We sat by a fire this evening and began our international adoption course. There is so much to take in, but we have not lost sight of God's leading for us to care for the fatherless and add to our family. We have gained further determination to see this process through. We cannot wait to share the love in our home with our new child and recognize that each small step is one more step toward bringing our new son(s? daughter?) home. It feels great to take this next step. Bring on the paperwork!
The next steps towards adopting our child begin next week when we return from our wonderful vacation. We will be taking an adoptive parent course and submitting our first program fee! Already we have seen the hand of God working in the financial end of things. I was thinking the other day, we are going to have to try and think of creative ways to raise money for our adoption, especially towards the end when things get particularly expensive and perhaps a bit frantic. Of course I'm going on other families stories and circumstances and each situation is different, only our Heavenly Father knows exactly how all this pans out. I am also finding that I'm struggling with impatience..........why does bringing home an orphaned child take so long? In our case we are adopting an older child and know that he is probably longing for a forever home and we just want to push everyone and everything out of the way, crawl, climb, swim and move mountains to just get to Ethiopia.........NOW! Thankfully we can rest in knowing that Gods timing is perfect and with any hurdle or bump in the road or with what we would consider a delay, that His reasons and His way goes beyond our understanding and we can fully trust Him. So for today, I'm praying for patience and have a heart full of thanksgiving that the One who created the mountains can and will move them for us as we wait on Him and for our little boy.
Today's Father's Day. This holiday is no doubt foreign to you in more ways than one. I've thought of you often today and wondered about your concept of fatherhood:
Have you seen other men as fathers and wondered what it was like?
Have you had experiences with men that have caused you to be distrustful of them?
Do you wonder about your biological father?
Does the idea of a father cause you anger, sadness, longing, or worry?
I worry that you are unhappy and unhealthy today. I worry that you may think that you'll never have a family. I wish that I could speak with you and reassure that I will be here for you. To say to you, "Hold on. We'll be together soon. Your days of fatherlessness are numbered". There is a growing restlessness within me as you become more and more a part of me, and I desire more and more to move into that protecting role that fathers inherit.
However, I take comfort that I may approach the throne of our Heavenly Father and ask Him to continue to protect you until He allows me to be His feet to run to you, His hands to soothe you, His mouth to speak love to you, and His arms to gather you close. One day we we will walk and speak of His great love for us, His great plan to bring you to me, and our magnificent responsibility to carry His Holy Name into the darkness of the world.
Let this picture be a prophecy of that moment.
Until then, you remain in my prayers. I offer my protection as I cry, "Abba, Father" and pray for your protection in faith that our coming joy will pale our present longings.
Romans 8:15-18 15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
The last several months have been filled with changes, waiting and seeking Gods will for our family. The Lord has placed a fire in our hearts to serve Him. Really serve Him. I mean the sacrificial, get out of our comfort zones kind of serving. I (Brenda) never thought that I could be used in a big way. I was content to just be a stay at home mom and be a behind the scenes kind of Christian. The scary thing is, I was complacent and didn't realize it and I was missing opportunities left and right. So we began to give our lives to God and asked Him to use us for His Glory. Warning, if you are genuinely wanting to be a servant of God, He will act!!!
There have been a lot of things we have been given a passion for as we seek to serve Him. This blog documents just one of those things. International adoption! It is with great joy and happiness to announce that we are headed to Ethiopia to bring home our next child/children!! Our blog header says Desta, pronounced des-e-ta. It is the Ethiopian language Amharic word for joy. We received the call from our adoption agency AWAA (America World Adoption Association) on Thursday, June 9, 2011 that we have been accepted into the Ethiopian program. We are thrilled, excited and so very anxious to get to Ethiopia and meet our new little one/s and bring them home where they belong. We have a long journey ahead of us that consists of paperwork, the home study, putting together the dossier, sending it all to Ethiopia and then waiting for the referral of a child that has been matched to our family.
Please join us in prayer as we take this leap of faith and travel down this unknown road and fully trust in the Lord to lead, guide and provide.
Below is a video of Nate telling the kids we were accepted into the program.........priceless!
