Are We Willing to Listen?

Jeremiah 29:11-12 says, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.Then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you."

This the life God has given us, for better or worse we must walk the path he has laid before us. We are simply guided by his direction and will. The question for every Christian is, are we willing to listen and obey? Are we willing to surrender all our fears and emotions to the Lord, by putting our faith in Him?

Six years ago, my husband Chris and I became foster parents of two little girls whom we intended to adopt. The year was 2005 and my husband a soldier in the United States Army was about to be deployed to Iraq. The “path” (meaning our plan) was we would complete the girls adoption process when he returned home from his tour. Those were our plans not God’s. The girls would be returned to their biological mother ten months into his deployment. Now, I’m not going to get into the multiple details concerning why and how they were returned; but because “our plan” had been changed, my husband and I were rocked to the core. I was left with an empty house, empty beds and my whole world torn apart. Not only was I was dealing with the fear of my husband not returning from a war zone, the one thing I wanted more then anything was to be a mother, and now that had also been taken away from me. Chris and I were separated oceans apart, both left clinging to our faith, that this was somehow, someway in God’s hands and a part of his great will. Remembering Jeremiah 29 vs 11-12 and holding on that there would be a glimmer of hope in all this, we marched forward with life.
Then about a year later, God’s plan started to take place and what a ride it would be! We had recently come down on orders, to PCS (Permanent Change Of Station) from Fort Stewart Ga, to Fort Knox KY. We were still heartbroken over what had transpired with the girls, but with faith, and our hope renewed, we made the move. Fort Knox, nestled in the north western part of Kentucky was not the place I would have picked to launch our family. Little did I know that within one years time, God would answer my prayers and strengthen my faith.

In February of 2007 after months of waiting and praying for God’s direction in our lives, we received “the phone call” from the adoption agency we had been working with. It appeared that the state of Kentucky was at “the end of the road” with a certain pair of little boys, in much need of love, discipline, shelter and a home to call their own. Travelle and Travon at the time were five and four years old and had grown up in the foster care system. Right from the get go they were a 100% “all boy” with tons of energy and inquisitiveness. After sometime of getting to know Travelle and Travon, we made the transition to become a family of four moving them into our home Easter weekend of that year.

Now we know that all things work together for the glory of God, remembering our prayers from Georgia, and holding on to the steadfast faith that we were going to adopt the boys in a few months would be the conclusion of our prayers of petition to God for children. Would I be out of line, if I told you I believe God has a sense of humor? Well in my humble opinion he does. After five years of fertility treatments with no success, two years as foster parents with no fruit to show for our love and labor. An interrupted attempt to adopt, cross country travels to and fro to meet adoptable children, it happened! What happened you ask? Against all common logic, against many doctors professional opinions, against medical proven knowledge, God rewarded our faith with an answer to our prayers. On November 1, 2007 our son Malachi was born, and two months later we finalized the adoption in a court of law of Travelle and Travon making us a permanent forever family. See faith is what drives us and connects us to our creator. God was saying yes to our prayers.We went from zero kids to three kids in about nine months! We settled in as a family of five and thought our life was complete.
Once again God began to orchestrate His plans for our lives. Just after we had finalized the adoption of Travelle and Travon, Chris came down on orders for Recruiting Duty. Anxious to have a break from deployments and training schedules we looked forward to living in the civilian world again. In the spring of 2008 after we had adjusted to life in Ohio, we began to think with three boys a girl would be nice.

Now I will admit I was not as sure as my husband was that we could make a smooth transition from a family with three kids too a family of four. Quite frankly, the thought of a fourth child really intimidated me. In a sense I felt that having four kids would create the concept of a “big” family I did not think I was ready for. We proceed to meet with the caseworker to complete the necessary adoption paperwork. I was real specific almost dare I say “testing” God a bit when we talked with the caseworker about a child we wanted to adopt. I told the caseworker we wanted a girl between the ages of two and three. If she had a sibling that would be fine, but only one sibling and they had to be between the ages of two and three as well. My thought was OK God, if it is your will to have us adopt again I am willing but under these circumstances. Now, recall for a moment in the book of Genesis when Sarah laughed when she found out she was to have a baby. Sarah was old the Bible says, she along with Abraham were well advanced in years. Sarah most likely had lost all hope in having a baby. But Genesis 18:14 states that God asks Abraham “Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for the Lord.?” Sarah was given her baby just as God had promised, and a week after we filled out the paperwork the caseworker brought the kids pictures to us. Laney was three and her brother Anthony was two. It was as if God was saying to me why do you doubt my plans? Why do you test what you know I can do?

We spent that summer of 2008 getting to know Laney and Anthony and getting all the kids acquainted with each other. Moving them into our home permanently the day before Laney’s fourth birthday. Eleven months later we finalized the adoption of Laney and Anthony expanding our family once again. On the day of their adoption we also had another surprise as I was five months pregnant with our sixth child! Levi was born New Years day 2010. God had answered our prayer of petition for children giving us a houseful of six kids in just three years!

God knows the plans for our lives. He is ready and willing to reveal them in His time. The question is are we ready to pray and ask God to direct us on our path? If you had asked me when I got married nine years ago would I have planned this. In one word No! But that’s the beauty of God’s plans. They are always bigger and more wonderful then we can every imagine. Is my life busy crazy and chaotic at times, of course! But, I would never trade it for anything the world has to offer. God knows each of our strengths and weaknesses, leading us down our paths as He intends. Walking with us each step of the way. The question is are we willing to listen?


So my question for you today is this, what plans does God have for you in your own life? Maybe life changing like a child, or a move. Maybe as simple as reaching out to someone, or a volunteer opportunity in your church or community. As you have read a glimpse into my life and God’s blessings in it, I hope and pray for you to have an open heart. That you have a willingness to be open to God’s plans for you life, and that you are willing to listen.

--Cassie