When I first posted about our decision to adopt I mentioned that God had overwhelmingly confirmed our decision. I feel compelled to share the details, to glorify God & to help others see the AMAZING ways He works. Just to preface: the events told in the following lines are TRUE (to the T), and totally UNEXAGGERATED in any way. No joking ; ).
Let's start on December 1, 2010...after feeling the burden on our heart for some time, Mark and I decided to take a "leap of faith." We filled out an application to adopt. We had no plans to discuss it with anyone for a while we were just going to pray and see where God was leading after sending it.
December 2, 2010 (my mom's birthday & the NEXT day!)...I had plans to go to a mom's group that I attend on a monthly basis (GEMS @ Hazelwood Baptist). I got the kids ready and headed out the door with the adoption application ready to send. To mail the application, I needed to go inside the post office with 3 kids... so of course I pushed that until after my mom's group!
Finally, dropped the kids off, sitting with my friends and eating at GEMS. Time to relax! NOPE... not today! There was a devotional given about the Christmas story after we had our brunch. Great story, we've all heard it many times right? But for me, on this particular day, this old familiar story seemed to grip my attention. The pastor explained that there are NO COINCIDENCES and that God had orchestrated everything that came to pass in this story. I agreed, God has EVERYTHING under control and He doesn't wait for a coincidence to make things happen.
What happened right after the devotional was a coincidence right? NOPE! Two of my friends that I have met through this mom's group announced that they were ADOPTING! Me (thinking): What?!!! That is just crazy timing...no way. I have an adoption application in the car and we have been praying for months for some kind of clarity! My heart was pounding and I had goose bumps all at once...it was like something physically hit me. (Remember: I told you at the beginning that this is not an exaggeration!) So we were supposed to be having a fun gift exchange, but I couldn't even breathe because of God's timing, so I shot straight over to Kristin & Lydia to bombard them with questions (sorry girls, you missed most of the gift exchange too ; ) ). Who, what, when, where, how, why??? I almost forgot to mention that both of these girls have 3 kids like me and both of their youngest child is the same age as Brogan! Hmmm, what a coincidence! Can God be any clearer than that?
Mark and I hadn't decided for sure where because we wanted to make sure this was what God was leading us to. Both of the girls I mentioned are adopting from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa (which, besides being in Africa, is very close to Ethiopia). I was thinking China or Africa from the beginning. So after this amazing confirmation from God, I had to call Mark and tell him about what happened. I also realized that I forgot an important piece of info on the application, so I couldn't send it just yet. It was nap time...also known as VICTORY, so I got the mail, mostly junk. I grabbed the Star Shop Local, a small newspaper excerpt, and thought to myself, "That would be so cool if there was something about adoption in this paper." I just thought it, I didn't expect for it to actually happen. I opened up the paper and to the left were the recipes that I always check out and to the right was an article about, YEP, you guessed it, ADOPTION!!! Are you getting the theme of NO COINCIDENCES yet? This particular article was about specifically adopting from Ethiopia. So I begin reading it of course. Before I even finish reading it, the phone rings. It's Mark, the first words out of his mouth (no kidding) are: "So, where do you think we should adopt from?" I am staring at this article and I said NOTHING. I responded, "I don't know, what do you think?" Guess what he said..."ETHIOPIA!"
The funny thing about the application is that we couldn't even go through that particular agency to adopt from Ethiopia, so we were spared the money for that application and decided on another agency. God can put people and things in our life at just the right TIME to speak to us. And that day He really SPOKE!
So, my friends & family, I tell you all this not to be dramatic, though it is hard not to tell it in such a way, but I tell you all for the GLORY & PRAISE be to God for being who He is and answering our prayers. The title of a book I was given (at GEMS !!!) a couple of years ago keeps popping in my head lately..."If You Want to Walk on Water, You have to Get Out of the Boat." Cling to your FAITH and never give up PRAYING!
In Awe of Him,
Holly
December 22, 2010
December 13, 2010
Why Ethiopia?
We have been asked this question several times? And the answer that immediately comes to mind: Why not? Most of my life has been spent thinking about my dreams, my goals, my future. It wasn't until I prayed that God would tell me what He wanted from my life. That's when it started... a burning in my heart to do something more, to make a difference for Christ. I had no idea it would lead to adoption. I just knew that I had to do something different. The sad thing is that I knew about poverty and suffering in the world for a long time. I was aware that millions were starving to death and dying from Aids and the orphans it leaves behind, but I managed to always look the other way. Is this what Christ would do? No! So how can I help all of those people? I can't, I'm not Him, but I am supposed to be His hands and feet... so I may not be able to save the world, but to one I will mean the whole world!
John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
-Mark
This video was made by another family adopting, but we loved it and it fits our thoughts & journey perfectly.
December 7, 2010
Isaiah 26
Isaiah 26: 3-4
3 You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
4 Trust in the LORD always,
for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.
I heard this verse on the radio today right at the time when I needed it. Everything is progressing so quickly we don't know what hit us. I know it is all in God's timing though. Tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon we will be having our home-study conducted. A social worker will be coming to our home for 2-3 hours to evaluate us. We would appreciate your prayers.
On a lighter note, Grace drew a picture today of our family plus one "African baby girl," she explained. Grace & Lane are very excited and understand that there are kids that need families in the world. They talk about the kids in Africa a lot & sometimes want to send them the dinners I fix that they aren't particularly fond of ;0. We have shown them pictures etc. They understand that the baby will have darker skin as well and that God looks at the heart and so do we. We also explained to them that they will be older when the baby finally arrives home.
December 5, 2010
Ask, Seek, Knock...
