Praise be to the Lord that so far the adoption process is moving along very nicely, and hopefully we will have our dossier on its way to China in a couple of months. But I also wanted to share how the Lord is using the process to remind us that the plans for our lives are not our own. Since we have begun this process last January, we have had numerous issues pop up outside of the adoption that have dealt/are dealing with. Some have been random episodes of medical issues (nothing serious thankfully), others have weighed more heavily on our minds in planning for long term care of extended family members. Just a few of these include an emergency room visit, expensive dental costs, developing plantar fasciitis in my left foot, working to help my parents prepare for a less burdensome retirement, and home projects to prepare for the welcoming of our daughter into our home. Along with many of these incidences, we've often felt as if the finances we've set aside for this adoption has been attacked. I wanted to share this, because honestly, the Lord has shown me personally that often times I have allowed anxiety to become my way of coping with pressure, rather than "casting all of my anxiety on him" 1 Peter 5:7. He's shown me that I still have hung on to my own strength and abilities, even when I thought that I was depending on Him. Anyway, He has opened my eyes to this, and now I am thankful for His testing. For we know that "when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." Job 23:10
Hebrews 12:5-7
And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?
2 Corithians 4:7-11
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed,but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.
Amy
