Exodus 14:14

A while ago, I asked God to break my heart towards the things that break His.  When those words left my lips, I was thinking along the lines of orphans and children in need.  Instead God saw fit to open my eyes (and heart) to many other avenues of despair.

Lately my heart has been hurting. 

A dear friend of mine lost her mother after a battle with cancer.  I can't even begin to understand how she's feeling but my heart just aches for her.  I try to envision losing my mom and I can't even go there mentally.  I want to hug my friends neck, sit with her and pray... and repeat Exodus 14:14 to her.

“The Lord will fight for you…”

I have reconnected with a few people from high school and middle school recently through facebook and to my dismay a few of them are going through seperation or divorce with their spouse.  It breaks my heart when I think of God's intention of marriage and how it is now being lived out in the 21st century.  While I don't know the details (I don't need to cause it's not my business!),  my heart just aches for the families that are breaking, the lives changing and the children in the middle.  At night when I pray for them, I just long to whisper Exodus 14:14 in their ears.

“The Lord will fight for you…”

I've posted and asked for prayers for Sweet Tripp a few times before and on Saturday Tripp left the pain of this world and entered the arms of his Savior.  I rejoice for him; to be pain free for the first time in his life and be in heaven with his Father.  But then I think of Courtney... and my eyes well with tears and my heart starts to race.  To lose the child you've loved for nearly 3 years, to know you will never feel him in your arms again this side of heaven is unbearable.  My heart feels like it's been ripped out whenever I think of Courtney and Tripp.  God fought for Tripp here on earth and Tripp won.  I pray his sweet mama feels God's comfort and peace and that someone she knows directs her to Exodus 14:14.

“The Lord will fight for you…”

A family in my adoption facebook group lost their referral to their 4 year old daughter.  And while God's intended plan for a family, a child being able to live with their parent is fulfilled, the empty arms and broken hearts of people who already loved this little one as their own rips me apart.  Partly because I worry that will happen to us, but also because whether I want to or not, I can feel their pain.

I think of the 150 million orphans in the world, most of whom will never know the love of a family.

I think of the women who make the decision to abort their babies and of the babies that are never born.

I think of the courageous young women who make the decision to put their baby up for adoption and the families that don't have a choice; give their child up for adoption or watch their child starve to death.

And I think of Gabe.  Gabe, who is our knee-walking, talking little miracle.  Our little one that has climbed so many hills, accomplished so much yet has so much more work to do... and I just want to whisper to them all.  Yell it from the mountain tops.  And preach it on the street. 

Right where you are, whatever you are going through.... "the Lord will fight for you..." Exodus 14:14.