Persistent Prayers

I've been pushing my friend, Maria, to get into her prayer closet for us and pray for our referral to come soon. I got an email from her on Saturday morning saying she'd spent time in that closet at 1am praying for us and our babies. God gave her a Scripture that I hadn't spent time in throughout our adoption, but it was SPOT ON. Tears streamed down my face as a I read her email and what God had said to her about us. For now, I'll just share about the Scripture.
May it encourage and push you in whatever is stretching you these days...

Romans 5:1-11, but mostly 3-5

3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

The very next verse starts off with “6: You see, at just the right time”….

From Maria's email: "I feel it is SO close and God is planning it all. But I also felt that there needs to be a sense of “humbleness”. I’m not sure what that means to you, but that word just kept coming. But I kept feeling like God has been humbling you and He wants just a hair more."

I'm so grateful for friends like Maria who've carried us through this process and are waiting with us, showing us more of God and ourselves in the process.

20,000th Hit

We're getting close to our 20,000th hit! If you're the lucky one, please let me know. [Scroll down the blog on the left side of the page to see the Plan A Hits].

Thank you so much for journeying with us these past 17 months. I often have wondered who reads this blog. Occasionally I'll find out about a new reader or someone in my life who I had no idea read the blog. Thank you. It means the world.

Please also post comments on this post - and others. If you missed THIS POST, I'm hoping to compile my posts and the comments into a book for our kiddos to read someday. It's like my pregnancy journal for them.

A Day of Indulgence

I quite possibly have the best staff in the world. For my birthday this week, my team got me a Spa Day of Indulgence at my favorite solitude location: The Montage at Laguna Beach.

For the past 5 years or so I've been coming to the Montage almost every month to create space to reflect, dream, and listen to God on matters of my life and ministry. I come here because the views are breath-taking and nature energizes me. I come to the same bench every month because it's now like holy ground with God. I come because I live at Mach 2 speed but want to live more centered and focused on eternal things. I come because I need the rest. I come because I want the people I lead to have more of this in their lives.

So, after my birthday lunch this week, my team said "Every month for the past several years, you've been coming to the Montage as an outsider looking in. Tomorrow we want for you to be on the inside. So tomorrow you will hang out at the Montage all day, get a massage, have lunch on the pool deck, and have sunset yoga facing the ocean." Are you kidding me!??! I still can't believe it. It was the most magical, exquisite day. **This DOES have an adoption application. Check out the pics first and then read about the connection.

Views from the spa pool deck...

The whirlpool with a sauna room, steam room, and plunge pool nearby...

The bathroom...
LUNCH! Ahi Tuna on field greens for an appetizer and Mahi Mahi sandwich. Delicious!!!

On my way to the beach, I couldn't stop singing "How He Loves Us" by David Crowder Band and "Oh How He Loves Me" by Rita Springer. I just couldn't get over how loved I felt by my team and by my God.

While at the Montage, I was thinking about that phrase "a day of indulgence". Indeed it was on every level. I wouldn't mind spending a day a week there. But I also thought about how indulgently God cares for me and our babies everyday. He's orchestrating lavish love on our entire family right now in ways that we know and do not. God can't help it. He's just an indulgent, extravagant, decadent God. Though our kiddos probably didn't spend yesterday at the spa on the beach, his love isn't limited to spa days. It goes deeper than that.

I'm so grateful for the day of indulgence yesterday and how God spoke to me about his love for us! Be indulged today by God's reckless love for you.