Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Echos

I mentioned in my last post that I have been doing a Bible Study called Sacred Echos. The author of this study, Margaret Feinberg, says that "when God really wants to get your attention, he doesn’t just say something once. He echoes. He speaks through a Sunday sermon, a chance conversation with a friend the next day, even a random email. The same theme, idea, impression, or lesson will repeat itself in surprising and unexpected ways until you realize that maybe, just maybe, God is at work. The repetitive nature of a sacred echo gives us confidence that God really is prompting, guiding, or leading."

Over the last couple of months I have had several instances where I believe God is whispering to me to adopt. Like when Sadie who never plays with baby dolls anymore comes downstairs with one and tells us that she'd adopted a baby. Or Teagan's small group leader telling me that Teagan prayed for a baby to join our family. Or the main story during our family devotion time being about a child in an orphanage in another country. Or the bumper sticker on the car in front of me that reads "invisible children" with an outline of Africa on it. These seemingly small things all group together to make me think He truly is whispering in my ear.

A conversation that I recently had with Brad turned into more of a shout from God saying, "Hello. Can't you hear me? THAT'S what I've been saying!" Madi had helped me during a newborn shoot and as usual she and I ooohed and aaaahed over the baby. It's not uncommon for Madi to look at me during these shoots and tell me that I should have another baby but this day she looked at me and said, "Mom, you should adopt a baby." Up until that point I had been very careful not to mention adoption around the kids because I didn't want them thinking it was an option unless it really was. So I later texted Brad about it and he said, "I'm open to the possibility. I aslo know that when you think and talk about something all the time it can seem like you see it everywhere." I was on my way out the door and got in the car thinking about how he was maybe right and HOW was I to know if it was truly from Him. As I turned the car on the song on the radio blared out to me singing, "I know you hear me won't you give me a sign." Wow.

That's the day that I thought I might start a blog. Just as a place to keep my thoughts. So that night during our devotional one of the verses that came up was 1 John 4:19 "We love because He first loved us." That and Esther 4:14 both had come up that day and I thought I might have the title of my blog be one of those verses. So after our devo I'm sitting on the couch and the tv had been paused because Sadie was watching an episode of a show she hadn't seen before. As the tv is unpaused it goes to a commercial thing where a viewer has sent in a story and it's a girl talking about her new little sister...that her family adopted...from Africa. Seriously. So I went to the computer to start my new blog.

Before I began I thought I should maybe google the verses that I was considering using to make sure someone else hadn't already had that idea. I googled "because He first loved us blog" and "for such a time as this blog". They are actually both being used for blogs which isn't really that strange, they are both fairly common verses right? Here's the weird thing, both of the blogs that I first found using those titles are adoption blogs. One from China and one from Rwanda. I didn't start this blog that night. I was too overcome with the fact that the whisper was getting so loud.

I spent a fairly good amount of time in prayer yesterday. Well, I say it was a fairly good amount of time but I don't pray nearly enough and in all actuality I probably should be spending that much time or more every single day. You have to start somewhere though, right? Anyway, I spent the day just going about my normal business and whenever I felt the urge I would drop everything and pray. There were several things on my heart yesterday and one of them was of course the adoption issue. God really just layed it all out and told me what I needed to do. Even with all of his whispering getting louder and louder I still had my doubts. And then yesterday happened. And now, no more doubting.

I'll end today with a verse that has come to me multiple times in the last month or so. A verse that has been more than a quiet whisper in my ear. A verse that tells me to be obedient.

"I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Matthew 25:42-42, 45

2 comments:

  1. Um...its been 4 days since your last entry. What is your status? Are you guys ready to begin?!

    Yay for doing what makes no sense!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Status = overwhelmed. Like, super overwhelmed. More on that tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete