On your mark... Get set...

GO!

I am writing from an airplane tonight, heading HOME from an incredible, life-changing trip to China with our fifth treasure in tow.  I am happy to go home, but feel as if there is just not enough time to digest the events of the past few weeks, or more specifically, the 8 days since I finally met Rebekah!  She is so much more than I could have imagined!  Precious - afraid- tender hearted- bossy- hurting- joyful -tearful- affectionate- grieving- excited... I have been swept away in all she is and her entrance into my life seems almost like a dream. 

I am reminded though- as I return to life as normal- that some things will never be normal again.  I wonder how all of my other angels will change as they adjust to her presence in our midst.  Will it change my marriage or steal away the little freedom I had remaining in my days?  And while I leave breakfast buffets and hotel maid services behind and the fun-filled days of just getting to know one another becomes a thing of the past, I am reminded that the toughest work lies ahead.  The traumas of abandonment and less attention from Mommy to go around will mean a heavy workload for me in the foreseeable future.  I am happy to go home, but in a moment of gut level honesty- I am nervous.  I feel selfish and wonder if I am up for the challenges ahead.  The call God has placed upon my life means a greater to death to self, and like anyone else, I shrink back at that idea more than I embrace it! 

If I have learned anything about the Lord in this journey, I have learned to see His many tender mercies woven into my days when I most need them.  As we settled into our seats on the plane and I got Rebekah started with an episode of Winnie The Pooh, I began to scroll through the many, many choices of in flight entertainment.  I was shocked to see that the movie "Chariots of Fire" was offered.  While I have known for many years about the famous runner, Eric Lidell, and even quoted him when speaking before, I had never had the opportunity to see the entire movie about his running career and his bid for an Olympic Metal.  Little did I know that God would use this film to tenderly speak to my heart and remind me where I have come from, why I came, and the path He would have me run on the journey ahead. 

Eric Lidell was an amazing runner and there was much promise for him in doing what God had blessed him to do.  But he also felt a call to serve the Lord on the mission fields of China.  He felt a constant struggle between what he felt he was good at and what he sensed to be God's will for his life.  Finally, after much prayer and a refusal to compromise His commitment to honor God in all things, whether running or on the mission field, Eric decided to continue to run.  He understood completely that God is most honored when we do what He has gifted us to do and when we do ALL things for His glory.  His words echoed through my soul, as they have in the past and strengthened my resolve for my own run ahead.

Eric Lidell said this- "God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast.  And when I run I feel God's pleasure."   So He ran and He honored the Lord in his running and he earned an Olympic gold medal in the process!  The movie ends with his triumphant victory in the Olympic Games, but after all the credits had run and honor had been given to all the actors of this amazing story, there was a quiet footnote... "Eric Lidell died as a missionary to China after many years of faithful service".  That little footnote told me so much more about this man than an entire movie on his running career could!  He was committed to honoring the Lord with EVERYTHING he had, and he did!

Being a homemaker is not going to win me a gold medal or any earthly prize.  Neither will it earn me fame or riches.  But if I selflessly love the children God has given to me... If I love and respect my husband as onto Him, and if I care for our household with honoring Him as my ultimate goal, then I can sense His pleasure over me as I do those things too! 

My sense of purpose has been renewed as I make the final lap of this race and prepare to begin a new one when my feet hit the ground at home.  Already I sense God's pleasure and it spurs me on to give it my all!!!!   Strap on your running shoes with me!!!  We have a race to run! 

On your mark...  Get set... GO!


(Following is the video of our homecoming when Rebekah finally met her Daddy for the first time!  It was as miraculous as our Gotcha Day in China 8 days earlier!)

Rebekah finally meets Daddy!