Reflections on YES

Since I wrote last, this little word has been on the forefront of my mind. I've dwelled on it's importance, significance, and life-altering ability.

I think of the forefathers of faith who jumped on the wagon with a...No or even a Slow Down. Moses felt he was incapable. Sarah laughed in mockery at God's suggestions. Paul watched the order for Stephen's death to be carried out. Jonah ran as far as he could from the one place God told him to go.

I'm learning more and more, my sin nature screams at the very thing my heart cries YES to as I answer the call of Abba Father.

Sometimes this little answer comes to something big, life-shattering, my world-changing. But others times, it's a stepping stone. It's the prompts of the Holy Spirt that could easily go unknown by the world if we quietly say No.

As I was reminded by Lifeline's executive director Herbie Newell's prayer this weekend, I (we) exist to make God famous. This means every day, I'm given opportunity after opportunity to proclaim his name by saying Yes.

From the beginning, Jamie and I have said we are convinced we're called to this life journey of orphan ministry, but we're even more convinced we're not called to this alone. This last week, I've seen so many Yes' in my life.

• A friend said Yes to God's prompting her to take some of the kids for a morning
• My sweet sister said Yes much more than once to coming to my side
• A friend and her husband said Yes to bringing us dinner at the last minute, completely unexpected.
• A man said Yes to praying for me right then, in my presence.
• A high school gal said Yes to holding my hand while I just blubbered. She never even asked why. She just let me cry.
• A Yes to sending an encouraging text, dropping a phone call, hoping with me...

I could go on and on.

Sometimes, when we watch fellow sisters and brothers in Christ take steps of faith, our tendency is to isolate them. We mean it encouraging. But, in truth, the... You're amazing! I could never! How do you do it? They only isolate.

But...

The littlest Yes' to entering in, holding up one another's arms once again, coming alongside each other, gives us the courage to ignore the lies and believe we can say Yes once again as we make our Savior famous in our obedience.

Yes.

It may be one of the highest honors of my life.

Thursday afternoon, she called. Mattie, our former 13-year-old Chinese foster daughter, called and said, "Catie, I'm getting baptized. I want you there."

At that very moment, my mind had been thinking about all the broken mess that was surrounding us. My heart was so. very. heavy. for the circumstances represented in our home.

Maybe I wasn't made for this.

Then she called.

The Lumpkin eight piled in our car early Sunday morning. We drove a good while, pulling into the parking lot as Mattie's sister gave the one-minute warning from the walkway. With six kids in tow, we hurried through the sanctuary doors to see her in the front baptismal.

My breath was taken away. Tears began to fall.

There was the same girl, who nine months ago looked like she had bottled all the brokenness in the world. There was the girl we had wept over, prayed over, and knelt with as she said, "I want to give my life to Jesus."

But this girl looked so different, marked with purpose, peace and hope.

I sat on the pew, whispering, Jesus loves you into Baby J's ear. Jamie, Caleb, Benjamin and I silently cried as we watched her go under, and rise again...all smiles. I looked around me to see a family, her forever, number one family, delighting in the Father's work.

My family has grown so big.

I turned to Jamie. We almost said no. The truth is we did. We were terrified of a teenager, of an international child. We weren't equipped for that in our thoughts. But however many times we said no to each other, God said yes a million times more. So she came, and God wove us into her story of redemption, of His kingdom expanding.

Jamie looked at me. I know; we almost missed this.

Because of God's YES, I had one of the greatest honors of my life. I saw the very hand of God move in the life of a child. I was on the front lines.

"I am so very happy, Catie," she said to me as we walked around the church afterwards.

So am I.

* The fully story is Mattie's to tell. But we have been given permission from her forever family, to tell our portion here.