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I have a relatively new friend who just experienced something amazing yesterday. Amazing enough to merit an entire blog post.

I met this woman for the first time several months ago at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). But she wasn’t in my small group, so it’s only been recently because of mutually being on the steering committee for next year that I have come to know her, and be friends with her on Facebook.

I knew that she and her husband were fostering a baby, and trying desperately to adopt him. I didn’t realize what a process that is!! I believe that adoption is a calling that God places on the hearts of those who can handle it. The Bible says He won’t give us more than we can handle. And honestly, I just don’t think I’m that strong. To love and care for a child for months while waiting on paperwork? I think my patience level is about ten notches too low for that.

But their patience has paid off! Their precious little Miles is now officially part of the family. PRAISE THE LORD!! I can only imagine the relief and sheer joy that they felt at that moment when the judge declared him officially theirs. God is so good. And yet, here is another example of His plan. His timing is perfect. We will never understand why they had to wait so long for their beautiful baby to be theirs. But God has a plan. He orchestrated everything perfectly.

Perhaps He knew that they would need to grow in patience. Perhaps it was that they would need to grow in faith. Perhaps He knew that through their amazing journey they would meet people along the way that would need to see the level of grace with which they handled the situation and would question the source of that grace. Perhaps He knew that I needed to see their witness and learn from their example to relate it to situations in my own life with waiting for our next precious child. But for whatever reason, Miles is finally officially their son. His two big sisters are elated. His mother and father have hearts so happy that the only term for it is sheer joy. Because this morning, their son wakes up for the first time- theirs. Officially. He has been a child of God. Now he’s a child of theirs.

Sheer joy. Praise God.

http://vimeo.com/m/67907902

http://m.ksat.com/news/adoption-ceremony-just-in-time-for-fathers-day/-/15126192/20476944/-/1rxxf6/-/index.html

I was a Cold War baby. My favorite tv show growing up was Scarecrow and Mrs King, and I secretly dreamed of growing up to be a spy. Or married to one. I’m neither. But I do enjoy watching Castle, and I’m secretly (well, not so secretly now) hoping she takes the job in DC. I live vicariously thru Kate Beckett. She’s who I would be if I was braver, skinnier, had dark hair, and lived in New York City.

The past couple of days the uninformed of this country have been shocked with a barrage of news stories about the government watching us. Seriously people. They are the government. They’ve been watching us since the Cold War, and probably before that. Get over your shock.

If you are talking about things on your phones, your email, or your Facebook that are truly private, you shouldn’t be telling the world anyway. Get over yourselves. Nothing is private. Every photo you paste on Fb becomes their property. Does that mean you shouldn’t post pictures of your kids for your family and friends to see? No. Seriously. The only reason the government cares that you even have kids is because they cost money and involve tax write-offs. They don’t want to exploit them by stealing your precious pictures. (However there are wierdos out there so for goodness sake, quit posting nude pics of your babies!! Noone really wants to see their junk anyway!!!)

And as for your phone calls. If your hubby/boyfriend/spouse/significant other is not there in the room with you, don’t do things over the phone you wouldn’t want your mom to hear. Or your grandma. Or your government. Don’t text pictures of that crap either.

If you have a secret group on Facebook, rest assured that it is secret- from your friends who are innocent and would never try to hack you. Don’t be afraid to share prayer requests or personal feelings about issues. The government only cares that Aunt Suzy is dying because there’s money and property involved. They care nothing about Uncle Joe’s surgery except that there’s money involved. And sadly, the fact that your marriage is on the rocks only matters if you actually divorce- because money is involved.

We have a God who is far more powerful than any government, and He is allowing this. He has a plan. Have no fear, for He has conquered the world.

But for Pete’s sake, “shhh!” Don’t say it if you don’t want it heard.

There are some people in this world that are here to make us laugh. Some are here to be a shoulder to cry on. Some are here to offer an encouraging word. Some are here to teach us. And some, some are here to be whatever we need them to be in the moment.

God knew yesterday morning would happen from the moment time began. He orchestrated it. But before yesterday morning, were a series of mornings and days and weeks and years of a woman’s life. She was one of those people who was there. Whatever whenever. All things to all people. Lovely through and through. A heart of gold. Most would say she was taken too soon. But she did exactly what God wanted her to do on this earth. And despite our desires, His timing is perfect. She no longer has pain. And she is Home.

Rest in peace, sweet Karen. You will always be loved, and your absence will forever remind us of the love and joy that you added to each of our lives.

I have always loved planting plants.  Perhaps it’s because of the time spent as a kid with my grandparents in their massive garden, or maybe it’s because it’s in my genes – my dad has always loved working in the yard, and often let me help with planting projects.  I dream of one day having a greenhouse in our side yard, where I can plant our fruits and veggies.  A place where I can teach our kids about plants and dirt and life.  A place where they can learn from me, but also a place where they can learn from the Master Gardener.

