God's Beautiful Story

 

 

 

This is our latest update on our son Braden from China.  We are so excited to be called his mommy and daddy soon.  Karsten and Kylie are thrilled as well.  We are amazed once again at God's ways.  Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Glorious Unfolding" speaks so personally to me (I will share some of the lyrics in this post).  In fact, his songs ministered to me during my season of suffering.  Now Steven's songs the last six years have been his psalms.  He and his family are transparent in their suffering after their daughter Maria left this earth.  This song below fits my family so well.  We didn't and still don't have to understand why God took Kyler.  Just trust Him.

 "Cause I know this is not anything like you thought the story of your life was gonna be.  And it feels like the end has started closing in on you but it's just not true.  There's so much of the story that's still yet to unfold..."

God revealed to us years ago about adoption.  The deep abyss Brad and I were in left us clinging and crying out to God.  God has used our suffering to point others to Jesus, the One who suffered tremendously for us.  It took experiencing pain and loss for me to know Christ in His sufferings. 

"God's plan from the start for this world and your heart has been to show His glory and His grace...and the story has only begun...and this is going to be a glorious unfolding.  Just you wait and see and you will be amazed.  We've just got to believe the story is so far from over.  So hold on to every promise God has made to us and watch His glorious unfolding."

This is God's story He has written for us.  We still don't know what may come our way, but we trust Him as we continue to live for Him and walk with Him.  This journey is all about Him!

We love you Braden Matthew Chengjin Evans!! 

"We were made to run through fields of forever, singing songs to our Savior and King.  So let us remember this life we're living is just the beginning of the beginning."

 

What Is Your Greatest Reality in Your Darkest Moment?

Tornadoes have swept through Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, and Tennessee the last couple of days.  Families are grieving the death of loved ones.  As I was having my quiet time with God this morning, I thought about how God is everywhere (He is omnipresent).  He was with the people who were affected by the storms just as He was with us last night, as we thanked Him for protecting us from tornadoes.  It happens every second around the world.  Where one may be in his or her darkest moment, someone else is having his or her happiest moment.  The day I gave birth to Karsten and the day God gave us Kylie were some of the happiest days of our lives, but somewhere around the world those particular days were the worst for people.  Just as the day I gave birth to Kyler but he had already slipped away in the sovereign hands of God, that was a difficult time in our lives, but for many that was a great day. 

What is your greatest reality in your darkest moment?  For me, it was an all-powerful, ever present God.  I walk by faith, not by sight.  Even though I've never seen Him, I know He exists.  And God rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).  I'm sure the families who were in the paths of the tornadoes were crying out to God to protect them.  He heard their prayers and He answered according to His perfect will.  But remember He still answered.  Brad, Karsten and I prayed for Kyler from the time I found out I was pregnant.  We prayed for good health for him and for protection over him.  We prayed on the way to the hospital while in labor.  Did God hear us?  He sure did.  And He answered our prayers according to His sovereign will. 

This life is hard.  There will always be suffering until Jesus Christ returns.  We as believers must endure while we focus on what Christ has accomplished for us.  Let's remember to weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice. 

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2). 

Spring Is Coming: Not the Season but the Resurrection

March is usually an exciting time for many people. With Spring coming we think of warmer weather and flowers blooming. It is a beautiful time of year. Plus Easter is always around the corner. The timing of Kyler's death is very interesting to me.  The morning I went into labor it was very cold. We didn't know he was in distress. We were just anxious to arrive at the hospital to meet our little boy. It would be just a few hours later that Kyler would go to live with Jesus. 

A week later Brad and I left the hospital.  It was so painful, yet we had hope.  Leaving the hospital with empty arms reminded me of the empty cross and the empty tomb.  We had and still have HOPE because of what Jesus accomplished for us!  When we walked outside the temperature was in the 70s.  People were wearing shorts and the sun was brightly shining.  Exact opposite of just a week earlier. 

March 22 will be 10 years our lives changed.  10 years of knowing our Savior Jesus in a way that we would have never known Him had we not walked down that dark road.  We have learned what it truly means to trust in Jesus, to delight in Him, and commit our ways to Him, as Psalm 37:4-5 says.  Knowing the One who suffered immensely for my sins.  I love the lyrics to Casting Crowns' song Just Be Held.  "Your world's not falling apart, it's falling into place.  He's on the throne, stop holding on and just be held."  God's plans cannot be thwarted.  He is working everything out for His glory and our good.  I still struggle with understanding that at times.  But that's okay, He knows that. 

So just like the cold day when Kyler went to heaven, then the warm spring day we went to our house without him, so will be the day when Jesus will return and those who have died in Christ like Kyler will burst forth from the graves and we who are alive and are Christ followers will meet the Lord Jesus in the air!  SPRING IS COMING!!  The new heaven and the new earth will be glorious.  No more tears, no more pain.  Thank you Jesus!!!  And then we will see with our eyes the SON shining brightly!