Encouragement

Chris and I decided this year to read through the Bible. My reading assignment today included Mark 9:1-29. God has been speaking to me lately regarding my faith in Him and this passage challenged me alot. It's about the boy with the mute spirit. Jesus' disciples could not cast out the spirit so the boy's father asked Him to help the boy. Jesus said to him, " If you can believe, all things are possible to Him who believes." The father of the boy responded, " Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!". That pretty much sums up how I've been feeling lately. I believe that God is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do but I struggle sometimes with whether or not He is willing. Especially regarding our adoption. This time of silence where nothing seems to be happening, I waiver in my belief. I hate it but it's true. It just seems so surreal sometimes that we are actually in the process of adopting because I don't see or hear anything happening.
After reading my assigned scriptures, I read my devotional for today in Today In The Word. God spoke to my heart again. The devotional read " As brothers and sisters in Christ, we protect each other from self-delusions. Sin is deceptive. We usually sin because we rationalize our behavior. We convince ourselves it's no big deal. Our heart and will surrender to the excuses of our mind, and only someone else can point out our self-deceit. A loving brother or sister needs to say, 'You've got it all wrong. And you're headed for disaster.' In addition to admonition, we need encouragement when were ready to throw in the towel." Hebrews 3:13 says, "Encourage one another daily...so that none of you may be hardened by sins deceitfulness." I want all of you who have been praying for us and encouraging us thorough this long adoption journey to know that we are so thankful. Without your encouragement, we would have thrown in the towel long ago. I also want to say to all of our fellow adoptive blogger friends that I hope to be an encouragement to you as all of you are to us. I'm so thankful for our fellowship.