Our home study is almost complete....we are waiting on our medical test results, and finishing up the last of the parenting classes. The dossier still needs a lot of work still. I told a friend that I remember getting "syllabus shock" in college, and now I am experiencing "dossier shock"!
We've had some challenges recently with some things that people have said, which are more negative towards our decision to adopt our little one. Mostly the comments revolve around her blindness, and the difficulties that will ensue due to that challenge. It is painful to hear these sort of comments. I think it can be troubling to people, well-intentioned people, to see others going down a path that they don't understand, nor do they believe that God would lead us down such a challenging path....a path that is different from what is expected.
When I was talking to Ken about the things that were said. He responded, "I don't care what they say, we aren't leaving our daughter in an orphanage!!!" There are different times when I am especially proud of my husband, and I am so very proud of him and the love he has for his little daughter over in China.
Pastor Skip Heitzig was on the radio the other day talking about when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11). He said that when Jesus came to the tomb he asked others to roll away the stone. Jesus also asked others to take off Lazarus' bandages after he was raised. Pastor Skip asked the question, Why did Jesus not give a command to have the stone rolled away and for the bandages to fall off, why did He ask people to do those things?
The answer- Because only Jesus can raise the dead. We can move stones and take off bandages. Jesus does His part and He asks us to do our part. This is the essence of ministry.
The names of the stones movers and bandage removers aren't listed. Because those details aren't central to the story. The centrality of the story is about Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can save.
We can be God's instrument, we can do what Jesus asks us to do. Then we leave the hard parts to Him. We leave the saving to Him. I heard another pastor say, "The rake doesn't expect praise because he was used by the farmer." The rake is simply a tool.
To me, ministry is sort of like a dance with God leading and asking us to just follow His lead. As people, we are awkward- stepping on our own feet sometimes, but it doesn't matter because God is gracious. And the story isn't about us anyway. It's about Jesus. He is the Savior. We just do the simple things that He asks us to do. It doesn't matter what happens, or what difficulties will come our way. What matters is that for this brief season in time, we have an opportunity to be used by Jesus, to do what He wills, and to follow His leading.
And that's a dance that I wouldn't step out of for anything in this world.
One of my favorite books of the Bible is Job. I love seeing Job's faithfulness with all he goes through. Seeing how his friends wrongly accuse him and don't stand by him is such a part of our world too. But my favorite part is Job 38-41, when God declares His power, His might, His righteousness. Seeing the power of God gives me courage for all of life. I love when you wrote that Jesus did what ONLY He could do and then others did what they could. The children of Isreal had to fight for the land that God GAVE them, their promised land; we are to fight for ours. Life IS a dance, I love that too. He leads, we have only to follow. I am so grateful you both are following Him and we are getting this precious little girl in our family. I can't wait to hold her. Love you all. Mom, just another 'rake' in his vineyard!
ReplyDelete