Led By His Love: Led By His Love

Led By His Love

His love is amazing, my life is a gift wrapped by the hands of my Maker.

I too must give for I owe it to Him, I can't always be a taker.

I'll listen to the still small voice as it whispers and shows me the way.

Consider the Lilies comforted my soul on a glorious Easter day.

The minute I saw your beautiful face I knew I had seen you before.

With faith in prayer and a willing heart I hoped He would open the door.

Soften his heart or whisper to him because I know she is the one.

She is the lily that was planted for us, her journey has only begun.

The answer came, a gift was given with a note that I will always treasure.

His perfect timing filled my cup with joy and hope beyond measure.

Lead us together on the path that is ours to help our lily bloom.

Family is one of life's greatest gifts and our hearts and home have room.

Hold her tight and give her peace to know she is not alone.

We have mountains to climb, oceans to cross, a few more stepping stones.

To give you the life that you deserve to show you His amazing love.

Soon you'll feel the warmth of His hands, your life is a gift from above.

A leap of faith brought you home, a step that was big and grand.

As our spirits unite we'll all understand that this was part of the plan.

You were chosen, cherished and loved, by a Father who knew your heart.

You are chosen, cherished and loved, we feel blessed to play the part.

Grateful and humbled to serve our King, we answered the call when it came.

There is no doubt we were led by His love and our lives have forever changed!

I really wanted to capture in words my feelings about our journey to Sara. I sat down to write this poem and it didn't take long for me to receive the inspiration that I was looking for. Today is Sara's "Metcha Day", the first time we met Sara one year ago! This poem is a perfect way for me to celebrate our first meeting, a day I will never forget! As I read and look back at past post and pictures I can almost hear, smell, taste, and feel Ukraine. There is a part of me that longs to go back and relive every moment of our time spent there. It truly was a magical experience. I will never forget Sara's expression the first time our eyes met. Her whole face just crinkled with a cheesy, toothless grin. My heart stopped for a moment as if it was pausing to take a picture so that my heart would never forget. That moment was filled with so much emotion. More than anything that moment was filled with a lot of love. We loved her long before we met her and that love multiplied by ten fold that day. It continues to grow every day that we spend with her. She is a ray of sunshine!

Referring to the poem again, I really wanted to capture my every feeling I had before, during and after our commitment to Sara. Before our commitment to Sara, I have always had a strong commitment to my Heavenly Father. I feel his love every day and recognize that my life is a gift. I try to listen to what He wants me to do because I know that he has a plan for me. To quote one of my favorite hymns, "Because I have been given much I too must give." I knew that adopting another child, this time a child with Ds was something we could, should, and would do. It was one way that I knew I could serve my Heavenly Father. On Easter of last year I received a call to "Consider the Lilies". For those who may not know the story, Sara was formerly known as "Susan" on the Reece's Rainbow website. The Saturday before Easter I felt inclined to look up the meaning of Susan and it means "lily". She looked familiar to me I had a feeling that maybe she was the one. The next day the choir stood up to sing "Consider the Lilies" during our Easter church service and I silently sobbed for I knew she was the one we were meant to consider. But how could she be the one if my husband was not on board and ready to adopt? I prayed like I had many times before, asking Him to soften Mark's heart. I knew that if this is something that we were called to do then it needed to be Mark to say let's do it. 19 days later, the night of our youngest son's adoption (adopted through foster care), Mark gave me a gift and a note that read, "OK, let's do it!" I was shocked and amazed at the Lord's perfect timing. So together we embarked on a journey to bring our daughter home. We were on our way to help our lily bloom! It took many months to prepare and to raise money. We held several fundraisers and spent countless hours working on the process. In the meantime we prayed that "Susan" would be protected and kept well until we were able to be with her. We couldn't wait to share our love and the love that our Savior has for her. We couldn't wait to tell her that she is a gift like all of God's children. She was chosen to be our daughter as I truly believe it was part of the big plan! She is cherished and loved! I feel humbled that my calling was to rescue a little girl and grateful that we listened and took that leap of faith. Our Sara was blessed with a family and a life that she deserves! Our lives have been changed for good! His love is amazing! (Click here to read the post from this day last year and here to see pics from that day.)

We are all led by His love every day. Will you listen and do the things that He calls you to do? I promise that if you do your life will be blessed and I pray that I will continue to follow Him as I am led by His love! Now here comes picture overload. Pics of her "Metcha Day" and pics of her today, taken this past week! Enjoy!