When I lived in Tulsa, we planted one way.  When we lived in Edmond, we planted another way.  And now that we live in South Texas on the edge of Hill Country, we plant another way.  I was never really fond of cactus and “succulent” plants.  But now, I’m learning to see their beauty.  They alone can brave the rock and very little topsoil.  They alone can handle the drought and the sun and the heat.  And they thrive.

They thrive because it’s part of the plan.  Beauty is all around us.  The springtime in this part of the country is incredible.  Wildflowers are abundant, and beauty is truly in every frame of the camera lens.  We’ve had some rain recently, so they are even more lush than normal.  The Master Gardener has a plan.

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably know that I’m currently doing a Bible study called “Meet Jesus” that is going through the book of John.  Today I read John 8:12-30.  It’s a powerful passage where once again Jesus is defending himself to the Pharisees, and explaining who He is and who has sent Him.  But what was the verse that stuck out to me?  Not one of the ones in bright red on the page.  Not the words of Jesus.  No, just a simple little statement the author stuck in when he wrote.  The end of verse 20 says “Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.”  I guess what made it stick out, (other than the fact that God had a plan and wanted it to stick out to me!) was that it’s not the first time John in his writing has said similar things.  Growing up in church and hearing lots of stories about Jesus over time, I guess it never really sunk in that these people hated Jesus.  Not just at the end when they suddenly decided to crucify him, but all along.  They hated him.  But one thing and one thing alone kept them from imprisoning him years earlier.  That one thing?  God’s master plan.  “His time had not yet come.”

Just as God sent me on a walk this morning and brought me a smile by putting this tiny little bunny rabbit in the yard, He sent Jesus on a walk.  A walk through Israel to teach His people.  It just wasn’t time for anyone to seize him yet.  So they didn’t.  By the power of God.  You see, God is the Master Gardener.  He knows the number of wildflowers in my yard.  He planted each of them.  He knows the number of thorns on every cactus on this acre and a half.  He placed them there.  He knows the exact moment that the Mountain Laurels will first bud.  He knows where every little bunny rabbit lives, and provides them food.  He knows the chirp of every single bird, and calls them by name.  He has a plan.  The aphids I hold great disdain for where placed on each plant by His hand.  Even they are part of His plan.

When my life doesn’t go the way I want it to, when hurt and pain come into my life and I question why He has allowed them there, verse 20 is my answer.  “His time had not yet come.”  God has the landscape layout on his planting bench in Heaven.  He knows not only what the garden looked like yesterday, two weeks ago, and five hundred years ago, but he also knows what it will look like tomorrow, two weeks from now, and five hundred years from now.  And everything that I do, everything that we do, everything that He does, everything He allows, is all working toward that final master plan.  I will probably never see the final layout that He’s working toward, and as a human, that is frustrating.  But I can rest easy knowing that He IS the Master Gardener, and He DOES have a plan, and all things will happen in HIS time.  When the time comes, it will happen.  Good, bad, happy, sad, it will happen according to His plan.  And someday, I will return to the earth, and that will be part of His plan too.  And because I believe, my body will stay, but I will live with Him forever… and maybe, just maybe, He’ll let me work in His garden.

You know that place.  You’ve been there before.  For me as a kid, it was a magical, mystical place where all my hopes and dreams were born, and where the answers to all my questions could be found.  And now, I get to watch as Becca begins to enjoy that place.  The first time we went, it was information overload for her.  The shelves tower so high, and the books go on for eternity.  And we go to a very tiny one that has maybe 1/10th the ones I grew up going to!  But yet, she doesn’t know any different.  And she loves it.  She loves everything about the spongy padded floor, the little round table, the tiny chairs.  But most of all, she loves the books.

“That Place,” of course, is our little local library.  Becca loves books.  She devours them.  It used to be that she devoured them literally – as she frantically chewed on everything in sight.  Now, she devours them for what’s inside.  She turns the pages, she looks at the pictures, and feels if there are textures.  She likes to streak her fingers down the hard covers and make squeaky noises.  And she loves to listen to them being read.  Ask her to pick out a book for story time, and you’re liable to end up with a whole stack because she just can’t decide which book she likes best.  It makes me immensely happy to see her love of books developing at such a young age.  Most of the time, given the choice between a basket of books and a basket of toys, she’ll pick the books.

 

So today, I got the joy not only of taking her to the library this morning, but Cody finished painting our bookshelf for our family room, and has it all together and it’s dry… so I started setting up our home library for her!  All of the books I kept from my teaching days are for when she’s older – they have paper pages, not cardboard – but this morning it was so neat to have her watch as I put the books on the shelves up high.  She sat there just staring in awe at all the books as they came out of their storage space.  I’m nowhere near done with the project – I’ll sort them by type and author eventually – but it’s so fun to see her so excited about books, and to know that there are tons of fun books just waiting for her in our own library, much less all the fun adventures she can check out from the public library!  I love this girl so much.  I love books so much.  And I’m so glad that she loves “That Place” as much as I did as a kid.  I just know there are so many adventures waiting for her on those shelves, and I’m so excited to watch her experience each and every one of them!