Thursday, November 6, 2014

Update on processing...

10-17-2014 -- Dossier sent to China
10-27-2014 --  LID (Logged In)
11-4-2014 --  OOT  (Out of Translation)

Moving on!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Our Family Tree

Genealogy
 
This subject has been floating around my head for a week or so now.  My bible study group is currently finishing up our study on Genesis.  This book has many lists of family genealogies.  The documentation of the very first family. (Genesis 5)  THE VERY FIRST FAMILY!  The tree starts with Adam and Eve...or I guess we should say with God.  He created and then fathered the first man and woman.  Then we follow the tree to Noah and his descendants.  (Genesis 10)  Then on and on until we end Genesis with Joseph. 

Many of us skip over these long lists of names!  Many of these people we know very little (or nothing) about them.  So what is the big deal?  Why are there so many genealogies recorded in the Bible?
 
I came across this article on the web:  http://www.unlockingthebible.org/bible-genealogy-and-jesus/
Kevin Halloran comes up with five great points about why they are so important:
 
1.  Bible Genealogies show that God cares about history
2.  Bible Genealogies show that God interacts with real people
3.  Bible Genealogies show that God can use imperfect people for His purposes
4.  Bible Genealogies show that God cares about families
5.  The genealogy of Jesus means that God understands our situation
 
It's a great little article and I would encourage you to read it!
 
Another great article I found came from Answers In Genesis:
"In our modern culture—especially in America—many families have little sense of heritage. We may have some family traditions, but most Americans don’t even know the names of their great, great grandparents or care where they lived, what they did, etc. Modern genealogy is primarily reserved for hobbyists. In contrast, genealogies were a deeply integral part of Jewish society at the time of Jesus. Land was inherited based on family lines, and those who could not prove their ancestry in Israel were considered outsiders."
Genealogies were super important!  Important for families and individuals.  They should be important to us, because we see that our Creator cares about us individually.  And most important, it was important to God, because he used them to direct us to the most important person on the list....Christ.  He used genealogies to direct us to the Gospel. 

I like to watch the PBS program called "Finding Your Roots" with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.  In each episode, he uncovers the family tree for three famous people in our society.  It's very interesting!  The things they find out about their ancestors can be good...and sometimes not so good.  But none-the-less, it's intriguing!!  Every time I watch the show, I fondly think of my Uncle Denny (who was the genealogist in our family).  He dedicated so much time to research my father's line back to our roots, as far back as he could, to Germany.  As you sit and read the names, you wonder what their life was like, and what type of character they had as a person.  One was a town leader in Germany, he traveled to England and then on to America in 1710.  He made the voyage to this country, and now generations later...here I am!  Decisions and events, dreams and disappointments, marriages and deaths, changes in residence and jobs....they all lead to my father and mother meeting.  And then my life came out of this lineage. 

Coincidence?  Man's doing?  I'd rather think not!
 
The all so familiar verse:  "For I know the plans I have for you...plans to give you hope and a future."  Jer. 29:11
 
"The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lordthe people he chose for his inheritance.  From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do."   Psalm 33:10-15
 
How I wish my Uncle Denny could be here to add Sue Ling to our family tree!  One day soon, our branch is going to grow!!  I don't know what the future holds...we may never have grandchildren to share family stories with...marriage may not be in her future.  As generations come and go, memories are lost and people are forgotten.  Wouldn't it be something, generations from now, if someone traced back the family tree and found us?  There we will be in a box...with a line drawn to a child...with Sue's name in it.  Will they know the story?  Will they know that this child of mine had her biological roots firmly found in China?  This little Asian girl was miraculously grafted into our family tree.  Our ancestral story will now become her story.  Her ancestral story will become our story as well.  To know the story of her genealogy would be fascinating to me.  Maybe there would be stuff uncovered that would be good, and maybe things we would rather not have known.  But somewhere, generations ago, the Lord was working His plan.  He was working all things for our good.  He was in Germany, bringing my ancestors to America.  He was directing Wilson's ancestors as well.  And He was in China, directing Sue Ling's ancestors too. 
 
