For the majority of my life I have proclaimed that God was capable of the miraculous…but it was only recently that I came to believe that He was capable of the miraculous in me. See, I had allowed myself to believe the lie that miracles were intended for everyone…just not me. Believing that lie sent me to a place filled with fear that I had never intended to go, a place far removed from the awe and hope in any circumstance that God can impress on our hearts when we give Him our lives.
I have
always loved organization in my life…college…career…marriage…and then a family
consisting of a happy baby…or two… with freckles to match his or her mommy and
daddy. But after years of trying it was
clear that my body didn’t want to cooperate, and so we moved on to the dream of
a sweet little baby from a country far away that would grow in our hearts
instead of in me. As the years continued
to pass, I tried to control every second of it.
If God wasn’t going to give me my dream, then I was going to do anything
that I could to take it myself. Disappointment
turned to sadness and then sadness to despair and then despair to
depression. I had allowed fear to
convince me that God was good…just not to me.
And then God did what only He can do…He performed a miracle.
I wanted
that miracle to be a baby. I wanted to
be able to show the world God’s power as evidenced by a pregnancy…or a sudden quickening
of the adoption process. I wanted a baby
in my arms to proclaim that God hadn’t abandoned me. However, God had a bigger plan in mind…a
miracle that I refused to believe could occur.
After a long dark night of wrestling with the feeling that there was
going to be no purpose for my life and I would die alone without any future generations
to care and comfort me… I finally gave up.
I thought that I was giving up hope, but what God was getting me to
relinquish was my control. Once that was
gone, once I had truly surrendered my plans for my life, I was able to open
myself up to hope in the future that He has planned for my life and this
changed EVERYTHING.
I had been
listening to fear instead of God, but fear is a liar. The social anxiety that kept me in isolation
for years began to slowly melt away. The
sting of birth announcements and baby showers began to lessen. My hours alone began to fill as I stepped out
in obedience every time that God led me down a new path. What has changed inside of me is nothing
short of a miracle and I am filled with enormous excitement and hope for the
future. I still hope to become a mom one
day, but if God has other plans for my life then I can’t wait to see what God
is going to do and the miracles that He will continue to perform. I don't want to miss one second of His plan for my life and I am filled with immense hope about my future.
*The Giving Keys necklace pictured above was given to me by a dear friend at a time when I needed courage and I wore it yesterday. If you have a friend who is hurting because her future doesn't look the way that she had hoped, consider encouraging her with one. They carry important messages and provide jobs for the homeless in Los Angeles. I don't make any money off of this...I just really love the company mission and message. www.thegivingkeys.com
So, so beautiful, my friend. I am so proud of you. God is using you for His glory!
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