Am I Making God Famous?

What a question. That was the message preached last night by a visiting preacher at church. It was way up there my list of best sermons I've ever heard. Bro. Skelton defined "giving God glory", as enhancing God's reputation in the world, and making him famous. He stated (what I've always known) that the whole reason for our existence, is for GOD's GLORY. Period, the end. "What are you doing to give God glory?" he asked, and went on about how EVERY situation in our life is an opportunity to either enhance or tear down God's reputation among those in the world. That makes sense, right? People are watching every move we make, the way we deal with things that are thrown into, and even what we do with our blessings. People are watching our reaction and actions based on circumstances in our lives. 

Every circumstance in life is an opportunity to bring glory to God. 

 Then he asked the question, "Is God fair?".  

(WARNING: Completely honest and transparent post ahead.)

I sat there stunned and soaked up every word.  As much as I'd like to portray myself as the perfect Christian who never questions God, or wonders what on earth He is up to, or gets angry when things don't go the way I feel like they should-- I can't. Because, in fact, I do. I have been guilty of those things even this past week. 

Flashback to Thursday afternoon:  In about the span of 3 hours,  a "quick trip" to the vet (a visit required for our adoption paperwork) ended up costing us $200- "Well, Lord, that's a bummer, are you sure you know what you're up to?" I questioned in my heart. A little later, I finally pull into my driveway at the end of a long day, and billows of grey smoke start pouring out of my exhaust pipe. Our faithful mechanic extraordinaire (aka Papa) came to investigate and discovered that my poor car had more than likely blown a head gasket (which is NOT an easy-or cheap fix). Now, as much as I would love to say, my first reaction was "Praise the Lord- I'm gonna give you the glory through this"-- it really went more like this-- "Lord, this really isn't fair. We're doing everything we can to do right- I don't understand why things like this KEEP happening!"  

Needless to say- when the preacher started I knew it was for me. It really encouraged me to examine my life and to improve on the way I react to things. From now on, I'm going to try and ask myself, "Am I making God famous, or giving him a bad name?" and  keep in mind that when things happen- it is not at all because God isn't fair- it's only because he can be glorified through it. And after all, that's what I'm here for anyway. I want God to use my life and the things I go through, to show other people that he can bring them through the same things. It's all for our good and HIS glory! :)  

In adoption news-- Saturday evening we were able to meet the precious little girl who has started making and selling bracelets to help our adoption fund! As of yesterday she's raised over $100 for Baby Jones and she is still taking orders! We are so blessed by her generosity and sweet spirit! :)  We had our FBI fingerprints done today, and we're making so much progress on our mountain of paperwork! We've got appointments tomorrow for our physicals and once we have a clean bill of health- we'll just be waiting on a couple of little things! So exciting! Thank you all for the prayers and support!! 

xoxo, 

Steffani