Coincidences? I think not!

No one is where he is by accident, and chance plays no part in God’s plan.
A Course in Miracles 

When you pray for something: clarity, guidance, understanding, etc. you are looking for answers and a response, right?  I think so!  I hope so! 

Growing up, I remember my mother constantly saying, "There is no such thing as a coincidence!" At the time, I never questioned, doubted, or even wondered what she meant by this.  Now, as an adult I have decided that no, there is in fact no such thing as a coincidence!  

God knows.  He has a plan.  He understands and has paved the way for us and will guide us where He wants us to be, no matter what.  All we have to do is be willing to wait, listen, be patient, and continue to pray!  

This year, we have been praying about something very specific for our family.  The past week or so, it seems that the longer I look, the closer I pay attention, the more open I am to hearing God's answer and not mine...the more I see, the more I hear, and the more I realize!  

I know that this is a vague explanation of my realization that there are in fact no coincidences in life.  I have my reasons for being vague, but here is one example of what I am talking about and I would love to hear what you think!

3 times I have gotten in the car and a certain song was playing on the radio...one that means so very much to my husband and I.  This one song, "Until the Whole Word Hears" by Casting Crowns has played a huge role in our walk through missions and has touched our hearts since our very first trip to Honduras.  No, not a coincidence...but a memory being brought back to the forefront of my mind!  

Here is the video we made back in 2010!



The past 24 days of 2013 have been extremely eye-opening and we are super-excited to see what God has in store for the rest of the year and years to come!

OMGoodness...It has been a while!

I cannot even wrap my head around the time that it has been since my last blog!  I am ready to get back at it and I have made it a personal goal to put my thoughts out there in the "Blogger" world on a more consistent basis!

It seems that I tend to get extremely excited about blogging and about processing my thoughts through blogging when there are major things going on in my head and in our lives!  Crazy how that happens...and no I am not saying that my life has been "boring" for the last year and a half!  Busy...YES!  Are you kidding me, I have 3 boys ages 8, 5, and 3!  Our lives are ANYTHING but boring!

As this new year gets underway, there are so many things weighing our hearts and we feel the comfort of God's calling getting louder and clearer as each day passes.  I am asking a favor of the world right now...please be praying for our family!  Be praying for the excitement that is brewing!  Here are some specific requests:

1. That we continue each day to grow closer to our Lord and Savior!
2. That we grow together and that we are ready and listening as God leads the way and answers prayers daily.
3. That we stay focused on what the end goal is and that each decision and step we make is to glorify Him and to get us where we know He wants us to be.
4. For our boys and that we can guide them and prepare them for the life that God has planned for them!

OH what a Happiness...I MEAN JOY!

As I am reflecting on the bible study that we had this evening with our small group, I decided to reread the first chapter of Philippians. So I began with the "Introduction" that my NIV Life Application Bible offers on the first page of Philippians.

It begins by saying that the WORD happiness brings us visions of various things in our minds such as unwrapping gifts on our birthdays or on Chirstmas morning, vacationing with our loved ones, etc. "EVERYONE wants to be happy; we make chasing this elusive ideal of a lifelong pursuit: SPENDING MONEY, collecting things, and searching for new experiences." (L.A.B.) - all of this in which I am envisioning in myself and thinking...so? Doesn't God want us to be happy and He blesses us with so much, right!?!

Then I read on..."But if happiness depends on our circumstances, what happens when the toys rust, loved ones die, health deteriorates, money is stolen, the newness wears off and the party's over?" - (UH OH...but don't we all see this in our own lives? In our friends' and families' lives?)

"In CONTRAST to happiness is JOY. Running deeper and stronger, joy is the quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work in our lives - that he will be there no matter what! Happiness depends on happenings, but JOY DEPENDS ON CHRIST." (L.A.B.)

Okay, so why am I writing a blog about THIS? Because, as I was reading this I had to stop and ask myself how am I living MY life? Am I "CHASING" happiness or am I focusing on the Joy that Christ brings to my life? Hmmm..

