The Stages of Labor

It has been so long since I've last posted.  In the last almost 3 years I felt like there have been so many things the Lord has spoke to our hearts.  Over the last two years we feel like God has shown us that we have been pregnant with something.  This may sound a little odd for some of you but just go with me for a second.   Three years ago when the Lord told us to start getting our license and foster to adopt we felt like we were almost pregnant with this dream/vision.   Over the last two years we have felt like we have gone through different stages of labor.  The beginning of the "pregnancy" as we will call it we were excited and felt extreme joy about the desire the Lord placed in our hearts and what was yet to come.   Shortly after we were licensed in April of 2010 we got a call about an opportunity to place our home study in on a baby named James.  At that time we felt like the Lord told me to go and open up the book of James and read it. It's funny because although I have read the book of James before I have never paid as much attention or have felt like the Lord spoke to me through it as much as he did this time.  As I opened the book of James and began reading in the second through fourth vs. says, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, and lacking nothing."   We felt immediately that the Lord was going to begin working on the area of Patience in our life.  As I continued to read throughout James there were so many things that we felt like the Lord was speaking to us.  We did not have the opportunity to interview for this baby but I knew that through this God was showing us something.    A while later we had the opportunity to submit our home study on a precious little girl named Patience. We submitted our home study and waited and then later got a call saying we were chosen to interview to adopt little one.  It was an exciting time interviewing for our first time.  If I would have just looked at her name and realized that this was just another thing to teach me PATIENCE.  We interviewed and it wasn't until a month and a half later we found out we were not chosen to adopt her. (God really knows what He is doing.)  This we realized was the point in labor called transition.   Transition during labor is the part of labor when you feel that you can't go on that you are DONE.  You want to give up and feel like you can't press on.  We felt like God was never going to allow us to be used.  We also thought about giving up our license several times because we thought, "what is the point of continuing all this training for nothing."  Looking back we realize how God’s timing is perfect and there are SO many things He taught us before bringing us to the point that we are now. 
................ to be continued