In awe...

In Judges 7, Gideon was charged with taking the Isrealites to war with the Midianites. The most memorable part of this story to me was when God on several occasions began to tell Gideon that he needed to shave the number of people he had in his army down. It was too large. Gideon started in the tens of thousands and eventually ended up with 300 men. They were grossly outnumbered, yet this was God's number. God led them into battle and they defeated their enemies. Of course, God's reason was so that Isreal could not boast that her own strength saved her, so she would know that it was her God that did it. This is how I feel about the last few weeks as we have journeyed through raising funds and stepping out to do all we have set out to do. There was a remarkably low number of people that turned out for the concert, especially considering all the promotion we did, however, among those who numbered less than a hundred, we were able to raise over 6000 dollars. That is God. Short and simple. I just finished reading the book "The Shack" (I know quotes are not grammatically correct here, just can't get italics to work :-)) and have started " Crazy Love" and the thing I am so struck by in both of these is the fact that God truly is the center of the story. Always. It is all about Him and He is the one with the power that makes all things glorious and He is the only one worthy to be the center of the story. I have heard this so many times, but having walked through the last few weeks, seeing my lack of ability to accomplish what has been accomplished, and to see the overwhelming and unlikely response generated from our efforts, this truth is very much embedded in the depths of my soul in a way that it was merely a thought before. Though there are parts of our flesh that resist this, many times, I am finding a huge sense of relief in the gravity of this truth. If He really is the center (which no doubt he is), and all things are working together by his hand in order that more of Him may be revealed through our little stories, then really there are no limits to what He will do for the glory of His name. And the amazing thing is, we are found, within His story right in the middle of His love. Adoption is not my mission. Unveiling Him and his heart is my mission. Adoption is just the platform for which he is revealing his Papa heart in the midst of my life in this moment. It is easy to oversimplify here as there are many more emotions that play into this, but this truly is the core of what we are doing and why. It should always be. What joy there is in this! What freedom! He will finish what he set out to do, and it will be glorious in that if it is a reflection of him, how could it be anything less. I am not the center, Mia is not the center, this adoption is not the center. He is the center. Gaze into the scene unfolding before you. As He works through the details observe his hand and his heart. He wants to challenge all of us to let Him do greater things in our lives. Things we can't accomplish, not by even a long shot, on our own. Things not humanly possible. Let him grow your faith in him. What unspeakable desires do you have in the depths of your soul? What things that you know are impossible for you to accomplish, yet you can't shake the feeling that they are callings, things that seem He is leading you into? I would venture to say, the closer you get to these places these desires, the closer you are getting to His will for you. I believe this with all my heart. These last few weeks have not been hard. They have been joy. I am tired, don't get me wrong, but I have not been stressed or worried. I have truly felt peace and a leading like I have never known. I am so in love with the God I serve. I am anxious to hear of the stirrings he will do in and through this in the hearts of others. He can't move in ways like He is moving now and it not stir what is in the souls of His children who watch. I can't wait to watch with you, as I feel as much like a spectator in all of this as you do, I just have a really good seat.