Truer words....

This morning, as I was hugging on Ella and telling her how beautiful and soft and sweet and smoochie she is Luke walked over to get a hug from his beloved little sister. Ella doesn't awaken in the happiest of moods, so she pushed him away. I told him he should wait a bit because Ella needed her mommy right then.

His response? "I think you need Ella more than she needs you."

He hit the nail on the head with that one. I often hear about how amazing we are for adopting needy children, but I can assure everyone that I was the one who needed them and God was bestowing an ineffable blessing on me by allowing me to have them. Actually, the biggest blessing of all is being allowed to have a part in God's work and God's plan.

I recently received a wonderful update from a friend who is a missionary to a closed country. He and his family have been able to start an orphanage for special needs children, so you can imagine that I loved hearing from him! One part of the update, relating to a mission statement the orphanage is developing, really spoke to me and says what I would like to say:

"God doesn't need us, we need Him. God doesn't need us to accomplish what's on His heart; we get the privilege to be used by Him and be a part of what He is doing. God will accomplish His will, with or without us. We must never be so foolish to think that it's up to us to help these children or they won't have any hope. You cannot carry that burden. You can only steward the opportunity. This is a very special privilege."

Amen.