The 'WOW' factor

Ok...so this is going to take awhile- so sit back & get comfy...

I told you yesterday that we've come across 'enemy fire' with the paperwork/red-tape in trying to get our kids home. When I finally went to bed last night, it didn't look good (in my eyes). There were so many things against us and it could have been one of the worst nights ever- especially because hubby wasn't here by my side! I played scenario after scenario over in my mind, trying to come up with something to 'do.' I prayed, "God, what is going on? What are you doing?" The song 'Praise You In This Storm' came to mind- so I played it over and over, cried, sang & cried some more. I praised Him in the storm. I told Him I would follow Him wherever He led. I told Him I would go 'there' even if I didn't want to. I told Him I would try to be happy if the outcome went the way I didn't want it to. I asked Him to help my heart be ok with His decision. I gave 'it' over and over to Him until I felt the weight leave me. I finally was able to sleep.

At 4am the phone rang. It was hubby needing help with info. on some of the forms he was filling out. I told him I was really struggling and I was having a hard time coping. Hubby told me it was going to be ok, that he had a good feeling about the day. He said that the meeting was 'going to go well.' He just knew it....

It took me about an hour to fall back to sleep. 30 minutes after falling asleep, the kids woke up (still having trouble with the time change). I watched the clock knowing that any moment hubby would be going into his meeting. This was it. The meeting determined if the kids were coming with him or if hubby was coming home alone.

I got a couple of phone calls during that time. I made polite conversation & quickly got off the phone as I was waiting for hubby to call and tell me how the meeting went. 30 minutes before the office closed in Liberia (where hubby was having his meeting), I got an important phone call. This call was orchestrated by God. God came in at the END of the 11th hour and moved His mighty hand! The person on the other end of the line was able to help us. That 'person' called another 'person' who was able to help hubby. God moved in moments- all the way to the other side of the world! I waited to hear the outcome....

5 minutes before the Liberian office closed, I got a return phone call telling me the outcome. I held my breath. The news was good- all 4 children WILL be coming home with hubby. As sure as I am sitting here, God performed yet another miracle today! I will not by any means tell you this has happened by our own doing, it has happened ONLY by the hand of God. We do and will always give Him 100% of the credit for this miracle.

I hung up the phone and I cried. I wept from the depths of my soul. I thanked God in my heart for what He had just done (I couldn't form words at that point)- when I got to the point of actually breathing again- I was able to voice my thankfulness to Him.

I called a close friend and told her what God had just done. I waited for hubby to call me... When he called about 20 minutes later, I told him I knew what happened already. He said, "How do you know?" I simply said, "God just worked a miracle!" We shared our experiences back and forth about what just happened in the last hour, said we loved each other & hung up the phone before his cell phone battery went dead.

Dear daughter #3 came in the room and asked if I had been crying. She looked nervous so I explained to her that I was 'happy-sad.' That's been a term in our house for many years... 'happy-sad' just means that mommy is crying because I'm happy. I might look like I'm sad because I'm crying, but really they are happy tears. I told her that everything is ok and that I was just happy because everything is ok with daddy and that all her brothers and sisters were coming home together with daddy.

It was lunch time & I was so 'fried' that I couldn't even form thoughts to make lunch. I told the kids that God did another awesome thing today that we were going to celebrate God and go have a 'treat lunch.' In our house, treat lunch means a trip to McDonalds or some fast food restaurant. We try very hard not to eat out much (we are trying to eat healthy) so it's a real treat when we do. On the way to town, dear daughter #3 said, "It's so awesome what God did today, it's kinda like that song." She began to sing:
'He's got the whole world in His hands, he's got the whole wide world in His hands....'

That's right, baby-cakes. God has the whole world in His hands & today He showed us once again just how easy it is for Him to work in this world. It feels big to us but NOTHING is too big for God. Amen to that!