Is it Fate?

Have you ever wondered about fate? Is fate simply God's plan? I was raised in a home to believe that God's plan is sovereign and that, although we are given the power to make choices, He knows what our choices will be and He plans our every step. So the past week or so, I have been wondering about His plan...and whether or not he is trying to tell me something.

This morning, I had to go get new tires on my car. I sat down to wait the expected hour and began reading my book, but the sun was blaring into my eyes. So, I simply moved to the other side of the waiting area and began reading again. I ended up sitting next to a very nice man and we ended up in a very interesting conversation about....adoption.

This man and his wife pastor a small church in town and are currently in the process of adopting their 7th child! During the conversation, it came up that Brant and I did not have any children but desperately desired some. He asked me if we had thought about adoption and I answered yes, that adoption had been a topic discussed in our house more and more lately. The man then asked me if I had looked into adoption through CPS, and I said that yes, we actually had talked about it. The man's car was then ready, so he left. Then my car was ready about 10 minutes later, and I left. On my way to work, a good 7 or 8 miles away from Discount Tire, I stopped to fill up with gas...and my new adoptive friend just happened to be at that gas station, too. We talked some more.

Two nights ago, I actually had a dream about a little girl named Mia. She was a precious 9 month old baby when I met her and she had been born through a surrogate mother. She had beautiful olive colored skin and precious dark brown curly hair. And my dream was that I was introducing her to all of my friends as my new, baby girl. We had adopted her.

Last week, I read on my friend Janelle's blog that her and her husband, Heath, are beginning the process to become foster/adoptive parents. Our friends Corey and Andy are looking into this possibility as well.

Several months ago, right after Brant and I found out that we get to go to Hawaii, I had a dream that was so real to me that I woke up believing it. I dreamed that we were in Hawaii, but we had a precious little blond haired, blue eyed, 2 year little boy with us...and he was our adopted son. The dream was so real to me that I woke up and actually got out of bed to walk into the guest bedroom, which will one day be the nursery. I was saddened to find that it was still the guestroom.

For 20 months now, Brant and I have wanted and tried to have a child. We have talked about adoption, but I never wanted to go forward because I never felt a peace about it...I felt like I would be adopting a child just to satisfy our desire to be parents, not because it was the Lord's plan. But now God really has me on my knees about it.

So now I'm wondering, are these dreams and meeting strange people just acts of God? Is fate all apart of God's plan?