! However, having Toby go to the afternoon session of preschool then presented another problem in my head...
I knew of two other boys going to this particular preschool, but I already knew they were signed up for the morning classes. Toby has such a tender, sensitive spirit and I feared he would be scared to start this new adventure without knowing anyone else in his class. I could easily picture the scene of his first days of preschool--him crying at the bottom of the steps of the school not wanting to go inside. Just rips a Mama's heart when she can not convince a child to overcome their fears and just have fun! With those thoughts I prayed that God would just bring ONE other child into His class he would know so those hesitations to go inside would be lessened. God had already answered my heart's cry about my boys having time together without me even praying about it, so surely He could answer my prayer for ONE other person in Toby's class he would know.
And here is where God is SO cool! A few Sundays ago at church one of our closest friends, Kris, approached me and asked if Toby was heading to 8th Street for preschool. "Yep!" I answered her and then questioned, "Why? Are you thinking of sending Jude there?" "Well, yeah, we are sending Jude there," Kris replied, "But they said the morning classes are full already so he'll have to be in the afternoon class." Kris said with a sound of disappointment in her voice.
**Pause for explanation--Toby has three boys he would probably call his BEST friends right now in life. Caleb--who is currently in 1st grade and our neighbor, Nathan--who would be attending the same preschool in the morning class (bummer), and Jude--who goes to our church and is the boy I am talking about right now!**
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????
I still tear up as I type this post several days later--God, You are SO good!!!! Not only did You create an afternoon class for Toby so my boys could still be together in the mornings, You orchestrated the most DIVINE and AWESOME plan...to not only answer my prayer with ONE other child in Toby's class he knew, but instead You answered it with one of Toby's BEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!!! Seriously, how can a person NOT want to sing for joy for the love God has for us.
He is worthy of our praise, friends. He is worthy of our faith. He is worthy of our hope. He is in the business of answering our prayers because He adores us so. I am so in love with Him and so grateful for His listening ears to the desires of my heart. May these testimonies of His goodness spur you on in your own faith journeys, friends. May they spur you on to TRUST God's will for your life too. I have many other prayers being prayed with the hope and faith He will answer them just as awesomely as He has answered these. I'm sure you do too!
Because He heard my heart and my prayers, friends, these little loves will enter preschool this fall together and that gives this Mama's heart so much peace and joy!
(Toby & Jude--about 6 & 5 months old)
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