He works in mysterious ways...

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts."

~Isaiah 55:8-9~

This verse comforts me, when I look at the world & don't understand things that happen. Blessing & suffering happen simultaneously, rejoicing & mourning, acceptance & rejection. Bittersweet life. The Lord sees all, knows all...nothing is a surprise to Him. He has the big picture, & since I know that He works all things together for the good of those that love Him, I can rest in that...even when the part of the picture I see is looking like a toddler got hold of the paintbrush!

Last night I found out that a dear friend, who was in the midst of inquiring about a special boy she found on Reece's Rainbow, has learned that this boy is no longer available at this time. It's a matter of technicalities, really. He is still an orphan, but his citizenship is in question, so they cannot list him with a specific country. Until the issue is resolved, he cannot be adopted. She is heartbroken, but at the same time, she knows that God has given them a clear answer for now. It is not time.

I have known the feeling...the feeling of loving a child, a child who desperately needs to be loved, but of being unable to "do" anything about it. I cannot even communicate it to him. He lives in an institution, he speaks another language, & the only photo I've ever seen of him is old & outdated. The door is shut. We do not qualify. That is a mountain God will have to move. In a way, I can take comfort in that...it is beyond my control, but I know that at any time, God could change things. He just wants me to be willing to do whatever it takes. I pray that I am willing, when I'm tested, & I trust in His plan. The hardest part of trusting is when I think of the days ticking away, as he grows up in an institution with no indoor plumbing, with little to no interaction, with only 1 or 2 caregivers to a group of 20-25 boys. There is no time for affection...there is only time to clean the messes, to transport the boys from one place to another, to put them back to bed..

{"My" Heath}

It is mysterious to me, that there are so many waiting children...children who have been on the adoption lists for years, & have had little to no interest shown in them. Then there are willing families, willing hearts, who long to call one or more of these children their own, but are prevented by something...only God sees & understands why. And then there are those who don't, or won't, consider the children...those who look away, thinking that it's not their problem, or who are just so overwhelmed by the sadness of the situation that they shut it out...who see the diagnosis, & not the child that needs loving & rescuing. I'm guilty of it, too. I've prayed for every child I've carried to "just be healthy"...& that prayer has been answered, by the grace of God. But one day I realized something. I realized that I would love any of my children, if somehow suddenly they were not "typical" or healthy anymore. If I could look beyond a diagnosis for one of my birth children, why couldn't I do it for one of these orphans? Adoption...acceptance...that is the gospel. 

Jesus, give us a heart like Yours...a heart that sees the hurt of others, & moves heaven & earth to ease that pain...a heart that sees the need, & does whatever it can to meet the need...a heart that sees the lost & lonely, the rejected, & offers acceptance & a home. There is so much joy to be had in this heart! The longer I live, the more I see that You weave the tapestry of life in lovely designs & patterns...You give beauty for ashes...You make beautiful things out of us, if we just surrender to the Potter's hand.

Let me just say, again, that I know not everyone can adopt. But everyone should consider, prayerfully, what they CAN do...what their part is in the redemption of orphans. It's not a guilt thing...it's our heart beating as one with the adoptive heart of the Father. He works out the timing, He works out the provision, but we have to be willing to do whatever it is He calls us to do. We need to pray for a heart that is willing to obey. If the time isn't right, He can & does close doors. But if the timing is right, He can fling those doors wide open where they seemed to be impossibly impassible before! We just have to be willing to walk through...