A...MAZ...ING!!!
 

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

I will exalt you, my God the King;
    I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you
    and extol your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    his greatness no one can fathom.
One generation commends your works to another;
    they tell of your mighty acts.
They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
    and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They tell of the power of your awesome works—
    and I will proclaim your great deeds.
They celebrate your abundant goodness
    and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
    slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all;
    he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All your works praise you, Lord;
    your faithful people extol you.
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom
    and speak of your might,
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
    and faithful in all he does.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall
    and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and faithful in all he does.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
    he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
    Let every creature praise his holy name
    for ever and ever.
 
 
 

Saturday, October 11, 2014

"Light! Give Me Light!"

I was recently reading "Helen Keller: The Story of My Life" by Helen Keller.  I was struck with emotion as I read about the day she met her teacher, Anne Sullivan.  Her words:
"The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me.  I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects.  It was the third of March, 1887, three months before I was seven years old.
On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on the porch, dumb, expectant.  I guessed vaguely from my mother's signs and from the hurrying to and fro in the house that something unusual was about to happen, so I went to the door and waited on the steps.  The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my upturned face.  My fingers lingered almost unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth to greet the sweet southern spring.  I did not know what the future held of marvel or surprise for me.  Anger and bitterness had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a deep languor had succeeded this passionate struggle.
Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen?  I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbor was.  "Light! give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.
I felt approaching footsteps.  I stretched out my hand as I supposed to my mother.  Some one took it, and I was caught up and held close in the arms of her who had come to reveal all things to me, and, more than all things else, to love me."
Amazing!  It is just amazing to contemplate Helen's life at this moment.  The "light of love shone on her that very hour".

Can you imagine?  She had no idea how her whole world was about to open up...how everything was about to become much clearer...how she was no longer going to be wandering around in this world without being connected to it.  And she was almost 7 years old when this awakening came!  Anne Sullivan would change her world by connecting her to it through the gift of communication.  Helen Keller would change our world by showing us that people with differences have so much to give to our society.  The contrast of what her childhood was like, and the woman she became, is inspirational.  But the most touching part of Helen's life is the relationship she had with her teacher.  Such love for one another...they were not only connected through communication, but in love.
 
I thought of our Sue Ling.  She is at the same age that Helen was when her life changed.  I want to hope that the day we meet our girl for the first time, it will be a turning point in her life.  That we will help bring her light and direct her to the Compass that knows her future. 
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11
An awakening in her spirit.  An opening up of the world to her.  She will leave out of the orphanage gate and begin to experience places, people, animals, things she has never known.  Her eyes will be opened, her senses stimulated, her mind will be broadened as she learns new things. 
 
How she will fill our world.

Wilson and I dream, often, about what it will be like the day we meet our daughter.  We get so excited about it.  I can only imagine that Sue Ling will wonder what is going on that day.  She will go on a long car ride that will take her away from everything familiar to her.  I can't imagine what will go on inside her mind.  She will know something unusual is happening.  She will know that she will be meeting her "Mama" and "Baba".

What will she think about it all?
 
She will be at the threshold of a new life, just as Helen was that day.  Our prayers are, that her response to us will be as fond as Helen's was to Anne.
That she will find love...that we will show her Love.
 
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"  1 John 3:1
 

 

Saturday, September 27, 2014

How the process is going....

I'm posting this information so that I can look back and remember when everything happened!

