On the Journey With My Chosen One!

I am sure you might wonder why I call her chosen rather than adopted.... well, adopted is just her physical condition, CHOSEN is what we both are to be a family together! God is so rich in His Blessings, and He has chosen each of us from before the time we were knit in our mother's womb to be a FOREVER family! How BIG is that? How BIG is our God!?! Thank you for following our journey and for praying for us as we wait and continue to grow in the love of God! -- Blessings!



Liliana's Verses

Matthew 17:20 - " ... For truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain: "Move from here to there", and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."




Zephaniah 3:17 - The Lord your God is with you. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.




Proverbs 3:5-6 ~ Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.




Jeremiah 29:11 ~ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.


Friday, June 17, 2011

The BLESSING

FINALLY! I am sitting down to write this blog that has been on my heart for the better part of a month now.... but let me just tell you, God said to me just now, "Sit down and write that blog....NOW!" I don't know why NOW, right this minute, but I have learned to listen to that Voice! The prompting from God actually came from a package I received in the mail today..... I have received so many beautiful gifts, of which I am so incredibly thankful and blessed, but today, I received my child's BLESSING! Let me go back a little bit....
About a month ago, I was craving some time with God and something to dig my teeth into and chew on for a bit. (Do you ever do that? Sometimes, you just need something to prompt that growth in your heart that is just dying to spring forth!" So, I went to the Christian bookstore one day and was looking around for something, I didn't even know what I was looking for really... but I thought a book on Christian parenting might be a good place to start. Well, I perused a couple and then saw this one on the end of a row, just as we were about to leave. (My Precious Peruvian doesn't enjoy books quite as much as Mama, YET!) It is called "The Blessing" and it caught my eye b/c of my very own BLESSING, that I had just received. So, I picked it up and perused it a bit, and quickly decided that this must be the book I was supposed to buy that day! Well, as I spent time reading this book, I realized that indeed, God had picked it out for me that day! There are two things that God uses to Bless me primarily.... MUSIC is #1 and books, especially His Word. Well, this book, written by John Trent & Gary Smalley, about 25 years ago, spoke volumes to me! It is all about BLESSING our children just as Isaac did for Jacob. It is this BLESSING that we crave in our lives. We need to hear a blessing from those we love in our daily lives.... it is what makes us who we are, it is what guides us and helps to direct our paths in life. There is a lot more to the book, but this is the basic premise. An example from my own life is this: My Mom alwasy told me that I was going to go to college because she never got to.... well, I didn't really understand all of that when I was young, but as I got old enough to go to college and then graduated with 2 degrees, what exactly that meant for my life..... and what it meant to my Mom to see me fulfill that Blessing she placed on me came to life. She went to work at 3:00 in the morning for a lot of years so that she could somewhat afford to send me to college..... and then she rejoiced with me as I graduated and determined my life's work. (She did hope I would be filthy, stinking rich so that I could buy her a little red Mercedes sports coupe.... but well, that didn't work out! --Sorry Mom!) But, this is an example of a blessing you might give your child.... but as I learned in the book, the BLESSING is much deeper too. There is a blessing for everyone, but sadly some NEVER reeive any blessing at all from their parents, friends, no one! Oh, it is sooo sad to me! But, God is there, ready to give us the blessing that we all need and crave!
I was blessed to have blessings on me.... they were not necessarily given like the steps this book provides, but they were there! The book gives 5 elements to the BLESSING: 1. Meaningful touch, 2. A Spoken (and or written) Message, 3. Attaching High Value, 4. Picturing a Special Future and 5. An Active Committment to make the Special Future happen. These are as the book describes the BLESSING we receive from others.... great book, GO READ IT!! But, God also gives us a BLESSING and speaks a BLESSING over us... it is there in His Word, every time we open it up! And, He uses others in our lives to bring about the other 5 elements of the BLESSING, which is why it is so important for us to surround ourselves with outher believers.
So, as I was reading this book, I realized something spectacular... well spectacular to me anyway! I had titled this Blog "Becca's Blessing" a long time ago, about a year into my adoption journey b/c I knew that this adoption was a BLESSING from God. I had NO idea how God was going to use it, but I intended it to bring Him all honor and glory! What I realized is that God has spoken His BLESSING over me and my little one through this whole journey! All the while, as I waited and waited, and prayed that my little one would come soon, God spoke Blessings to my soul through prayer, His word and the encouragement of others! So many would say, "that is so incredible, I can't believe you are doing that"... "you are so brave, generous, etc...." (I don't really deserve any of that, but God used it for encouragement!) Then, while I was in Peru, so many Peruvians spoke words of BLESSING over me and my child... with things like "She (My Precious Peruvian) is so lucky!" "You have such a good heart, she is going to do great with you!", etc. Wow! The words were like "streams in the desert" to my ears. They washed over me and renewed my spirit! Then, when I arrived home, there have been SOOOOOO MANY words of encouragement and blessing for both of us! So many kind and generous deeds that have BLESSED us and so many who have committed to pray for us and to support us in so many different ways! ALL of this is God's BLESSING that He has given me! WOW!!! I am speechless (well, apparently not according to this blog's length!) but seriously, speechless that God has chosen to BLESS me! In the Old Testament times, the BLESSING was reserved for only ONE son.... thank the good LORD that because of Christ's blood, the BLESSING is for everyone!
Well, as I began processing all of this realization of God's BLESSING being poured out over me, I began to realize that I needed to make sure that I was blessing others. I pray daily that I can do that! And, being a teacher, I believe I have had tons of opportunites to BLESS young people, sometimes I did and sometimes, I have failed..... oh may God remind me of that every day that I walk into the classroom that I have exactly ONE class period with each student to gvie them the BLESSING that some will NEVER receive! I might be the only person even attempting to BLESS them! May I NEVER forget that! BUT NOW, I have the life that I am to pour every ounce of BLESSING God gives me the strength to give, into. My Precious Peruvian. God has given me a life to BLESS and to commit to fulfilling her BLESSING! With this responsiblity heavy on my heart, I began praying that God will give me the BLESSING that I am to pour and pray over her.... and as always HE provides! That leads me to TODAY!
In the mail today, I received the most wonderul present for my Precious Peruvian from a man and woman who poured BLESSINGS into my family. Uncle Jimmy worked with my Dad and for a time was like a Father to my Dad who lost his own Father way too young. Then, as we went to Sunday school and church with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Lurleen, they spoke BLESSINGS over my brother and I and my sweet Mom too! Well, several years ago, my Grandfather passed away and we asked Uncle Jimmy to do his funeral service. And, God had laid it on my heart to sing... now I LOVE to sing, sing in the choir no problem, but have always been a nervous WRECK about singing solos. But, God laid it on my heart that He had given me this voice to sing with, and that my family needed to know He had given me this gift.... and it was, for me, a gift for my Grandfather. Well, I was a nervous WRECK that day, but Incle Jimmy prayed over me, and spoke words of BLESSING over me that day! It was also during these few days in my hometown that I got to share with Uncle Jimmy that I was adopting a little girl from Peru. I didn't know who she was yet, but that God had it all worked out already. Uncle Jimmy again prayed for me, and spoke a BLESSING over me and told me that he would continue to pray..... OK--- so today's gift was another BLESSING from Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Lurleen! It is a song (again, the thing that speaks MOST to me and my child --- tell me God didn't have that planned!!!) and it is called "I BLESS YOU!" (Now, it is important to note here.... Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Lurleen have NO idea about any of the "Blessing" messages I have been receiving from God! --- Oh my!!! How cool is that!!! In fact, I am going to have to print this blog post and mail it to them, so that they can know, just how they have BLESSED us!) But, this song, as I read it's words, I realized is the BLESSING that I want to pray over and our into my child! I don't know the writer of this song or anything like that, but I will tell you, it is NO accident that however many years ago (and I think it was a lot!) God knew I would be looking for these very words to ecpress the BLESSING that awaited in my heart for my child! I am so overwhelmed with emotion, I don't even know how to put it on paper!! WOW! WOW! WOW! is all I can keep coming up with!! Here are the words to the song --- and now my child's BLESSING --- "I Bless You!"