As a believer in my Lord and Savior I can have profound contentment, serenity, and peace...NO MATTER WHAT "happens". So if I am focusing on chasing my own happiness, I am depending on myself and my own strength in life, which isn't much might I add! If I am focusing on chasing the JOY in life, I am depending on HIS strenth instead of mine! *SIGH*

Now, as I am sinking lower on my couch in shame...over our purchase of a silly camera that I "HAD to have" and I was so "HAPPY" when we got it, I chased happiness so fast and so far that it ended up RIGHT on the credit card. WHICH, doesn't God want us to NOT be in debt? UGH, then today I realize that I wouldn't have "needed" that camera had I been focused on the fact that God calls us to find Joy in Him and that in order to have that, I need to not rely on what I have or what happens to me, but on Christ within me!!! In other words, the old camera would have worked just fine if I had stayed focused on finding Joy in Christ...not happiness in a toy from my favorite electronics toy store.

Okay, just a personal confession that I am NOT focused on living my life in all areas on my Lord and Savior, and if I were...then THAT is where my contentment would come from!

As a side note, I do not think it's bad to be excited and happy over purchases and gifts...as long as that is not where your source of happiness in life comes from. The JOY in your life MUST come from God! Through Him ALL things are possible...even the most unimaginable, most ideal life situations are ONLY possible...through Him!

Oh goodness...and I haven't even started with Philippians Chapter 1 yet!!!

Why do we do what is comfortable?

Let me first begin by saying...I HAVE MISSED BLOGGING! My internet has been down for over 2 months, and WOWZERS...one of the precious luxuries of living in a suburban town north of Dallas, blessed with a job and a home, and the wonderful internet!



Okay, a sermon that our pastor preached a couple of weeks ago inspired me to do some thinking...some really deep thinking! We were concluding a study on the book of Galations and pastor was sharing with us various "Areas of Love."



One of the "Areas of Love" that he mentioned was that we love our COMFORT. This is oh so true...more than what most are willing to admit, I believe. It doesn't matter what it is...we DEMAND comfort. Comfortable clothes, relationships, socially comfortable privateness, furniture, roles in life, hobbies, and the list goes ON and ON. I started thinking about the areas in my life that I demand to be a certain way because it is "COMFORTABLE." Here are some things I realized through my reflection:



- my home

- I want more and more to increase the level of comfortableness in my home

- my car - I had to have the big one so that our family would have plenty of room and we would be comfortable when driving anywhere together (which very rarely happens...even on Sundays to church)

- my job - in a super nice building with an amazing team! Yes, I am comfortable there!

- in our town, we have settled into the routine and we have built some great friendships and we continue to grow more in those and in new ones...this definetely makes life more comfortable

- our schedule - granted not the most "ideal" most weeks, but we have grown used to the routine

- THE LIST GOES ON AND ONE...



So in this sermon, I hear our pastor say, "If you've given your life to Jesus - forget about comfort, you have a calling...." I know he went on to discuss this and to explain the scripture from this. BUT, I stopped there. I thought about our dear dear friends, the Waits, who picked up everything they knew...all of their comforts and threw them out the window. They moved their entire family (all 6 of them) to Puerto Lempira, Honduras to serve Christ as missionaries.



I know I have blogged about, thought about, most importantly :) prayed about...what is my calling? What is God asking of me? I KNOW I am called to mission work, for the time being it seems that is short-term missions. BUT...what are the possibilities? There are a plethora of them!



In terms of comfort...in preparation for my November Mission trip to Puerto Lempira, Honduras we having been communicating frequently with Laura we found out that there is a HUGE need for lice treatments. Is this a pleasant topic? NO. Is this comfortable? NO. But will I serve in this area? Yes. The thought of administering 50 or so treatments of lice on 50 different kids is not the most glamourous thought, but then Jesus washed and cleaned people's feet...so I will wash people's hair!



Later in this same sermon, our pastor asked us something along the lines of ..."Will you serve the outcasts in the world as if you are serving Christ himself?" WOW...that pretty much puts it out there huh?



To conclude in my reflection on that for today, let me first say that I pray that God uses me in whatever way He calls! Second, I pray that God PLEASE give me the opportunity to love on and serve the "outcasts"! Oh but to be given that opportunity...what a blessing it is! Third, can you IMAGINE what the world would be like if every Christian put themselves in an "uncomfortable" position in order to do what God calls them to do? What if when God calls us to do something, we do it? What would this world be like? Hmmm....

Adoption - WHAT, WHAT IS THIS!?! I NEED TO ASK BIG!

