Proverbs 24:12

"Once our eyes have been opened, we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows we know and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Gifts

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior....for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name." Luke 1:46b-47, 49

We are doing a lot of rejoicing today as we remember God's complete faithfulness to us as a family two short years ago. We mark the 2nd Gotcha Day of Elsa today and praise the God who "settles the solitary in a home" (Psalm 68:6). We look at this precious four year old and cannot imagine our lives without her. The words of David in Psalm 139 are so amazingly applicable to her life. "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them." (Psalm 139:16) God saw to it that this Lindquist, born in China, was united with her family far, far away. That blows my mind! What a privilege and an honor for us to live out His plan each and every day. 

Elsa continues to amaze us with her wit and her daring. Her smile truly lights up a room. She gives out "I wuv you" freely, which is so precious to these mama's ears. Her speech continues to improve and now it is actually hard to get a word in edgewise! This past year she has tried many new things like horseback riding, alpine sledding, and wake surfing. She has seen new sights like the Rocky Mountains and the Badlands of South Dakota. She has played soccer on a team, taken swimming lessons and started preschool. There continue to be so many firsts for our youngest. As we look forward to celebrating our third Christmas next week with Elsa, I think of all the wonderful gifts we have been given from the Giver of all good gifts. Adoption shows us in earthly pictures many of the amazing truths of Scripture. Many people have written about this and said it much better than I ever could, but I just want to testify that adoption has changed my life forever...as an adopted child of my Heavenly Father and as an adoptive mother. 

Pursued: We went after Elsa and the Father pursues His children. (Romans 8:29)
Loved unconditionally: Before even meeting her, we loved her deeply and permanently. So God loves us and sent His Son in order that we may have a restored relationship with Him. (1 John 3:1)
Name changed: Just as Xia Jian Yi became Elsa Mei Yue, so believers have the right to be called children of God. (Romans 9:26)
Part of a forever family: Elsa is a Lindquist now and forever, just as everyone who is in Christ is a part of God's family forever. (John 10:28-29)
Knows our voices: Elsa knows when Mom or Dad call to her, even in a crowd. She knows our voices. Children of God know the voice of their Dad and follow Him. (John 10:27)