Multi-tasking

Every once in a while, I get to do something cool, like write an article for our MOPS groups' newsletter. As any respectable mother of 4 kids, six years old and younger, I have done my share of multi-tasking. I thought I would post the article here, too, to get a little more use out of it. :)

What I Have Learned About Being a Mom Through Our Adoption

Many of you know that the Lord has just recently added sweet Ellie to our family. We were officially “in process” for nearly fourteen months…a long time to be expecting! The wait was not easy, but the lessons I am still learning from God are very much worth the wait, the pain, and any inconvenience experienced.

I have to learn to trust more deeply in the Lord. I remember worrying about how we would come up with the funds, the circumstances our daughter was in, whether or not we would we find favor with the right people in the process, how she would adjust to us and us to her, and ahhh… well, about everything! And then, when she came home at eighteen months old, I was tempted to worry about her spiritual condition. We had missed a year and a half of praying and reading Bible stories with her, so would she be “too-hardened” to believe in Jesus? Whooa, lots of red flags in that thought process!

There is nothing better I can do with my children than introduce them to the Lord, but I am not their savior, Jesus IS! I am constantly reminded that I have to trust everyday for the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of all my kids. I am certainly not saved by my own strength and neither are my children. Salvation is through faith alone in Jesus Christ! The Lord was so faithful in all of the little details of our adoption and so much more. Sometimes, I was not always thrilled with how He chose to work, but it was and is all part of His perfect plan I have to rely on.

It has also been humbling to learn my need to re-evaluate my parenting after nearly seven years of being on the job. As Ellie has different needs than our older children, it obvious that I cannot just do things as I have been. With this comes a realization that it is easy to be complacent in my role in general and not strive toward greater goals as a mom. For example, I am much more aware of my tone of voice, my expectations, and how I spend time with my crew. I want to honor the Lord in my parenting, and I must be willing to allow Him to refine my sharp edges as I proceed. “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,” Philippians 1:9 ESV

Through this process, I have to learn to loosen my grip on my kids by allowing God to use them as He sees fit. No, I have not given my children free reign to play in the street, but what I am getting at is more long-term. Somewhere in the course of deciding to adopt, I was dwelling on the extra special way that God works in the lives of adoptees. He physically calls them out of one place to another, and many are given the opportunity to know Him that they might not have had. I wrestled with stories of adoptees from the Bible, like Moses and Esther, of how God used them powerfully throughout their lives, and I knew I needed to be willing to allow for the Lord to have some amazing plans for this little girl. Hence, another light-bulb moment! The creation of every child and every story of a new life in Christ is a miracle. He has amazing plans for them all and I have to be aware of the temptation to discourage it, such as not wanting them to live far away or to have to go through something difficult involved in that plan. My kids are HIS!

Ellie is a delight and also a challenge in our home, but we could not have been more perfectly matched! God’s lessons are precious in all forms. What is He using in your life to bring you lessons and what are you learning?