It's Personal

It's been one year. It was October 15th of 2011 that we talked to our kids about believing that God had put adoption on our heart. We've been praying, and following God on this for a year. It has been a very full, busy, challenging, and blessed year. There have been so many amazing things that we have experienced as a family. We've recently created a timeline of our story since first knowing that God was asking us to do something big. One thing has led to another and the series of events is really something to behold.

In the busyness of what our season of life is today, its sadly easy for me to not remember all of the details of what God has done in our family, in our home, in our hearts... It's not that I have forgotten - how could I forget? It's that I don't often choose to remember. I need to choose to remind myself of how far we have come. I need to choose to remind my family of how much we have prayed and how God has answered. We are living in an answered prayer.

Looking over our timeline of all of the ways that God has carried us through takes my breath away.

You see, from the beginning I asked begged God to make it personal. The ways he has carried each of us through this journey so far could not have been more personal. When I think about that I can't help but praise Him for being so good to be so intimately involved with what matters to us. He has been gently guiding us by choosing to use details that get our attention in a very personal way.

For example, I'm into names. I'm into art. I'm all about my children. I've named cars, things, and a daughter I don't know and haven't met because naming things is something personal about who I am. How did God choose to make Himself known to me? He allowed my daughter (the one I know) to create in an art class, a beautiful project in which she carves the word "Grace" in Chinese character form, and then stamps it all over a Chinese lantern. This happens months before we decide that our daughter would be named Grace. However, it came home with us from school during the time we were completing our first round of paperwork and asking God "Are you sure about this??"He affirmed that for us at just the right time.That kind of thing might not take your breath away, but it certainly took mine - because that kind of thing is personal to me.

When my husband and I decided to say "I will" to adopting, one of the obstacles in front of us was a financial one. It is a huge financial commitment. It is the first reason we hesitated - and I dare say, it's what keeps most people from adopting. Believing God to provide for us (at that time) was more difficult for Robert than for me. Maybe you can relate... It's not because I'm more godly or because he doesn't trust God - it's just a different challenge for him as the main provider for our family,  and as the one who thinks about our budget and our future from a financial perspective (much more than I do). It's just how we are wired differently, it's how we complement each other. So when I prayed, and what I asked friends to pray about for us -  was that God would reveal Himself so clearly and in such a personal way to Robert, that it would blow his mind.

His mind has been sufficiently blown by how God has provided financially. The sale of our home, the purchase of our new home, a new job opportunity for both of us... are just a few ways God has made it personal for Robert and therefore, personal for me.

What is personal for you? I think we are so stuck, as believers - as people living on earth and seeing the tragedy around us that we limit who God is and what He can do in our lives. We water down our prayers, we generalize, we don't pray specifically and we don't give thanks specifically. We tend to give ourselves credit for answered prayers when really the glory belongs to God alone.

We should dare to make it personal because God is a very intimate and personal God who cares about even the smallest details of our lives. He knows our needs already, but when we pray specifically and look for Him to move personally it changes everything. It changes our relationship with Him.

It's changed my husband.

It's changed me.