If they kept quiet....

"If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!" (Luke 19:40)

This is how I feel. One of what I will call the "if-then" promises that I have received from God regarding Emma was "If I grant you this, then you will tell the people of the wondrous deeds I have done for you." (That was a paraphrase in case you couldn't find it in your Bible!) I want to tell every person I come into contact with what a miracle this baby is. I don't think that "Oh, I prayed for this baby and now I have her" does Him justice. I told God back when I very first started praying about foster care, adoption, etc, that I would proclaim His glory to whomever He would allow me to. I believe this is my prayer at this point. That God would show me when to gush all the details and when to be still and quiet. In all honesty, I am still reeling from all that has happened. I know God is preparing the story to be shared...

Let me go back and catch you up a bit. Last Sunday, as I had posted, we were to have a private room to spend the day with Emma. It was all arranged. Ashlee and I would go first to get settled, then call the family up when we knew the details. (I am anal like that if you don't know me well...it's a control issue and I am not ashamed to admit it!) We got to the hospital and were moved to the room. I started to feed Emma when the nurse came in and we were talking about going home the next day. The nurse, out of the blue (and you know when I write that phrase that I do not believe ANYTHING is truly "out of the blue") said, "you know, we are just babysitting her...I am going to call the worker and see why you can't take her home today." WHAT?? And within an hour, we were on our way home, Easter Sunday, with our Emma Claire. And this is how my children have spent most of the last week:

For those of you who are into "details", when we left the hospital a week ago, Emma weighed 5lbs, 1oz, and was 18 1/2 inches long. Today, a week later, she weighs 5lbs, 14oz and I don't know how long she is, but she has started to grow out of a few of her preemie outfits! We no longer have to count how many ml's of formula she is drinking, we just feed her and she finishes most bottles.

I am at a loss at how to explain to you what a miracle this really is. You see, God had to change the hearts of many people at DHS for us to have this baby. I know I have said it before, but unless you have worked with my county, and the people in charge, you would just have no idea what an incredible thing God has done. And just in case I needed some confirmation, just this past week, a very good foster parent friend of mine had a conversation with just these people and it is as if we were talking to two different organizations! I kid you not! What she experienced with them this past week is what we have all become accustomed to. It's as if God does not want me to forget what a glorious thing He has done.

Oh...and then Emma's worker came to my home. Let me first say that I believe there are only a handful of practicing Christians within DHS. Jacob's worker was one of them and he is now Samara and Josiah's worker. Emma's worker happens to be another one of them. Before we started foster care, I prayed that God would protect us and hand pick our workers. That we would find favor with those we worked with and God has truly answered that prayer! Okay...back to Emma's worker. I LOVE HER!!! As we spoke and got to know each other a little, I mentioned how we happened to get Emma. She looked at me and said, "Wow...God wanted that baby in your home, didn't He?" She was impressed with us and loved my "Jesus" walls! She is truly one of those workers whose whole heart is in helping the children. We are going to work well together. Now...lest we forget...this is not a done deal. There are still many details to be taken care of if Emma is to stay with us. But I am not worried. I am sitting here in awe of what my God is doing. I have a peace that I cannot explain to you other than it is the perfect peace of God.

Today in Sunday School, we studied about when Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac. If you remember, the servant sent out a fleece of sorts and God answered his prayer. God smoothed the road for that servant. If you think about it, what Abraham was asking him to do was HUGE! But as we go through the story, all the servant had to do was commune with God and praise Him when prayers were answered. Remember the first prayer?? God answered it BEFORE he had finished praying. Beth Moore says this:

God hears the prayers of His children. Note something important. In the scene between Abraham's servant and Rebekah, not only did the answer come, but the action fulfilling the answer also came. I believe that far more often than not God answers our prayers immediately though we may not see the fulfillment with our own eyes until much later. We sometimes ask, "God, why won't You answer me?" Often He has, but the fulfillment is still on His "items yet to be completed according to His sovereign and wise plan" list. If we could only find peace and security in knowing that God is good for His word! Though the action tarries, it shall come.

This is one of my favorite Bible stories because from the beginning to the end, you can see God's hand all over it. (Just like our Jacob, our Emma, and each one of YOUR stories!) There are the what-ifs...what if Rebekah had decided to stay the 10 days that her family requested? What if she had been too tired to water 10 camels that day?? But because God is THE great orchestrator, the story just had to unfold. Does that give you some comfort? It does me. All that is required of me is faith...faith to watch God's plan for me unfold. Do I do it every day with a smile?? Not even! But I believe the more faith we have, the more promises we see, the more faith we receive. Does that make sense?? It's like it builds. I have seen God answer a specific prayer in my life. Why would I ever doubt Him again? I can't.

I am reminded of a song we sang in choir many years ago...

"If we keep our voices silent, all creation will sing and shout!

If we keep our voices silent, then will the mighty rocks cry out!!"