I am thankful for God's direction. We visited my sister's church this morning. Please note that we have never visited this church before. As the senior pastor began his message I was thinking about how much I needed something from God today. The message was about "thankfulness", of course, since Thursday is Thanksgiving. The pastor began with a very humorous comparison of a dog and a cat. He read "Diary of a Dog" and "Diary of a Cat." Basically, dogs are always grateful and happy for every little thing - food, squirrels, love, etc. Cats, on the other hand, are cynical and selfish creatures. I laughed so hard at the cat diary, because it described our cat Buddy to a "T". Then the pastor began to share what a typical day in his household is like. He said that his kids come home from school usually griping about their day. Everyone then gathers around the dinner table, and most of the conversation revolves around somebody griping and complaining about something, including him. (the pastor) To summarize, there came a point when the pastor decided he was sick of hearing it all, and mostly sick of hearing himself. So he and his family decided to do something about it. He shared with us what they did and then assigned it to us for homework. There are two things we are to do about our complaining.
1. Have a Thanks-a-thon every day for the rest of the year. This means, every time you sit down to dinner, everyone at the table has to name one thing they're thankful for.
2. Journal. Before bedtime from now until Christmas, write down five things you are thankful for.
I thought to myself, "Wow!! I've already started something similar on my blog!" I felt like the Lord was showing me that He was pleased with this.
Then I began to really think about all the complaining I've been doing. It's true- I AM SO SICK OF HEARING MYSELF TOO! I feel like I'm chasing my tail-- just like the Israelites in the Bible. Because they would not stop their complaining, God made them wander around the wilderness for 40 years-- talk about chasing your tail! He also took away the Promised Land from them, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. Do you get the feeling that God hates a complaining spirit?!
I plan to tackle this "homework" assignment; and I pray it is a success. It is a very good feeling to know that I've already started it!
After the message was over, there was a short video presentation. By the time it was finished, I was in tears. It showed a family in the church who just adopted a little boy from Ethiopia. My sister's church is apparently involved in adoption outreach, helping to connect families with children who need loving, Christian homes.
When the service was over, my sister's husband looked at me and said " We've been coming to this church for awhile now, and they have never once mentioned adoption here until you and Kris came."... God's direction.
This evening, I picked up the Sunday paper and the front page said "HOME AT LAST- the adoptions of 61 children were finalized on National Adoption Day." another sign from the Lord??
I showed it to Kris and the others and they could not believe it was also in the paper!
We have no earthly idea how we can ever put together the finances for an adoption, but we do know that if this is truly something the Lord is wanting us to do, then He will work all of that out.
So for now, we will continue praying and working to this end and see where it takes us. We hope you will pray with us.
Since this post has turned into a novel, I believe I will finish it up tomorrow. Goodnight, all, and God bless. Thank you for reading.
To be continued...
God really does work in mysterious ways doesnt he? And then again sometimes its right in your face screaming at you lol! Go for it! God wouldnt bring you to it if he couldnt get you through it! HUGS!
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