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Brag on God Friday

2/16/2012

26 Comments

 
I'm so glad you are here! I hope during your visit you get a glimpse of God's heart for we become what we are gazing at. I pray that God refreshes you and gives you readiness to persevere in what He has for you today.  

My desire is to be a blessing to you in helping you know God more and make Him known so I've made these Resources available to you and have the Missional Living blog tab for practical ideas of how to live on mission right where you are. And currently I am writing my way through Judges sharing glimpses of God's heart and character for a weekday devotional. To check out the entire series so far head on over the the Judges Devotional.       
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"Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son." Judges 13:1-3

If you've been reading for long, you probably know our oldest kids, the boys are adopted. They both have incredible birth stories and I just think adoption is one of the greatest things. Austin and I had always wanted to adopt but wanted to wait until after we had some kids biologically and felt more like we knew what we were doing. But God had different plans. We tried for 2-3 years to have kids but couldn't. And not just that we couldn't, but nobody had any idea of why. Test after test would come back "normal". And I must say the every two week cycle of, maybe we are pregnant this month to have a big let down and then 2 weeks of hope building to get let down again was not the worse part. For me the worst part was the "we don't know what's wrong." It seemed like if someone just knew what was wrong, then we could move forward to fix it or would at least know to accept that we couldn't have kids. But nobody could tell us that. They all just said, "I don't know". Many times I said to Austin, "Honey, I'm so sorry, you married a dud."

So when the angel of the Lord, aka Jesus, appears to Samson's mom, and says, "You are sterile and childless" that is just so stinkin awesome! Have you ever felt that? It's like when you are really upset and someone just repeats back to you what you said, something like, "So you feel ____________."  You could have just said those exact words, but there is just something about someone else saying it. They understand and it is like a surge of relief, "Yes! You get it, Yes! That is exactly how I feel!" 

So how beautiful that Jesus knows, He truly understands what we are going through. When He says, "Come to me and I will give you rest for your souls..." Mt. 11:28 it's true. When we take our heart to Him, He knows, He understands and we can find a surge of rest for our mind, will and emotions (the things that make up our soul).

I guess, I better just wrap up the infertility and adoption situation. God did beautifully miraculous things to put Asher and Uriah into our family, the coolest birth stories ever really. And turns out He really wanted them to be the oldest kids in our family. Because then when we were in process of another adoption (embryo adoption, which is very uncommon, and over 500,000 babies need adopting, we wanted to be part of the solution) we got pregnant. Shock of all shocks. Austin actually made me take two pregnancy tests because he didn't think I did it right. lol! (Seriously, how hard can peeing on a stick be?!)  Anyway, after 9 years of marriage, the Lord opened my womb. And now we are left with the question of, "Can I have kids or not?" But after seeing how God brought together our family, His way is the best and if He gives us more kids biologically, His grace will be sufficient. But our hearts are to adopt again in the future.
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Will you join us in glorifying God?

"Tell the nations about his glory. Tell all people about the wonderful things he has done." 1 Chron. 16:24

Each Friday, I love to give others and opportunity to ban together to show and tell how incredible God is. If you've written something that glorifies God (gives us a glimpse of His character-which could be a whole lot of things since everything good thing and every gift and ability is from Him) I would love to have you link it up below. (Just click the link and follow the prompts)  

I just humbly ask that you please let your readers know by including a link at the bottom of your post (or somewhere on your side bar) or put my button code (found on my side bar or the Brag on God Friday Tab) so they can find these other great people glorifying God and we can continue to grow as a community. Thanks! 

You are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."2 Peter 2:9  
I'm linking up with Spiritual Sunday's  
26 Comments
Tracy link
2/16/2012 07:55:30 pm

Hi Laura - what a beautiful story. Don't you just love how God goes before you and suddenly, when you look back, you see what He was up to? Great post. God bless and have a great weekend
Tracy

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Laura link
2/17/2012 07:51:40 am

Thanks Tracy. I can't wait for heaven for that very reason. :)

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Rina Peru link
2/16/2012 09:19:21 pm

Your genuine love is beautifully displayed through your adoption stories, Laura.

Have a blessed weekend,
Rina

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Laura link
2/17/2012 07:53:06 am

Thanks Rina. God sure did a super awesome thing with our cutie boys.

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Joe Pote link
2/16/2012 10:11:02 pm

Laura, you have beautifully illustrated one of the things I love most about the body of Christ and sharing insights with fellow believers.

I absolutely would never have have noticed in this passage, as you did, the understanding empathy expressed in the words "You are sterile and childless." Only someone who has shared life experiences similar to yours would be likely to pick up on that point.

However, once pointed out by you, I totally get it, because I too have felt the overwhelming sense of companionship in hearing someone else express my pain or sorrow.

Thank you for sharing this verse from your perspective!

Blessings!

Reply
Laura link
2/17/2012 07:56:25 am

Thanks Joe. I love how you said it, "felt the overwhelming sense of companionship in hearing someone else express my pain or sorrow.
"

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Esther Joy link
2/16/2012 10:11:22 pm

Laura, my oldest daughter has been through a lot of those feelings. I think your post would encourage her, ...if I can just get her to be still long enough to read it! Right now she is in a busy busy season of life.

