Someone told me that the adoption journey is like an emotional roller coaster. All I can say is AMEN! Sometimes I am super excited and half in tears at the same time. Goodness gracious!
Sorry, just had to get that out there.
Now, for the exciting news I promised . . . WE ARE MATCHED!!!!!
I don't think all caps shows enough how happy we are!!!!! Maybe a few more exclamation marks will help!!!!!! We will add sweet baby to our family sometime in March! We don't yet know gender, but God knows whether we need more blue or pink.
Prayer Warriors, we need you!
Please pray that our hearts will the prepared for the continued roller coaster of emotions as we go through the next months.
Pray that we can reach out to the birth mother through our translator and speak life-giving truth and love over her.
Pray for the birth mother's health and comfort as her pregnancy progresses.
Pray for our family to make sweet memories before Danny deploys (in winter) and that God orchestrates perfect timing in his travels and the child's birth.
Pray for peace and wisdom as we make decisions regarding our growing family.
Pray that this child will know how much it is loved and wanted and feel a vital part of what makes our family special.
Pray that God gets the glory each step of the way!
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Sunday, September 4, 2016
To Him Be the Glory!
I love life in a big family. Others may stare, but somehow it doesn't seem big when you are in the middle of it. It might feel a little large when trying to get shoes on everyone and get out the door, but otherwise we have a lot of fun wherever we go. Apparently, I am not the only one who feels this way about big family life. For the past year or two I have been bombarded with the following questions from the boys:
"When are we getting another baby?"
"When will Juliet get a little sister?"
"Can you have another baby now?"
I would answer something like, "Well, I don't know. We will have to see what God has planned." But inside I was asking God the same questions. We wanted to grow our family but it just wasn't happening. Instead we were getting broken bones, trips to the ER, stomach viruses, long trips to the GI doctor, physical therapy, and sleepless nights with hurting tummies. I felt like I had to hyper-focus on just the people living in my four walls just to make it to the end of the day. I was tired and all I could see was the floor that needed to be mopped and the mountain of bed sheets that had to be washed before they could get in bed again. Something had to give because I was about to explode!
Then I noticed every sermon, devotional, and Bible reading would be on a totally different topic but they would all end in "and giving thanks" or "with thanksgiving" or "giving thanks in all things". Now, I can be a slow learner but even this message I heard loud and clear. I was so focused on all the negative that I was missing the many blessings. In the midst of it all, my blessings had become burdens and I had lost my joy. So, I decided to do what I was told - give thanks. I had finally been cleared to go for a longer run, and as is my custom, I prayed for a different family member during each mile. I focused all my prayers on thanking God for each person with which I am blessed to share a home. After six miles I had run out of people but I hadn't run out of road, so I started a dialog with God about the "growing our family" issue.
Rewind (and I will try to make this as short as possible): Back before we had Jonah, we experienced three miscarriages. While we were in the midst of that pain, God sent a prayer warrior from our church with a message for us. He told us, "God opens and closes wombs for His glory." At that time, all I heard was the "opens" part. I could deal with that. Opening was good. Opening was great! That was just what we needed. Shortly thereafter, we were blessed with Jonah. It is not that I had forgotten those words, but it was not something I thought about every day.
Fast-forward to mile 7: I was running and asking God what exactly we were suppose to do. We knew our family wasn't complete, but . . . well, we needed some help here. That is when He reminded me of those words, "God opens and closes wombs for His glory." Immediately, I noticed what I had missed before, "Oh, closes? I'm not so sure I like that." Then, as clear as a bell I heard in my heart, "For My glory?" And I crumbled. Well, actually I kept running across the street so I didn't get hit by a car, but I realized that I had been consumed with ME. It wasn't about me or even about my family. It was all about Him.
Adoption had always been part of the future for us. We just never felt that the timing was right. However, when I got home from my run I was certain adoption was the next step for us. I felt so much peace as we filled out our application. I was overwhelmed with joy as we anticipated our homestudy visits. The boys are over the moon about the prospects of a new little one. So, we are excited to let all our friends and family know that . . . WE ARE ADOPTING!!!!