11-27-2012 -- Applied to Lifeline for a domestic adoption.
2-23-2013 -- First Home study.
7-29-2013 -- Home study completed and approved.
September 2013 -- Our profile was looked at for the first time!
March 2014 -- Started praying seriously about a little girl we had seen on the China waiting list. 
April 2014 -- Approved for China program.  Decided to change to an international adoption and pursue that special little girl.
5-29-2014 -- Letter of Intent sent to China to ask for permission to adopt our girl!
6-19-2014 -- PA (Pre Approval).  Sue Ling is ours!!!  Now it is time to do more home study work!
8-4-2014 -- Home study finished for the second time. :)
8-7-2014 -- 1800A sent.
9-2-2014 -- Fingerprint appointment with Homeland Security.
9-22-2014 -- Immigration approval received.
9-23-2014 -- Dossier sent to be processed!!


Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Our Girl...remarkably and wonderfully made


Here is a little video of Sue we received lately.  Some friends of ours adopted their child from the same orphanage that Sue lives in....they carried some gifts to her from us.
 
 
 
 
I praise you Lord:
 
You created Sue's inmost being;
you knit her together in her mother's womb.
I praise you because she is fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
Sue's frame was not hidden from you when she was made in the secret place.
When she was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw her unformed body.
All the days ordained for Sue were written in your book before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
 
(Personalized version of Psalm 139:13-17)
 
I'm reading a book called "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow
 
In her book it talks about being content with being yourself.  Being content with the way God created you.  Several quotes made me sit in awe of how awesome our God is, and how he created us with such care:
 
"In Hebrew, the word translated wrought means "embroidered".  It was the same Hebrew word used to refer to the skillful and artistic needlework in the curtains of the Old Testament tabernacle.  When God fashioned you in your mother's womb...He embroidered with great skill.  Although no one else could see you, God saw every detail of the formation of your body."
 
Linda Dillow quoted George MacDonald -- "I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking."
 
"God has a plan--a purpose--for each life."
 
"...it means that the Almighty Creator of the universe prepared a purpose for us to walk in.  God acted with definite purpose when He created you because He had a plan for you to fulfill.  How loved and unique you are!  All of your abilities -- and your disabilities -- were created to fit the unique plan God has for you.  No one can fulfill your purpose but you.  And God's plan for you and His plan for me embrace for more than the events or circumstances that happen to us.  They also embrace what God wants us to be and do and what He desires to do in and through us."
 
The Lord has preciously shown me that Sue was not a mistake when she was formed in her mother's womb.  She was remarkably and wonderfully made.  She is a rare beauty and He has a plan and a purpose for her.  How awesome to be able to be apart of the story He is writing for her.  We have done nothing, but the Lord is allowing us to be the parents of this remarkable girl....what a privilege!

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Celebration!



What an exciting fourth of July!  Not only did we get to celebrate the independence of our country, but we also celebrated the life of our newest member of the family! 
 
 
Sue had her birthday this week!  We were able to send a birthday party to her, and have her friends and nannies be apart of the celebration.  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall, to see the expression and reaction that Sue had when she saw the cake!  We did receive pictures and videos of the party...which we have played over and over again.  It's absolutely amazing to be connected with Sue from so far away, through technology. 
 


The group celebrated three birthdays that day...what beautiful cakes they had!
 
We sang "Happy Birthday" as we watched the videos and looked at the pictures of the party.  We also knew that Sue would be learning about us for the first time.  Along with the birthday party, we were able to send a photo album with pictures of us inside.
Our contact in China translated small messages on the pictures in order to explain what they were.  Our portraits had "I am your Mommy" and "I am your Daddy" labeled on them.  Again, I would have relished the ability to observe Sue's face as she looked at our pictures.  I wonder what was going through that little mind.  I wondered if she could even comprehend what these pictures were telling her. 

We have missed the first seven years of her life....but I look forward to spending the rest of my life enjoying her presence. 

