Rapture of the Church

I am doing a Bible study on the book of Revelation, which has always been a fascinating read for me. I feel like I am fairly knowledgeable of the book, yet am learning so much that I had never seen before. I would like to touch on a few things that are fascinating me, or questions that I had never considered before:

1. When will the rapture occur?
I have always been a firm believer in the pre-trib theory. While there is a great deal of controversy over this particular standpoint, I stand firm in my belief. Why? There are 2 major reasons why I feel that the Church will be raptured before the tribulation begins:

• Revelation 3:10--Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. If you look back on the original text of this verse, you will see that the Greek word for from is "ek". Literally translated, this means "out of." We must assume that "the hour of temptation" is the tribulation, but I feel that we will be definitely kept from or out of this!
• Matthew 24:36--But of that day, knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, only the Father. 1 Thessalonians 5:2--For yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Now, I do want to say that I think we are to know when the day is near. However, the Bible is clear that we will not know the day. If we assume that the tribulation will begin with a 7 year peace treaty (which I do), and that it will be broken 42 months into the tribulation (which it will), then we would know the day of the mid-tribulation. We cannot know the day of the rapture, so I believe, it cannot be mid-trib.
• Here is an interesting website to check out if you want more "proof" www.jesus-is-savior.com

Will there be people saved during the tribulation?

1. I feel that we know there will be 144,000 Jews saved. This is a point that no one can argue. However, recently, I have heard the question of whether or not anyone else will be saved. It is a more complicated discussion than I can get into here, but here is my simple-minded explanation. I believe that there will be!

• Here is my proof. Look at Revelation 7:9-14. After this I beheld and low a great multitude, that no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands....(feel free to read the verses in here) And one of the elders answered saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This tells us in verse 9 that there will be a whole bunch of people (more than man can number) and in verse 14 we see that they are those out of the Great Tribulation. I could be wrong, but this seems pretty clear to me!
• Others think that this is the people who were raptured. They could be right. However, the rapture took place back in Revelation 4 and now we are up to Revelation 7! Revelation is not always chronological. It does jump around.
• I hope and pray that people will have another chance after the rapture, but don't hesitate. As someone once told me, if you are driving down the road when the rapture happens, and a semi-truck is following you driven by a born-again Christian, you will not have the opportunity to repent after the rapture!! Do not delay!
• Joshua 24:15 Choose you this day whom ye will serve!

I could go on all day with the controversies of Revelation, but this is enough for one day. This is what is pressing on my mind today. What are your thoughts? Do you believe in the Rapture? Are you saved? I love talking about Revelation, and would love to talk to you!

Dear Father, Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for keeping us out of your wrath. We are so undeserving! Your grace abounds in my life!

To Lie or Not to Lie....That is the Question!

Life has been going really well. We were hoping that January 27 would have been the day that the state's attorney would have petitioned for termination of rights. That day has come and gone. In the meantime, we have just been loving every second of being a family. Everyone has been adjusting really well to the idea of being adopted.

One frustration that we have been dealing with is lying. I am posting this in hopes of getting some ideas for dealing with a 5 year old that lies constantly. Pretty much if the child is speaking, he is lying!! It is crazy. He will say ANYTHING, even if he knows you saw him do something else. He will tell you the grass is purple and be TOTALLY convinced of it!

Some things we have tried:

1. We started an "I TOLD THE TRUTH" jar. Everytime the kids tell the truth when it would be easier to lie, they get a pom-pom in the jar. Once the jar is full, we will do something fun (i.e. go out for ice cream, go to a movie, etc.)

2. We have talked a lot about God watching everything we do. He remembers all the good things we do and all the bad things we do. When we pray to God we need to ask him to forgive us for the "bad" things we did...called sins. We also talked about that we have to REALLY be sorry. We can't say it if we don't mean it.

3. TRUTH OR LIE: We started playing a game called Truth or Lie. I will say a sentence "The sky is green" and the kids have to say truth or lie. They are really good at the game. They get almost all of them right, which tells me that they do know when they are lying.

4. MODELING: We are modeling truth telling. When we tell the truth, we talk about it. I told the kids about hitting the garage door with the van. I explained that it would be easier to lie about it, but how much better I felt when I had told the truth.

