Something that sparked your faith

I think I would have to take my husband! My father died when I was 11 of cancer, grandparents on his side were not in my life after his death, my other grandparents died, both of cancer, my only uncle killed himself. Needless to say, although I was a Christian and firmly believed in God I sometimes doubted that anything good was meant for me. It seemed that everyone I ever loved just went away until my husband came along. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me by a long shot and he truly is what gives me faith.

Weeeell, probably my mother, my husband, and then my children - in that order. My mom was a very strong Christian woman; not always, but God built her faith, precept upon precept, line upon line. She showed me by word and deed how to live out my faith, both in life and in death (the process of dying).My husband had a horrible childhood, culminating with losing his foster father in jr. high, and his foster mother the last year of high school. His childhood homes (the two with his long term foster parents) were both destroyed. He was left with nothing tangible to show for his childhood by the age of 18. And yet...he still clung to Christ and all the promises God gives us. He is a stable and solid influence on my flighty and fidgetty self!My children are each special, of course, and not just because they are mine. :D My oldest was a huge surprise because we didn't think we could have bio children. Her delivery was shaky, and she and I both almost died. Then we began to adopt and each of our children have special needs (prenatal/postnatal drug problems, emotional issues stemming from neglect and being bumped from one home to the next, that kind of thing). They have all taught me incredible amounts about how patient God, our Heavenly Father, is with us, His very wayward and stubborn children! LOL I can't read the Bible in the same way as I did before having children. God has changed my perspective so completely it is amazing to me!

I would take my husband, and then my kids, and then my church family. I had a not so pleasant childhood. I always prayed God would provide a good, strong Christian man for me, and He did. My faith has grown through watching how he stands up for what he believes in, and he doesn't back down, yet he's still so loving about it all.Barki, I can picture God smiling down on us, His children, when we misbehave. You know how sometimes you just have to smile about whatever they've done (of course, not usually in front of them).

I would bring a picture of my late Grandmother. I wish I could express in words the wonderous inspiration she was to me. My Grandmother was born and raised in Poland. When she was 21 years old, her home/town was razed to the ground; she was ripped from her family and thrown into Auschwitz-Birkenau where she suffered unthinkable acts for 3 years. There she met my Grandfather, who eventually brought her and my Dad over to the US where he basically abused and abandoned them and my two aunts. Throughout all of this, her faith in God never waivered. She never turned her back on Him, and never believed that He turned his back on her, even in the darkest of times. My Grandmother is the single greatest inspiration in my life.

When we were in the process of adopting our daughter from foster care, we had many ups and downs. At one point we were told that our paperwork had not been stamped approved and we would not have time to get it done to be considered for the staffing. Our hopes of being chosen for this child that we had known and loved was over.That day I found a rock in my car. It had the word BELIEVE written on along with flowers and the sun. I soon found out that the rock had been there for over a year. It was there from when our daughter first asked us to consider adoption. WE were taking her home from VBS that night and it sparked our journey to adoption. THat rock was there for many cleanings and was never noticed. We soon found out that we had overcome the odds and we did get our daughter. I still have the rock from when we first thought of adoption. The rock reminds me that God has a plan for us and I need to listen and believe that it all will work out.

Thank you for sharing this.

I honestly can't put them in oder, but each one of these people have helped build my faith. My dad is our spirtual leader. He is also our Pastor. He is a Prayer Warrior. I depend on him so much for HIS faith. My mom is one of dearest friends. She loves the Lord and does her best daily to be what HE wants her to be. She keeps us in line too, lol! My husband is my rock. He is such a God loving man. He is the kindest, gentlest person. I love him dearly. I can never Thank God enough for giving me this wonderful man to love and cherish. My DD is a gift from God. We tried to conceive for 4 yrs when I finally became pregnant. My pregnancy was hard. Delievery even harder. Had to have emergency c-section where I hemmorraged really bad and almost bled to to death. She loves the Lord and is amazing at 7 yrs old. My DS was our second precious gift. It took 3 yrs to conceive him. The way I found I was pregnant with him is an awsome story I will share at a later time, when I have time. That gave me a jolt of faith! He is our "little preacher". He will preach to us and make us listen, lol. He will stand on the end table with his "papa tie" on and preach and sing his heart out. At 3 yrs old, he knows alot about God's Love. Our newest soon to be aDS is a precious Blessing. I believe God is doing a work there that will increase my faith beyond words. At 3 months old, he fills a place in my heart that I honeslty didn't know was empty til he came into my life. He completes our family.

THe way that my son and I came together to be a family is a true story of God's work. When I thought of International adoption, I thought I would have an Asian daughter. Everywhere I turned, somthing just wasn't right. China limited singles. Vietnam was considering this. I couldn't afford Russia or Guatemala. Equador meant a longer wait. I chose Bulgaria. It was a new program with my agency. Things went exactly as planned. This child couldn't be anymore like me. We have similar personalities, we even have the same allergies. As it turned out, Vietnam closed for a short time which would have delayed me considerable has I chose there. Equador had problems too. I don't remember what they were. Guatemala had a slow down at that time. So, I guess I chose well. Shortly after bringing my son home, Bulgaria started to change their criteria and procedures. Very few children are coming home from Bulgaria. Everything happened just right. When I started people asked me if I requested a boy or a girl, I said Whatever God gives me, it's not for me to choose.