When In Doubt.... Believe

"It is only a matter of saying yes to what we believe we are called to do, and trusting that God has all of the other details worked out in advance."

This quote reassures me. Today I read on someone's blog about a new restriction on family size, in Ethiopia. Now of course, my first thought it to panic and think - NO! But then as I read further I got this neat statement of faith up above. I have to remember that God is in charge. And if He has decided we are to adopt, then He will work out the details!

I went to bed and as I got there my doubts began to arise again. I was thinking, 'What if our family is too big?' 'There are not many countries that will adopt to larger families' 'We fell in love with Ethiopia and it's people - we don't *want* another country!!' etc.

So I got out of bed and went back downstairs. I needed a word from God to reassure me that HE is in control. I know He is - but I am *human*!

I picked up my Bible and opened immediately to this page:

Mark 11:22-24

So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

WOW!!! As I write this I just got chills and butterflies!!! You can all go along for the ride, cause it is happening right now! And if I am wrong, at least I was faithful and listened. Sometimes we hear correctly and sometimes we don't. But I can tell you that when I have listened - 90% of the time I have heard right. God just gives us this 'feeling' and we are led!!

Just now as I was writing out that verse I noticed that two words were italicised and so I put them in italics. I was looking at the verse and analyzing grammatically why those two words were in italics (for those of you who know me, you know I am analytical! *laugh*) See, I would have thought that the word that would have been in italics would have been *receive* - since this is what the verse is about - faith and believing you will receive.

So, why is the word 'them' italicised? My butterflies came because I have been so strongly drawn to two children. Ray is now fully convinced along with me that we will have sisters. And specifically we are drawn to two little girls of around 2 and 5 years of age.

But the orphanage that we deal with only usually gets one set of siblings per month. Therefore it is more likely that we will have a single child presented for referral before a sibling group comes available.

How will we know if we are to take the single child versus waiting for the sibling group? The same way we have known things all along. God will show us - either through 'amazing coincidences' or through a 'feeling' of GO or STAY when we see the child's picture. And on the other hand, it may be that He just presents us with a sibling group first, which would have to take a miracle to bump ahead of the single kids!!

So back to the italics. When I was analyzing the words that were italics I 'saw' very strongly and very quickly got butterflies - that the word *them* pertains to *two girls*. I felt is was a confirmation that we are to receive two little girls. That is my belief.

And now to explain the meaning of the verse according to the concordance:

The illustration of casting an enormous mountain into the sea is an extreme example of the absolutely impossible. That is the point. Having faith in God can accomplish the impossible.

And the icing on top of this post is that I began writing this draft last night BEFORE I read the verse. Notice the title at the top of the page? When In Doubt... Believe.

Interesting!! Look back at that verse and see those very words in it!!

and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, "

This morning, in my human state, doing what we should do, which is to *do what we can*, while trusting God, I made a phone call to our Ethiopian agency. I asked them again about this alleged restriction of family size. I had heard about it a month ago and asked them then. I was reassured this time, again, that this is just a rumour and it is also possible that some agencies have enforced this rule. But as far as our agency is concerned, this is not a problem. I rest assured that God is in control.

Thank you, Lord!