For I Know That the Lord is Great

For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.

Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,

in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

Psalm 135:5-6

Our God is amazing.  He is El Elyon, the Most High God, sovereign over every detail of our lives.  He has precious plans for us, and we can trust Him with our lives.

For the last two weeks, we have finally been able to experience this wonderful plan that He has been working out in our lives.  We finally have our babies all under one roof, and it has been simply amazing to see how perfectly we all fit together. Is it always easy?  No, rarely ever.  Are we exhausted? Completely.  But are we grateful and humbled at the mighty work of our Lord?  Absolutely!

All we can do is stand in awe of these two amazing babies that God had for us on the other side of the world and how He moved heaven and earth, did miracle after miracle, answered prayer after prayer, and provided every single thing we needed to make them our own.  

Oh how wonderful they are!  And, when think of how close we came to missing them, it shakes me to the core.  If we had given into our doubts and fears, if we would have continued to look at the mountain in our way, instead of the Mountain-mover, we would have missed this great treasure He had for us.  

There was a time when, as we were wrestling with God about adopting two babies, that we were ready to say no.  We were ready to say, "God, it is too hard.  It's impossible."  And at that very moment, He answered with these words:

What priceless treasure are you in danger of throwing out, simply because of the way it is packaged?  Could it be the treasure of seeing Him?   Sometimes God wraps His glory in hard circumstances or ugly obstacles or painful difficulties, and it just never occurs to us that within those life-shaking events is a fresh revelation of Him...Are you so focused on the outer wrappings that you are in danger of missing or even throwing away the fresh, personal revelation of Himself that He wants to give you?...Change your mind about things - about yourself - about others - about Him. Relax in total trust. He knows what He is doing. Unwrap the package! Let go and look up! Let Him open the eyes of your heart. OPEN YOUR EYES. Open your eyes to the vision of His glory. Prayerfully, expectantly, sincerely, open your eyes to Him."

There was a time when we were so focused on the outer wrappings, the labels, the hard circumstances, that we almost missed this.  These two precious babies.  This opportunity for God to make Himself known to us, to give us a fresh revelation of HIM.  And it brings me to tears.  

What a gift He has given, wrapped up in our sweet Aaron Li and Meili.  To experience Him the way we have is more precious than anything else.  To experience the process of adoption, to get a glimpse of the great price He paid for our adoption and understand better the great love that motivated Him, is completely and totally overwhelming.  To see our family grow from six to eight is better than we could have ever imagined.

But, that is not to say our life is easy!  Having six children is certainly an adjustment.  Having a determined little crawler who wants to explore every minute of the day is challenging.  Mealtimes are almost comical (so thankful that dear friends are still bring meals)!  There are days when everyone is in a funk (sorry for those who endured our funk Sunday morning at church).  

BUT IT IS WORTH IT!  

To see Aaron Li's little arms circled around Gabriel's neck as Gabriel hauls him around everywhere.  To watch Cason feeding Meili macaroni and cheese or to hear Carter make her laugh.  To have Hudson race to us if one of the babies is crying so we can help them.  To hear Gabriel beg to rock the babies to sleep again tonight.  To hear Aaron Li say, "BaBa, lub (love)you.  Mama, lub you," as we tuck him in at night or see Meili blow kisses to anyone who will look her way!  These joys make the hard times worth.  They make all the tears and heartache of the last two and a half years worth it.  They make trusting Him instead of giving in to fear worth it.  

So we say thank you to our Heavenly Father and to the countless number of dear friends who have help us get to this place and who continue to help us in this adjustment period.  We pray God's richest blessings on each of you for what you have done and for the sacrifices you have made to allow us to be a family for Aaron Li and Meili.  Our hearts are forever grateful.

 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
    at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
 Psalm 92:4