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The Beginning
THE
BEGINNING
“I believe in
Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only
because I see it, but because by it I see everything
else.” ~C.S. Lewis
My husband Chris and I have four biological children. We
were content and were certain that we had finished
building our family. In the summer of 2004, Chris had an
encounter with God. He was told that we had a daughter in
China and that her name was Isabelle. After sitting on
this information with a heart full of fear and angst, he
shared with me what God had said to him on that day in
June 2004. Admittedly, I was shocked and dumbfounded; we
had never even considered adoption before and honestly
thought it was something families did who could not have
children naturally. But God planted a seed in both of our
hearts that soon grew into a passion and love for the
orphaned children in China. We came to realize that we did
have a daughter in China, in fact we are now bringing home
our third child from China, this time a little boy :)
Psalms 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on
your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and
He will direct your paths."
It wasn't long after we returned home with Isabelle in May
2005 that we realized that we had not completed our family
yet. As humans, I think we all like to believe we can
predict what will happen in our lives, but the wondrous
God we serve has the final authority, thank goodness! We
prayed hard over the decision to return to China so soon
after bringing Isabelle home and we both came to the same
conclusion, this child was our daughter. In May 2006,
after a paperchase and wait for travel in which God
revealed His mighty hand many times, we brought home our
sixth child, Sophie Lulu. Just a few days after we
returned home with Sophie, we moved from the Midwest to
the south. Not long after that Sophie and I got quite sick
and spent several weeks recovering. I vividly remember
telling my closest friends to smack me in the head if I
ever talked about wanting to adopt again. God gave me a
few months of reprieve but in July, at my birthday, I
began to reflect on my life. What was most important to
me? What were the things I valued most? When this life is
over, what will I regret doing or not doing? I soon
realized that, if God wanted us to open our hearts to
another child that I would submit to His will. Soon the
idea began to take root and I was certain that He had
another little girl in China that was meant for our family
-- or was it a boy? Since both our daughters are 'waiting
children' (meaning they cannot be referred out by the CCAA
through the traditional program due to some medical
issue), I had spent many hours learning about the children
who wait and wait for a family. Most of the children that
wait the longest and sometimes never get adopted are boys.
Overwhelmingly, adoptive families prefer girls. Already
having the blessing of three boys in a row, I never
considered adopting a boy until this time. My heart, once
only open to a daughter, began to soften towards the
little boys on waiting child lists. All I needed to be
certain that this was God’s will for our family was Chris’
complete and unsolicited agreement. A bit easier said than
done, Chris was not so sure he was ready to be a
dad…again. He was away at pilot training at the time so
making this decision was made even more difficult. I asked
him to pray about it for a while and then let it go at
that. One Sunday afternoon I called him and told him
jokingly that I had found the perfect name for our future
son. To my complete amazement he said with a laugh, “Okay,
call the agency.” God had orchestrated a message at church
that morning that had spoken directly to his heart. The
pastor talked about God’s provisions and discussed what
we, as Christians, were choosing to do with those
resources. The pastor encouraged the congregation to
search their hearts to see if they were using their assets
as God intended. Were we using our resources as a way to
help others or following our own agenda? Chris was certain
that this was God’s answer to his prayer. In early
September we boldly started the paperchase for the son we
would bring home.
Luke 12:48
"For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be
required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they
will ask the more."
We did not know him, his age, name or special need, but
our hearts were already making room. I spent several weeks
contacting agencies who would represent us, considering we
would need a 'family size waiver' from CCAA, since we
don't qualify because of the number of children we have at
home. We reviewed a few boys' files but after praying and
researching their needs, we realized we were not meant to
be their parents. On September 26, we received a
surprising phone call from one of the agencies I had been
in touch with, Children's Home Society and Family Services
in Minnesota. It was Kelly de Rosier, a social worker who
had reviewed our home study from Sophie's adoption and she
said she had received a new list of waiting children. She
went on to say that there was a little boy on this list
that she thought was perfect for our family. Obviously, we
agreed and soon we were paperchasing with a picture of our
beautiful little boy for encouragement and inspiration.
I will lift my
voice
To worship You, my King
I will find my strength
In the shadow of your wings
Third Day ~ Your Love, O Lord |
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