Whatever!

Philippians 4:8 (New International Version, ©2011)

 ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.


Hello dear Friends!
I just wanted to give you an update on what is going on!  The birth mom has been at 2cm since Tuesday.  Her next doctor's appointment will be this Tuesday.  But her doctor said that if she hasn't had the baby by tomorrow, he will schedule her to induce on the 4th of April.  So Elizabeth Grace will make her arrival before or on April 4th.

Really we are excited, nervous, wondering are we going to make it up there on time, etc.  So right now we are waiting, waiting, and waiting.  Everytime the phone rings...we're like is this the call to go up to Arkansas?  Is this the phone call to finally meet Elizabeth Grace?  I am sure you can relate to this type of feeling.  Just very anxious.  Joseph and I are both off this week.  That is a huge blessing.  All of our loose ends are tied up at our workplaces and we are ready to roll.

So now that we have this time off, we actually have time to let our minds wander.  It can go in so many directions.  But we must rely on God's word....and his words states that  whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. So here we are thinking about these things.  What we know is true is that God has provided for us!  God has laid his perfect plan in place for all of this to happen.  We are thinking about what is right.....that is to raise Elizabeth Grace in a home that is centered around Christ.  That we depend on what the Word of God says.  We are thinking about what is pure.....that the word of Christ is pure and that we can rely on His promises.  We are thinking about what is lovely......Elizabeth Grace will look lovely in her Minnie Mouse outfit in her room at our house.  We are think about what is admirable....we are thinking about our friends who went out of their comfort zone to help us with the adoption.  We are thinking about what is excellent and praiseworthy......God receives all of our praise.  We want to do nothing but glorify Him in this journey.  He has definitely ordained every step of the way .  He has perfectly placed all of the people in our path of this journey from people having an open heart to receive the first fundarising letters, to the people that bought candles to support this adoption journey, to all of the countless people that donated items for the garage sale, to the countless people we don't even know that came out and purchased something at the yard sale, to the people that helped out with the fish fry, to the men we had never met before that donated everything from the fish fry to the adoption fund, to the friends, family, and church members who helped with the fish fry, to the baby showers that haave been given in honor of Elizabeth Grace, to all of the prayers that people have prayed on our behalf, for people that we don't even know that have made donations to the adoption fund, to the attorney that was placed in our path because of a good friend that went out of his way to help us find one, to us being able to share this testimony with others and to be able to let them know that God is alive, He is working, and He still does miracles.    These are the praiseworthy things we can think about and remember to share with others.  I hope we never forget what God has done in our lives.  I hope we can take this journey and help others in their journey, in their lives that might be facing what we have or something similar to this.  I know God gave us this to share, encourage, and strengthen other people's faith

Well I am wondering about you.  Are you in the WHATEVER mode?  Are you thinking about what is true, right, pure, excellent, & praiseworthy?  Can you actually name a time when God has done something in your life that you can share with others around you?  Can you take that moment that He did a work in your life and encourage someone around you or help strengthen their faith?  I hope you can look back at your life and recall countless moments where you can say only God was able to do this or get me through this!  I hope you don't just keep it to yourself.  You may have to get out of your comfort zone and become a little vulnerable to share..but I can promise you this.......It will be worth it!  God will be so proud of you if you testify to what He has done in your life!!  You will encourage someone in their walk with the Lord or your might bring someone to the Lord just by sharing with them.  Then once again, give God all the glory for it!

WHATEVER!!!

Jehovah - Jireh

First of all Jehovah Jireh is a name for the Lord that means God will provide!  Well let me say first hand we can attest to this fact.  We can TESTIFY!!! I know that ya'll know we have been worried about the financial situation.  Well let me just say that God has showed up each step of the way when we have been feeling discouraged, worried, anxious, and just wondering humanly how this was ever going to happen.  Each time, he slaps us in his face and says, "See.  I'm here.  You are called to do this and I will be the provider for you to do this.  I will take care of what you need.  You just need to continue to make yourself available to do what I have called you to do.  And just do it!  Have faith."  I know we have shared about the candle sales, and the garage sale but we have more to add to our story.  First let me share with you that we were having a bad week about 2 weeks ago wondering how is this going to all come together.  Joseph and I met for dinner and we were talking about how humanly this was going to get done.  Well do you know that when I came home that night from the store, there was a check for $300 in the mailbox.  It was from a  person that we don't even really know.  They had heard about our adoption and wrote a sweet letter talking about how in the scripture it states that we need to take care of the orphans and that it is a great privilege to do so.  I mean how inspiring is that!  That was God showing up in a mighty way to say, "I am here.  I will provide!  I will.! My name is Jehovah Jireh!"

The next thing that happened was the fish fry.  We were doing this as a fundraiser and we were to make $4 off each plate that we sold.  We sold around 210 plates.  When the fish fry was over, we asked the group of gentlemen that were doing the fish fry for us how much do we owe them.  They looked at each other and said that they felt that the Lord was telling them to donate all of the money to us.  That means they donated all of the food for the fish fry and we were able to keep all of the money from the plates.  How amazing.  They donated their time and money to help us out with the fish fry.  Unbelievable.  Once again God said to us, "I am here!  I will provide!  I will.! My name is Jehovah Jireh!"

It still gets better than this!  On Sunday we were talking to two people in the choir room at church.  We were telling them that we don't have the exact figures but we think we needed a certain amount and then we would have the money to cover the projected cost of the adoption.  Well we went to church, listened to the sermon, and socialized a little bit after the service.  Then someone came up to us and handed us a card.  You are not gonna believe this.  Sit down and buckle your seat belts but it was a check for the exact amount of what we told the two people in the choir room that we needed!  Now you can't tell me that God did not show up.  God once again said to us, "I am here.  I will provide!  I will! My name is Jehovah Jireh!"  All we can say is that God is our provider.  The neat thing is that people all along the way have been obedient to Christ and opened their hearts to help us out.  It is amazing.  It truly is a miracle.

Now it's your turn!~  What have you seen God do for your life?  How have you seen Him provide for you?  He is your provider just as much as He is for us!  He provides for us not only in financial needs but other ways as well.  For example, He provides for us emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically.  He is there every step of the way and He is telling you, "I am here.  I will provide!  I will. My name is Jehovah Jireh!"