Encouragement I've Saved
- No matter what you face this year, God will be doing 10,000
things in your life that you cannot see. Trust him. Love him. And they
will all be good for you... There are three granite foundation stones under this confidence: God’s love. God’s sovereignty. God’s wisdom. Not only may you see a tiny fraction of what God is doing in your life; the part you do see may make no sense to you... ~John Piper
- Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire. ~Timothy Keller
- If we knew what God knows, we would ask exactly for what he gives. ~Timothy Keller
- Life-giving faith grows beautiful and pure in the same place that gold grows beautiful and pure: in the furnace. ~Timothy Keller
- A penny will hide the biggest star in the universe if you hold it close enough to your eye. ~Samuel Grafton
- When someone shows you who they are, believe them. ~Maya Angelou
I put on a brave face. I don't feel brave. I feel afraid. I feel sad. I feel all of it: good, bad, and ugly. But
I put on the brave face. Not because I want to fake it. But because I
want my face--and my feelings--to come in line with what I think, what I
believe, what I know.
I know that God makes better plans than I ever could. I
know that a small-time county judge is really just a human conduit of
the Great Judge who is always, actually deciding these children’s fates. I know that God’s grace will carry me through every feeling and worry and ounce of pain. I
know that God uses my own sorrows to draw me closer to Himself, and
that this is reason alone why they’re always, ultimately for my good. I
know that the way I’ve served this child and this family was ultimately
about serving—and worshipping—God, that He has seen it all and is well
pleased. ~Jamie C from Foster the Family
THIS was medicine for my soul last week... and again today after yet another strange turn of events in our adoption journey. Dec 22nd we found out another family was pursuing Alona. 6 weeks to the day from when we got the news they traveled to Ukraine on their first trip (last Friday) to meet her. They emailed us last night to tell us they're adoption plans have changed and they do NOT plan to meet her or adopt her. It's been a long, emotional nearly 7 weeks. We've done lots of grieving and were moving on and now this. We knew it could be a possibility, but neither of us expected it to be... and I certainly didn't dare to hope. Though the letting go process over the past few weeks has been hard and now this change of events is surprisingly hard too! So back to these words of encouragement I've come. Thanks friend!
ReplyDeleteWow! I have kept up praying over what all was coming and going for you guys in this ... knowing I would hear from you eventually. This IS quite surprising. I am on the edge of my seat to watch what comes next. So, so glad you could take heart from these words. I have come back to them over and over and over again myself. They really are a strong encouragement, aren't they? Love you! Will keep on praying.
ReplyDeletePS - I don't know if you remember, but once upon a time, we were told the door to adopting Noah was closed. And in a January too!! We accepted that, and took steps to continue on with DCS. Then in March, we heard that things were back on ... sort of like what seems to have been laid in front of you again. Very interesting.