Wounds...

Wounds.

We all have them.

Whether they be physical wounds caused by injury,

emotional wounds caused by passed hurts,

or spiritual wounds caused by our own sin,

we all have wounds.

The precious thing about our

emotional and spiritual wounds is that

they can be healed by our Great Healer.

When we find our fulfillment in Christ

rather than our feelings,

we see that He has conquered ALL for us.

  "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

Romans 8:31-32

He has given us all that we need.

None can be against us when Christ is on our side.

If God gave up His own SON,

why would He not grant us  

"all that pertains to life and Godliness"?

So, wounds can and WILL heal.

He heals them.

We must then choose not to dwell in our past.

We have to choose to live as children of the Father!

It wouldn't make much sense for us to continue living

as unredeemed orphans

when our Gracious Father has adopted us, right?

This leads me to another truth.

A sad, but real truth.

Many, if not all orphans come with wounds.

Praise the Lord for the ones that are too young to remember them.

They were left.

Whether by the choice of their birth parents or not,

they were abandoned.

And sadly, many were hurt.

Most all of them were hurt emotionally,

but many were hurt physically as well.

I'd like to share something that gripped me this morning.

It's the words of an adoptive mother.

We haven't met, but we've spoken.

She and her husband brought two children

home from Congo.

From the same orphanage we will bring Tobias home from.

Here are her words she shared today:

(names are protected) 

"Sometimes I see the scars on C and D's little bodies and my blood boils. I know that what man means for evil, God will use for good, but it makes me want to cry. Usually, I look at their scars and I give thanks bc it is one of the reasons that they are in our house. So thankful that the evil that put the scars on their sweet bodies didn't inflect more pain or even death. Usually, I thank the Lord that they don't seem to carry any emotional scars of their past. But today, when I was putting lotion on their beautiful bodies, I wished I was there to shield them or fight for them. I really want to cause some pain to whoever did this to them today. I know that vengeance is the Lords, but today... I know that my Heavenly Father is also their Father, Protector and Shield. I know He protected them better then I ever could.
I just needed a place to vent. A place where I know you all have felt different forms of these conflicting feelings of wrath and love.
So thankful that we all have had a hand in rescuing little ones from what 'could of been'."

 

Her little ones were hurt.

Purposefully. Intentionally.

I don't know details of their pain,

but our Father does.

He may be the only one that really knows what

happened in their early years that brought them

to where they are now.

   

I am thankful that He DOES work all things

together.

He brought them to the loving arms of

Didier and the others that care for the children

in the orphanage.

And then He brought them HOME to their new

parents that adore them.

The reason I share this is to remind us of reality.

I believe that Tobias had a mother that cared

for him.

She wanted to leave him with someone that

would take better care of him than she could.

But this is not always the case.

Evil exists everywhere.

But in some places, Satan doesn't have to stand

behind a mask of morality.

I see Satan's work all over our country.

But others may not see it

because much of his work is helping people believe

that they don't NEED God.

That people are "good enough" on their own.

In order to do that, the enemy

is disguised as light.

Well, in Congo, evil is not disguised.

From murder, rape, witchcraft, human sacrifice,

and whatever was done to these precious children,

it is rampant.

It is everywhere.

It isn't just in Congo,

but let's not get trapped into thinking that

things are "pleasant" where our son is.

Yes, God has protected him and is in a safe

environment now.

But God help the other children who have no choice.

Who are hurt in ways we can't imagine.

We can't forget about them.

We don't know their names or faces,

but there are countless children who need someone

to fight for them.

If we, the CHURCH won't, then who will?

   

The Other Teagle Boy

So, this blog is called

"It's a Mom Life".

I wanted to make it about our life

as we go through this stage of parenthood.

So,

I figured it's only appropriate

to remind everyone that I am still pregnant!

I won't be for very long though.

My C-Section is scheduled for

March 26th!

A couple weeks ago, my brother

took some pictures of us

so we could have SOME type of memory

of the fact that I have been pregnant for 9 months!

I love that he caught our goofy side :)

This pregnancy has by FAR gone quicker

than the other two!

We're pretty sure that it's because

of how busy we've been with getting our little

Tobi home.

So I figured with all the posts that have been designated

to updating the status of our adoption,

we needed one to update the status of 

our little guy that will be here soon!

We have less than two weeks left now

and we are definitely getting anxious to meet him!!!

This is our first boy obviously,

and we still step back and think to ourselves,

"How'd we get here?"

"How are we expecting our 3rd and 4th child???"

"How could we be so blessed??"

But most recently...

"Do you realize our lives turn upside down again in two weeks?"

So with every day coming closer to the BIG day,

I am trying to be patient.

Chris keeps reminding me not to rush things

(even though I really can't).

So, to help pass the time, I've been working on some

"nesting" projects!

We put together some wall art for the baby

and will do more for Tobi's side of the room too.

I got really motivated the other day

and made several little

"necktie onesies"

for him.

Then, because I left my sewing machine out,

I couldn't help myself.

I made some regular old cloth diaper burp cloths

"cute"

by adding some appliques with extra fabric.

We are definitely ready.

In every sense of the word.

Don't think my stomach can stretch much more!

But wow, The Lord has been so gracious!

It was tough in the beginning, but my last trimester

has really been comfortable.

This has been easier than the last two actually!

So, 11 days or less.

Then we'll see his precious face

and share it with all of you!

(along with his name that we've miraculously kept on the DL)