*This was written shortly before I went to China for the first time in 2009. As I am currently preparing to return to China to serve at a foster home the story of these girls and their impact in my life rings even truer.
One of the hardest
parts of being a Christian can be having faith. The idea of having faith in
something that we can’t see can be hard to understand, and even harder to
grasp. One of my friends at college shared her favorite quote with me on many
occasions, Faith is not knowing that God can,
but that God will. - Norm Patton.
Throughout the Bible we see examples of how important faith really is.
Imagine being a
shunned by society, never being able to go out on your own, if at all, but, you
know that if you close enough to touch this man they call Jesus you will be
healed, and finally after so many years be able to live a normal life. Or you
are a prominent man whose daughter is very sick. The only thing you know to do
is find Jesus, for He can heal your daughter.
These who people
come from completely different backgrounds, completely different lives. The one
thing they have in common is their faith. Jesus says to the women, “daughter, your faith has healed you” and to the
father “Don’t be afraid, just believe.”
They both believed not that God can….they knew that God would heal, they had
faith when those around them lacked.
Having faith often
happens when you have no idea what the end result will be. The story of the
little girl who everyone thought was dead in the Gospel leads me to introduce
you to two little girls who have played a vital role in keeping my faith
strong, and even testing my faith. These two girls started their lives very
much the same, but I came to know them in very different ways. These two little
girls were placed in orphanages on opposite sides of the world, which began
their journeys toward me.
My journey toward
the first of these girls began in high school when I desperately wanted to go
on a mission trip. Opportunities came up, but just as quickly passed as I had
to have faith that God was planning the perfect trip for me to be a part of.
Finally my chance came, and I was ready to head to Leon Mexico, not fully
knowing what to expect, but I had complete faith that God was planning awesome
things, and was ready to use me and the rest of the team.
That was when the
first little girl came into my life. Her name is Luz, and there is still not a
day that goes by that I do not think of her. She captured my heart, and even
though I didn't know it at the time, she worked her way into my life, opening
my eyes to the world around me, and planting the idea of mission work deep
inside of me. When I returned home, I knew my life had changed forever, but
only God knew where it would go from there.
Shortly after I
returned I babysat for dear friends of mine. I had prayed for their sweet
little girl for months and was beyond excited that she was finally in her
forever home and thriving. As I held and played with this little girl, who had
been adopted from China, my thoughts drifted back to a few weeks before, when I
was doing the same things with my little girl from Mexico, and how much they
reminded me of each other. That day I had no idea how much their impact on my
life would be intertwined.
Before Kristen was
adopted I really didn't give much thought to China, other than it would be
pretty cool to get a chance to visit there someday. After praying for her, and
then meeting her I knew that had changed. She captured my heart as quickly as
Luz did, and I began to hear a small, still voice. God had placed China in my
heart, counting on me to have faith to follow His lead. My thoughts quickly
gravitated towards giving another child a chance, by adopting a child from
China in the future. Little did I know that God was already planning to use me
in much bigger ways, and was slowly preparing my heart for this life changing
experience.
Nothing is possible without faith. In Matthew Jesus tells us,
“Truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” We are not
called to have all of the faith in the world; our faith just has to be the size
of a mustard seed. God can, and will work through any situation he has to when
we have faith that He will. By taking just one small step of Faith, God takes
as many steps necessary to see His will completed for those who believe.
