The title of my blog today is "His Name and His Renown". No, it is not Malachi's name and Malachi's Renown that I am talking about. It is the Name of my God and my God's renown that I am speaking of. For He alone deserves all of the glory and honor for what He has done in our lives. I have been continually reminded of my inadequacies and weaknesses over the last year - how prone I am to worry and to doubt are just a couple. Our church is in the process of purchasing land for a facility and the verse that we have clung to is Isaiah 26:8, "Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts." I decided today that verse along with Proverbs 3:5-6 ("Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight") are going to be life verses for our family. For without Him, there would be no Malachi in our lives. I want my son to be a light for Jesus - telling others with words and with his life about the name of Jesus. Not for Malachi's name and renown but for Jesus'. I want us both to be living for that!
WE ARE FOUR DAYS AWAY FROM THE FINALIZATION OF MALACHI'S ADOPTION!!! June 14th is the big day for us. I have had my (needless) worries along the way, but the day is almost here! Ultimately, I am learning to trust that my Lord is loving, sovereign and gracious. He knows all things and I can entrust my sweet son to Him. With that said - I am so excited that Malachi will officially be a Miller on Thursday! Yay! God has proven Himself in faithfully confirming His desire for me to raise this baby boy - in Malachi's birth mom naming him the same name as I had chosen a year before he was born and for the way He has answered prayer after prayer.
Today in church we were asked to complete the following sentence: I bless the Lord for ______. Immediately I knew what my answer with be. I bless the Lord for answered prayer. Not just the answered prayer of finally receiving my baby boy but for all of the prayers that he has answered for this single mom. I want to list a few of the prayers he has answered so speedily for me over the last 14 weeks +.
- That Malachi's birth mom would make the right decision for the baby and herself.
- That God would make it clear to me that this baby was the right one for me - by the birth mom naming him the same name I had chosen.
- Answered prayers of a new mom who was concerned about his sleeping, eating, etc - by sending an solicited call from my friend, Rose, who is a pediatrician, who was able to answer my many questions.
- When Malachi was learning to go to sleep on my own and was crying, crying, crying, I asked the Lord if this was the right thing to do at that time. After the next feeding he went to sleep with only eight minutes of crying - a confirmation to me that he was getting the hang of it.
- When Malachi started day care, I prayed that the Lord would give me evidence that his babysitter really cared about him. The next day when I went to pick Malachi up, she told me how wonderful he was and that her helper wanted to hold him the whole time she was there :). This meant so much to a Mommy who always wanted to stay home with her baby.
- Over the last week I have had concerns about his skin care, hair care, sleeping and eating. Last night I went to our church's hog roast and my friend, Emily, who is a doctor was able to answer questions for me.
- He has answered my prayers about whether or not to get Malachi up from his crib when he has woken up crying - by Malachi quickly calming down. (Seems like a simple prayer but when your baby is screaming - it isn't so simple ;) ).
Goodness, this was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Thanks for reading to the very end. For a reward for finishing, here are a few of my favorite pictures of my sweet Malachi! :)
