Quieting us with His love, Rejoicing over us with singing

There is no real news from Liberia whatsoever, but I did receive  a few photos of precious Daniel this week. I love how peaceful he looks as he sleeps. I know his waking hours are not so peaceful.  BUT, unlike the precious little boy named Varney  (also in Liberia) that some of you have heard about  and are praying for, Daniels' head seems to have slowed down in the speed of its hydrocephalic growth. He looks  more "proportional" to me  than he ever has...certainly still in need of his shunt surgery, and much physical therapy to hopefully restore some hand and foot muscle tone so he can one day use his arms and legs,and with occupational therapy too, perhaps a measure of his vision. 

How we are praying that he will indeed be allowed to come home in May! I can't believe I am writing that...we have been hoping  month after month for so many months, and now April is about spent as well.

Perhaps it was that I needed to be available, really available, for these two weeks of April for Anita and Eric's children MORE than I needed to be Daniel's face-to-face , in-my -Mamma-arms-Mamma? That is how it all played out and since we have been praying for God's perfect timing, I know this was just  that.  As I continue to pray over God's perfect will for my life and all of its wonderful facets, I see that God has indeed done some chipping on the facets of His stone: my heart,   over the past two weeks, to make those facets  smoother and shinier. I was reminded afresh this week too that our lives as believers  are  really  about walking on water with Jesus. AND I saw how quickly I can take my eyes off of Jesus by looking at the "water" on which I am walking and start to sink...........and to suck up a lungful of that "water". These two weeks of having four  extra children while my husband was out of town  have gone well, really well. We had two mishaps, in which God was very gracious, but its been good. This morning while trying to clean up the kitchen and other morning chores, awaiting a new goat milk custormer, Jael  had overslept and was late for school, Baby Charlie was cranky, I was staring at and yet another cold half-consumed  cup of coffee,  In a  moment,  I let my "eyes" go to "the water" instead of  them being fixed on Jesus where they have been most of the time over these past two weeks. WOW! I sank so fast  in "oh I am too tired" and  the throes of a pity party for "poor me" ! All of  a sudden, I was coughing and sputtering with a lung full of  "see water" (What I could see, not what God was doing) . Funny because my  Sunday School lesson last Sunday  was about Peter walking on water with Jesus.  I made a big dramatic  deal about his looking around at what he was doing  instead of looking at Jesus and how that's when he sank and  began to cry out frantically  to Jesus for help  to be lifted up out of the waves. That  is exactly where I found myself in my kitchen this morning!  THANKFULLY  God brought my lesson to the young  children into my mind before "both lungs filled up". As I cried out  to Jesus to get me back on the waters and not under them, He so faithfully  lifted me up with those wonderful words "Be of good cheer, don't be afraid!"  Then the  words of Zephaniah 3:14, 16, and 17  came to me "Sing oh daughter of Zion! Shout oh Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart Oh daughter of Jerusalem!.............Do not fear,  Zion do not let your hands be weak, The Lord your God in your midst The Mighty One will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness  He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing!" I'm back up on the "waters" of my life and  MY GOD IS SINGING  OVER  ME!!!!     I am singing to Him, but HE IS SINGING OVER ME!!