In the book Gripped By The Greatness Of God, Pastor James MacDonald discusses the dangerous concept of convincing yourself that you know what the Lord desires for your life only to be disappointed when it doesn’t transpire.  For him, it was believing that a building for sale was exactly where the Lord wanted to move his church, only to be stunned when the sale fell through.  As it turned out, however, God was at work, and the church was eventually able to purchase a multi million-dollar piece of property for the amazing price of one dollar.  Now, the Lord doesn’t always work in this way, but it is a good example to show us that often what we think is best is not always the case.

For Amanda and me, this is a process that we are still trying to learn.  Nonetheless, God has taught us over the last several years that He will display His glory through our lives in ways that we can’t imagine nor plan on.  In one particular area was our desire for a family.  It was something that we have often prayed for but also knew that the Lord had our best interest in mind.  We had to get to the point where we loved God and His will more than wanting to have children.  This was difficult, but as MacDonald’s testimony leaped off the pages as I read it, I knew it was something that needed to happen.  God was going to use Amanda and me in a great way regardless of how we thought the script should be written.

Whether God was waiting for us to get to this point or not, I am not sure, but with every possible emotion imaginable I am pleased to let everyone know that Amanda and I will be expecting our first child in early April.  God’s grace is indeed wonderful regardless of the circumstances, and He continues to amaze us every day.

Craig Dyson, Ethiopia