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Laura link
2/17/2012 08:00:36 am

Esther, I have never even thought about the smell of the tabernacle before (on your recent post). So insightful! I loved it, (esp how you relate it to living for the Lord) thank you!

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Laurie Collett link
2/17/2012 01:17:55 am

What a beautiful post, Laura! Praise God that "we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Heb. 4:15). God's love flows through you in your adoption stories and in your writing.
Love in Him,
Laurie

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Laura link
2/17/2012 08:15:10 am

Thanks Laurie.

I love how you used your blog to share the gospel today. :)

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Laurie Collett link
2/17/2012 12:21:25 pm

Thanks, Laura! May souls be brought closer to Him!
If you have any specific ideas in mind re: the guest post, please let me know -- I believe you had mentioned Creation & God's attributes?
Love & blessings,
Laurie

Laurie Collett link
2/17/2012 12:21:45 pm

Thanks, Laura! May souls be brought closer to Him!
If you have any specific ideas in mind re: the guest post, please let me know -- I believe you had mentioned Creation & God's attributes?
Love & blessings,
Laurie

Laurie Collett link
2/17/2012 12:21:49 pm

Thanks, Laura! May souls be brought closer to Him!
If you have any specific ideas in mind re: the guest post, please let me know -- I believe you had mentioned Creation & God's attributes?
Love & blessings,
Laurie

Rebecca link
2/17/2012 03:34:39 am

What a wonderful story God has written by the way He has added children to your family. It reminds me that we can make our plans but God's master plan which is far superior to ours will always prevail.

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Laura link
2/17/2012 08:16:12 am

So true! I so often have this really great plan of how He should do things... then I find His plan was WAY better.

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patsypaterno link
2/17/2012 06:16:34 am

I think it's perfectly wonderful the way god works in our life and surprises us! My sister Meldy and her husband recently decided to foster a child (she is too old to adopt). Baby Michael is such a joy, and we are praying for a nice Christian family to adopt him. I am sure God has His plans and timing.

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Laura link
2/17/2012 08:20:52 am

How awesome!!! That's another thing I would love to do someday, foster. It's such a need.

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Pamela link
2/17/2012 06:31:03 am

I was "there" nine years before our Melanie was born. Painful memories of the whole every month disappointment. I love how you accept your years as God's plan for your life. Older brothers. I always wished I had one!

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Laura link
2/18/2012 06:15:37 am

I'm sorry you had to go through it. :( But I hope God showed more of His heart to you through the process.

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peggy aplSEEDS link
2/17/2012 03:46:20 pm

what a wonderful post! thank you for sharing,
hugs, <a href="http://peggyapl.blogspot.com/">peggy aplSEEDS</a>

Reply
Laura link
2/18/2012 06:16:23 am

It's my pleasure Peggy. Thank You for sharing your artwork. I LOVE it!

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Lisa Burgess link
2/18/2012 03:14:31 am

It is amazing how God puts families together. You have a unique story. Praise God!

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Laura link
2/18/2012 06:17:10 am

Yes! He sure is good at it. :)

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Laura Rath link
2/18/2012 12:42:24 pm

I find so much comfort in Matthew 11:28 - it's one of my favorite verses!

God bless,
Laura

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Charlotte link
2/19/2012 04:03:13 am

What a beautiful story. God's ways are so far above our ways. This is constantly being pointed out to me. Yours is a good example.
Thank you for sharing on Spiritual Sundays.
Blessings,
Charlotte

Reply
Leslie McNeil link
2/19/2012 10:18:17 am

LOVED it. Blessed!!! Amen.

Reply



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  • Home
    • Ministry Resources for Women >
      • Beholding Him Freebie
    • Contributors
    • Statement of Faith
  • Blog
    • Ministry >
      • Evangelism {Win}
      • Discipleship {Build}
      • Living Missionally {Send}
    • God's Word >
      • Bible Study
      • Prayer
      • Devotionals
      • Bible Studies
      • Apologetics
    • Relationships >
      • Marriage
      • Singleness
      • Dating
      • Family
      • Friendship
    • World >
      • Social Justice Issues
      • Internet & Social Media
      • Politics
      • International
      • Science Revealing God
    • Life >
      • Image & Idenity
      • Health
      • Fashion
      • Food
      • Organization
  • Bible Study Resources
  • Prints
  • Stickers
  • Quiet Time Journals
  • Courses
    • Discover God's Calling
    • Women's Ministry Training Promo
    • How to Study the Bible
    • Women's Ministry Training Course
    • Growing in Your Faith Mini Course
  • Retreat
  • Video Bible Studies
    • Matthew
    • John
    • Galatians
    • Philippians
    • Know your Purpose
    • Creation Reveals
    • Ministry
    • Heart Growth
  • You Are Unshaken Book
    • Unshaken Groups
    • You Are Unshaken Paint Party
    • Unshaken Freebies
  • Shop