Did God make a mistake?

"No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:37-39

It's been almost five years to the day since we got the call that a certain little 8-year old boy needed a new foster home. We were prepared for the call, we had started the licensing process and met him and his current foster family for the first time a few weeks prior. My husband and I talked it over and prayed about it and, as I was praying, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge my heart with this verse: "whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do to Me" (Matt 25:40). I knew in my heart that Dakota was supposed to come to our home (how he came into our life is a story for another day 😉), so we notified the case worker, and Dakota moved into our home on October 30, 2016. 

That day began the long road of fostering - the supervised parenting visits, the doctor's visits, the therapy visits, the unannounced home inspections, the case worker meetings, the trainings, the list goes on. The goal of fostering is always reconciliation with the birth parent. The goal was for this sweet boy to go back to a safe and loving home with his birth mom. He lived every day with the expectation that he was going home, and we had to have multiple conversations explaining why it just wasn't safe for him to do so. It was heartbreaking for him, and for us.  

Dakota's half siblings were in different foster homes at that time, and one morning during a parent visit, the other foster moms and I met for coffee. We were six months into our journey and I was so tired, so discouraged, so defeated. I had been certain this is the path God had called us down, but it was so hard. As I sat and talked with the other, more seasoned foster moms, I shared how overwhelmed I was with everything and the truth just kind of slipped out - 

"I know this is what God wanted us to do, but I think God made a mistake." 

There, I'd finally said out loud what I'd been thinking. Surely God made a mistake. Surely there was a family better equipped for this fostering process. Surely there was a better mom than me somewhere in this county. Surely this wasn't supposed to be so hard. 

 

Once I uttered the words out loud, I knew I had a big problem. In my finite thinking, God wouldn't call me to do a hard thing. If He called me to do something, He would make it easy for me to do. He would give smooth sailing to a sweet family ending, all wrapped up in a pretty, little bow. Reality is much different. Reality is hard. Reality is acknowledging that following God's leading isn't always pretty.

I wish I could tell you that I surrendered my way of thinking right there and that was the end of it, but that's just not the case. I went to God over and over and over again, praying for His wisdom, His grace, His kindness, His mercy. There is nothing like being a foster parent to highlight all of your shortcoming as a parent. I knew if I was going to do what He had called us to do, I needed His guidance every step of the way. I had to daily acknowledge that God brought our family together for a reason and He makes no mistakes. 

After two years in foster care, Dakota was adopted into our family in May 2018. We were surrounded by all friends, family, coworkers, church family, and all his 4th grade classmates (class field trip to the courthouse!). More importantly, Dakota accepted Christ as his Savior and was adopted into the family of God that same year. 💙

If you've ever followed God's leading and realized it was so much harder than you could have ever anticipated, I hope to encourage you with these truths from God's Word. 

"This God - his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him." - Psalm 18:30

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and thoughts higher than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9

"God is not man, that he should lie, or son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and he will not do it? Or has he spoken, and he will not fulfill it?" - Number 23:19

You may not understand His leading, you may feel defeated and discouraged, as I did - but you can always rest in the promises and the goodness of God. God makes no mistakes.

Page Details

I created this page in my ESV Scripture Journal using Distress Inks as the background, then stamped the rest of the background and title using the following stamp sets: Berry Branch Backgroun, Typewriter Text Background, Typewriter Blocks Alpha, Rebecca Script Alpha, All in All, and Faith Wordfetti Too. 

  

  

I have a handy little Sizzix Sidekick die machine and have slowly been adding to my die collection. These Mini Tag Dies are perfect for my little machine and for creating teeny tags, such as the That's Love tag in this page. 

Much love in Christ, 

Janelle

@journalingjoy

Noah's Ark

Growing up in church, one of the first bible stories you learn about is Noah's Ark. God was upset with the way all the people he created were living so he decided to wash away all of the sin and start over. Of course, that's not really to point you focus on when teaching small kids about the story. You learn about the flood, that God told Noah to build an ark, and that all the animals in the world filled the ark... two by two. 😊 And after all the flood waters receded, God sent a rainbow to promise he would never flood the Earth again.