We really want to focus on the positive...the telling the truth. With that being said, we can't let lies go undisciplined. Any ideas you have would be really helpful. You could send ideas to my facebook or my email: jlcorbly82@yahoo.com. Or you could leave comment here. Anything that has worked for you!

Dear Lord, thank you for giving me this opportunity to teach the children about the honesty that you have shown us. Thank you for always honoring what you have promised.

Are Premonitions Reliable?

So many things have happened in the past couple of weeks with my extended family, my immediate family, and my personal career. We have started transitioning the boys' sister by doing visits and they have been going great. She seems to really know what our expectations are and she is starting to really fit in with our family.

About 3 and a half years ago, when we found out we were INFERTILE, we were devastated. My now father-in-law (we'll call him Craig), told us not to worry. He said that sometimes he gets vivid visions (he called them premonitions I believe). He told us that he saw a BLONDE little girl in our future. At the time we took little comfort in his words. When we got a placement about 6 months after that statement and it was 3 African American children we chuckled about his comment. When it looked like they were our forever family, we thought Craig made a mistake.

Then everything changed and pretty soon we had two Caucasian boys living with us and we found out they have a sister. Then we meet their sister and she is blonde. COINCIDENCE? Maybe. So now we know that pretty soon she is going to come to live with us and there is a decent chance that we will adopt her and her two brothers. So today we went to our nephew's first birthday party. We had a good time hanging out with family and then we left.

A couple of hours later I got a text message from Craig. He asked if I remembered his premonition and I told him that I did. He said that today when she was sitting on the floor it was the exact same pose that he had seen in his VISION. (OK now that is weird). He also said that in his vision he couldn't see her face because he was somewhat behind her, and that is how they were sitting today! I told him that he was giving me goosebumps. Then he said that she doesn't know it yet, but he and her are going to have a special bond one day. He can feel it! Wow! Maybe this is it...maybe this is our FOREVER family...maybe Craig was right all along...maybe we just needed to wait for God's perfect timing. We shall see!

Lord, thank you for knowing what is best for us when we have no idea what your perfect plan is! Thank you for telling us no when we are fighting so hard to hear a yes. Thank you for reminding me that you are in CONTROL of my life!

This Crazy Roller Coaster We Call Life!

For the first time in my life, I feel like I have completely given EVERYTHING over to God. It is not easy. In fact, it is one of the hardest things in life to do. But when you do it the rewards are amazing!

Last Tuesday I got a phone call at work to do an interview at one of the brand new schools in our district. I was surprised, because it was for a position that I DIDN'T even apply for. It was one of these situations where my name was in the job bank, and they pulled it out. I was surprised and excited.

So I got to talking to one of my friends at work, and she had recently spoken to this principal about me. The conversation wasn't SPECIFICALLY about me, but my name came up. A few weeks later, I have an interview with her.

I was really excited about the position, but I told God it was in HIS hands. I wasn't worried or nervous about it. I just laid it all over to him. I was still hopeful, and I still wanted the job, but I left it up to him.

The interview went beautifully. I was confident in my answers and felt really good when I left.

Then it was the weekend, and we were gone. I barely even thought about the job.

Monday morning, as I'm walking in (later than usual) to school, I wondered to myself when I would hear about the job. I go into the office and I had a message. The principal was calling to let me know I had gotten the job!! I was ECSTATIC!!

So I am frantically running around trying to get everything in order for the job switch. I am letting the appropriate people know, and telling my family and friends. Things are going great. I am gathering as much information and as many resources as possible. Today I went over to the unit office to fill out some paperwork. When I got back to school I got a phone call from Brian.

He had heard from our caseworker. We are getting the sister permanently. It is not going to happen for a couple of months. We are going to do several more sibling visits so that she can get more used to us, but it is REALLY FINALLY happening! Everything is falling into place. When you truly trust God, he blesses you beyond your wildest imagination. Prayers have been answered in my life. Things I have been praying about for years. It was all for God's perfect timing.

