If you are just joining me in my How God Brought Us to Luke series, and thinking: Part ???? Please go to this page and start at the top. Trust me...it will all make more sense when you start there!
A number of months ago I was reading Seventh Day, one of the books in Bodie & Brock Thoene’s AD Chronicles series. Seventh Day contains a telling of the raising of Lazarus, the brother or Mary & Martha. In it a character named Zadok discusses the difference between facts and truth. The truths contained therein have not left me and have instructed me over and over as we’ve walked this journey to Luke. These Truths have been rumblings in my heart.
Forgive my quoting these long excerpts, but I truly feel I must…
Zadok queried, “ So, Emet. Here’s a fact from the Book of Beginnings: Father Avraham was a very old man without a son. He wanted a son, but his wife, Sarai, was also very old. Now what is the truth?
Emet shifted his weight and stared heavenward. “Truth is…God said Avraham would have a son through Sarai. Baby Isaac was born.
Zadok cheered him on. “Very good, Emet! Now once more. Tell your father the answer t’ this…fact. Joseph the Dreamer, great-grandson of Avraham, was sold into slavery by his brothers, unjustly accused, and imprisoned. What is the truth of this story?”
Emet furrowed his brow in thought. “Truth: Joseph became a great leader in Egypt. His brothers bowed down to him and he saved the whole family of Israel.”…
Zadok sighed. “Aye. Here’s a difficult one for you, Emet. And also for me, when I think on it. Fact: Pharaoh ordered all the baby boys of the Hebrews t’ be slaughtered because he feared their numbers.”….
Emet laid his head against Zadok’s chest and answered quietly. “Papa , you remember. The truth: Baby Mosheh was saved when he was placed into a basket and set adrift on the Nile River. He was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter, nursed by his own mother, and grew up to be a prince of Egypt and the deliverer of Israel….
“Aye, Papa. One more true thing, Papa? Shall we recite one more, Papa?”
Zadok seemed to scour his memory, searching for some familiar lesson Emet could recite. “Here it is, then. Fact: On their journey from Egypt, the former Hebrew slaves were trapped between the Red Sea and the approachin’ chariots of Pharaoh. Now, Emet, tell us if you can. What is the truth?”
Emet eagerly declared, “God parted the waters of the sea, the Hebrews crossed over on dry land, and then the waters closed over the heads of the Egyptian pursuers and drowned them. Israel escaped and became a great nation.” P. 181-182
Kindly but firmly, Yeshua drew her [Martha] aside. With a gesture He summoned Miryam to join them. Then He said, “Didn’t I tell you that you’ll see God’s glory if you believe?”
In that instance Yeshua’s teaching from Ezekiel flashed into my thoughts: this is what the Sovereign Lord says—“I am going to breathe into you and make you live again!” (Ezek. 37:5)
But four days dead? Dead, stinking dead?
And this is what rumbled from heaven, though perhaps no one else in the whole assembly heard it except me: Don’t ever again confuse facts with Truth! That Israel was trapped between Pharaoh’s chariots and the Red Sea was fact…but not Truth! That a virgin could never conceive and bear a son was fact…but not Truth! Watch and see Truth!
And like The Lord of All the Angel Armies issuing and order, Yeshua repeated, “Roll the stone away!”……
Lifting his face toward the brilliant blue sky, Yeshua said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said this out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me.”
Because I love them!
…..And then before the last of Yeshua’s words had finished rolling around in my head, He suddenly shouted, “El’azar! Come forth!”
Yeshua never shouted, seldom lifted His voice. But I believe his cry that day could be heard in Jerusalem.
There was a rustling from within the shadow. A figure detached itself from a stone slab and stood upright. Then El’azar, shuffling because of the layers of cloth with which his arms and legs were bound, stepped blinking into the sunlight. P.201-203
…..I learned to never confuse facts with Truth.
The fact is, El’azar was dead.
The greater Truth is that Yeshua is the Resurrection and the Life.
I learned that sometimes we do not understand how The Lord of All the Angel Armies is working for our benefit.
The greater Truth is that He always cares and provides for us. Even if He delays, it is because He loves us. p. 208
I’m coming to think that God allows us to see the facts just so He can demonstrate Truth. He loves to fly in the face of facts and use circumstances that are impossible in human terms to glorify Himself.
There have been some scary facts when we looked at Luke’s file…but God has challenged us to look at the Truth…and trust in Him to reveal the Truth…and stand expectantly watching.
Reading about the chasm of difference between facts and Truth prepared my heart for Luke.
If you are just joining me in my How God Brought Us to Luke series, and thinking: Part ???? Please go to this page and start at the top. Trust me...it will all make more sense when you start there!
“Life is too short and eternity is too long.”
This rumbling came repeatedly through the mouth of my husband. Since adopting Lily, it has been like we see the world and our circumstances through totally different glasses.
God has been impressing upon our hearts that we have but one life to live…and it is oh, so brief. We tend to think we have so much time, but in the light of eternity our lives are but a breath. So short. And in that short, one-breath of time…I have the opportunity to live my life…or not…in such a way that it brings glory to Him. 1 Corinthians 3: 12-15 says that I have the opportunity to build on the foundation of my salvation with either wood, hay, and stubble (that which is perishable, will burn when tested in the fire…is truly nothing...using my life for my glory instead of God's) or I can build with gold, silver, and costly stones which will only become more radiant when passed through His fire.
