The Quiet As We Wait And Wonder

Over a week has passed since my return from Costa Rica. Since then I’ve had a significant amount of inquiries regarding the details of this mission trip, and as I stated in my post upon my return, I’m uncharacteristically at a bit of a loss as to what to say about my experiences. Also about responsibilities, which include this blog. On one hand I want to share what I saw and what God laid on my heart. On another hand, I feel God helping me to focus on him, the work required of me at work for my job and my contribution to our companies’ chapel presentation, etc. The sense I have heard whispered through it all is a call to quiet. Something foreign to me.

In the past, people close to me have shared instances where they feel the Lord’s leading in their live’s, and frankly, I get a bit jealous. Jealousy is no doubt the wrong response in these instances–it’s just that I’ve always wished God would speak to me in similar fashion. What I’ve experienced since my return from Costa Rica makes me think that perhaps this time he is.

It’s no doubt made me pause and think. About my life, and recently about my work and priorities. So it is with a sense of change, peace, focus and realignment that I enter a new phase in my life. Fatherhood. My wife and I just received confirmation of something that was driven home for me in Costa Rica– that little ones all over the world are crying out for help, and that God is calling us to serve. Yesterday we received the written confirmation that we are deemed suitable to adopt. We are embarking on the journey of adoption of a baby from El Salvador. When I consider my condition, physical, emotional, and the responsibilites financial, I cannot say with certainty I’m up for the task. But I’ve realized that God thinks so, and he’ll bring a baby into this world in 4-7 months from today. Some woman who is alive today and doesn’t know myself or my wife, or perhaps not even the love of Christ, will give birth to one of God’s precious creatures.

God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you, I knew you! Before I formed you, I called you to be something brand new.” With divine fingers God shapes every person in the womb into an image and form like his own. Each precisely etched embryo is a person whom God has laid out for his own use from eternity past. Each one of us has been known and loved since the beginning of time–even before the world was made!

The idea that we are all made for His glory sits well on my heart even though it's not something I always feel. But with God's grace and perfect timing (in our case that's been 6 years and counting), we’ll become first time parents, and I will draw on Him for wisdom.

As I write this I find even more reasons for quiet. For reflection. And until I find adequate words and time to share, that's all I have for now. I ask you to please pray for the woman who will have this baby. I can't imagine the circumstances leading to giving a baby up for adoption, but it is a courageous decision when you consider the alternative. A little over a year or so ago I posted about Mark Schultz. He is adopted, and he and Cindy Morgan wrote a song together called Broken and Beautiful which really illustrates this well. Check it out if you have a moment.