I was beginning to think that I would never have a real teaching job. I was beginning to think that I would never have a real family. I thought I might never have a daughter. Could this be my family? Are these the children God meant for us all along? I will love and appreciate these children in a way that is different (not better or worse) than most can understand. When you desires something so badly for so long, it feels too good to be true when it all starts falling in place. How AWESOME is my God?!?

Lord, thank you for all the blessings that you have poured onto my family in the past few days. I am so undeserving, yet you provide nonetheless! You are AMAZING. Help me to continue trusting you for everything and giving it all to you!

The Weekend is Over

It is always bittersweet on Sunday evenings. I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with the family and with my church family as well, but sad that it's back to the grind of the work week. I am particularly sad this evening as we just returned the boys' sister to their aunt. I am feeling so much better after meeting their aunt and seeing her love for all three children. I am still, however, sad that they can't be with her full time. As soon as we left, the oldest said, "I wish my sister was still here." How sweet. They had their moments where there was bickering and pestering, but overall it was a love filled weekend. I can't count how many times I heard "I love you" come out of someone's mouth!

I don't know God's plan for these children, and I am not about to question what he has in mind. I am only going to continue to be prayerful for these three angels. I recently was talking to a group of women at my church and was asked to tell a little about our situation. It was extremely uncomfortable for me, because I don't like to draw attention to myself. But I remember saying that when you trust God, you trust him. It doesn't mean you trust him sometimes and other times you question him. I am human. There are times when I ask God "why." But I still believe that he knows what is best for all of us. I have also learned that just because bad things are happening does not mean I am being punished.

When the other three kids were returned home I thought for sure it was the wrong decision and couldn't believe it. Now I see that maybe that was the permanent family for us. Maybe this is and maybe it isn't. Only time will tell. That's the beauty of trusting God. I don't have to worry, because HE already knows the outcome!

Lord, help me to keep you in the forefront of my thoughts. Help me remember that your timing is always perfect. Thank you for loving me and blessing my family in so many ways!!

You Just Never Know

The children had their counseling session this evening and we were anticipating the possibility of a visit with their birthmom. We hadn't heard anything definete, but it was supposed to be happening since she had moved from jail to rehab. I dropped the kiddos off and ran some errands. When I got back to the agency, their counselor told me that they just found out that mom walked out of rehab. Just like that, she decided she didn't want to do it.



So now, there is a warrant out for her arrest. If they can catch her she will go straight back to jail. If she takes off, she will be on the loose until they catch up with her. Either way, the children will not be subjected to visiting with her. We are so thankful that they didn't see her tonight, just to not see her again for a while. I think that would be so much worse. To see her, and then not see her for months again.



I don't know what God has planned for these children, but I have put my total faith in Him. We didn't understand when the other kids had to return home, but now we see that He had other plans for us. I don't know if these are permanent plans or if they will move on too. All I know is that I am here to serve my Lord. I will do as I am told. Praise God!

Court Hearing Results

We had our court hearing on Monday 8/9/10. The judge listened to all the evidence that was presented. Our CASA worker recommended that the children not go back to their mother. The same recommendation was heard from the state's attorney, the case worker, DCFS, and the guardian ad lidem. Then her attorney spoke and he recommended that the kids return home quickly. After hearing all the evidence, the judge decided that the kids return home immediately. So at 3:30 we left the court house and by 8:00 that evening the kids were back with their bio mom for good. Our lives were turned upside down when these children were placed in our home and once again our life has been turned upside down. They left us as quickly as they came. After 2.5 years I would have hoped that the judge would have had enough heart to let us say goodbye properly.

With all that being said, I am so fortunate to have a great support system. My family has been amazing through this. Our friends have overwhelmed us with their kind words and support. We know that God placed these children with us for a reason, and apparently that reason has been fulfilled. We have to look at the big picture and what is best for the children. Being with their mother must be the intention that God has. We must have a different road to travel now.

So now we adjust back to the life of two. It is hard to walk by their rooms and see the empty beds. It has been torture to go through all their belongings and put them up. However, we are thankful that God answered our prayers and a permanent decision has been made.

For now we will take a break from foster care. I don't think we will take another placement unless parental rights have been terminated. It is too difficult. We will wait for the children God has intended us to raise. We will pray that his plan be revealed to us!