I bless you with joy and peace and love that won't let go
I bless you with grace and faith and fire in your soul.
I bless you with dreams and visions, most men don't know of.
I bless you with deeper knowledge of our Father's love!

I bless you with joy and laughter.
I bless you with a steadfast faith.
I bless you with the hopes and the dreams that your heart goes after,
I bless you with Amazing Grace.

I bless you with stregth and power, grace through any trial.
I bless you with wisdom and with comfort in your smile.
I bless you with great adventures, journeys yet unknown.
I bless you with a heart gone wild beacuse you are His own!

I bless you with joy and laughter
I bless you with a steadfast faith.
I bless you with the hopes and the dreams that your heart goes after.
I bless you with Amazing Grace.

I bless you with the heart of a warrior, grace to stand and fight.
I bless you with brother (and sisters) who will stand right by your side.
I bless you with courage till the battles have been won.
I bless you with the Faith to hear your Father say... "Well Done!"

Wow! Every word in my heart, already put to music a very LONG time ago... just for me to hear TODAY, and for me to share with my Little One all through life's way! God just spoke words of BLESSING over my sweet one and me too! I don't know if Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Lurleen have read this book I spoke of or not, but this BLESSING they have given me today tells me they learned this lesson a VERY, VERY long time ago! They told me in their card that they used to sing it to their girls..... oh the beauty of the BLESSING! Who are you going to BLESS today?!?! God has someone for each of us to BLESS, and if we listen closely, we just might hear God singing His BLESSING for each one of us too! Who knew the word BLESSING would come to mean so much to me when I picked it for a title for this blog? Thank you, each one for BLESSING me and I pray that I will take each opportunity God gives me to BLESS others! Will you do the same?
BLESSINGS!!!
Becca