SPRING....

Isaiah 43

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
¹⁷ who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

God has poured encouragement to my soul through this scripture over the last 24 hours. Our paperwork process for Maggie Grace has been nothing less than a nightmare and I have grown a bit weary in the process.

The Lord has reminded me that what I may perceive to be delays, are not. How can it be a delay, when He has already ordained each day and what it will bring? He has planned it, and planned it well. We are told in Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Many days of the "paper-chase" to Libi and Haddie were difficult, yet when he delivered them to us it was perfection. God reminds me of this in the difficult days of waiting for Maggie to join us. He also reminds me to "Be alert, be present...I am about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out. Don't you see it?" Isaiah 43:19 (The Message)

You see, I will miss what's happening NOW if I focus on what is NOT happening now....

The JOYS of a simply beautiful Spring Day...

Upside down swinging

Giggles from a little girl who doctors said would never thrive.

Freedom and deliverance.....

As if that was not enough...God did this:

Yesterday as we were driving in the van, Haddie grabbed a Bible. She began tearing through it. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me she wanted to find the verse she had learned at church on Sunday. This verse had reached deep places in her heart, because she had mentioned it many times over the last few days. I had no idea she knew how to navigate her way through the pages of the Word, but she soon found Galatians 5:22-23:

^"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

It was so precious to hear her read those words from the Bible. She then shared with me that her favorite fruits were

LOVE...

JOY...

and PEACE....

Can you imagine why?

For 7 years of her precious little life LOVE, JOY and PEACE were not very tangible.

Last night she once again grabbed the Word and shared her heart with her daddy...

enough said....