Isaiah

I absolutely cling to God's words in the biblical book of Isaiah. You may have noticed that if you've read some past posts, particularly the ones about adoption. We had decided to call our future adoptive child/ren by that name in household conversation, so over the past several months during our adoption process I'd made several prayer notes in the pages of my Bible that listed Ezekiel, Eden and Isaiah as one unit. It is pretty crazy that God had us praying for our unplanned biological son by name for months in advance without knowing it. There was absolutely no other name on our radar that we could have given  to the surprise child who "interrupted" our initial attempt to fulfill the call of Isaiah 1:17. Kind of ironic to me, but I pray and believe that he himself will go on to fulfill that call in his own life with his own family. We're close to 18 weeks along in the pregnancy and are (finally) grateful to God for this unexpected blessing. There are ways that I believe God is using this pregnancy to answer some prayers, and I will share those after the fact lest I hinder the sequence of events from unfolding the way they may. It's just mind-boggling to me how God can answer a prayer "indirectly" (really, it's direct, but it looks indirect to me) by giving me something I thought I never wanted in order to give me something He knows I need.

Standing at the threshold between 2 and 3 children has opened Mason's and my eyes even more to the blessing that our children are to us. Of course, Jesus loves all the little children and they are all special creations of God, but we, like all passionate parents, think ours are just the most amazing little people ever. This is the point where I feared we would shrink back from adoption, but the last few months have accomplished the complete opposite. They've fostered a kind of bring-it-0n, our-family-will-be-big-so-let's-make-it-bigger, God-will-give-us-all-the-love-we-need attitude in our home. We're keeping our eyes open for the right timing and opportunity to move into a bigger home here in Louisiana, one that has a large schoolroom and plenty of open space where Momma can keep an eye on everyone at once. ;) Base housing here doesn't offer the best floor plans for our taste. We also have dreams and prayerful plans to find a place in Orlando where the children and I can go to be near family during deployments (we plan to homeschool all our children), however many of those separations God may have in our future. It would also be a place where Mason could join us on family vacations to see grandparents and, of course, Disney World. 

Speaking of deployment, we're just a few weeks away from our second one and I am so thankful that the LORD has answered my request for Him to take control of my emotions this time, because last time they went completely out of control and the month before he left was just miserable. I have such a cushy, wonderful situation, I really can't complain. I have parents who will take me and Ezekiel and Eden (and Isaiah) in for however long we need, cook and clean for us, and provide everything they can in the way of fun and love while 1/2 of the children's parental unit is on the other side of the world. Several miles down the road there we also have Mason's parents, who also love to love on E&E. Add to that Disney World and my 15-year-old brother who will keep me laughing, and I am probably the most lavishly spoiled military wife ever. It's by God's grace alone that I don't have to stay here in Louisiana as a single parent for 6 months. I praise Jesus for every good and perfect gift! My emotions would definitely be out of control if I were staying here alone. Yes, we have fantastic friends and a great church and share a wonderful life here, but the key is that our life here is just that, OURS, something that Mason and I share. Without him, it feels like a strange place, isolated from family. I don't feel comfortable calling even the closest of friends in the middle of the night when everyone's throwing up or I need to make an emergency trip to the doctor. I was not programmed/wired/intended/meant to be alone. I do enjoy some silence and solitude once in awhile to regroup, but I'm not a loner. When I can't live with my husband I really appreciate the option of living with other family members. It's a blessing I don't receive flippantly!! I hope our wonderful and special friends in town understand that it's nothing personal about them, it's just that no amount of playdates and lunches and babysitting offers can replace the love of family. I'm a family girl at heart, which is probably why I'm so excited about starting this big family. :)

Keep praying for our currently orphaned/eventually adopted children if you are so led! I was so excited to receive a call from Lifeline, our agency, yesterday. They are so faithful to touch base and stay updated about the pregnancy and make sure we know we are still in their prayers. We still receive the adoption list from the orphanage in Peru and are able to pray for the children on it. In the meantime, until we can "sponsor" some of them for life, we were excited to stumble upon a sweet little Peruvian boy named David on the Compassion website who needed a sponsor. We feel like sending things to David helps us stay connected to Peru and remember all the children there who, like all the children in every country throughout the world, are so precious to their Maker and in need of our resources. 

Normally I like to post a Scripture or two that characterizes what God's been teaching me lately, but everything feels like it's all over the place right now (that's a very sweeping generalization but it's almost midnight and Mason's been at work day and night this week so I am fried and also getting hungry and slightly nauseous). So, let's do this one: 

Show me your ways, Lord,
    teach me your paths.
⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are God my Savior,
    and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5