Our Decision To Adopt
The following are our first journal entries explaining our decision to adopt Grace.
Friday, November 4, 2005 7:04 PM, CST
In mid October of 2005, Pat and I had an unexpected visit from an old college friend we hadn’t seen in 15 years.Five days earlier I had thought about a photo of him and decided to search through our photo albums, scan it, and send it to someone who now works closely with him.I was immediately written back and told that our friend would be in Raleigh in just a few days.He came to spend the night at our house and we learned that he and his wife had adopted 2 little girls from China with the most recent being just a month ago.He shared with us his story, joy and details that challenged and moved us. He told us about these 500,000 lost daughters of China, abandoned due to the one child policy that favors boys over girls. He showed us pictures of his daughters and other abandoned girls in the orphanages over there, and our hearts melted.He also laid out the financial picture as well, and although it would be a faith walk for us, we knew that we could find a way.
Pat and I have always held a hope for adopting and looked with longing on those who have adopted. Mostly we naively thought a child’s desperate plight would just land on our laps! And when Pat went to India on a mission’s trip to minister to orphans 3 years ago, I fully expected him to call me about bringing home a precious child who needed a home. But that didn’t happen.Then in Dec ’04, after the huge tsunami hit India, he got in touch with his contacts over there about adopting, and we were told that Indian adoptions are diffcult to impossible for foreigners of non-Indian descent - particularly families like ours who already have four boys. We felt the doors were shut.
But then the situation with our college friend revived all of our hopes and we began to tentatively step out in faith to research international adoptions.Above all, we began to pray and seek God’s face regarding His will in all of this. As excited as I was to think about adopting, I was more fearful of doing something on my own, apart from the will of the Father.Despite always wanting to adopt, I didn’t want to simply go get something I wanted that had been denied to me – namely a daughter.
Pat didn’t have such fears.He was nearly giddy with joy and peace that this was something that God wanted us to do.His fear was more on the finances' end but having faith in God, he also knew that if God was in it, He had provided for all our needs.Pat also had confidence that this was from God because God’s heart is toward orphans.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." In some ways we feel a little bit like the Israelite priests who were asked to carry the Ark of the Covenant across the rushing deep waters of the Jordan River. If they had waited until the waters parted to step out, nothing would have been accomplished. Instead, the waters only parted after they by faith stepped into the water.Pat with complete confidence said to me, “We know God wants us to do this, He just hasn't told us where the money is coming from.After we step out in obedience, He will meet us there.”
Meanwhile, my heart was being touched with the words of I Tim 6:17-19 that also show God’s heart and will for us to be generous and not to put our hope in money.Then as part of my regular study, I read Psalm 145:16-19. In these verses God is shown to be a loving God who “satisfies the desires of every living thing” and “fulfills the desires of all who fear Him." (Sharon)
I Timothy 6:17-19
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Discovering the Mystery of God's Will
Friday, November 11, 2005 7:49 AM
How does one discover the mystery of God’s will?I believe it begins with an opportunity, accompanied by a desire and is then validated by the agreement of a husband and wife, the agreement of godly counsel, and the agreement of scripture.Over the course of the past few weeks God has abundantly done this for us.Slowly my fears have been replaced with an inexplicable peace and joy.Barriers that we thought couldn’t be crossed dissolved before us.Referring to the story of the priests and the Ark of the Covenant, I told a prayer warrior, “I’m ready to step into the water” to which she replied, “Water!What water?The ground is dry!”
And so we have submitted our application, have gotten accepted and have begun the process of adopting.They tell us that it will be a year filled with hope, frustrations, disappointments, impatience, and growth.We will spend the first 3 months compiling a 5 inch thick dossier filled with documentations of our life history.This dossier will be sent over to China and then we will wait 4-7 months before a referral is sent to us.The referral will hold scanty information and a picture of the 7-14 month old girl they think would fit best with our family.Two months later our journey will finally end in a 2 week visit to China where we will be given our little girl to love and cherish.
We set forth on this road to adoption confident that God has lovingly placed this task and blessing before us. All of us are thrilled to travel this road despite the struggles we will have to surmount.All of the boys are also eager to have a sister.Our thoughts constantly turn to another part of the world where a little girl has possibly been just born and is being abandoned.We may not be able to be part of her first year physically, but we are there spiritually, praying for her safety and sustenance.A friend prayed “May she be a magnet for affection that her caregivers can’t keep their hands off of her!”
