Thursday, October 16, 2008

Lydia is 18 months today!!

Momma and BaBa love you very much! We are only weeks away from meeting her for the first time! We found out today that we will meet her on November 10th in Nanning, China!

We are excited beyond words!

All praise to our God!

Lessons I learned from a furnace.....

Oh, the joys of owning a home! I for one am so glad we bought our house almost 2 years ago. With the adoption process, we were putting things on hold. When we figured out that our adoption process wasn't going to be completed soon as we thought, we bought our first home.

2 weeks ago, our furnace stopped working. We shuttered to think how much this would cost us. What timing....well, we were resolved not to stress out about it and knew that God was in control of all things and was working for our good.

Well, a dear friend came and looked at it. The next day, he put the part in and it was fixed.

When I asked what the damage was..he said.."no charge." I then proceeded to tell him.."A laborer is worthy of his wages.." He said, "I knew you were going to say that." "Have a seat.." he said. So, I sat...I told him that I would feel so badly if he wouldn't allow me to pay him. He said, "Here is the reason why we are not going to charge you...(he looked around) we love you guys...consider it a contribution to the keep-Lydia-warm-fund." I really didn't know what to say. I kept going on about how I needed to pay him..but he was pretty firm on his answer.

He left...and later that night as I was lying in bed..I began to think about this. I was praying over and over...with gratitude in my heart for this family. Thanking the Lord for such generosity.

I was telling my husband (the next morning) during our family worship my confession. I told him that it was like someone coming to my home for dinner (all those who know me...know I love to cook) and having that person say.."No thanks. Really, I can't accept this meal." Really, what I was saying to my friend was no thanks to grace.

As my southern friends would say...your robbing God of the blessing He wants to give you! Who am I (in my own pride) to say no to God..if He is truly wanting to use this man as means of grace in our lives?

I was busted. Then, this began to dig much deeper into my soul. What areas in my life where I am saying no to God? Putting Him in a box...in such a way that I am missing out on some really amazing lessons.

I repented of my prideful heart and asked God to help me learn how to accept grace...

Funny...yesterday was my last day at my job (so that I can get things ready at home before we go to China) and my friend took me out to lunch. (Earlier, I shared this "profound" lesson to her) The waiter asked how to split up the checks. She said that she wanted my bill on hers. I replied..."No, really...that's okay. I got it." She looked at me and said..."what was that lesson you learned about the furnace?" I hung my head in shame...stated that I was sorry and accepted grace...

Boy, I have a lot to learn...thank goodness the Lord doesn't throw us off the Potter's wheel..He continues to mold us and make us...

May the Lord help us all know more about His grace.