It's Monday night April 9th 2012 and we are watching Jonah's baseball game and he goes to bat....perfect stance...perfect swing....smacks the ball hard and we scream thrills of excitement and it comes to a screeching halt when we realize the best hit of the season lines drives the pitcher and he falls like a rag doll to the ground. Lying unconscious we inhale sighs of terror....knowing how this could potentially affect both the hitter and the pitcher. We carry the burden home as the pitcher drives off in an ambulance and no one knows the final injury diagnosis.
It's now 2am and I wake with heart racing and I feel the nausea and know what's coming next. I run for the bathroom where I find myself on the floor in a pool of sweat fighting for consciousness.... Calling out to Jeff for help while he lay sleeping. I have no idea what is going on. After breathing hard in and out hoping for relief soon I find myself back in the bed from arms of love who carried me and I say out loud," this is warfare". I say it with certainty...this is going to bring good news of our getting Bella.
The next day I'm reading through my "read through the bible in a year" and my scheduled reading for the day is in Samuel. And the storyline is on Hannah begging God for a child. Ahhhh. Yes...I can relate to her anguish and I think to myself about last night and realize something is happening. I remember what comes next in the reading....a son is given to Hannah! Samuel. Not only that....I know even more exciting is that Samuel as a young boy and a servant to the LORD and hears the LORD's voice and says,"speak LORD for your servant is listening" At this moment even though I never expected it...I knew what the LORD was doing. He was finishing this adoption story exactly the way he began it.
Let me explain.
In August of 2008 the following calling of adoption from God came:
" I was spending time with the LORD and was praying through 1 Samuel 3:9 where Samuel answered God and asked Him “to speak for His servant was listening”. I sensed the LORD say to me over and over, "listen to me". So, I began calling on God as Samuel did, to "Speak LORD for your servant is listening". I ask the LORD to tell me what was on His heart and for Him to share it with me. I sat in silence for what seemed an eternity waiting to hear if the LORD had anything that He wanted to say.
Then the words came to my heart, “open My word”. Not being a fan of playing bible roulette, I hesitantly opened my bible wondering if I had heard incorrectly. And there in the pages my bible had opened to was Psalm 99:1-9. The first verse that I saw was vs 6. You’ll need to read it: Psalm 99:6 Samuel also was among those calling on His name. They called to the LORD and He answered them. How bizarre is that? I sat there puzzled as I had just finished reading about Samuel and was also calling on the LORD myself and waiting for an answer. So, I backed up in that chapter of Psalm 99 and began to read the passages from the start.
The thing that captured me most in those verses was vs. 4. which says, “The mighty King loves justice”. Those words played over and over in my mind while I anxiously continued to listen for what the LORD wanted to say to me. I devoted the rest of the day to listen for God’s word to me when it finally came unsuspected later that afternoon while watching a orphan video and seeing Psalm 10:17-18 stream across the screen which says, Lord you know the hopes of helpless, surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them…..You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them.
When I read those words, I was totally stunned and it hit me like a ton of bricks….The Mighty King was wanting to bring Justice! THIS IS IT! This is what the LORD has wanted me to hear. This is what He wanted to tell me. I sat there and bawled like a baby for the longest time and then trying to compose myself I scrambled for the phone to tell Jeff what just happened. Could this be our answer? It has to be. Were we to be the vessels of His justice to the orphans? Yes!!"
You can find that entire blog on it here. http://www.bringingjustice.blogspot.in/p/our-adoption-calling.html
Fast forward exactly to February 2011 and we are reading our daughters child study report and we realize that she became orphaned the exact month and year (August 2008) that God gave us this calling through Samuel. God? NO DOUBT! And now the time had come. It was time to bring justice to Bella! I hop on Facebook and make a request for prayers for good news the next day knowing what God was doing.
The next day comes and I open my bible again to scheduled reading and I totally forgot what was next. 1 Samuel 7. It hits me again with pure excitement because I remember....last year on April 21st 2011....after our referral and thinking we would be traveling to see Bella in a short couple of months I got an extremely disappointing email from our agency saying there were delays and it could potentially be months before we could travel to pick her up. In tears that day I picked up my bible and read from 1 Samuel 7. In shock over what I just read I sent Jeff the following email:
"It doesn't EVEN surprise me that after receiving that disappointing news that my reading in the WORD would be in 1 Samuel (where our adoption journey began....and Samuel was among those calling on the name of the LORD and HE answered them!) that God would say to me these words in 1 Samuel 7:12.."Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah & Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”" He has indeed helped us thus far..and there is no doubt He will yet help us again! Ebenezer means....stone of help! Today...I’m raising my Ebenezer!!
Reminded today of Gods faithfulness and that He would indeed finish what He started as I read those verses again in 1Samuel 7 my hope was again restored that good news was on the way. And then...right then.....the phone rings.....it's our agency with good news!! We can finally go and get our daughter!! So....we make travel plans in the next few days and I find myself packing my bags for our early morning trip to India the next day and the date is April 21st 2012!! Exactly one year ago to the day of our Ebenezer...The LORD indeed finished what He began.
