Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Emmanuel - God with us.



Tonight we sat and ate dinner as a family. Nothing unusual about that. But conversation insued with Jaden, Kellen, Sage, and us about orphans who need extra medical care -like our Kisakye (Katie) used to be. As we talked with the kids, I found myself saying-without having truly considered it-that if Kisakye wasn't here with us, she might be dead by now.

(Pause) My own words made me stop for a second as I injested them. Lord, could that be true? Is it possible that the sunbeam smile, captivating eyes, and personality-plus sitting two seats down on my left might not even be in this world apart from Your Mercy expressed in our family?

(Another pause) Thank you, Father, that we get to be a part of what your doing down here. It's hard to believe that in my very house, the tangible expression of God's grace and mercy wakes up every morning singing her own praises to her Creator before Jenny gets her out of bed, and then dances her joy-filled limbs through the house to the breakfast table.

Emmanuel - God with us.

A couple of days ago, I was asked about generational sin and illnesses like Kisakye's. Though it was a sincere question, I found myself wanting to take the part of Protector of my baby girl. But still, it is true that children too-often bear the burden of rebellious offenses against God by adults around them.

I've ruminated on that question since, and asked God to give me His perspective and wisdom. Something about the context disturbed me,...until right now. Like dawn chasing darkness from a hidden valley, John 9:1-3 blazed in my mind.

Now as Jesus passed by He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."


I get it now! The question over who sinned is totally irrelevant and unproductive. The fact is, God has chosen to reveal His works in a little girl that is my daughter. Praise God for little miracles. And praise God that whatever her heritage may have been, it is now one that is blessed by God.

Emmanuel - God with us.

2 comments:

nancy said...

praising with you. we know for a fact that our eden would have died if we hadn't shown up exactly when we did.

Outdrsycple said...

Hi there,

What a beautiful post adoption is such a blessing!
I have heard about your family from 3 or 4 different sources now...how funny...even Nancy who commented in this post too. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that we have a MT group for kids adopted from Ethiopia. I know yours are from Uganda, but I thought it would still be great to include your family. We are actually having a get together soon (April 18th) If you would like an invitation to our online group drop me an email at outdrsycple@gmail.com
We'd love to meet your family and get you connected.