A Child's Prayer

I am overwhelmed with emotion today. I literally do not know where to begin. I don't know what to say, what to pray, what to think. I feel confused, but excited. I am filled with curiosity about what is to come. In December I began praying, asking the Lord to give me a life verse, to complete what seems like an impossible God-sized task in me, and to give me a new direction over the 2011 year.  Well, I think I just got what I asked for! A God-sized task indeed! My verse for 2011 keeps running through my mind, "Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I am about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I am making a road through the desert, rivers in badlands" Isaiah 43:18-19.  He is definitely working in brand new ways in the life of our family, and I am anxious to see what He has in store.

I found out today, while walking through Academy with Ross and the kids, that Mary Grace has been praying that God give us a China baby. The thought just suddenly popped into my head while we were walking around the camping section, that I should ask her if she had been praying for a China baby. So I asked, and she replied with a matter of fact tone, "Yes, but not this week." Yes, but not this week!—The beauty of a child. She had been so intrigued with Chinese children since we first look into adoption three years ago.  She would ask us when we were going to adopt a baby from China nearly every week, and sometimes even multiple times a week.  I never knew the impact our conversations would have on her; especially since she was only 5 at the time. It finally go to a point where I had to say, Mary Grace, "I'm not sure if we are going to adopt or not.  Maybe you are supposed to adopt a baby from China when you are older. I just don't know yet. We will have to wait and see." Now, three years later, we find out that she has been praying all along that we get a China baby. A seed was obviously planted in her sweet little heart, and her prayers alone may be the reason we are on this journey.