Praise His holy name.
With Joy,
Brittnie
Psalm 126:3
It's now 2am and I wake with heart racing and I feel the nausea and know what's coming next. I run for the bathroom where I find myself on the floor in a pool of sweat fighting for consciousness.... Calling out to Jeff for help while he lay sleeping. I have no idea what is going on. After breathing hard in and out hoping for relief soon I find myself back in the bed from arms of love who carried me and I say out loud," this is warfare". I say it with certainty...this is going to bring good news of our getting Bella.
The next day I'm reading through my "read through the bible in a year" and my scheduled reading for the day is in Samuel. And the storyline is on Hannah begging God for a child. Ahhhh. Yes...I can relate to her anguish and I think to myself about last night and realize something is happening. I remember what comes next in the reading....a son is given to Hannah! Samuel. Not only that....I know even more exciting is that Samuel as a young boy and a servant to the LORD and hears the LORD's voice and says,"speak LORD for your servant is listening" At this moment even though I never expected it...I knew what the LORD was doing. He was finishing this adoption story exactly the way he began it.
Let me explain.
In August of 2008 the following calling of adoption from God came:
" I was spending time with the LORD and was praying through 1 Samuel 3:9 where Samuel answered God and asked Him “to speak for His servant was listening”. I sensed the LORD say to me over and over, "listen to me". So, I began calling on God as Samuel did, to "Speak LORD for your servant is listening". I ask the LORD to tell me what was on His heart and for Him to share it with me. I sat in silence for what seemed an eternity waiting to hear if the LORD had anything that He wanted to say.
Then the words came to my heart, “open My word”. Not being a fan of playing bible roulette, I hesitantly opened my bible wondering if I had heard incorrectly. And there in the pages my bible had opened to was Psalm 99:1-9. The first verse that I saw was vs 6. You’ll need to read it: Psalm 99:6 Samuel also was among those calling on His name. They called to the LORD and He answered them. How bizarre is that? I sat there puzzled as I had just finished reading about Samuel and was also calling on the LORD myself and waiting for an answer. So, I backed up in that chapter of Psalm 99 and began to read the passages from the start.
The thing that captured me most in those verses was vs. 4. which says, “The mighty King loves justice”. Those words played over and over in my mind while I anxiously continued to listen for what the LORD wanted to say to me. I devoted the rest of the day to listen for God’s word to me when it finally came unsuspected later that afternoon while watching a orphan video and seeing Psalm 10:17-18 stream across the screen which says, Lord you know the hopes of helpless, surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them…..You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them.
When I read those words, I was totally stunned and it hit me like a ton of bricks….The Mighty King was wanting to bring Justice! THIS IS IT! This is what the LORD has wanted me to hear. This is what He wanted to tell me. I sat there and bawled like a baby for the longest time and then trying to compose myself I scrambled for the phone to tell Jeff what just happened. Could this be our answer? It has to be. Were we to be the vessels of His justice to the orphans? Yes!!"
You can find that entire blog on it here. http://www.bringingjustice.blogspot.in/p/our-adoption-calling.html
Fast forward exactly to February 2011 and we are reading our daughters child study report and we realize that she became orphaned the exact month and year (August 2008) that God gave us this calling through Samuel. God? NO DOUBT! And now the time had come. It was time to bring justice to Bella! I hop on Facebook and make a request for prayers for good news the next day knowing what God was doing.
The next day comes and I open my bible again to scheduled reading and I totally forgot what was next. 1 Samuel 7. It hits me again with pure excitement because I remember....last year on April 21st 2011....after our referral and thinking we would be traveling to see Bella in a short couple of months I got an extremely disappointing email from our agency saying there were delays and it could potentially be months before we could travel to pick her up. In tears that day I picked up my bible and read from 1 Samuel 7. In shock over what I just read I sent Jeff the following email:
"It doesn't EVEN surprise me that after receiving that disappointing news that my reading in the WORD would be in 1 Samuel (where our adoption journey began....and Samuel was among those calling on the name of the LORD and HE answered them!) that God would say to me these words in 1 Samuel 7:12.."Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah & Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”" He has indeed helped us thus far..and there is no doubt He will yet help us again! Ebenezer means....stone of help! Today...I’m raising my Ebenezer!!
Reminded today of Gods faithfulness and that He would indeed finish what He started as I read those verses again in 1Samuel 7 my hope was again restored that good news was on the way. And then...right then.....the phone rings.....it's our agency with good news!! We can finally go and get our daughter!! So....we make travel plans in the next few days and I find myself packing my bags for our early morning trip to India the next day and the date is April 21st 2012!! Exactly one year ago to the day of our Ebenezer...The LORD indeed finished what He began.
Praise His holy name.
With Joy,
Brittnie
Psalm 126:3
1 comment:
Crying.....God is so faithful...and I am praying for you now. He WILL indeed finish what He has started. Amen and Amen.
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