It's been a year...feels like a lifetime...and also like yesterday when I said the same.
So much happens in a year. So much has happened in this last year.
"Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."
Isaiah 43:5-7
Wow, it's a chosen thing to be adopted! I stand in awe as I consider what God has done.
Not only has He chosen children to come into our family through adoption, but He has chosen us as HIS children.
Amazing!
Adoption paints the picture and we see it with our eyes, we feel with our flesh what He does.
"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are."
1 John 3:1
He accepts us as we are. He takes us in. He grafts us into His heart and home, none of which we deserve.
Thank you, Jesus, for what you've done for us! How can I write of these things without singing your praise,
without even marginally identifying and grasping flecks of what you've done for me?
"This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God,
but the children of the promise are counted as offspring."
Romans 9:8
It's been one year home with Bea and Beck and truly it feels curiously longer, a work of God no doubt.
When God knits children into our parental fibers through adoption, He also somehow gives us a sense of knowingness that surpasses the actuality of our time together. This happened from the very start. I can remember staring at photos of tiny strangers, contemplating their spot in my heart. It was an odd and hard-to-explain sense of familiarity that prompted our "yes" and to this day remains.
We feel as though we've always known them. It's encouraging to know that He has.
"For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them."
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them."
Psalm 139:13-16
But it's only been a year...feels like a lifetime though...feels like a blink all the same.
When I look back at the photos from China, when I reflect on intensive heart surgeries and ordinary days, I can see how beautiful our time together has been, messy and scarring included. Yes, this has been a big year. And there's so much more to come.
This next year Beck will have his first major open heart surgery. We will be on our knees and separated from one another in heart wrenching ways. This year Bea will have another major open heart surgery as well and prayerfully her last, though the prospect of a transplant is always out there for her. Indeed, it will be another stretching year for our family as we run the race we've been given to run, as we persevere the marathon in Jesus' name. Looking at what He's done for us, the most we could offer is in stark contrast...less.
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
It will be a full year ahead. And God will be with us as He's always been. He will lead. We will follow like a flashlight at our feet in the same way we have from the start, not overcome by the big picture, but with childlike faith just one step at a time.
{Eyes on Him. Don't look down.}
"And in the fourth watch of the night [Jesus] came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, 'It is a ghost!' and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,
'Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.'
And Peter answered him, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.' He said, 'Come.' So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, 'Lord, save me.' Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?' And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying,
'Truly you are the Son of God.'"
Matthew 14:25-33
And so He is...and so we worship Him and commit our lives to His plans.
Have your way in our hearts and lives, Lord. Use us. Spend us. Here we are.
Here's to what's to come. Here's to relationships in bloom. Here's to stretching and growing yet more.
Here's to celebrating a milestone and future hope as we commemorate Bea and Beck's one year home.
(Our first family photo in the airport on the day that Bea and Beck came home!)
"In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."
Ephesians 1:4-6
