Let's Do This!

"Mom! L just took Abraham Lincoln out of my hand!"

"Bring me Abraham Lincoln. M gets him for one minute and then L does."

Insert screaming here.

Sound familiar? Please realize that President Lincoln is a Lego and that the children are 2 boys, 5 and 3, playing in their underwear on top of the kitchen table. Happy Tuesday morning to me!

I am a SAHM. It is fun to be an acronym isn't it? I guess I should clarify. That is what I do, but that is not who I am. My identity is in Christ. And each moment He is renewing my mind and lovingly encouraging me. He is never silent. He talks to me always in so many ways. But it is up to me to listen. And the Holy Spirit in me gives me such a great power to shut out the voices of the enemy and the world. That's right. I said it. I have voices in my head. We all do, but learning to discern His over all the others is what is most important.

So here is where I am at today. Today we are getting ready to have a bunch of kiddos and moms over to go swimming in our apartment complex pool. My husband just left for work a bit ago and I am contemplating in what order I need to do things today. But the biggest thing on my mind and heart is our daughter N, who resides a million miles away in Africa. She is our greatest leap of faith. She is 20 months old and we are waiting to bring her home. We have been waiting for 16 months. Waiting through bureaucracy, sickness, fee after fee, and political agendas that have no interest in saving children but operate through pride and false pretenses. Oh you can just hear the bitterness dripping from my words can't you?

So what is "getting" us through this? Well the word of the day is "Hope". Our home church (we meet at a house therefore we call it a home church:) is working through a book called Spirit Life Training by Timothy Jorgensen. It is all about the power of the Holy Spirit in us and how to utilize it in everyday life. It has a creepy blue guy on the front and looks super new agey but it's not. It is all about scripture and practical ways to apply it to each day and how to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit. Neat, huh?

So back to hope. The last chapter we read was about memory. We were encouraged to get a little note book and write down scripture on certain topics that need encouragement in our lives. So upon asking the Holy Spirit what that is right now for me, Hope was lovingly whispered in my ear. So here is today's verse on it:

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us." Romans 5:5

So what does this mean to me? Hold on, let me ask my Dad:) The emotion or feeling of hope is going to be positive. You will be super aware of it. It will encourage and lift your heart and renew your mind to Him and whatever is going on in that moment will be conquered. And this can be tapped into all the time because the Holy Spirit was left in us after Christ ascended. The Holy Spirit is the "mystery" that was given so that we could continue the work of Jesus each day. That's pretty cool right? So my hope for N is real and I know that in spite of all that is against us in this adoption, He is for us and desires for her to come home.

Alright, L has to pee and refuses to go into the bathroom alone and I am being summoned:) Have a good one!