It's funny: when we started our adoption adventure, we unknowingly dove in with this large set of assumptions that the Lord has since been challenging and managing to debunk one by one. The first was merely what age and gender was best for our family. Then, by what means was best (foster-to-adopt, private, etc.). When little Ike wisely challenged us to leave it up to God and just pray for Him to bring the right orphan to our doorstep, the next was deciding if we truly believed God could really work that way. He miraculously showed us that, yes, He can, in gifting us you!
Gradually, we are being faced with wall after mounting wall of faith-building lessons and challenges. This "ride" is certainly not for the faint. Choosing to follow Jesus, Who seems to be leading us straight to you, has been anything but boring! But of all that we've learned thus far about exactly Who God is and what He can do, the last few weeks have unquestionably comprised my favorite lesson.
There is no way to sugarcoat this: adopting…a teenaged girl…internationally…requires a lot of which we have none of! We have yet to raise a girl…or a teenager; we have never visited your country, much less many other countries aside from our own; we don't speak a lick of Russian; we can't possibly understand your culture or the shock you'll experience coming to ours; we live on a very tight budget with only one income; and, as silly as it sounds compared to everything else, I can't decorate or craft or put an outfit together to save my life…. The list of our weaknesses just goes on and on (sorry, you're stuck). But that's just it. God only asked for our obedience. Since, it's as if He has been dispatching one believer after another to act alongside us on your behalf. I've been fervently pleading for His Holy Spirit to stir hearts to help bring you home, and every day this month has brought with it a surprise that answers every facet of that prayer!!! Friends have passionately volunteered to coordinate showers and fundraisers; strangers have been led to donate financially; acquaintances have been placed in the perfect place at the perfect time, sharing with us experiences that have better equipped us for the obstacles you might face. It's all been nothing short of incredible, as usual!!! And it all has reminded your Dad and I that we are just two parts of His church Body. It was never the Lord's intent that we know it all, have it all together, or be equipped to do it all:
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work." -1 Co. 12:4-6
His network is limitless--far beyond our circle of family and friends...far beyond our community even!! His will is that as many of His children as possible get to ride this "party train", as He came to testify so all would come to know and believe that He is God (John 1:7). We remain so humbled that He would choose us; that He would go to the very back of the line to trust our family with such "front lines" sort of work! I pray that many will see us exactly as we are: lackluster and lame. I want there to be no doubt left in anyone's mind that every success we encounter is nothing short of a divine miracle; I pray that all involved, but especially you, will see God and know that He, indeed, is real!!
Gradually, we are being faced with wall after mounting wall of faith-building lessons and challenges. This "ride" is certainly not for the faint. Choosing to follow Jesus, Who seems to be leading us straight to you, has been anything but boring! But of all that we've learned thus far about exactly Who God is and what He can do, the last few weeks have unquestionably comprised my favorite lesson.
There is no way to sugarcoat this: adopting…a teenaged girl…internationally…requires a lot of which we have none of! We have yet to raise a girl…or a teenager; we have never visited your country, much less many other countries aside from our own; we don't speak a lick of Russian; we can't possibly understand your culture or the shock you'll experience coming to ours; we live on a very tight budget with only one income; and, as silly as it sounds compared to everything else, I can't decorate or craft or put an outfit together to save my life…. The list of our weaknesses just goes on and on (sorry, you're stuck). But that's just it. God only asked for our obedience. Since, it's as if He has been dispatching one believer after another to act alongside us on your behalf. I've been fervently pleading for His Holy Spirit to stir hearts to help bring you home, and every day this month has brought with it a surprise that answers every facet of that prayer!!! Friends have passionately volunteered to coordinate showers and fundraisers; strangers have been led to donate financially; acquaintances have been placed in the perfect place at the perfect time, sharing with us experiences that have better equipped us for the obstacles you might face. It's all been nothing short of incredible, as usual!!! And it all has reminded your Dad and I that we are just two parts of His church Body. It was never the Lord's intent that we know it all, have it all together, or be equipped to do it all:
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work." -1 Co. 12:4-6
His network is limitless--far beyond our circle of family and friends...far beyond our community even!! His will is that as many of His children as possible get to ride this "party train", as He came to testify so all would come to know and believe that He is God (John 1:7). We remain so humbled that He would choose us; that He would go to the very back of the line to trust our family with such "front lines" sort of work! I pray that many will see us exactly as we are: lackluster and lame. I want there to be no doubt left in anyone's mind that every success we encounter is nothing short of a divine miracle; I pray that all involved, but especially you, will see God and know that He, indeed, is real!!
