Hearing God’s voice while building my family!
Meet our amazing Guest Writer, Sloan Walsh!
Hearing God’s voice is truly one of the all-time amazing experiences of my life. Recently our family was on our annual Christmas Eve hike in the hills just beyond our neighborhood. The boys were home from college and my youngest was over the moon to have her big brothers under our roof again, not only to enjoy their company but to resume her passion to vie for their constant attention.
Seeing my children descend the short hill into the canyon ahead of me that day, God reminded me of all He had done in our lives and how much I had to be grateful for. He truly had given me more than I could have imagined! What if, over twenty years ago, I had allowed bitterness to harden my heart in hearing His voice in my life? What if, at the height of my greatest heartache, I had missed His prompting?
The turning point came when I grew tired of crying myself to sleep every night. I decided to start saying: “I trust you God,” over and over again as I drifted off to sleep. Slowly a shift began to happen in my spirit. I began to sense a softening, a hope. I began to feel a calling rise up and an anticipation for a move of God.
After over eight years of waiting for a baby, I reluctantly attended a seminar on adoption one Saturday afternoon while my husband, Bob, was out of town. I felt very uninspired through most of the presentations until a video of children in an orphanage in St. Petersburg, Russia was shown during a break. As I looked into the faces of the children, my heart was moved beyond words. I felt as though the heavens opened over me and a flood of vision, hope, and calling poured out all over me. Although I did not have the words, I knew deep in my heart that there was now a purpose for all my suffering.
God was speaking.
I wish I could say I got the message right away, but it still took a couple of years for me to be convinced. We continued to try to get pregnant through all sorts of means, driven away from the thought of adopting by fear – fear that came through stories of great struggle people faced with their adopted children. I read too many books with intense stories of children failing to attach, with severe trauma from rejection in the womb or abandonment that followed them throughout life. I couldn’t imagine having the strength to parent a child who faced such obstacles.
But God kept speaking.
Both my husband and I have long had the daily practice of rising early and praying, worshipping and listening for God. Our common passion for this was what had originally brought us together. We both found in each other a common temperament for seeking long hours in God’s presence. And thankfully it has been the bedrock of our lives and marriage together.
During our early mornings in prayer, we continued to pour our hearts out to Him with our pain and heartache of infertility. One morning after prayer Bob came into the room and told me I needed to come see something. I followed him out to the carport to find a glistening white dove sitting on his car, calmly gazing at us. We stood there for minutes contemplating each other. We felt the dove representing a symbol of God speaking to us that He would answer our prayers of having children and building a family.
God was speaking.
Soon after, we began to notice more doves. They kept appearing to us. And then we began to hear God’s actual voice speak to us. After another painful failed IVF treatment, I happened to be watching the Winter Olympics when my heart was stirred once again. As the Russian skaters glided over the ice, I was reminded that God had spoken to me about the children in the orphanage in St. Petersburg. I began to weep and weep.
Soon after that, while passing through a room in my house, I heard His voice in my spirit. He said the words, “Child of the Promise.” I had no idea what that meant but then found the scripture in Romans speaking of the true children of God being “children of the promise.” I knew then that forming a family through adoption was no longer a dream. It was becoming a reality.
Oh yes, He was speaking!
A number of months later, after many more leadings and promptings of God’s voice, we had the unbelievable experience of traveling to Russia to bring our beautiful son home to join our family. I call him my “Child of the Promise.” Now at 21 years of age I can honestly say he has lived up to his name! He is truly my miracle boy.
Oh, how thankful I am that we heard God speaking!
We traveled across the world two more times to adopt another son and then our daughter. Each endeavor was full of experiences of trusting God and being led by His voice. God took great pleasure in building our family.
Parenting these three amazing humans has been the adventure of a lifetime. He has led me each step of the way and has given me strategies for raising each of my very unique and beautiful children. In the process of raising them I have had the privilege and honor to teach parenting to others in a local parenting program as I learned along the way the most effective methods for connecting to my children’s hearts, building their brains and helping them navigate each age and stage of development.
Last summer, when my oldest turned twenty-one, he came home to let us know he had gotten a tattoo. He had ignored our urgings to wait a couple of years when his brain was fully developed and could make the best decision on what to have done. I cried a bit at the realization – not only that this would be a permanent mark on his skin, but also that he was really growing up and, in some ways, growing away from us. But when he showed me his tattoo, I cried happy tears. “Child of the Promise” was etched around a cross on his chest. Indeed, God continues to speak!
Written by: Sloan Walsh, Los Angeles California
Are you wanting to build your family?
God is with you!
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Do not look anxiously about you for I am your God. I will strengthen and I will help you. I will lift you up with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
God wants you to know that He is with you and will work everything for your good.
“And we know that all things work together for good…” Romans 8:28
Let’s ask God
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God promises to be with you in this. You can ask Him where He is and what He is doing.
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He has specific promises for you in His word. Can you ask God which promises are for you during this season? I encourage you to pray them and proclaim them over your life.
There is so much hope for you dear one. He is your good Shepherd and He holds you close to His heart!
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