Flying Arrows

And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. Isaiah 22:22 As my relationship with the Lord has grown, this is one that thing that the Lord has had to spend a lot of time teaching me: The LORD is in control of our paths.  He is the best planner, the best teacher, the best Father.  He's the best. Some of this learning has come with greater cost than others.  This is the story of a journey that God has gone on with us, that has had the greatest cost to our family. In 2017, we welcomed our fourth child to the world.  He was perfect in every way, and still is.  We had just moved to Kansas City, and were excited to put down new roots with a new community of believers.  We were convinced that our family was complete with this special little boy that was a complete surprise, and if we were ever to expand our family it would come down the road with foster care and adoption...

One of the things I love about the Word of God is how it's so multi-dimensional.  The stories shared in the Bible never have one meaning or application.  There's the immediate application...the future application...the parallel meaning...and so on and so forth. Take the story of the Israelites in the desert.  God was teaching them to trust Him for their immediate provision, right?  He wanted their hearts of obedience as they trusted Him for manna.  But there is so much more to that story when you look back at it as a historical account.  We can analyze the Israelites as a people, and God's ways as a Father.  We can appreciate the way the God pursues His children, disciplines us, and trains us in the ways He wants us to go.  So many dimensions!  Each time we read these stories, we find the blessing of learning more about Him and deepening our relationship with Him. That's what I wanted to demonstrate in the name of this child.  I wanted a...