"Can you hear me now?" -God
| “And
I can’t help but tell a little story I heard the other day about
FAITH. A fellow fell off a cliff, and as he was falling grabbed
a limb sticking out the side of the cliff and looked down 300
feet to the canyon floor below and then looked up and said,
‘Lord, if there’s anyone up there, give me faith. Tell me what
to do.’ And a voice from the heavens said, ‘If you have faith,
let go.’ He looked down at the canyon floor and then took
another look up and said, ‘Is there anyone else up there?'"
-Ronald Reagan |
"Hello, this is God!"
Adoption is defined as the legal taking of a child into one’s
family, by choice, to raise as one’s own. God had been calling
us to adopt for some time, but we kept choosing to ignore Him.
God kept speaking louder and louder to us through a multitude of
circumstances until we could no longer ignore Him. God had
placed a growing desire in our hearts to adopt. We initially
thought that we would adopt domestically, here in the US, but
God had other plans. At Christmastime 2004, an earthquake and
tsunami destroyed thousands. We had never seen such devastation
hit a place. More moving than that though were all of the
beautiful children who were left without a home and parents. We
noticed a real sadness in their eyes, an emptiness that could
only be filled by Jesus Christ. Also, the children who died in
the tsunami were most likely not Christians, and that
realization devastated us. God really began to work on us. We
knew that a lot of kids in certain foreign countries will likely
never hear about Christ unless they are adopted into a Christian
family. We knew at that point that He wanted us to adopt
internationally, but from where? We started doing a lot of
research by conversing with people that we knew had adopted
internationally and searching the Internet for information. We
also started praying very fervently over our decision. God kept
bringing us back to China. We talked about from where we should
adopt with our girls, and they said that they wanted to have a
baby sister that looked like one of their friends from school.
They said that she was so kind and beautiful. This little
precious girl was adopted from China. We also fell in love with
China. We fell in love with their beautiful children! As we did
more research into China, it was made more evident to us that
this is where the newest member of our family was waiting for
us.
Why
China
The need for adoptive parents for Chinese girls is very
enormous. This is for a variety of reasons. First of all, there
is a cultural preference in China for a male child. In many
regions of China, a family’s source of revenue depends directly
on the productivity of its family members; therefore, a family
with sons has a direct advantage. Secondly, a male child,
culturally, is expected to care for his aging parents, while a
female is expected to care for her husband’s parents instead of
her own. If their only child is a girl, there is no one to care
for them in their old age. Lastly, the Chinese government has a
One-Child Policy that prohibits a family from having more than
one child. For these reasons, the Chinese believe that having a
son is crucial to their livelihood. This results in thousands of
children being abandoned, the vast majority being female. It is
hard for us to understand how these parents can abandon their
children, but we must not judge them. Abandonment is against the
law in China, so these mothers must risk severe punishment in
order to give their child life and a chance to have a family.
They have no choice; we cannot begin to imagine how
heartbreaking this decision must be.
God Has
Been Faithful
|
We cannot begin to tell you how faithful God has been to us
through this process! When we decided to adopt, we thought
we would wait to begin our process when we had all of the
money we needed to complete the adoption. God kept telling
us that He wanted us to adopt now and to leave the details
to Him, to trust Him. Believe me, that wasn’t easy. We felt
like the man clinging to the limb in the story on this page
told by Ronald Reagan, but God kept saying, “TRUST ME!” We
decided to do just that and stepped out on blind faith that
God would provide, and He did and is continuing to do so. At
every step so far in this journey to Reagan, God has
provided the money. We have not had to borrow any money at
all! We also are getting a grant from an organization called
Lives Out Of China when we receive our referral! PRAISE GOD!
He continues to show us everyday in so many ways that He is
faithful! |
Angela's
grandma praying
on her 80th birthday.
|
|
The man whispered,
"God, speak to me" and a Chickadee sang.
But, the man did not hear.
So the man yelled "God, speak to me!" And, the thunder rolled
across the sky.
But, the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said, "God let me see you." And a star
shined brightly.
But the man did not notice.
And, the man shouted, "God show me a miracle!" And, a life was
born.
But, the man did not know.
So, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know
you are here!"
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But, the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way
that you expect.
-Author Unknown
___________________________
What Now? by Steven Curtis Chapman
I saw the face of Jesus, in a little orphan girl.
She was standing in the corner on the other side of the world.
And I heard the voice of Jesus, gently whisper to my heart.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to find Me; well, here I am, here you
are.
So what now? What will you do now that you’ve found Me?
What now? What will you do with this TREASURE you’ve found?
I know I may not look like what you expected,
but if you’ll remember this is right where I said I would be.
You found Me. What now?”
|
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 |
Website by
myadoptionwebsite.com
|