Genesis 9:15-16

"I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. 

Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 

Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, 

I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between 

God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 

When you think about the reason God sent the flood, it's a little overwhelming to think about just how mad and hurt God must have been to decide that he just needed to wipe the slate clean and start over. I mean, he put so much time into creating this world, the animals and all the people in it. He loved us dearly! But we sinned against him SO MUCH, that he decided there was nothing else he could do but do away with all of the sin by starting all over with new people.

Genesis 6:5–8
"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord."

God chose Noah to be the one to build the ark. Noah was a righteous person who led a good life and believed in God. Noah obeyed God's commands and did as he asked and in return Noah and his family were saved and chosen to in time, repopulate the earth. What a weight of responsibility Noah had on his shoulders!! Can you just imagine?!

Noah is one of the great men of the bible and with the release of our new Brotherly Love stamp set, I know I wanted to illustrate him and part of his story. This page was a lot of fun to create and I kind of felt like a little kid revisiting this story and soaking in the story in a different way that I did when I was younger. When God sent the rainbow after the flood, it must have been such a beautiful sight to Noah and his family! The first rainbow ever to be seen! And now every time we see a rainbow, I tell my kids why we have rainbows!! So in completing this page I really wanted the rainbow to be bold and important. So I chose to have it stand up off the page covering the words of this beautiful story. 

I wish I could say this rainbow was fun to make.... but it was really quite difficult trying to make it stand up on the page exactly the way I wanted it too. And sadly, I wasn't able to figure out exactly how to fold it so it would pop up off my page as you open my bible 😔. So I ended up folding the edge of this cloud so it rests on my page but not permanently attached to it. I have listed all the various elements used for this page below.

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

Brotherly Love 

Script Outline Alpha

Skinny Minnie Alpha

Little Leo Lion Digital Stamp

You're Giraffe-ic Digital Stamp

What Anchors Your Soul?

Because God wanted to make the 

unchanging nature of his purpose very clear 

 to the heirs of what was promised, 

he confirmed it with an oath.   

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things 

in which it is impossible for God to lie, 

we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us

 may be greatly encouraged.  

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

We can see on every turn that life seems to be getting more chaotic, out of control.  People are looking for security, for hope, for something to anchor them.  Thankfully the believer has a reliable source for these needs.  Right in the center of Hebrews 6 you can see the heading, The Certainty of God's Promise.  Not much in life is certain.  I've heard the joke that nothing is certain but death and taxes. Now I'm hearing people saying things more like "taxes will be the death of me"...so maybe those two realities are all wrapped up together! 

Joking aside, there is a serious side to be considered regarding the certainties of life.  When people are searching for an anchor it usually means they are experiencing rough waters.  Some times our life-tempests surely seem like they will overwhelm and drown us.  That's when we turn to God's Word, to His promises for hope and security.  Only God can anchor our soul. Only the Master of the Sea can still our troubled waters.

I believe this passage in Hebrews is very powerful.  We can depend on, be anchored to, God's unchanging nature.  God is not fickle, He is bent by nothing other than His own will.  Nothing will foil the plans that God has.  God's Word and the principles He sets for our eternity security are rooted in His promises.  

God is an anchor because His nature is unchanging.  And He is an anchor because He cannot lie.  Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life..." (John 14:6).  This bold declaration from Christ's own lips says far more than "I will tell the truth."  He is saying that He IS the Truth.  All truth is anchored in Christ.  And we are blessed that He chooses to reveal His truth, His nature to us so that we will always be anchored and secure in the certainty of His promised to us.

The next time your are buffeted by tumultuous waters, remember that the Master of the Sea is an anchor for your soul.  Every single one one of His purposes for you will stand. You can depend on His Word for your life because He cannot lie.  And He cannot, will not lie because His nature, His character is unchanging. 

I used Kuretake watercolor paints for the background, and the set Master of the Sea for this page.  I stamped the anchor on white cardstock, colored it with Copic markers then adhered it to the side bar.  The sets used: Master of the Sea (left) and Choose Faith (right).

Diane's Daydream Designs