A Gift

**another blog post... this is what happens when I'm stuck in the house for 3 days with a sick kiddo.**

I know I’ve mentioned on here before that earlier in the year when adoptive families were getting stuck in Uganda for months I was so grateful that I was not in their position. I just knew God would clear everything up and I would not be stuck. Well, as we all know now, that is not the case. Due to my own set of bizarre circumstances, I have been in Uganda for 14 weeks. But here’s the amazing thing, many of these women whowere stuck are now my biggest cheerleaders and encouragers. They’ve been here and done that and I so appreciate their advice, love and understanding. No one else can know what it feels like to be in this particular situation. People can try, but just like any tough circumstance, you don’t fully know until you’ve walked this path. They are a gift to me.

God has used these special women to flood me with encouragement the past 24 hours, really the past 9 weeks. One mom woke up super early this morning with me heavy on her heart. She sent me a long Facebook message with her thoughts, concerns, and advice. This was before she read my blog today or truly knew what was happening. Yet each word she wrote spoke straight to my heart. Without her knowing all of the crazy thoughts in my head, she spoke to each specific thing. Isn’t God amazing? Just the words I needed at the right time. I am so glad she was faithful and got up to send me that note.

Just about an hour later, another mom sent me another long message full of love and encouragement. And another emailed me with some new information and ideas on things to do and sent me numerous emails yesterday. Another replied to my email for prayer within minutes and said she knew exactly how I felt. She told me a couple of weeks ago that her father prays for me by name every day and often asks how I am doing. Wow. These are people I’ve never met in person.

I am grateful to be a very, very small part of the reason these families went through this trial earlier this year. They can now use their experiences to encourage other adoptive families, like mine. Each of them has told me that they are now very grateful for their time in Uganda, even though it was not part of their original plan. Each of them has told me they now can see how God used that time. They help me to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

So, to me, this begs the question… to whom can you be a gift? What trials and sufferings have you been through so that now you can be an encourager to others? Is it a job loss, loss of a parent or child, bankruptcy, divorce, abuse, addiction, miscarriage, infertility, major illness, psychological problem, unwanted pregnancy, caring for an ailing parent, doubting God? Find someone in your life at work, school, church or even online that could use your encouragement. Tell your story. Listen. Love. It helps a lot just to know someone else knows how you are feeling and that you are not alone. Use your experiences to help others. This Christmas season… be a gift.