That’s the beginning of our story but hopefully not the end.We’ll continue to journal our progress so that family and friends who visit this site might lift up our needs and our daughter’s needs in prayer.Thank you for being part of our journey.We pray that God will surely give us grace for adoption as we travel this joyous and exciting path. (Sharon)
How does one discover the mystery of God’s will?I believe it begins with an opportunity, accompanied by a desire and is then validated by the agreement of a husband and wife, the agreement of godly counsel, and the agreement of scripture.Over the course of the past few weeks God has abundantly done this for us.Slowly my fears have been replaced with an inexplicable peace and joy.Barriers that we thought couldn’t be crossed dissolved before us.Referring to the story of the priests and the Ark of the Covenant, I told a prayer warrior, “I’m ready to step into the water” to which she replied, “Water!What water?The ground is dry!”
And so we have submitted our application, have gotten accepted and have begun the process of adopting.They tell us that it will be a year filled with hope, frustrations, disappointments, impatience, and growth.We will spend the first 3 months compiling a 5 inch thick dossier filled with documentations of our life history.This dossier will be sent over to China and then we will wait 4-7 months before a referral is sent to us.The referral will hold scanty information and a picture of the 7-14 month old girl they think would fit best with our family.Two months later our journey will finally end in a 2 week visit to China where we will be given our little girl to love and cherish.
We set forth on this road to adoption confident that God has lovingly placed this task and blessing before us. All of us are thrilled to travel this road despite the struggles we will have to surmount.All of the boys are also eager to have a sister.Our thoughts constantly turn to another part of the world where a little girl has possibly been just born and is being abandoned.We may not be able to be part of her first year physically, but we are there spiritually, praying for her safety and sustenance.A friend prayed “May she be a magnet for affection that her caregivers can’t keep their hands off of her!”
That’s the beginning of our story but hopefully not the end.We’ll continue to journal our progress so that family and friends who visit this site might lift up our needs and our daughter’s needs in prayer.Thank you for being part of our journey.We pray that God will surely give us grace for adoption as we travel this joyous and exciting path. (Sharon)
A Heart for Adoption
Sunday, November 13, 2005 3:25 PM, CST
Today we studied Hebrews 10 in Sunday School. It seems that almost everything I am reading these days is speaking to me in regards to our adoption process. Hebrews 10:24 reads, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”Sharon wrote about our college friend who came for dinner out of the blue and shared his two adoption stories. This was just the sort of spurring on toward love and good deeds that Sharon and I needed to hear. We will be forever grateful for how God used our friend's act of obedience to spur us on. As Sharon shared, we have always had a heart for adoption - hoping that one day we could. It is quite another thing to possess the feet for adoption, the hands for adoption, and the impulse to make it happen. Growing up with horses we had a lot of opportunity to use spurs - and often spurs were just the encouragement our horses needed to get going.
After hearing our friend's story of adoption (which was really a story of obedience and courage) we couldn’t escape God’s heart for orphans. We were later challenged by James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans…” and I Timothy 6:17-19 where Paul says, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
As I look at this last passage even now, I am challenged anew.We’ve got retirement to plan for, braces to buy, a car that is on its last leg, we're adding a fourth boy to private school education next year... but we are thrilled that God has entrusted us with this opportunity, and we are convinced that by walking in this obedience we will be taking hold of the life that is truly life.
Thank you for your prayers for us! The mountain of paperwork seems manageable, although it seems like the adoption agency wants to give it to us in piecemeal rather than all at once. Knowing Sharon, if we had it all at once it would be completed "all at once." As it is, we are going to need to exercise patience in the process as God gives us grace for adoption... (Pat)
Today we studied Hebrews 10 in Sunday School. It seems that almost everything I am reading these days is speaking to me in regards to our adoption process. Hebrews 10:24 reads, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”Sharon wrote about our college friend who came for dinner out of the blue and shared his two adoption stories. This was just the sort of spurring on toward love and good deeds that Sharon and I needed to hear. We will be forever grateful for how God used our friend's act of obedience to spur us on. As Sharon shared, we have always had a heart for adoption - hoping that one day we could. It is quite another thing to possess the feet for adoption, the hands for adoption, and the impulse to make it happen. Growing up with horses we had a lot of opportunity to use spurs - and often spurs were just the encouragement our horses needed to get going.
After hearing our friend's story of adoption (which was really a story of obedience and courage) we couldn’t escape God’s heart for orphans. We were later challenged by James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans…” and I Timothy 6:17-19 where Paul says, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
As I look at this last passage even now, I am challenged anew.We’ve got retirement to plan for, braces to buy, a car that is on its last leg, we're adding a fourth boy to private school education next year... but we are thrilled that God has entrusted us with this opportunity, and we are convinced that by walking in this obedience we will be taking hold of the life that is truly life.
Thank you for your prayers for us! The mountain of paperwork seems manageable, although it seems like the adoption agency wants to give it to us in piecemeal rather than all at once. Knowing Sharon, if we had it all at once it would be completed "all at once." As it is, we are going to need to exercise patience in the process as God gives us grace for adoption... (Pat)
