Decisions decisions

I know they're coming! We just don't know what they are yet.

A week? or so ago we said YES. To whatever God has. No stipulations. Nothing held back. HIS will. The last few days have been interesting, feeling around to know whether things that cross our plate are the next thing that God has for us.

And yet I don't even know what things have crossed Mike's plate this last few days.

I know Mike will be telling me all the things that came across his plate very soon. I wonder what they might be. And I pray. Because we've already said yes. To whatever God has. No stipulations. Nothing held back. HIS will.

Tonight I sat here thinking... during our adoption of Emma and Micah we held strong and fast to one thing, and that one thing helped us to make the best decisions of our lives and to follow God no matter what. Andrea got tired of me saying it, I'm sure, because she'd tell me something and my response was usually the same :)

We cannot make decisions based on money.

But you see... it's not that I had this idea that money was going to fall from nowhere and fill my pockets. It wasn't that I thought God was going to have strangers (or even friends or family) walk up and hand us every penny to make these WILD things happen. I just knew that even if we lived in debt and scraped to get by, that if we were following God then it was fine. Even if He didn't provide the money.

But He did.

And we were faithful in spending money where we needed to- and NOT spending money where we did NOT need to. But we didn't let money make decisions for us.

We live this out pretty much daily around here. We're very careful of our spending and we have never been in need. We have nice things that are more necessities and we forgo things that are not. Have we had times where we couldn't do something we wanted to because of money? Sure! Regularly! But we've never gone without what we need. Our children have never gone without what they need. And if you walked into our home and looked around, every thing you saw would be evidence of God's provision for our family. Our home is furnished in hand-me-downs, garage-sale finds, and gifts. And for that we are grateful. We have been blessed beyond measure and could not ask for a better home to raise our family in or a better community of support and love that surrounds us. Really, the stuff doesn't matter.

There's another decision that Mike and I made a long time ago. Not only do we not allow money to make our decisions, but we also don't let fear.

No we don't step into things without knowing what we're (generally) getting ourselves into, but we cannot let the unknown stop us from following God. If we did-- we wouldn't have Emma and Micah. No way, no how. There was so much fear in their adoption... but we also had a peace that was overwhelming. And to be overwhelmed by both fear and peace at the same time is kind of a weird thing, but it's true.

I spent several nights in Ukraine crying out to God asking him WHAT He was doing!! But I knew that HE was in control. And I was so very not.

So now we've said YES. Again. To... we're not sure what. We said yes with nothing on the horizon. And things are starting to appear that we're looking at from afar wondering if that's what God has for us next. And we're stepping out bit by bit. Knowing that God will either open a door for us to be sure He's leading us, or He will close it off and secure it firmly :). And then another thing will show on the horizon I'm sure.

Mike and I are unified in following Christ, in raising our family to honor Him, and to honor one another. And as long as those three things remain intact, I can think of no better place to be.

But of course I wonder what decisions are coming up. And what He's doing. And what things Mike's going to tell me about soon. Because God doesn't work in just one place at a time! I'm sure He's stirring up things everywhere.

And yes, this was a bit of an ambiguous post, and when I figure out what I'm talking about, I'll be sure to fill you in too :)