And then? Then I will get to take those treasures and hand them to my King. For His glory! For His praise! (Revelation 4:9-11)
Oh, that I will have much to give Him in that day. That I won’t be found empty handed.
I don’t want to get to that day and look back and see what I could have done for my Savior. I don’t want to wish I had lived my life more for His glory and less for my comfort.
I don’t want to just read about the amazing things God has done in and through other saints. I want to write my own story with Him.
I want my life to bring glory to Him now and tomorrow and the next day and every day until He brings me home.
Wherever that takes us…
In Him,
Like many major events, there were signs it was coming. I’ve begun calling them “rumblings.” They are the noise, the weight of what the Lord is burdening my heart over and speaking to my soul about. They are rumblings because I practically feel them and they might as well be physical or audible. Like the tremors that lead to an earthquake, they are persistent, don’t go away, frequently grow in intensity. But much like those tremors, many are under the surface where no one sees but the Creator and those whose instruments are designed to see.
My heart is my “rumbling” sensor. I know there’s movement going on…”noise”…pointing to the Lord’s working, but what He’s bringing me to isn’t always obvious until it is...obvious.
As I look back over my life, I can’t think of a specific time when the Lord has not moved in my life without preparing me first…without His rumblings in my heart.
Before I begin to tell you about Luke’s story [so far] I must tell you in the next couple of posts of the preparation I see the Lord has brought me through…the rumblings.
“She doesn’t need perfect parents”
Without sharing more than I feel like I can in this venue, shortly after we returned from China we had a major incident with one of our children. A very difficult incident…the results of which we continue to live with. This event was not without its own “rumblings,” but it was still personally devastating. In the weeks that preceded it and the weeks after, I struggled with major feelings of failure as a mom. As you’ll read, the Lord had been laying a desire to adopt again after Lily on our hearts; but with this occurrence I would argue with the Lord about the wisdom of that (I laugh now at my audacity…”who is this who darkens my counsel?”). It was too late for Lily to get better parents, I reasoned, she was stuck with this lousy mom; but we didn’t have to put another kiddo through this!
After awhile the Lord spoke gently to my heart…Mandy, they don’t need perfect parents, they need parents who love Me and who are committed to loving them. Hmmm.
Do I mean what I sing? What I say?
Wow, this one I couldn’t get away from. Every time we entered into praise and worship at church, every time a worship song was on the radio, every time the girls or Kevin would sing songs to the Lord, I would find myself singing along…and at some point be totally struck by the words.
Pierced by words, really.
They were/are so easy to sing! But do I really mean them?
Am I living them?
Do I really want to “lay my life down for you, Jesus?”
Do I really “surrender all” or just the things I don’t really want anyway?
I would find myself praying as I was singing…Lord, make these words true of me. I know that in so many ways they are not…but I want them to be. I want to live them, not just say them.
I see He has been preparing my heart for what He was going to reveal. To go where He sends, follow where He leads.
Baby Luke...
...before God even moved in Kevin's heart that we were to adopt!
In Him,
"bright", "outgoing", "kind and warm-hearted", "patient", "smart, conscientious, polite, and aware of his surroundings", "sweet personality","loves to laugh and joke and is very lighthearted", "almost always has a smile on his face."
And what a smile it is!
Today, I explain!
The piece of equipment that is definitely unlike how the other girls learned to walk is what I call the "Super Walker" (insert echoing voice). 
It is the fanciest piece of equipment that our th
erapist has let us borrow yet...and the most expensive, if we were to damage it! Try something like $1500!
It's technical name is the Rifton MiniPacer and adjusts in a bazillion different ways. The wheels can be adjusted to go forward, backward, lock, go slow, go fast or anywhere in between. You can make them swivel for turning or lock in a straight-only position. The height adjusts. The handles can move forward or backward, up and down. There was a chest harness initially so she didn't tip over. She thought that was there so she could do the "Look, Mom! No feet!" trick (lifting them up and hanging).
At first, we harnessed her in around her chest (to keep her upright!) and taught her how to move her feet in a walking position. A little hard on the knees or lower back, but thankfully she was a very quick learner! We did short sessions in there...like 5 minutes. She only tolerated so much before she would just pull her feet up and hang! After several weeks, of this combined with other PT exercises, our PT took the chest harness off and Lily began only using the handles as support. Since she'd already learned to move her "rightie" then her "leftie" and then her "rightie" again, this was an amazingly easy transition for her. She really seems to love that she can go without help. She's been crawling over to the walker and getting in all by herself!
For the last 2 weeks, we have been working on teaching her to swing "rightie" (her non-prosthetic leg) all the way through. Apparently, most amputees want to stay on their full leg as long as possible because it feels more safe or comfortable and as a result end up taking very short steps with the full leg (they want to stay on it as long as possible!). Our prosthetist said they usually tell older patients to take shorter steps with the leg with the prosthetic and longer steps with their non-prosthetic leg and this will usually correct the gait. Lily's too young to get this, so we have to follow behind and help her. The idea is this will build up "muscle memory" of the correct way to stride.
Here are a couple of cute pictures of her in her walker...
Here's a video of her walking in the walker. It's a little long and not the greatest, but she's just oh-so-cute that it kind of makes up for it!
In Him,
