Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room
Whew! Over these next few weeks you all are going to have to bear with me. We are approaching the one year mark of adding Sadie to our family. And I cannot even explain all of the feelings I am having lately.
While we were in China we didn't share a lot on social media. We were in the thick of a sacred moment. We were processing, and feeling, and dealing, and surviving. Every moment was so new. I still don't know if I have words to explain all that happened in those days and in my heart.
Anyway, over the next few weeks I plan to share part of our trip as it happened a year ago. So if I blow up your social media feed, I apologize....kind of, haha.
The word "prepare" has been on my heart lately. Especially with the Christmas season we are in. I believe you know something about preparing too as you are preparing your home, purchasing gifts, planning meals and celebrations.
We prepare or plan for things that are important to us. We make a way in our minds, hearts, and even physically for things that are coming.
A year ago, we were in full preparation mode for the coming of our Sadie.
Nesting.....it's a real thing. We were moving rooms, painting, purging. Making all of the physical changes necessary to add a third child to our home. I was packing for 5 people to be in a hotel room for 16 days. My mom brain was thinking 24-7. I would lay in bed every night thinking of all the things we might need. The things we would need half a world away, and things we would need once we were home.
But the most important preparation was happening in our hearts.
How do you prepare for something, when you have no idea what it will look like?
How do you prepare to love a child you've never met, a child that may not love you back?
How do you prepare your children to have their whole world change in an instant?
Faith, Hope, and Love.
You see, I could prepare physically as best as I could, but the most important things were out of my control.
You can't exactly make a to do list like this:
1. Make an orphan a daughter.
2. Comfort her broken heart as she looses the only life she's ever know.
3. Make my heart connect with her.
4. Make sure she bonds with me.
5. Heal her physically.
6. Prepare Graham and Ansley's heart to love a new sibling.
These are things that I desperately needed to happen, but were all out of my control.
We can prepare, and plan, and make lists, but there are some things....the most important things, that we have to trust God for.
We have to trust that He works all things for good.
We have to trust that he loves our kids even more than we do, and that he knows their needs. He is intimately acquainted with them.
We have to trust that God is our provider.
We have to trust that the Spirit goes before us.
We have to trust that God is a God of miracles. He is who He says He is.
In the weeks before we left for China, I did all that I could do. For all of the rest, I had faith that God would fulfill His promises. The Holy Spirit gave us peace, comfort, faith, and all of the things that we couldn't buy on Amazon! Haha
So in these last days that lead up to Christmas, I have a challenge for you.
Put down your to do list (just for a bit) and prepare your hearts for the birth of our Savior.
Remember what and who we are celebrating.
Remember the most precious gifts are not those that are under your tree.
Set aside the "busy", long enough to prepare room for the one who gives the best gifts.
Let every heart prepare HIM room.
While we were in China we didn't share a lot on social media. We were in the thick of a sacred moment. We were processing, and feeling, and dealing, and surviving. Every moment was so new. I still don't know if I have words to explain all that happened in those days and in my heart.
Anyway, over the next few weeks I plan to share part of our trip as it happened a year ago. So if I blow up your social media feed, I apologize....kind of, haha.
The word "prepare" has been on my heart lately. Especially with the Christmas season we are in. I believe you know something about preparing too as you are preparing your home, purchasing gifts, planning meals and celebrations.
We prepare or plan for things that are important to us. We make a way in our minds, hearts, and even physically for things that are coming.
A year ago, we were in full preparation mode for the coming of our Sadie.
Nesting.....it's a real thing. We were moving rooms, painting, purging. Making all of the physical changes necessary to add a third child to our home. I was packing for 5 people to be in a hotel room for 16 days. My mom brain was thinking 24-7. I would lay in bed every night thinking of all the things we might need. The things we would need half a world away, and things we would need once we were home.
But the most important preparation was happening in our hearts.
How do you prepare for something, when you have no idea what it will look like?
How do you prepare to love a child you've never met, a child that may not love you back?
How do you prepare your children to have their whole world change in an instant?
Faith, Hope, and Love.
You see, I could prepare physically as best as I could, but the most important things were out of my control.
You can't exactly make a to do list like this:
1. Make an orphan a daughter.
2. Comfort her broken heart as she looses the only life she's ever know.
3. Make my heart connect with her.
4. Make sure she bonds with me.
5. Heal her physically.
6. Prepare Graham and Ansley's heart to love a new sibling.
These are things that I desperately needed to happen, but were all out of my control.
We can prepare, and plan, and make lists, but there are some things....the most important things, that we have to trust God for.
We have to trust that He works all things for good.
We have to trust that he loves our kids even more than we do, and that he knows their needs. He is intimately acquainted with them.
We have to trust that God is our provider.
We have to trust that the Spirit goes before us.
We have to trust that God is a God of miracles. He is who He says He is.
In the weeks before we left for China, I did all that I could do. For all of the rest, I had faith that God would fulfill His promises. The Holy Spirit gave us peace, comfort, faith, and all of the things that we couldn't buy on Amazon! Haha
So in these last days that lead up to Christmas, I have a challenge for you.
Put down your to do list (just for a bit) and prepare your hearts for the birth of our Savior.
Remember what and who we are celebrating.
Remember the most precious gifts are not those that are under your tree.
Set aside the "busy", long enough to prepare room for the one who gives the best gifts.
Let every heart prepare HIM room.
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| This time last year we were rushing to have our house ready for our growing family of 5. 1. Dane and Graham were working hard with our contractor to have my studio up and running when we returned home. 2. Ansley and I had a special outing to see the Nutcracker. 3. We spent one last night our with friends while we could still get away. They blessed us with an incredible gift basket of everything you could ever need for the big plane ride and 2 weeks of hotel living. 4. The girls room was finally complete (minus the safety rails) It has never been this clean since :) |
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| While we were busy with all of the things above we believe God was already making a way for our family to arrive in China and gain it's newest member. We were prayed over by some very special people. Every prayer was answered. In the days to follow we would see the hand of God move on our behalf. As you can see from the kid's letters to Santa, God was also preparing their hearts to love a new sister. |
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