A Divine Appointment

If you are sitting down to read our blog for the first time...well, welcome to our story! I want you to know that this blog was set up to follow the details of our adoption process that brought our amazing little boy, Elijah home, but God has made it very clear to our family that our journey has just begun! Yes, we may be in a waiting period...waiting on God's voice to tell us to move again for His next child, but each day is a calling from God and God wants to know how you answer each day He places in front of you.

As our church is preparing for our Zoe Foundation Banquet, a banquet held to share God's heart for adoption, but also to help raise money for families who want to adopt chidlren into their home! This banquet is very special to Jon and I, because two years ago at this same banquet God affirmed his calling of adoption for our family! And...through the donations made at the previous banquet, our final gap of funding was filled to bring our baby boy Elijah home, without a single loan! We were so incredibly blessed and still are through our church's Zoe Foundation! Please let me know if you are interested in attending this banquet on February 24th at 6:30pm. You will not regret your decision to come and experience the Father's heart for adoption.

So back to my day to day calling.... As most of you know I am blessed to only work part time and stay home with Elijah the other days. I have learned that each day, whether it is at work or at the grocery store or wherever, God brings people into your life for specific purposes. Perhaps it's for a split second, a minute, a day, a week, a few months, a year, several years, or a lifetime. Whatever the timeframe, in our eyes, God sees these "divine appointments" as exactly that...your appointment with God and this person has been set and must not be missed. Does that make sense? For example, Elijah and I frequent the new Kroger down the street from our house, quite a bit, just to get out and the workers there are super friendly. Most of the time, I use the self check out, but for some reason we decided to go through the line one specific day. As we approach the checkout, the cashier sees Elijah and comments on how sweet and good he is. My comment, "yes I am completely blessed by this child God has given us." I then continued to share how he was adopted....the cashier was blessed in that moment...."thank you for that, you made my day." Simple....but an appointment kept. Here's another in a store appointment....Elijah and I wander through Babies R Us at times too. I actually wander around looking for the soon to be moms that have that look of puzzlement and stress on what they need to get or do.... Well, this one day while looking through the aisles for a baby shower gift, Elijah and I walked down an aisle with a woman, perhaps in her 50s, carefully looking over highchairs and jumpers. You could tell she was a bit confused. Of course as we walk by Elijah squeals, she turns around and comments on how sweet he is. God made it clear...this is your appointment for today... I simply asked how she was and what she was looking for. She was confused on some items and didn't get the right thing for her daughter's baby (her granddaughter) and wanted to replace it. We may not be asking her if she is a believer, but we are being a servant for the Lord. We walked through the different things she was looking at and I gave her insight on what we had and what I truly loved about them. I again shared our adoption story and she said, after the help in finding the right items and giving her our time, Thank you so much for taking your time to help me and share that with me. I would have been here for hours if you didn't say something to me. Again...simple and just a little help. These are split second encounters that will affect their thoughts and lives, leaving them wondering why someone cares so much to help or encourage them. So these encounters can happen everyday, but sometimes there are appointments that God sets for long term. I have had many of those and have cherished each one of them.

Here is one that started during our adoption process.....

My amazing massage therapist, Laura, is a very special appointment to me. About half way through our adoption process I started having extreme neck and shoulder pain. We tried physical therapy with no results, so I decided to try a deep massage. My appointment was set with Laura for my massage, but God had a bigger plan for this initial "divine appointment." Laura is a sweet and beautiful woman who I knew God had a specific purpose for the minute I walked in the room. Unsure of the journey for her, I prayed and began to open my heart as God was leading me. Over the next few months, I began to share Jon and my story of fertility, sickness, family deaths, and our current adoption journey. Throughout this time, Laura opened her heart to share with me her and her husband's struggle to get pregnant and the decision of whether or not to adopt. All I could do was pray that God would open their hearts to His plan for them and give them a clear direction. Well, at our last appointment, Laura came to me and said, "Guess what? My husband wants to adopt! He was against it before, but after I kept bringing your stories and information home, he is very excited about it." I continue pray for Laura and pray that God will continue to guide their hearts on their adoption journey! My heart right now hopes that they will join us at our banquet and meet others that have walked in their shoes too! It's amazing how God can use a pain in the neck to glorify Him!

I hope that I am able to instill these "divine appointments" in the hearts of my children. My prayer is that they see each individual in their lives as a child of the Most High and to learn to listen to God's heart for a divne appointment. I know Nick is learning this in pieces, but I pray that God truly opens his mind to what He can do through him.

Their are so many people that have stepped in and out of my life in just the right moments! These amazing people have not only blessed me, but I know God's hand was right in the middle of our "divine appointments" with each other. Please leave a note, if you feel God set a divine appointment with you and me in the last five or so years! You know who you are.....

On that note....Elijah and I are about to head to the grocery store to find God's appointment for the day....when will yours be?