Brian and I have talked about adoption for a really long time, since we were dating (10 years ago). Then, as I have blogged about in the past, Brian's brother and his wife (famous blogger, Whitney from "Our Hearts are in Ethiopia") adopted our precious nephew last December (2009), this has been something even closer to our hearts. They began their adoption process in January of 2009 and we were fortunate enough to witness their experience first hand! WHAT A BLESSING THAT WAS! On December 19, 2009, I knew for sure that our lives would never be the same! SEE PREVIOUS POST

NOW...
Adoption is definetely weighing heavily on the heart. WHY? I know this isn't something we can do realistically right now...it is so expensive, and we do not have the money for something like this...our children are so young and we have so many bills...what about time off, time for bonding, time for travel...BUT...I KNOW this is something that I feel called to, something that is deep in my heart...so what is it that I REALLY KNOW and what am I going to do about it? (If this seems confusing to you...imagine what it's like in MY head!!!) I can tell you ONE thing I KNOW without a DOUBT. GOD AND ONLY GOD KNOWS.

So I ask myself..."Who are YOU to be questioning what God has put on your heart? Who are you to doubt the timing of anything that God calls you to?" I am but a mere human who is trying desperately to do things right. No, I'm nowhere near where I am striving to be - "CHRIST-LIKE", but the effort is there...so what am I going to do about these emotions and this love for adoption on the forefront of my heart, my soul, my mind?

SO now I ask "WHAT" and "WHY?"

These are the questions of the hour! I've been catching up on reading some blogs and I decided to do some research! I learned that in 2009, only 4 adoptions were completed from Honduras to the United States. In 2008, there were 11 and in 2007 there were 22. Can you believe that??

Of course I feel pulled to Honduras, because I have been called there to serve and do missions. I pray that the opportunities to do this never cease! (A whole different topic to be discussed in a future blog, I'm sure!) BUT, as you can see from the numbers...this isn't a common place for international adoptions. So I am left to pray, to listen, and to study...God will show me when He is ready. God will lead me when it is time. I pray that I am strong enough to hear Him and to Follow Him NO MATTER where He leads me.

Our pastor has been preaching a series titled "ASKING BIG"! It is about how we pray to God, and what we should be praying for. Some questions that we have been asked are:

1. What are you going to spend the rest of your life doing? (your plan?, God's plan?, Are you sure that your plan IS God's plan?)

2. We have been urged to "GET DEEP with GOD!"

3. Are you doing what you were created to do?

4. Are you asking about the BIG things in life?

Luke 11:9-10 say, "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

So....ASK, SEEK, KNOCK, REPEAT!!!!

I know that there is MUCH rambling taking place here, so in conclusion...I am praying and I am going to be ASKING BIG!!!!!

The Goings On of....

There are so many different things going on...why is it that when summer comes and we have the greatest intentions of relaxing, having lots of "doing nothing" days...it turns out to be quite the opposite?

Brian took Brady to his 9 month check up - which was actually when he was already 11 months old, ugh! The doctor had mentioned at the 6 month check up that she was concerned about Braydon's head being tilted slightly to the left. At the "9" month check up his head was still slightly titled. In addition to the concern over his head and neck, she felt that one of his organs might have been swollen in his abdomen.

Following that check-up we went to get a sonogram to see what was going on in his little tummy. Thank goodness the results showed that everything looked normal. He may have just had poop in there...sorry for being so blunt, but it was an EXPENSIVE poop!!!! But, it is also a blessing that everything checked out!

Next stop was to the pediatric opthamologist. The pediatrician thought that maybe he was tilting his head due to an eye development issue so she wanted us to get check out by the specialist. We learned that Brady's head is not tilting due to his eyes! However, he is VERY farsighted and we have to go back in for a check-up on his eyes in December.

So, we start physical therapy on July 1st! We are praying that after the P.T. evaluation we will be told that after some excersizes that he will be cured and his head won't tilt anymore!

God has a plan, he has a reason, and he already knows how this will turn out. We still pray and we put our faith in Him and we turn our troubles over for Him to hold so that we don't have to. He is our Father in Heaven and he loves us...he does these things for us to help us get through trying and frustrating times. In the end, the only thing that will matter is being with Him, our Lord God almighty! Praise God for all of our blessings, and I pray that He continues to give us the strength and peace to get through this little journey, called life!