I love this video of "A Mother's Prayer" by Keith and Kristyn Getty.  The words sung, are the prayers I have for Sue as she embarks on a new year in her life...and for the rest of her life:


Before you close your eyes to sleep
I have a promise still to keep
As I hold you in my arms
I pray your little frame grows strong
And that faith takes hope while you are young
This is my prayer for you

Hold my hand, I'll teach you the way to go
Through the joys, through the years
The journey of these years
May you trust Him till the end
May you trust Him in the end

This world is not as it should be
But the Savior opens eyes to see
All that's beautiful and true
Oh may His light fill all you are
And the jewel of wisdom crown your heart
This is my prayer for you

Hold my hand, I'll teach you the way to go
Through the joys, through the tears
The journey of these years
He is with us till the end
He is faithful till the end

You'll travel where my arms won't reach
As the road will rise and lead your feet
On a journey of your own
May my mistakes not hinder you
But His grace remain and guide you through
This is my prayer for you

Take His hand and go where He calls you to
And whatever comes, seek Him
With all your heart
This will be my prayer for you

Father hear my ceaseless prayer
Oh keep her in your care
 


 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE GIRL!



 

Friday, June 27, 2014

What a blessing

I can't tell you how much we have been blessed, since we shared our news last week!  It has taken some time to read and cherish the kind words everyone has spoken to us.  We feel so loved and strengthened to know that so many are cheering us on in this adventure.  You have embraced our child and that means the world to us.

We have also been able to hear from many families, and complete strangers, that know and have met our little "Sue".  It's amazing that you can be connected with people all over the world via email and facebook.  This huge world can instantly seem so small and close.  And so connected together.  Just like Someone is weaving our story of life so intricately.  I know my God is amazing...but He really is amazing!  His ways are perfect and He writes our stories so uniquely.

The fun things we continue to learn about or little Sue....

  • She knows how to fist pump (awesome)
  • She "demands a room" with her big personality
  • She, indeed, is a girly girl of all girls.  Every picture we have received this week is full of tulle, bows, rhinestones, lacy socks, and wings on shoes!
  • She is friendly to all
  • She is smart
  • She is loved by many.
The most touching thing we have learned....so many people have prayed for Sue during her little life.  I can't tell you how many people have told me that they met Sue years ago, and that they have prayed for a family to adopt her. 

They have prayed for Wilson. 
They have prayed for me. 
 
Long before we knew our little girl even existed.  During the years of our infertility.  During the nights of tears.  During the times that we prayed to the Lord, that He would show us the way in which He would bring a child to our family.  They were praying for us.  We were already parents and didn't know it.
And they were praying for our little girl.
 
When she was lying in a crib so small.  When she was learning how to crawl and walk.  When they were seeing their child for the first time.  When they were taking them home.  They stopped and remembered our little girl...and never forgot her. They said prayers for all of us.  She was a daughter and didn't know it.

I will always treasure that in my heart. 


Psalm 66:16-20
Come and hear...let me tell you what he has done for me...I cried out to him with my mouth...God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.  Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!
 
 
 
Here are some answers to your questions:
 
Sue is going to be turning 7years old soon.
It will still be months before we can bring her home...we don't know when (but we hope it will come quickly).
She is itty bitty and doesn't look her age.
We will meet her, for the first time, when we travel to China to pick her up.
 
 

Thursday, June 19, 2014

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted my petition made to Him. (1 Samuel 1:27)



I can't believe the day has come....where we can shout from the rooftops that the Lord has given us a child!!  
We would like to introduce everyone to our daughter.  (I can't believe I can say that)



For security reasons, we will be calling her "Sue" while using the internet and social media.

Where do I start!?  We saw this little face on the waiting list months ago, and the Lord would not let us forget it.  The first time I looked at her information, I was just curious about her.  She looked different from all the other children and I wanted to know more about her.  Wilson and I were able to watch videos and look at pictures that they had at our agency.  We started falling in love with her!
  
  She has quite a personality!  She has spunk and giggles that will make you melt.  
We learned that she LOVES anything pretty.  Pretty clothes, jewelry, etc.  
She LOVES to read, and would rather look at a book than play with a toy.
She dances, she colors, and she plays...all with smiles.

