Last night as I mowed our yard for a few hours, I basked in His Goodness. I have been blessed over and over by the songs performed by Jason Gray, a Christian artist, who sings of the person he once was and the person he now is. His lyrics strike a cord in my soul that is spot-on with what God has been doing in my life over the past several years. God has transformed the woman I believed I was into the woman He has always made me to be. I am not perfect, but I am more willing to learn and apply what I am learning. Because of that willingness to let Him have His way with me, I am a changed life. Anyway, while I was mowing, I was listening to Jason's album entitled "A Way to See in the Dark". Powerful songs there, friends...simply powerful. Songs of overcoming fears, overcoming darkness, seeing beauty in the midst of chaos, and thanking God for who He is. As I listened, I almost just stopped mowing in the middle of my yard to fall on my knees in humble thanksgiving for what all God is doing in my life. He deserves so much praise and my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude.
One of the main areas I was thankful for last evening and continuing this morning is in the area of our adoption. There is no doubt in my mind that God is at work in this area! I am blown away by His power and authority! I have been praying harder than I ever have in my life for His Will to be done. For His Will to have free reign. For His Will to be protected from the enemy's schemes of destruction and death. For our adoption process, specifically, I have been praying for God's Will and Desire to see all of these children placed in loving homes to come to fruition as quickly as possible. I KNOW He wants Nora home in our arms faster than anything so I have kept my sights and my prayer life focused there. I have been an active participant on God's side of the battle lines, fighting alongside Him for our daughter to get home fast. I know some people are praying for Nora to be home by Christmas, which would be a miracle for sure, but I can't go there with them. If they want to continue praying that way, by all means, I will not stop them, but I can not allow myself to put a time stamp on my expectations of God. If Christmas rolls around and Nora's not in my arms, where does that leave me? Will I trust God less? Will I doubt His goodness? Will I become depressed at the time frame of this process? I may or I may not, but it certainly leaves too much room for me to do so. My prayer is not built around specific times...it is built around God's Will and I believe deeper than anything else that His Will would be to have Nora home in as least amount of time as miraculously possible. That is my prayer.
With that background, there is MOVEMENT happening in Haiti that can only be explained as God at work on His Will! I believe the more we pray and claim this process to be HIS and no one else's (not even the Haitian government's), the more we will see Him freed up to make it happen. The news from Haiti is that the Social Services department (IBESR) has temporary closed down until the end of July to all new dossiers. At first sight this may seem as like a major inconvenience to those waiting to get their dossiers into IBESR, but I believe this very act is nothing short of a miracle. The reason for IBESR's temporary shut down is to work on the back log of dossiers currently in their system and to re-organize their efforts to ensure quicker processing of dossiers from this point forward. We have been told by a reliable source who sat down with the director of IBESR personally, that their goal is to have every dossier already in the system processed and have their dispensation (Presidental approval) by the end of July! With all of these dossiers caught up, when they re-open in August, the dossiers entering will not be put on the bottom of a huge pile, but simply processed right away--the wait will be that much less. This is AMAZING!!!!!!! MIRACULOUS!!!!!!! Only something God Himself could orchestrate! The director of IBESR may have thought this was her own idea, but friends, I know that God is the One behind all of this...He is fighting to get this process back in line with His Will.
So, where does that leave us? What does this temporary shut down do for Nora and our paperwork? Well, our dossier has been in IBESR since February 13th. If all works as planned, our dossier should be processed and given dispensation from the President of Haiti before the end of July! For those of you who aren't familiar with this process at all, you have no idea what kind of a miracle that is for us! As of late, that part of the process has typically been taking over a year to complete. One year of time potentially shrunk down to 5 months is HUGE!!!! Again, I'm not relying on dates or the Haitian process to actually go according to plan, but instead, I am relying on God to continue the work He is doing! For that, I find myself incredibly hopeful, thankful, and excited this morning. He cares for the orphan, friends, and He cares for me, and He cares for you! He is awesome.
What do you find yourself needing to give a Shout of Praise out to the Lord of Lords today? What good things has He been up to in your own lives? Just the other morning, He helped me find my keys in a nanosecond when I had no clue where they were and I prayed out loud for His help to find them. It doesn't have to be a HUGE thing like the movement of an entire nation to send up prayers of thanksgiving...it can be something as simple as Him helping you find your keys. The point is, He deserves our prayers of thanksgiving! The point is, He is moving on our behalf because He loves us something fierce! The point is, He is worthy of our praise! Give Him a shout out this morning--a shout out of thankfulness for the way He is moving in your life. Give Him credit where credit is due.
I could go on and on about all of Jason Gray's music, but wanted to leave you with one of his songs on the album I mentioned earlier. It is fitting for the topic at hand. Please take some time to look up his other amazing songs...they are awesome! Here is a link to his website if you are interested: http://jasongraymusic.com/
thanks for your testimony and sharing this song! We feel blessed and uplifted after sitting here and thanking Jesus too!
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