Hidden With Christ

I had just snagged a blueberry yogurt from the breakfast bar at our hotel near O'Hare International Airport and was halfway across the room when I heard Luke choke a laugh.
"Oh great; look."
I turned to catch the CNN Headline on the television screen:

Breaking News: North Korea missile flew within miles of passenger jet flight path

Apparently they launched a missile and it flew within 70 miles of the flight path of an Air France.

My jaw dropped along with my stomach. What?! This was ridiculous! This cannot be the news coming out of Korea on the morning we were going to board a Korean Airline.

Even more incredulous was the fact that Luke had joked with someone at church, "the stewardess will say 'and if you look out to the left you will see the beautiful coastline of South Korea and to your right... whoops! that looks like a smoke trail! Pay no attention...!!!'"
However, this was not funny; this was not irony; this was really happening.

Of course one of our concerns about adopting from Korea were the tensions on the Korean Peninsula.  The Friday before we left, the DRPK launched a successful ICBM missile: to say there wasn't cause for concern would be ignorance. But that sure didn't stop us from booking our flights the very day we heard word that we'd received our court date!

God's fingerprints have been all over this adoption from the very beginning; starting with this little ones' birthday being the exact same week we believed International Adoption was what God was calling us to do!

We have had confirmation after confirmation throughout the entire process. God wouldn't do all of that, only to let us be blown out of the sky by a Korean missile, would He? ...or would He.

The knot that formed in the pit of my stomach when leaving our children the night before had now doubled. I couldn't eat my oatmeal and barely finish my yogurt. What were we thinking? Our shuttle to the airport - Terminal 5 at O'Hare - left in 20 minutes.

I sat stunned; nervous laughter welling up with sheer panic. (A strange combination, but these were bizarre circumstances!)

What would our parents think if they heard the news?

Should we even go to the airport?

What if their next missile was a direct hit?

Was our decision to board that Korean Airline going to make our own children orphans... all because we left them to go for an orphan?

In the parking lot as we nervously waited for the van driver, Luke answered my frantic "So are we crazy for doing this?!" with, "Susi; God doesn't always make the way clear... sometimes our own faith looks crazy! God told Abraham to kill his own son, for goodness sake!"

Luke's words are truth. Do we follow God only when we can see the beginning from the end... the whole story cover-to-cover? Or do we walk in blind faith; totally trusting God to catch us as we fall?

Kay Arthur wrote in the Covenants Precepts Bible Study: "Faith isn't real faith until it's tested!" Amen.

As I got into the van and drove to O'Hare with my husband, I got out and put one foot in front of the other; all the while thinking "faith isn't faith until it's tested."

I also prayed - we both prayed - hard. And then I let it go! I gave my children and their future to the Lord. I gave my life - our lives - and future to the Lord and let them go.

In the air now, it's nearing midnight in the States and we're still on this jet!! Our flight path shows that we're nearing North Korea now... I feel my anxiety level rising ... have my Bible open to Colossians 3:1-4

"Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

The song by Rich Mullins (his music has really been speaking to my heart lately!) "Hold Me Jesus" is running through my mind...

In the words of Pastor David Platt, we all have to decide: "are we going to die in our "religion" or die in our devotion?"

We choose to die in our devotion: to die following Christ, no matter where He leads us, no matter what.

And as of this moment, we're convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that we're supposed to be right where we are: seated on a Korean airliner ... and I can honestly say, that I'm at peace.