The Faith List…

For eleven years, I worked internationally in adoption and humanitarian aid predominantly in Russia and Guatemala. It is strange but as I am typing this blog to you,  the flow of miracles, one after another, fill my head to the point that I want to fall on my knees and praise and worship Him. No other time in my life have I seen so strongly the hand of God on lives. No other time in my life have I experienced the depth of evil and the existence of Satan and his angels.

Hebrews Chapter 11 is inspiring because it demonstrates those before us who through and by faith conquered evil. “By faith, Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

“By faith, Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father because he considered Him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.”

Anyone who has ever had an experience with adoption knows it is not the easy way out. I’ll take labor any day. Give me 42 hours of it in comparison to what these families go through in order to adopt, but by faith, they do. The first adoption I ever did took 4 months. No issues. Smooth sailing. Parents and child happy. I remember thinking, “Wow! This is definitely what God wants me to do. Look how good I am at it!” Ha! And I jumped in, clothes and all, and no part of adoption was ever easy again. But God’s hand never left me.

The story of successes are written on my heart because I know first hand the battles won through God. Whenever I am anxious or afraid, I shout them out, “By faith we found Maria and pulled her from the grips of those who wanted to harm her. She lives in Kansas now…by faith we convinced the passport office…by faith the money appeared…by faith we found the birth mother…by faith the document was signed…by faith the doctor agreed with us…by faith the Embassy worker left the file opened…by faith the orphanage director…” What Satan intended to use to destroy, God turned for good.

It is my faith list.  What is yours?

When my kids get together, I hear all kinds of stories. Do you remember when we did this? A burst of laughter fills the den. Their Dad and I just look at each other and wonder, where were we during this time? It is human nature to reminisce, to remind, to relive, to share. With God it is no different and the power it unleashes on a spiritual realm is indescribable. Speak of His miracles in your life.  Make your faith list.

There was a time in my life when the despair of all that was going on seemed over whelming. I felt as if I lived in a snow storm and each step I took left me exhausted. But a friend reminded me, “You may be going through a lot…but you’ve already been through a lot and you’ve come too far to stop now. The fog will lift. The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter.”

Florence May Chadwick was a phenomenal young swimmer. She is accredited for breaking American Gertrude Ederle’s world record in 1950 by swimming the English Channel in 13 hours and 20+ minutes. But her greatest accomplishment occurred two years later when she attempted to swim from Catalina Island to the California coastline a distance of 26 miles. Small boats watched for sharks and were there to help her if she needed it. A thick fog developed around her after 15 hours of swimming to which she called out to her Mom on one of the boats and told her she didn’t think she could continue. After another hour, exhausted and unable to see past the dense fog, she asked to be pulled into the boat. She had stopped swimming less than a mile from the shoreline.

Chadwick tried again two months later. Miraculously the same fog appeared – even thicker this time. But Florence did not stop swimming. She kept an image of the shoreline in her head with each stroke she took.

Your shoreline is just ahead. When doubt enters your mind, shout out your faith list, those times when God has pulled you through. Fog appears in everyone’s life. Times when we cannot see our hand in front of us. Times when the answer is nowhere to be found. As in all things, the fog will lift, and the Creator of the Universe will shine in glory beside you.

The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter.