"One plus God is sufficient." This is an idea that was shared with me at a church meeting this week and one that has caused me to ponder.

When David slew Goliath, the odds seemed to be against David. He was small, a mere shepherd boy--not a trained soldier, and he didn't even have any armor the right size to protect himself. All he had was a slingshot and 3 small stones. He had God on his side, however, and one plus God is sufficient.

When we decided to pursue all three of our adoptions, it was with nudging from God. Before we adopted Ben, we were content with 4 children, all of whom were already in school all day. What more could I ask for than time for myself during the day, and the ability to go to work without having to pay for daycare?

As is often the case, however, our plan for our lives may not be the same one that God has for our lives, and since He can see the big picture, I have found it best to go with His will for my life rather than my own.

When Micheline's adoption took 19 long months and the program we were in shut down during part of it, it was only God's confirmation that she was meant to be our daughter that kept me going at times. I knew if He said she would come to our home, she would come, regardless of how long it took.

With Caleb's adoption, all common sense said to not go through with it. Other people thought we were nuts, our home was already too small, we received some medical diagnoses on a child that made our lives very difficult, and I decided that we needed to call a halt to his adoption. I had heard someone say to never adopt at the expense of the children already in your home, so Jeff and I talked about it and decided that perhaps we needed to call our agency and back out before it was too late.

The day I was going to call, however, I felt sick inside as if it was the wrong thing to do. We decided to fast and pray about it and during this special time was when I got a very strong confirmation that we did indeed need to carry on with his adoption even though it might not make sense to the rest of the world. This confirmation brought a peace and happiness that filled me with joy. I can only describe it like the sun coming out from behind the clouds on a dark and dreary day.

Others could say we were nuts, but after this confirmation that we needed to continue, it just didn't matter. When others asked why on earth we were pursuing the adoption of an 11 year old boy, the only answer that came to mind was, "I know not, save the Lord commanded it."

Knowing we were meant to continue pursuing Caleb's adoption didn't make everything a cakewalk. Money didn't fall out of the sky, (although we were blessed with money when we needed it for fees), and nobody handed us a bigger house mortgage free. (Don't I wish! Maybe Extreme Home Makeover should read my blog!) :)

Following God's will didn't make Caleb a perfect child either. He has behaviors that annoy me immensely at times, I'm sure the same way I have some that annoy him. It did give me one thing, however...and that was the peace that regardless of how difficult this may be at times, I have the knowledge that he was meant to be our son. Does that mean that his birthparents were merely conduits for him to come to our family? I don't believe so. I do believe, however, that once his birthparents made the choice that they did, that someone needed to step forward to parent him, and God chose our family.

This week as I heard that "one plus God is sufficient", it rang true to my heart. Whatever I need to do, as long as I am following His will for my life, He will give me the strength to do it. One plus God is indeed sufficient.