Pause

Psalm 3:3-5 "But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah.  I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me."

Selah.  Have you ever wondered what that means?  It's a name, yes, and an expression, but it's also a term from the Bible.  I have heard that it was an indication to those who would have been singing the psalms in the Old Testament times, to "pause".  Our preacher recently touched on this in one of his sermons, and I have thought back to it from time to time.  

From Bible Study Tools online: (Gesenius and Ewald and others think it has much the same meaning as our interlude,--a pause in the voices singing, while the instruments perform alone.)  

I know growing up and even now, because I have not ever really learned to love music, when a song I like comes on, and it has a pause in the singing, I would just bide the time until the singing started again.  I wondered why they would have that pause in the singing.  Were they wanting to show off the talented musicians?  Were they giving the singers a break?  Well I have been pondering lately on why this would have been in the Psalms of the Bible, and what our preacher said. 

Look at the Psalm above.  He tells of The Lords protection and providence.  Then he cries out to The Lord, and The Lord answered him.  Then you have the Selah, the pause.  Do you think it is meant to cause us to be "still and know that He is God"?

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I wrote the above paragraphs while we were in China getting our son.    

While we were there we met a little girl named Selah.  She was in Fishers foster home.  From the moment we met her she was drawn to us.  Although she had seemed very shy and withdrawn, she held out her hands to be held by me and also by Sterling.  Then she sat in Sterlings lap in the floor for a long time while we sat and watched the kids having preschool.  I was so focused on Fisher at the time I really didn't give her much attention.  She was a beautiful little girl, with sad eyes.  I found out later that she has the same special need as Fisher, congenital heart disease.  

I have followed her through her surgery and been praying for her.  A few months ago I felt like The Lord was leading me to inquire about her to see if she was available for adoption.  Greg made it clear that he was not ready to adopt again, nor did he know if we ever would.  I began to pray that The Lord would lead us and make it clear to us one way or the other.  I want so much to NOT be led by emotions.  I know my heart is easily misled.  

My feelings became stronger and stronger.  I found out that Selahs paperwork was not ready.  I also found out that many people had inquired about her and there was a "very large pool" of families interested.  As I type, that is still the case.  And that is a great problem to have!  I am so excited that the body of Christ is stepping up to defend the fatherless!  But,sadly, that was also the case with Fisher.  We were way down the line on the list to see his file as well.  You see, sadly there are many "window shoppers" in the adoption world.  They see a cute face, feel compassion for them and email to ask about them.  But once they see the child's file and realize how severe the medical needs are, they back off.  I'm not saying everyone is called to adopt children with severe heart conditions.  Not at all.  In fact, we looked at a boys file that had cerebral palsy, and we did not pursue him.  The Lord did not give us peace about that, but for some reason, he gave us peace about Fishers heart condition.   Several families "passed" on Fisher before we got to see his file.  But that was because he wasn't their son!

After months of prayer, Greg told me a couple of weeks ago to put in our application to pursue a little girl.  We don't know how this will turn out.  We do know that adoption has blessed our lives so very much.  We know that God has a heart for orphans, and has given us a heart for them as well.  We know that if we are going to adopt again, whether it's Selah or another child, it will be a work of God.  We don't have the money for the adoption agency payments and are knee deep in medical bills already from Fishers condition.

So many people do not understand why we would want to adopt again.  We say why not?  The Lord has blessed us so much and has given to us so we can give to others.  We have open seats at our table, and open seats in our Yukon.  Sure, we may not be able to pay for them to all have a car when they are 16, but we can love them and lead them to Christ!  

There are 153 million orphans in the world.  But with the Lords help, we can make it ONE LESS...again...And Lord willing, we will.