Whales...do they still exist?

So today in church Pastor did another great sermon and although this isn't what he was preaching about his sermon totally led to this blog!!!  During his sermon he said that Christians today think that if only God would send a whale to swallow me when I am going the wrong way that I would then know what God wants for me....now his sermon went on from there but this is where I am staying...because He totally DOES!!!!  Now that whale might not be a fish in the ocean, although I am certain He totally could if he wanted to!!!  I have had many "whales" in my life in the past 10 years!!!

Although adoption has always been something that I have been interested in, Jason and I would NEVER be where we are today, in the process of adopting a special needs daughter from China, without all the "whales" we have experienced!!!  I am telling you it is pure obedience that has brought us here!!!  This was NOT our plan for our life....and we learned from the "whales" that when we run from what God has planned for us you will NEVER win....he will use the "whales" over and over until you become obedient to where He wants you.  And I will say that we must really be slow learners!!!

During the "whales" that we know as 6 miscarriages, we still looked at that as though maybe it wasn't the right time, or maybe God thought that we were done having kids.  So instead of fully listening to where God was leading us we both were more comfortable with the idea that the timing wasn't right or that we should be done with having kids.  I prayed that God would take the desire for more children away from me and that I would be content with the family that I had.  I will say that I did receive an answer to that prayer as the desire never left, so I knew that God was calling us to have more children, what I didn't know is how.  So then we got pregnant with Miss Chesney and felt like the timing had been right and that our family would be complete.  Honestly without the pregnancy of Chesney, adoption would have never happened.  The miscarriages never opened Jason's heart to adoption.  It was in the delivery room with Chesney that Jason looked at me and said, "I don't ever want to see you go thru this again, when you are ready we are goign to talk about adoption".  Now at this time those were just words, but it sure didn't take long before those words became a clearer picture.  We still weren't obedient as we went from there to the idea of surrogacy.  This would be awesome, we had an amazing person that was excited to be a surrogate for us so surely this is where God wants us...WRONG again!!  The final "whale" was when the door to surrogacy abruptly shut without any warning and against all odds!!!

So....finally we became obedient to where God wanted us, and we are totally at peace that this is exactly where we are suppose to be.  Lucky for Jonah it only took 1 whale for him to see that God had a plan for him.  Jason and I didn't get it as quickly but God was faithful in continuing to send those "whales" in order to show us His perfect plan for us!!!

So I just want to say that if you are truly praying and searching for what God has planned in your life, He will totally use a whale, figuratively or actually, to get your attention and to lead you to obedience!!!  Trust that He is sovereign!!  I had someone just the other day say that my blog is making them consider adoption.  Now this is a family that was otherwise DONE having kids.  I hope to do many things thru this blog:  advocate for orphans, advocate for adoption, and show people that being obedient to God leads to the most amazing results.  I will say that adoption isn't for everyone...but just because you are comfortable with your life now doesn't mean that God isn't having you read my blog to show you that you aren't being obedient to His calling.  Maybe He is calling you to buy a shirt, help with other fundraisers that we will do for the orphanage, read the book I blogged about and gain a heart for the orphaned, adopt, or  just find the obedience in another part of your life.  God doesn't promise that we will live this perfect, comfortable little life.  I promise though that although this isn't where Jason and I would have designed our life to be we are beyond excited for this journey!!!