But God...

I just had to share about a great weekend I experienced. On Sat. me and several of our women from church went to the Woman to Woman conference at North Phx Baptist Church. Desiring obedience to God's path, and after 5 years of service, I have recently left my "duties" on our Women's Board. It has been an interesting couple of weeks with God trying to understand His plan and maintaining an undivided heart. Because this conference was a planned leadership training for our women I did struggle with my purpose there, BUT oh God knew exactly what I was there for. Determined to go with an open mind, available to what God had for me there I listened intently to what He was going to tell me. He did not let me down, in fact out of the 300 women or so, He had the speaker speaking only to me! (At least that is what it felt like) Lysa TerKeurst is one of the founders of Proverbs 31 Ministries and has an amazing story. Aside from her testimony and journey to God, she and her husband journeyed a path that sounds oddly familiar. Several years back, maybe 2004, she took her three daughters to a concert by the Liberian Boys Choir. 12 young boys sang with conviction and joy despite unimaginable circumstances in their lives. To make a very long story short, Liberia has been in turmoil for years, leaving behind 25,000 orphans in the wake. A pastor wanted to get their story out to the world and created this choir to tour the US. As Lysa listened God spoke to her and told her two of those boys were hers. She of course tells the story with much more humor and emotion that I could ever do. She went on to talk about the time she shared the idea of adoption with her husband. They had a hard time believing this is what God wanted, weighed pros and cons and finally after many, many confirmations from God, decided to pursue adoption of these two teenage boys. WOW! Her story hit a spot in my heart that created overwhelming emotions. I knew exactly what she was talking about...saying YES to God and His plan. As she continued her story of faithful obedience I was more and more emotional. As I was still feeling sad about leaving women's ministry, she began to talk about how once the boys came so many things she was used to needed to change. She could not go on as many speaking engagements and had to slow down her writing. Her faithfulness to these boys and God inspired her to understand greater what purpose she and they may have one day in the world. God does not doing something for nothing. Who know, these boys could grow up, return to Liberia and free that country. Or, go on telling their personal story all over the world, spreading the word of God in places undetermined! So, as I gathered my emotions and processed this experience I realized that yes, I would be giving up something I love deeply, BUT GOD.....has bigger plans, a better knowledge of Him, and unimaginable plans ahead for me...for us. We are to be faithful to touch the hearts of the ones He gives us, even for a short time, and HE will multiply our efforts indefinitely! I cannot do this experience justice just with words, but I was transformed right there...my heart no longer divided with what I wanted vs. what God wanted...I am on this path full steam ahead! I pray everyone experiences God in ways that bring them closer and closer to a fuller understanding of Him! May God's peace fill your hearts today!