Do You Believe in Miracles?

I have always claimed to, but in my heart I often doubted that they still exist today. I could accept that God healed people of their illnesses but assumed He usually did that through modern medicine. I had a lot to learn on the subject and still do. The more I walk with the Lord, the more I realize how much I have to learn. If Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, then I need to draw more closely to Him to have these things revealed to me more fully. To our displeasure, the path to closeness with the Lord is often found deep in arduous valley. It’s never an easy road, yet that is the very reason we are forced to step out of the trivial concerns of our day to day life and into matters of eternity. It’s there that we find total dependence on the one who is able to meet our deepest desires, comfort our hurts, and while doing so, give us a glimpse of His glory. It’s that ‘hope of glory’ that keeps us pressing on, choosing day in and day out to trust Him and trust that His plans for us are good. And when the valley is longer and deeper than we imagined it would be, he gives us little glimpses along the way to give us the endurance we need to press on.

Those little glimpses and reassurances of His love for us and His power are what kept me going during the last three years of adopting Jeremiah and Tirzah into our family. The hope He gave me did not disappoint (Rom. 5:5). 5 months after their arrival home, I am still in awe of His goodness and the miracles He did to get them home. I could list out a ton of miracles He performed throughout this process- some seemingly small, some big- and I am not even aware of them all. He gave us knowledge of some of them so we could see how He does work all things together for the good of those who love Him. He gave us just what  we needed so we could keep pressing on in those dark hours when all hope seemed lost. When we were at our darkest hours, He spoke clearly to us through the word, through a friend’s prayers over us, through seemingly coincidental connections with people that turned out to be providential. The Spirit of God reached down to us and met our deepest needs, while teaching us to walk in faith and trust.

If I had my prayers answered right away and things had worked out in my timing, I would not know to the fullness that I know now, the peace that comes from walking by faith and not by sight. I would not yet have the confidence I have in my God who is able to do far more abundantly all that I can imagine. He allowed this mountain in my life to teach me that He can move any mountain that comes in the future. My hope and confidence are firmly in Him now. While accomplishing much in us while we waited upon the Lord to complete that which He called us to, I am confident He was doing a work in our kids hearts and lives. The fruit of that has yet to be revealed to us, but because we are assured in His sovereignty over the circumstances, we can trust Him in this.

It’s truly miraculous how He answered our prayers for our children while they waited to come home. The more we get to know them and can ask about their life in Congo, we are amazed at how God cared for them. Not to minimize the hardships they have faced, but God spared them from much and has tremendously blessed their transition into our family. Adopting older kids can be tough. Right before they came home, I was reading a book about the issues kids and parents can face and had to put it down because it was causing me to fear the “what if’s.” I knew it would be a tough transition for us all, going from a family with 2 kids to 5 in such a short time span, but I knew we would be facing unknown challenges stemming from the hurt and experiences our newest two family members had endured.

The first few days were surreal and overwhelming. We were all facing so many emotions: Pure shock, joy, and thankfulness that they were finally home, mixed with uncertainties on how we were going to survive, much less communicate, bond and teach our kids basic things like how to use toilet paper. Our kids have amazing personalities. They are fun, silly, full of joy and were obviously ecstatic to be home. 

But they still had just gone through a major life changing ordeal and were grieving their former life and friends. There were a lot of tears and some major tantrums along the way. Not knowing how to communicate, we just held them and let them cry. We tried to correct gently and discourage the little behavior that was not acceptable. Day by day, the tantrums became less frequent, the communication ability increased, and the bonds grew. For me, one child bonded instantly to me (we had spent time together on previous visits as well) and the other I had to seriously work for. Even in this, the Lord has taught me a lot. Earning their trust and seeing their walls come down so quickly has been priceless. 

We quickly learned to speak enough Lingala to communicate the basics and they were eager learners who picked up English amazingly fast. Reassuring them of our return anytime one of us needed to go somewhere, was a daily necessity. You could see the fear well up in their faces as soon as one of us began gathering our stuff to go. Twice, we had to leave them after visiting in Congo. While I know how hard it was for us, I can only imagine how they felt.

Each day was like a baby step of progress until we knew it, 2 months had passed and we were readying ourselves to make another big transition to move to India. Just a little over two months after being home and we were amazed at how well adjusted everyone was. It was hard to imagine life before we were all together. I know this was greatly in part to the Lord's grace and timing in allowing them to come home while we were still in the US. Having us both home all day every day, made the transition so much smoother. God is so good. His plans and ways are good. His mercies are new every morning. His grace is sufficient. I know these truths intimately and read them with a new affirmation that comes from deep within because He allowed me to walk through that dark valley. But never alone. He was always with me.