She is special!  A rare jewel indeed.  1 in 1 million in all actuality.
We believe our girl has a very rare genetic syndrome called Carpenter Syndrome.  We have a journey ahead of us that will be full of doctor's visits, surgeries, and unknowns.  But we feel honored that the Lord has given us the privilege to walk through this journey with her.  She is ours!


I love this video and song by JJ Heller.  I can just imagine our gorgeous "Sue" at home one day.  Playing in fairy wings and eating ice cream.  The words I pray and sing over her now:

"My love, may you dream of beautiful things
'Til the dawn of the day bright and new
Wherever you go, I want you to know
When I dream, I dream of you"

"Sue" I pray that you will dream of beautiful things until we can finally come get you!
There is a day dawning that will be bright and new!  You will have a Mom and Dad and we will have YOU!

Wherever you go and whatever you will be doing until that day....I want you to know:

When I dream, I dream of you!



"You will show me the path of life;
in Your presence is fullness of joy; 
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalm 16:11

Thank you LORD!






Wednesday, June 18, 2014

We are going where?



CHINA!

In 2001, I traveled to China with a group from my church.  That trip changed my life if so many ways!  It was the first time that I had traveled outside of the United States.  It opened my eyes to the world and gave me a better understanding of what life was like outside of the United States.  I have traveled to other places since China, and I'm always reminded of how "comfortable" I live.  How much I take for granted....and how much I appreciate when I get home.  Oh, how I love American toilets.  Oh, how I appreciate having forks and knives.  What a privilege it is to be able to attend a house of worship with no fear.  I'm blessed to own a personal copy of God's Word.  I can read it, walk around with it, and write sticky notes with scripture on my desk at work.  We have so many freedoms and comforts that we take for granted. 

The two weeks we were in China changed my life.  I remember falling in love with the culture and the people.  Such beautiful people we met on that trip!  But there was a great heaviness I felt as well.  Such a need for the people to know the Heavenly Father and to have the hope of the Gospel.  This trip sealed the call on my heart for full time missions.  I just knew that God would call me back there to serve!

When I returned home, I jumped on the opportunity to go back to China.  I spent months applying to the mission board, and felt an amazing peace that this was where God wanted me!  It was all so very exciting.  I had gone all the way...applications, references, paperwork, interviews...... 

And then the Lord said "wait".  
Wait?  No, Lord, I'm pretty sure this is where you want me to be.  
Wait.

Those words began a struggle that lasted for many years.  I was so confused and couldn't understand why He would have brought me this far...and then ask me to wait.  It has taken a lot of time, but He has helped me accept His answer.  I didn't really understand why He said "wait", but I finally came to a place where I could accept that answer.  When we had the chance to go on our first mission trip to Mexico, I felt like he was finally saying "Yes!".  In fact, the first year we traveled to Mexico, I pulled out the journal where I had recorded my trip to China.  I figured I would journal my trip to Mexico as a continuation of where the Lord was taking me.  As I sat on the plane for Mexico, I realized that it had been exactly 10 years TO THE DAY that I had sat on the plane heading to China. How neat is that?  

But never.  Never, did I expect to go back to China.  That door had closed....
So I thought.

The last couple of weeks, I have been reflecting on my first trip to China.  I think it's quite amazing that He would call us to adopt a child from this same place.  There are things I purchased on my trip (scrolls with art and Chinese lettering, jade figurines, etc) that I have displayed in my home from time to time.  Some things I began to tuck away for safe keeping, but I couldn't bring myself to depart with them.  As this new journey unfolds, I have been pulling items out to look at them again.  How the memories of that time come back!  I look back at pictures from the trip and remember the faces of the people I fell in love with.  You wonder where they are now, and what their life is like.  Do they know the Lord?  I pray for them.

