Our family's theme over the last couple of years has been remembering God's faithfulness to our family. The story of Joshua and Caleb being the only 2 spies to give a good report about the Promised Land really spoke to Tony as he was praying about going to medical school. He had more of the outlook of Caleb. If God is for us, who can be against us? Who cares about the giants in the land?
I must admit, I had more of the outlook of the other 10 spies--- the lay of the medical school landscape looked too scary to me. There are big giants that will CRUSH us if we do this. Tony's unwaivering faith in seeking and following the Lord, no matter how afraid he was, really spoke to me and strengthened me.
Tony studied the story of the entry into the Promised Land in depth. When the Israelites crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land, God comanded them to pick up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan and put them in the middle of the camp of Israel. These stones were to remind them of all God had done for them in bringing them to the Promised Land. These stones were to encourage them in their conquest and remind them to remain faithful to God.
So, we have been gathering "stones of rememberance" as we are facing medical school. Remembering what God has done in our lives in the past has encouraged us to trust in Him for the future, despite the "giants in the land."
There are too many stones that we have gathered to share them all. Tony has written them all down and we are amazed at the number of rememberances of God's faithfulness we have gathered! The downfall of Israel came when they "forgot the Lord their God." We can easily forget Him and forget His faithfulness, unless we deliberately recount His faithfulness on a regular basis.
I had the chance to recount His deeds this morning as I was reading Psalm 113. Verse 9 says, "He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD!" I was sitting there holding Caleb when I read this verse and I just wept as I recounted God's amazing handiwork in our lives, giving us 4 children (so far). Yes, we've only held 3 of them, but He has given our family 4 children, and He has given me the privilege of being at home with three of them!
I told Tony before we got married that I would most likely not have children, at least not without medical intervention. I have an ovarian disorder that prevents me from ovulating. I wanted him to know this just in case that would be the one thing that would keep us from getting married. His response to me was, "If God wants us to have children, He'll give us children."
About a year or so into our marriage, I was with a group of women from our church on a retreat. We went into this little chapel to pray. We were told to lay before the Lord our deepest desires and entrust them to Him. We were also there to pray for healing in our lives. I prayed for God to heal my ovaries and give us children. This was both a prayer of healing and laying before Him my deep desires. When our time of prayer ended, one of the women with me said, "The Lord told me as we were praying that your womb would be blessed with children."
Several months later, I found out that the little chapel we had prayed in was the Children's Chapel. Many little ones had cried out to God in this chapel and I cried out to Him for children of my own.
A year later, we found out we were expecting Blane. What a joy! With no medical intervention, God blessed us with a baby. We knew he was a miracle! And then, we were blessed with Ally Beth shortly thereafter.
Until the last year and half, we thought the Lord had filled our quiver. We had 2 children that, quoting Dr. Blair, "Medical science cannot explain." My ovaries were clinically dead! In fact, they seemed to be far gone enough for us to consider an early hysterectomy due to cyst problems. Dr. Blair prayed about it. We prayed about it. His response several days later was, "God has not given me the go ahead to do this. I still think He has children for your family. He's done it before, He'll have to do it again. Your ovaries are not functioning. But, I believe He has more children for you."
Then, I had the privilege of holding Taylor in my womb. Dr. Blair cried for joy with me when we found out we were expecting. Then, he cried out to God for us when we lost Taylor. Then, we all cried for joy when we found out about Caleb!
God has given my "dead" womb FOUR children! Every picture of our kiddos that you see on this blog is a picture of a miracle! God has truly fulfilled Psalm 113:9 in my life, "He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children."
PRAISE THE LORD!
