May His Name Be Proclaimed In All the Earth....

I'm still participating in Beth Moore's Scripture Memory Challenge for 2011. The challenge is to memorize 24 verses this year and if you do and you post your verses each month on Beth Moore's blog then you get to attend a special conference with her in January 2012. When I heard about the challenge, I was all in. It's a way to grow closer to God and tuck His word in my heart AND get to see one of my favorite Bible teachers - how can you not love Beth Moore and her Texas twang. Her love for Jesus knocks my socks off. My verses for 2011 have all been ones that I feel relate to our adoption process. Words that I can cling to in times of uncertainty or when I feel like becoming a mother will NEVER happen. Today I posted Verse #6 which is Exodus 9:16.

"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

Adoption is God's purpose for John and I. His reason is not just so that we can become parents. It's so that His power and glory will be revealed for all to see. So that each and every person who hears about our adoption journey will proclaim His name. Our adoption process is just a brief glimpse of the beautiful picture of what it looks like when God adopts us into His family.

As I flipped to this verse this morning it took on a whole new meaning as I thought about all the uncertainty going on with Ethiopia adoptions right now. We have heard rumors that the Ethiopian government will be hearing 20 cases per day (which is up from 5 but down from 50). We haven't heard if this is true, but it's a glimmer of hope for all of the families who are waiting for their children.

As I read this verse I realized that the situation that's going on in Ethiopia is just another way for "God to show His power and for His name to be proclaimed in all the earth."

I remind myself each time I pray for the Ethiopia adoption setback that God sees the faces of each and everyone of the 5 million orphans in Ethiopia.

Isaiah 42:16 says "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do. I will not forsake them."

Taking care of the orphan is God's command. He is passionate about seeing the fatherless become part of a family. I read this the other day on a blog I was reading and just LOVED it.

"If you're reading this, and you say you love Jesus, spread the word, Christians must be doing at least one of the following two: adopting a child, or supporting those who are. Not once. Not twice. But as long as you live."