I used to think only nutjobs believed in angels and miracles and such. Age and maturity have shown me otherwise. In order to allow miracles into your life I truly believe you have to talk to God.
Over at Single Dad Laughing's blog he is asking readers to leave comments about something impossible that has happened. The comments left are astonishing, and give me hope. If you're feeling down, go over to his site and check them out.
The recent return of my daughter to my home is just another in a long line of miracles that have touched my life from the very beginning.
When my mother found out she was pregnant with me in 1961, it was a very high risk pregnancy. There was only a slim chance that I would survive. She had had one really tragic miscarriage shortly after she married, and then a number of smaller miscarriages. She couldn't seem to get pregnant and stay that way. My brother was born healthy but then Mother nearly died of a kidney infection after being in and out of labor for over a week.
With me, Dr. Watson told Mother that if she didn't rest in bed the whole pregnancy she would likely miscarry again. Bruce was 2! Try staying in bed with an active 2 year old boy to look after. So Dad borrowed money and hired a maid, and Mother stayed in bed the whole time. She bled the entire time. When I was finally born, the cord was wrapped around my neck and I was coming very quickly. Dr. Watson gave Mother a drug to slow labor and unwrapped the cord from my neck. So I was born a healthy 5 lb. 8 oz. miracle.
I've often thought to myself, why did I defy the odds and make it into this world? Is there some compelling reason for me to exist? I don't have any extraordinary talents or gifts. I finally came to realize, in the last few years, that adopting my children was my purpose in life.
My ministry is to spread the word that there are many, many children in the world that need loving homes, and even without a whole lot of money you can still adopt them and have a happy family.
My friend Stephanie's recent post about what would've happened if she hadn't adopted her children should be required reading for any adoptive parent or anyone who has ever even considered adopting an older child. Less than 5% of children over age 3 are ever adopted. Most go into lives of crime, prostitution, drug addiction, and/or suicide.
So many kids like Michael, who is missing a hand, are considered totally disabled in foreign countries. In India he would likely have to beg. In Kazakhstan he was looking at a future of collecting a government welfare-type check the rest of his life. Being an orphan and having a missing hand meant his future was going to be VERY bleak. Stephanie's kids were headed to similar fates. It's not considered politically correct in the adoption world to say you "rescued" your child or saved their life, but that's the truth of it, in so many cases.
Whether you call it something "impossible" or use my preferred term "miracle," the impossible happens every day.
I truly believe there are two worlds we live in, the Seen and the Unseen. By "unseen" I simply mean the world of the spirit. For Christians, it's the Holy Spirit. Maybe you don't believe in ghosts, but if you're a Christian and you take the bible seriously, you have to admit Jesus was a ghost, when he appeared on the third day. So there are inexplicable things in the world.
My dad's uncle, Jake, was told he had severe heart issues and despite the fact he was a binge drinker, and only sporadically sought medical treatment at the VA hospital, he lived for years afterwards. (He was one of the sweetest humans I've ever known, and I adored him.)
The fact that I was able to adopt Alesia, despite the many obstacles, is a miracle. The orphanage director had great hostility towards Americans and was adamant Alesia not be adopted. I prayed, many friends and family members prayed, the missionary Svetlana visited him, Katya wrote him a beautiful letter, and somehow his heart was moved and he signed the papers allowing the adoption just days before he died. If he had not, my daughter would very likely be living on the streets in Russia, with no future.
When Michael came here in May 2007, he knew maybe 20 words of English. He started school a few months later and was able to do most all of the work, with help. In fall 2008, after less than 18 months in America, he tested out of the fourth grade and was put in the fifth grade. How many kids do you know who could do that, in a language they didn't speak for the first 10 years of life?!?
After she was diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder and received therapy, Alesia's reading level jumped from 2nd grade to about 7th grade in less than 2 years, and she was able to do well in high school despite lacking a lot of basic knowledge. She is very smart, but in Russia she was considered "slow."
As Mother and I struggle to pay bills, and pray for me to find a job or a way to make a living, we try to remind each other about every day that God's ways are not known to us, but all things have a reason. Maybe I needed to be home right now, supporting Michael and Mom emotionally during this very difficult fall. Maybe I wouldn't have had the strength to persevere with all the emotional storms recently if my attention was divided by a demanding job.
God's plans are exactly what we would want for ourselves if we knew all the facts. AMEN
If you are in a situation that you cannot cope with alone, ask God to take your burden. Ask for a miracle.
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