The lyrics from Hillsong United "Oceans" has spoken to our hearts as we have began to pursue the China program.
Funny....those words reflected the prayers I had so many years ago as I thought about going to China to tell people about the Lord.  I was willing to allow the Lord to lead me wherever He wanted me to go...even if it was across the world.  My trust had to be without borders, and I knew He would make me stronger in my faith.  I believed being on mission would be THE place where my faith would be made stronger.
I see now, my faith has been made stronger as we have walked through infertility.  As we have waited and longed to welcome a child into our family.  And as He has called us to go to China to bring our child home.  My faith seems to be challenged even more with that last statement...even more than what my heart was challenged with in 2001...
Lord, you are taking me deeper than my feet could ever wander....and there were times I felt like I would drown.
But now, I know that my faith has been made stronger

"And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now"


Lord, thank you for the events and opportunities in my life that have made me uncomfortable.  In the darkness and painful times, it has taught me how deep your grace can be.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

How the journey has started....

What a journey these last few years have been!  The song that plays in my mind as I write these words...Steven Curtis Chapman's "Glorious Unfolding"


The Lord has certainly been unfolding a glorious story in our lives.  And, it is definitely not anything like I thought the story of my life was gonna be!  And amazingly, the story is FAR from being over.

We have walked through the season(ssss) of infertility and the dark path that has been.  We have walked through the process of starting a domestic adoption...waiting...being looked at by birthmothers...waiting.  In the midst of that waiting, we were drawn to the listings of children that were waiting for a forever family in other countries.  

The scriptures say...........
Psalm 68:4-6
"Sing to God, sing praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds;  rejoice before him--his name is the Lord.  A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing....."

I could see that the Lord had set the lonely in our hearts for a child.  In the faces of these children, you could see the lonely in their hearts as well.  Our hearts broke for them.  The Lord began drawing us to this list, over and over.  Then, He began drawing us to the children in China.  Then, He began to show us individual children to pray for in China.

WAIT!!!!  This is not what we planned, Lord!  We are ready for a baby...an infant.  We have a crib, and baby bottles, and newborn diapers waiting in the BABY room.  We have gone through the months of preparing for a baby.  We have been waiting and dreaming about a sweet smelling, prune like, crying infant.  We are finally done with the adoption process for a newborn, and now we are thinking about changing....and going across the world?  Really?

Yes. Really.   The Lord began to reveal His plans through so many ways.  Sermons, scriptures, people, circumstances...things that happened that we could not deny His presence was in it.  But it hasn't been all dreamy and beautiful.  It's been full of fear, questioning if we are doing the right thing, questioning from others if we are doing the right thing.  We have been completely overwhelmed with fear.  We have struggled in our marriage.  We have been close to calling off the whole thing (having a child).

He has reminded us through the scriptures:
Genesis 16:13--He is the God who sees.  He sees us.
Romans 8:14-17--He has reminded us of our own sonship in Christ.  Our own adoption into His family.
Romans 8:31-32--When we feel opposition to our decision, He reminds us that He is for us!  And if He is for us, who can be against us?  He will provide all that we need to finish out His plan.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.
And many, many other scriptures have encouraged our spirits!

So I get excited when I hear Steven Curtis Chapman sing:
God’s plan from the start 
For this world and your heart 
Has been to show His glory and His grace 
Forever revealing the depth and the beauty of 
His unfailing Love 
And the story has only begun 

And this is going to be a glorious unfolding 
Just you wait and SEE and you will be amazed 
We’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over 
So hold on to every promise God has made to us 
And watch this glorious unfolding 

Romans 68:19,20; 32-35
"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.  Our God is a God who saves....Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.  Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens.  You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of  Israel gives power and strength to his people.  Praise be to God!"

He continues to show us His glory and His grace.  He has stretched our faith.  This stretching has caused my heart to fall even more in love with my Father.  I'll hold on to His every promise.  

All praise and glory to God for what He has done, and what He will do....