Those three words seem so simple. In fact, knowing and explaining our faith seems pretty easy too, at times. It isn't until we actually have to live out those words or instructions that they become real to us.
The reality is easier said than done! It is easy to encourage others to be patient, faithful, obedient, etc.; but as the tables turn back to me I understand why a deep-rooted relationship with Christ and encouragement from family & friends is so vital.
ASK
About 9 months ago God started stirring my heart & Mark's heart, but separately. I heard an amazing woman speak about the millions of orphans in our world, especially in Africa. I have never been the same since. Mark was touched by a man with a disability, yet this man was serving God in a tremendous way. Mark prayerfully decided to start saying yes more often. That led him to do the prison ministry, Kairos. He fell in love with this very important ministry and has continued to serve there. When we realized one another's nudging from God we were forced to ASK... Lord, what is it that you are leading us to do? How can we serve you better? How can we serve others in Your name?
SEEK
Before we knew it, we were starting on a journey in search of those answers. We started praying and searching...we felt that God was leading us into missions somehow. We had NO CLUE how, when, where, etc. We met with great mentors and friends along the way and they have been praying for us and guiding us as well. Long story shorter, we decided to go on a mission trip since Mark had never been on one before. That led us to the Dominican Republic (see earlier posts). As the months have passed since our amazing trip, we have continued to seek out various avenues that we felt could have been where God was leading us. We were recently able to attend the National Missionary Convention in Lexington, KY. We knew there were going to be many important leaders in the world of missions & we were able to meet many of those amazing followers! What an eye-opening part of the journey that was for us. We had been praying to God that we were open to whatever it was that we were seeking, as long as it was HIS will, not ours. We knew we would love to work with children and we were drawn to organizations that centered on kids. We found places that we would be interested in, but we wanted a place that would best suit our family. We were excited but overwhelmed. Nothing felt like it was clicking for us in our hearts though. Since then, we have been continually praying for guidance. FINALLY, we feel God has led us to the answer, but not the answer we were expecting...
KNOCK
We are at the threshold of a long process called adoption (looking at what we know so far, it will take around a year). We have always wanted & discussed adopting (since Grace was a baby). We somehow knew it was in our future, we just didn't realize the future time had come. We have already started "knocking" to see if this particular door will be opening more. So far, God has overwhelmingly confirmed to us that this is the "mission" He has planned for us at this time in our lives. We will continue to press on and "knock" as long as the door keeps opening up for us to add on to our family in this avenue. It is hard to even express how right this feels and how excited we are to have another blessing to our family. We have always talked about adopting. We know that God has answered our many prayers (even though He is leading us on a mission a little different from what we thought). So what now? We have sent in a heap of paperwork so far and will be hoping for a home study soon (that's when a social worker will come and evaluate our family). We have decided to adopt a baby girl from Ethiopia. We would appreciate your prayers for our family (including our baby) throughout this journey.
The reality is easier said than done! It is easy to encourage others to be patient, faithful, obedient, etc.; but as the tables turn back to me I understand why a deep-rooted relationship with Christ and encouragement from family & friends is so vital.
ASK
About 9 months ago God started stirring my heart & Mark's heart, but separately. I heard an amazing woman speak about the millions of orphans in our world, especially in Africa. I have never been the same since. Mark was touched by a man with a disability, yet this man was serving God in a tremendous way. Mark prayerfully decided to start saying yes more often. That led him to do the prison ministry, Kairos. He fell in love with this very important ministry and has continued to serve there. When we realized one another's nudging from God we were forced to ASK... Lord, what is it that you are leading us to do? How can we serve you better? How can we serve others in Your name?
SEEK
Before we knew it, we were starting on a journey in search of those answers. We started praying and searching...we felt that God was leading us into missions somehow. We had NO CLUE how, when, where, etc. We met with great mentors and friends along the way and they have been praying for us and guiding us as well. Long story shorter, we decided to go on a mission trip since Mark had never been on one before. That led us to the Dominican Republic (see earlier posts). As the months have passed since our amazing trip, we have continued to seek out various avenues that we felt could have been where God was leading us. We were recently able to attend the National Missionary Convention in Lexington, KY. We knew there were going to be many important leaders in the world of missions & we were able to meet many of those amazing followers! What an eye-opening part of the journey that was for us. We had been praying to God that we were open to whatever it was that we were seeking, as long as it was HIS will, not ours. We knew we would love to work with children and we were drawn to organizations that centered on kids. We found places that we would be interested in, but we wanted a place that would best suit our family. We were excited but overwhelmed. Nothing felt like it was clicking for us in our hearts though. Since then, we have been continually praying for guidance. FINALLY, we feel God has led us to the answer, but not the answer we were expecting...
KNOCK
We are at the threshold of a long process called adoption (looking at what we know so far, it will take around a year). We have always wanted & discussed adopting (since Grace was a baby). We somehow knew it was in our future, we just didn't realize the future time had come. We have already started "knocking" to see if this particular door will be opening more. So far, God has overwhelmingly confirmed to us that this is the "mission" He has planned for us at this time in our lives. We will continue to press on and "knock" as long as the door keeps opening up for us to add on to our family in this avenue. It is hard to even express how right this feels and how excited we are to have another blessing to our family. We have always talked about adopting. We know that God has answered our many prayers (even though He is leading us on a mission a little different from what we thought). So what now? We have sent in a heap of paperwork so far and will be hoping for a home study soon (that's when a social worker will come and evaluate our family). We have decided to adopt a baby girl from Ethiopia. We would appreciate your prayers for our family (including our baby) throughout this journey.
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