Memorial Box Monday-The i-Touch and Jessa

This February, our family lost 2 very important things:
1) Our i-Touch
2) Lila's green Blankie.

The i-Touch had been lost for 3 weeks and Lila's blankie, that she sleeps with EVERY night had been gone for a couple of weeks. One morning, while we were doing Bible Study, I told the girls that God knows EXACTLY where those 2 things are and even though we can't see them God can help us to see!

Ears that hear and eyes that see—
the LORD has made them both.
Proverbs 20:12

I said that God wants us to pray even for the small things. He wants us to always come to Him for help!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Phil. 4:6

We each took turns praying that God would help us find the i-Touch and Lila's blankie. We continued to look whenever we thought about it, but nothing turned up. That night, after the kids went to bed, Vince and I were sitting in the living room on our couch, talking about the day, and I told him about our prayer requests we had made that day. I got up to go look behind the chair for Lila's blankie, and as I was saying "God knows exactly where our i-Touch is and he can give us eyes..." I saw the corner shine. Vince saw it shine at the SAME time too!

I went over to the mantle and there it was! I went CRAZY! That was incredible! I sit underneath the fireplace everyday doing
Bible Study with the girls, and we had passed that mantle hundreds of times in those 3 weeks. And there it was and it shined and we BOTH saw it at the same time! I had to go downstairs and wake Alex up and tell her that God had answered our prayer.


The Blankie on the other hand took some time to find. I was really wanting God to provide Lila her beloved blanket, but we looked, cleaned, looked some more and nothing. One night, well, about 1 am actually, I was praying, just asking the Lord to help me find her blanket, and then I felt I needed to check the sleeping bags. So, at 1 am, I open my closet and unrolled and shook and dug in the bag--nothing! I went to the girls room and went through their 2 bags--nothing. Went downstairs unrolled, shook and dug in the last sleeping bag--nothing! I was so discouraged. This blankie is very special--all my kids have one made from Miss Kerrie. This was horrible. Everyone woke up in the morning, seeing the sleeping bags unrolled all over the place. I think another 2 weeks went by and honestly, I thought her blanket was long gone. We had Mandy, Alex's friend spend the night and early, early in the morning, Lila comes tearing in our room yelling "I FOUND JESSA (her blankie's name)!!! I FOUND MY BLANKIE!" I was thrilled and asked where she found it. It was in the sleeping bag Mandy was sleeping in. I forgot that we had that sleeping bag; the only one I hadn't checked! CRAZY!!!!

It was just so cool to see the girls pour out their requests to God for help and to see him answer!

Memorial Box Monday-The Vision

I follow a blog called "A Place Called Simplicity" (check it out on the right), and every Monday, she does a Memorial Box post. Memorial boxes are cabinets that hold trinkets or reminders of when God has shown His faithfulness to you. I don't have a box yet, but I'm looking, but I have lots of Memorial Box stories, and my hope is that I will be able to continue sharing them with you every Monday. I also want to write them down for my kids so that they will always have them. I want them to know their Father is active in their present lives (not just in Bible times), faithful even in the small things and loves them enough to show them his faithfulness and provision. So here is my first story and it is a "Knock your stinkin' socks of kind of story!" Actually, you'll probably think I'm crazy after this, but it's the honest truth!




On July 17th, 2009, I wrote about "The Vision"--You can search it, but I will recap.

On the second Tuesday in June, after our first failed court date with Tariku and almost 9 months after we got his referral- "should" have had him home by Dec., I was cleaning the house fighting back angry tears. I was downstairs wiping off the end table and I stood up and the phone rang. It was Pam calling to say we had passed and he was ours. I felt a tangible weight of anxiety taken from my gut and the longing for my son was fulfilled. It was a REAL moment in time for me. Now, I have only had 2 visions in my life and I don't think God gives them frequently, but He did give me this one, because he knew I needed encouragement and he wanted to knock my socks off. That day and the next couple days I was just at complete peace and I knew, KNEW that God had promised Tariku to me on that day. I knew that him becoming my son was going to happen, I just didn't know when, but I believed God would be faithful. I wrote the post 6 weeks later thinking that maybe we could pass court the following week, it being the 7th week and all. The number 7, in the Bible stands for perfection, fullness of time, and I just thought, maybe he would pass court on the 7th Tuesday from the vision I got. Well, that date came and went. In August, we renewed our vows, October we failed our 2nd court date, November failed our 3rd. (THAT one was a doozy and another cool story). I thought at that time "When is the 7th month?" That would have put us in January passing, but surely we'll pass court before then. In December, we found out we failed our 4th court date and Pam said then, that she was NOT going to tell us anymore when the court dates would be, but that one day she will just call us and let us know the GOOD news. On January 12th, before 8:00 (yes, I was in bed :) Pam called. She told me we passed court and tears just rolled out of my eyes as I lay there, taking in those words. I can't say I was giddy or jumping up and down for joy, I guess I felt just pure exhaustion, like running a marathon emotionally, and I finally finished the race. Too tired to celebrate, just relieved and a little amazed that it was finally over. After about 10 minutes of talking I got out of bed and as I was walking toward the bathroom, it struck me that it was the 2nd Tuesday of the month, exactly 7 months to the day of the vision God gave me. I am crying as I type this. I just stopped in my footsteps and stood there, amazed, undone, that the Lord worked, TO THE DAY! HE KNEW! He knew I would need encouragement and the promise to endure watching my baby grow up through pictures and video. He wanted me to be reminded of Him being in control (to the very day) of Tariku's adoption. And I think He wanted me to know how much He loves me to do something so cool as to fulfill the vision 7 months to the day.



I believe God wants to do cool things for His children all the time, but busyness, or brushing it off as coincidence keeps us from seeing God really work in our lives. It is just a huge reminder, whenever I see impossibles or get discouraged, that God is right there with us, in control, and knows our needs (to the very moment we need them). When I do get my Memorial Box, I will put a telephone in it with the number 7 highlighted on it. Read on www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com for more encouraging God stories.