As some of you already know, Keith and I are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. My hope is to write our testimony about this experience to bring glory to God throughout this entire journey. I am so very thankful for all the Lord has been teaching me over these past several months. Last Christmas of 2009, a friend, Dave Conn, approached me with our Christmas card and said, “There is someone missing in your card. “ I smiled, but deep down felt he was right. Keith and I already have three beautiful children and had already decided we were “done.” However, I never truly had a peace that our family was complete. I never would have thought Keith would be open to more children. It was very soon after this that Keith approached me about the possibility of fostering one day, and his desire to minister to at risk children due to some of his childhood experiences. During this conversation, I responded jokingly, “We ought to just go over to Africa and bring home a sweet little baby that needs a family.” Much to my surprise, Keith responded with a “Well, let’s look into that.” Needless to say, I was completely surprised! We continued to talk about adopting through fostering and international adoption, discussing the pros and cons. We continued to research both by attending the Southeast Christian Church’s Adoption Conference in March of 2010.
During these months, God continued to speak to me about adoption and faith. In a Bible Study Fellowship lesson, the lecturer spoke about the cost of worship. Costly devotion is precious to Jesus. She asked, “What is Jesus worth to you? How much time? How much money? What sacrifice is He calling you to do to bring glory to Him and be fruitful to others?” I knew God was speaking to me about adoption during the lecture. Again, God spoke to me during another BSF lecture in February 2010. The leader spoke about the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit and how it surpasses all difficult circumstances. The peace given by Jesus does not depend on the world’s circumstances. The speaker went on to tell the story about how this peace led her to board a plane to China to complete the adoption process with her daughter. Wow! Again, I felt God tugging on my heart towards adoption.
As God continued to lead and guide us, we decided to take a “Considering Adoption” course offered at Highview Baptist Church. Here, God revealed so much to me about adoption. With regards to Christianity, God reminded me of His plan of salvation for us all as orphans. As orphans, we are in slavery to sin, have no hope, and no future. In Isaiah 59:2, it says “but your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” But, praise the Lord! God had another plan for us. In John 14:18, He says, “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.” I am so very thankful He came to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Ezekiel 36:26 says “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” What a beautiful picture. Though we are sinners and do not deserve His love, grace and mercy, He chose to adopt us and make us His children. The Father of creation, omnipotent God desires to know us and love us. Psalm 8:4 says, “What is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”
God has also spoken to me about God’s commands concerning the orphan. In James 1:27, it says,” Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Also in Matthew 25:40, it says “And in reply the king will say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Sadly, I had always considered adoption to just be a wonderful option for a couple desiring to have children, who were unable to have biological children. God has opened my eyes that adoption can not only be about just adding to your family, but to see it as a calling, and a command as we are required to care for the orphan. During this time, God spoke to me more and more, confirming His calling that we should adopt.
In July 2010, Keith and I learned that adoption through fostering became much more difficult and the “adoption tract” no longer existed. Though I had always had concerns about fostering, but was willing to explore it, we felt like this meant God was closing this door right now. However, we are both open to looking into this again later. We felt the Lord leading us to international adoption, but the financial burden of it caused us to hold off on officially starting the process. In that same month, I was a chaperon for Adam and Emma’s church camp called Crossings. The theme for that summer was “Adopted”. (Don’t you just love God’s sense of humor?) There, I unexpectedly saw Tera Melber, our adoption course instructor from Highview Baptist Church, and got to update her on our process. On the last day of camp, the Crossings director, Scott Bidwell, spoke to the chaperons about adoption. He had just recently finished a domestic adoption with his new infant son. He said something I will never forget. ” In Joshua 3, God told the Israelite priests to carry the ark down to the Jordan River and that He would stop the waters. He didn’t stop the waters when they were 100 yards from the Jordan. He waited and stopped the waters when they took a step of faith into the river. God will provide a way, if we are obedient. If you feel God calling you to adopt, do not let the money stop you. Go home and start filling out the paperwork.” Wow! So do you ever feel like God is speaking directly at you despite everyone else that may be in the room? I went home and talked with Keith. We agreed to diligently pray about what country we should adopt from. After speaking with some friends who had adopted, on 9/3/2010, we agreed to start the adoption process with Ethiopia, and began our home study.
So here we are stepping out in faith into the Jordan River, confident that God will work out every single detail of this new adventure we are about to embark on. We are so looking forward to see what blessings He has in store for us. Please keep us in your prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.