Last night, Trey and I attended a meeting on transracial adoption at a local church. This church has an amazing adoption and orphan ministry that connects families with other families who are in the process of adopting or have already adopted. We got to hear from two moms who have raised African American daughters and we got to hear from one of their daughters. At the end there was a time for questions and answers. One parent, who is adopting from Ethiopia, raised her hand and said in an overwhelmed voice, "How do you do it all?" She continued, "How do you make education decisions, connect them with families or children who share their culture, learn their language, figure out hair styling techniques, deal with attachment and bonding issues, deal with sibling issues, deal with family issues, deal with peer issues"......the list could keep going.
Even though our list may not look exactly like hers, that question remains, "How do you do it all?" The underlying fear is, "Do we have what it takes?" That question strikes a chord.
One of the speakers so graciously replied, "Daily bread." She reminded us that God supplies our needs one need at a time, one day at a time. He gives us the grace we need in the moment we need it. The two mothers who had shared their experiences with transracial adoption proceeded to give specific accounts of how the Lord had met their needs at just the right times in the lives of their daughters. Their testimony was not that God just met their needs, but that He also met their daughters' needs. This may be simple, but it's amazing to me today. God will meet our needs as parents, but He will also meet our child's needs. The issues we talked about last night were tough. They made us want to protect our future child from a world of hurt. Although we want to be as equipped as possible to travel this road, it is so comforting to know God is bigger than our failures and short comings.
How often do I need that reminder, "Daily bread." As we were driving home, Trey commented, "I'll never view the Lord's prayer the same."
Philippians 4:19
19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
