Shown Mercy

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." 1 John 3:1 Does not your heart leap at the very thought of that - to be called children of God?!.   Each time I encounter this verse I am awestruck by the reality that our Holy God has loved us so much that, though we were yet sinners, He sent His Son to live the life we couldn't possibly live, to die the death we absolutely should have died, and to defeat our greatest enemies (sin and death) once and for all in order that we may be called His child and therefore coheirs with Christ! This amazing reality is that which unfolds throughout the entire storyline of Scripture - one beautiful picture of redeeming love.  What grace!  What glorious grace! One of God's gracious gifts to me has been the gift of a loving, generous, and faithful earthly father.  I am grateful for the gift of a dad who has taught me much about our Heavenly Father and faithfully modeled s

The following verse sprung forth out of the inner recesses my heart and collided with this gracious truth regarding the providential mercies of our Creator: "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." Proverbs 16:9 My heart was in pursuit of entering motherhood with one,  maybe  two children.  But God...(one of my favorite transitions throughout scripture)... revealed: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9 On April 8, 2009, we sat in a Ukrainian government office petitioning to adopt one to two children between the ages of 0 to 4.  Forty-five minutes into our one hour meeting they laid these pictures before us and posed the question, "Would you consider four?" Two days later we sat in the orphanage director's o