Hopefully, we will have more information in the near future, but right now we covet your prayers. Will you join us on your knees as we pray for the birthmother that is/will be carrying our future son or daughter? That she will have peace, comfort, and wisdom and that we will be able to show her the love of Christ. Will you lift up our family as we prepare our hearts and home for a precious gift? That the bond between our five and the new little one will be strong and sweet. Will you pray that we will be patient to wait for His timing?
The verse we have been led to time and time again is Ephesians 3:20-21 - "Now unto Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all we ask or imagine . . . to Him be the glory!"
We are asking and expecting - to Him be the Glory!
"When are we getting another baby?"
"When will Juliet get a little sister?"
"Can you have another baby now?"
I would answer something like, "Well, I don't know. We will have to see what God has planned." But inside I was asking God the same questions. We wanted to grow our family but it just wasn't happening. Instead we were getting broken bones, trips to the ER, stomach viruses, long trips to the GI doctor, physical therapy, and sleepless nights with hurting tummies. I felt like I had to hyper-focus on just the people living in my four walls just to make it to the end of the day. I was tired and all I could see was the floor that needed to be mopped and the mountain of bed sheets that had to be washed before they could get in bed again. Something had to give because I was about to explode!
Then I noticed every sermon, devotional, and Bible reading would be on a totally different topic but they would all end in "and giving thanks" or "with thanksgiving" or "giving thanks in all things". Now, I can be a slow learner but even this message I heard loud and clear. I was so focused on all the negative that I was missing the many blessings. In the midst of it all, my blessings had become burdens and I had lost my joy. So, I decided to do what I was told - give thanks. I had finally been cleared to go for a longer run, and as is my custom, I prayed for a different family member during each mile. I focused all my prayers on thanking God for each person with which I am blessed to share a home. After six miles I had run out of people but I hadn't run out of road, so I started a dialog with God about the "growing our family" issue.
Rewind (and I will try to make this as short as possible): Back before we had Jonah, we experienced three miscarriages. While we were in the midst of that pain, God sent a prayer warrior from our church with a message for us. He told us, "God opens and closes wombs for His glory." At that time, all I heard was the "opens" part. I could deal with that. Opening was good. Opening was great! That was just what we needed. Shortly thereafter, we were blessed with Jonah. It is not that I had forgotten those words, but it was not something I thought about every day.
Fast-forward to mile 7: I was running and asking God what exactly we were suppose to do. We knew our family wasn't complete, but . . . well, we needed some help here. That is when He reminded me of those words, "God opens and closes wombs for His glory." Immediately, I noticed what I had missed before, "Oh, closes? I'm not so sure I like that." Then, as clear as a bell I heard in my heart, "For My glory?" And I crumbled. Well, actually I kept running across the street so I didn't get hit by a car, but I realized that I had been consumed with ME. It wasn't about me or even about my family. It was all about Him.
Adoption had always been part of the future for us. We just never felt that the timing was right. However, when I got home from my run I was certain adoption was the next step for us. I felt so much peace as we filled out our application. I was overwhelmed with joy as we anticipated our homestudy visits. The boys are over the moon about the prospects of a new little one. So, we are excited to let all our friends and family know that . . . WE ARE ADOPTING!!!!
Hopefully, we will have more information in the near future, but right now we covet your prayers. Will you join us on your knees as we pray for the birthmother that is/will be carrying our future son or daughter? That she will have peace, comfort, and wisdom and that we will be able to show her the love of Christ. Will you lift up our family as we prepare our hearts and home for a precious gift? That the bond between our five and the new little one will be strong and sweet. Will you pray that we will be patient to wait for His timing?
The verse we have been led to time and time again is Ephesians 3:20-21 - "Now unto Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all we ask or imagine . . . to Him be the glory!"
We are asking and expecting - to Him be the Glory!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)