Above all else...

Guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.


Ladies, this verse is not just for you.  I have been in the Sunday school classes where girls are urged to guard their heart.
Gentlemen, this verse is for you too.  Your future wife will thank you.  Your children will thank you.

I did not guard my heart very well as a teenager and young adult.  I exposed my vulnerable heart to those undeserving.  After listening to all of those sermons and lessons on purity and guarding my heart, I did not truly listen.

My dear, kind, generous, brilliant, humor filled, loving husband did.  His heart was guarded for so long.  Sure, he let pieces of his heart go to friends and those undeserving of his wonderful heart, we all do.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. - Ephesians 5:25

Even though I do not deserve it, my husband loves me like Christ loves his church.  My husband has given me his guarded heart.  Above all else, my husband has taken my broken and unguarded heart and loved it with all of it's divots, stains, and curves.

So tonight I beg and plead and urge you, single ladies...or engaged ladies...or mothers of girls...guard your heart and teach those girls to guard their heart.  Pour your heart out to the Lord.  His love is greater than any homecoming dance or pretty ring.  The Lord will never disappoint you.

Guys, the same goes for you.  Your heart is the most expensive thing you will ever give to your wife.  Forget those shinny shinny rocks that we women flaunt and coyly happen to conveniently place just so everyone can see it glint and gleam.  Your heart, beloved man, is what makes hers go pitter patter.  The Lord created you wonderful and full of vulnerabilities you will never admit to.  We alone are not worthy of your heart.  Guard it, sirs.  Keep it in tact.  When seeking the woman of your dreams, seek the Lord first.  He will not lead you astray.

Thank you, Love for holding my unguarded heart with the most gentle hands.
Thank you, for leaning on our Lord.
Thank you, leading me toward our Lord.

Process of Prayer

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always. 

Pray continually.

Give thanks in all circumstances.  

These are what have brought us through our adoption journey. 

We have rejoiced.  We have prayed.  We have given thanks.  

 Our rejoicing has been seen through the deposits into our saving account, completing each set of paperwork, and being passed on to the next stage.  Our rejoicing has also been the rejoicing of those loved ones near to us who have cried, encouraged, and worried right along beside us.  

I've got to be honest, giving thanks in all circumstances has not been the easiest of the three.  When the days are good and the money is flowing in and our counselor releases us to begin Home Study our giving of thanks is abundant.  When the days are long, arguments real, and energy drained the act of giving thanks is difficult and painful yet necessary. 

Finally, we have prayed.  And prayed.  And prayed.  Each and every thank you note we have written has pleaded for our donors to pray.  Our prayers at first were for us, selfishly.  Then we saw a need to pray for our family.  Our families are affected by this adoption just as much as we are.   

 

There have been days full of great concern and anxiety over our families' acceptance of a child that is not of their bloodline and not of their race and not of their history.  Praying for the ability to show grace when our family does not understand and for softened hearts became another necessary aspect.  

We have prayed unceasingly for our unborn child.  Our prayers have been for the child's health, safety, and relationship with the Lord.  Learning the importance of praying for a baby who sleeps, claiming against a spirit of rejection, and an assurance of our love has been confirmed and reconfirmed time and time again.  

The last, but quite possibly most important, dimension of our prayer life has been focused on our birth mother.  WDD and I had the pleasure of hearing a birth mother speak to a group of adoptive parents.  She emphasized the power of praying over our birth mother.  Each morning when we sit down for breakfast, WDD and I pray over one of the cards pictured above.  Some days it is easy to pray for her.  It is easy to pray for her salvation and her safety.  Some days it is heartbreaking to pray for her.  No matter how many times we pray that she find peace or for her future, I am broken.  Even as I type this, I am broken.  Imagine if you can being a woman or a girl making the most difficult decision of your life to place your child in the hands of an adoptive couple.  Even knowing the peace of God in my own life, I also know the difficulty of experiencing that peace in the most trying times of life.  Then, to know our birth mom will have a future brings such joy and such brokenness to my heart.  I am broken within my fear that she is ashamed at her decision.  I am full of joy to know that her life is not over.  She will have a lifetime of opportunities to share her story, know the love of the Lord, and our gratitude for her.  

When we ask you to pray, we do not take that lightly.  We believe the Lord hears the cries of his people.  We seek to follow God's will for us through rejoicing always, giving thanks in all circumstances, and praying continually.