Speaking a Blessing
In the evenings when all is calm in our house I spend a bit of time going through a list of blogs that I enjoy following. A handful of these blogs are from fellow adoptive parents and friends who are reflecting upon raising their children and their current adoption journies. My husband looks across the room at me as I laugh out loud at their stories, as I shake my head in understanding at their experiences on the adoption road, and as I let out a sigh that communicates that thier words made an impact on my heart.
I want to share with you a glimpse of a blog that is written by a friend of mine who is currently in the waiting phase of the adoption process for a sibling set from Ethiopia, Africa. She and her husband along with their three children began the adoption process thinking they would adopt one child at this time and perhaps adopt again in the future. But, they have chosen to adopt a sibling set after considering how many children in the world need to wake up in the stable and loving arms of a family. They are prayerful, hopeful, exicted, and have open and ready hearts. Sherry uses her blog as a way to get her feelings out as she waits. It is a form of therapy that many a felllow adoptive mother has found!
She posted yesterday that although she knew the day would come she found herself unprepared at the first negative comment made to her regarding the adoption of her children. I do not konw the exact comment that was made to her, but I do know that it was an implied that by adoption older siblings of another race she was setting herself up for uneeded difficulties. The comments hit her heart and she was not able to simply let them go.
Words have power.
A day later a friend spoke another set of powerful words over her. This time the power of the words were not destructive, instead they fortified the stronghold of her dedication to her adoption, beliefs, and faith. Read slowly.
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:58
My friends wrote in her blog this that I want to share:
“And so I’ve been pondering on the power of the spoken word. It can be a curse or a blessing. How often have I failed to speak encouragement over someone who needs it? Do I only encourage when I sense someone is down and out? How often have I spoken careless words that have left a sting in someone else’s spirit? How often have I tried to encourage someone with my own words, when the Lord’s words would be so much better? Ask the Lord to give you a word for someone who needs to hear from Him. Your words are more powerful than you know! So I encourage first myself and then you – speak blessing and encouragement over those you encounter today.”
Today, after you take a sneak peak at the Semlow Adoption Blog I ask you to take some time to consider her words. Speak blessings to those around you. And, just for an added blessing to yourself if you know another adoptive parent give them a call and with your words lift them up. Your words will come back to them during a time when someone else may have spoken destruction.
