Some of my favorite times with Joshua and Gabrielle are our talking times in the car. My commuting journeys with them are precious to us. One blessing of school being back in session is our drives to and from school each day. As long as the Lord wills it, I will delight in and structure my day around driving them to and from school. I treasure that time…talking, singing, listening, being quiet, being together. Josh and Brie love it, too. (Yes, ugly sibling rivalry disrupts these beautiful moments sometimes!)

One of my favorite chapters in Beth Moore’s book “Feathers From My Nest” is Chapter 2, titled “127,000 Miles”. Beth writes, “Magic moments. Carpool offers priceless opportunities for those….talk to them. And listen. Oh, what they teach us…”

Here is one of those “magic moments” from a recent car conversation that led to family prayer time, a profound question and another great conversation:

“Mommy, we have something we want to tell you. We want to adopt two children. Joshua wants a brother, and I want a sister.” Gabrielle made this announcement rather nonchalantly.

“Yeah, Mommy, but I still want to be the oldest in the family. But Gabrielle doesn’t want to be the youngest, so we have to work it out so these people are the right ages.” Joshua chimed in with his comments. Obviously, the two of them had been chatting about this.

We are blessed to have a few friends who have adopted wonderful children internationally, and Joshua and Gabrielle ask about adoption often. I love their hearts for sincerely wanting adopted siblings and being willing to make room in their hearts and our family for more “people” (mixed in with a bit of their own personal agendas as you can see above). I explained to them what a big decision that was and that Daddy and I would really have to pray about. We’d told them we’d only adopt children if it was God’s perfect will for our family and if He clearly led us in that direction.

So, they asked if we could pray about it together as a family at bed time. We gathered in our master bedroom and all took a turn praying. I loved listening to their little hearts as they prayed with enthusiasm about adopting siblings (of just the right ages and genders, of course).

When we were done praying, Gabrielle said, “Well, what did the Lord say about that, Mommy?”

Wow…what a great question! I loved her question! I told her that this the best question she can ask all throughout her life. And I loved that she expected to hear from God. She knows He will answer.

The Bible says clearly in James 1:27: “Religion that our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Taking care of widows and orphans is a priority to God. It’s a command to us. We pray as a family we honor Him by doing this in various ways. We explained to Josh and Brie that if adopting an orphan is one way God wants us to honor His word, He will make His will clear to us.

For now, we believe the Lord has us taking care of widows and orphans in other ways. Our hearts are quiet before the Lord in trust. “In quietness and trust is your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

What does the Lord say about something concerning you? He’ll speak to our hearts by His Holy Spirit. He’ll speak to us through His written Word, the Bible. He’ll encourage us through others. He’ll be faithful to lead us in all things. He’ll confirm things in our hearts. He will answer.

What does the Lord say about that? Ask Him. Find out what pleases the Lord.