Faithful Friday / Miracles from my Messes

These are our three biological girls, Christy (9), Josey (6), and Katrina (2). These were taken in the fall of 1986, about 6 months after the Lord had told us to be foster parents. So, these were their ages when we started on this foster/adoption journey. One of the most frequent comments that I heard was,

"If you do this, you are going to ruin these three girls that God has already given you!"

It's been about 34 years since God first spoke to me to be a foster parent. I was twenty-eight years old at the time, and I was a mess! I was a closet rageaholic (meaning I hid it from the world), a people-pleasing workaholic, a perfectionist, and a prideful, religious Pharisee (throwing stones at others while I justified my own shortcomings) just to name a few from my long list of many hang ups and bondages! In short, I was a very, messed up hypocrite! 😲 Oh yeah! It’s all true, unfortunately!

I had never heard of inner healing, never heard of deliverance (except when Jesus did it in the Bible, and people acted like it was in there to make the stories more entertaining). My inner healing and deliverance is a whole other story, and today I want to focus on God’s faithfulness in the middle of me being a mess.

Yes, I was a mess, and I knew I was a mess. In those days, my number ONE prayer was,

"Lord, please, make something beautiful out of my messes!"

I felt as if I was messing up at every turn, especially in regards to parenting! I felt inadequate , not enough, and a complete failure. But one of the many things I've learned in the past 34 years is to ignore my feelings and follow my heart. One day, I heard Kris Vallotton say,

"If my friends lied to me as much as my feelings do, I wouldn't have anything to do with them!"

A true statement for sure, but the purpose of this blog is to encourage you, even if you are a mess like I was. God is still in the miracle working business. He not only healed, delivered, and set me free! He also answered my prayers. Remember, those three little girls I told you about? The ones that the naysayers said were going to be ruined if we obeyed God in following Him down this adoption trail?

Well, if these three godly, spirit-filled, lovely young women are ruined, then the entire world needs to be ruined. They are loving and kind. Good wives and great moms! They are surely ruined . . . ruined for Jesus! They love and serve Him! Daddy G has gloriously answered my prayers and has definitely made beautiful lives out of my messes!

Dear Parents, this should bring you great encouragement! If Daddy G could take someone like me that was a bona fide mess, and make beautiful lives like our three girls, then He is perfectly capable of doing the same for you and your children. Keep praying! Keep seeking Him and His wisdom! He's faithful! We have His Word on it!

"Dedicate your children to God and point them in the way that they should go, and the values they've learned from you will be with them for life." Proverbs 22:6 (TPT)

#FaithfulFriday #MiraclesFromMyMesses #Proverbs22:6