Supplying the Need

We have a Spring-Summer of fund-raising before us, which, quite frankly, seems daunting. Don't get me wrong, God has proven so faithful already! And we really do believe that what God leads his children to do, He provides for them to do. In fact, we've had funds available to complete our home-study and to make our initial payment with our agency. So far, so good. Nevertheless, as the provider, leader, and future father in our home, I have been feeling the pressure of making sure that we will have the necessary funds to bring this little boy home. With that context in mind, I'm happy to report that this week, the Heavenly Father worked in a way that reminded me that He is in the spiritual and physical adoption business and that He will be seeing to it that we have the needed resources to bring our son home.

Today we walked into our local coffee shop and were surprised to see a good friend accomplishing some work there. Several years earlier, as complete strangers, we met in that same coffee shop and have since enjoyed many good talks over lunch and coffee. We hadn't expected to see him today and when we greeted him, the first thing on his lips was how excited he was about our adoption and how he had been keeping up-to-date on our blog. Every time that friends mention the blog, ask how the adoption process is going, share our story on Facebook, or (most importantly) assure us that they are praying for us –– every time, we are greatly encouraged. That being said, we chatted together with our good friend and confirmed our get-together for the following week.

Just this evening when we arrived home, Emiley checked her email, only to notice that this same friend had made a very substantial donation to our cause! Through this incredible gift, coupled with the work of a good friend through BringOrphansHome, the Lord has reminded us once again, "God will supply all your need according to riches and glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

Letters to My Boy

My little love,
My mind often wanders away from sleepy Ottawa, WI. It skips across the states in between here and the coast of the Atlantic. It sails over that giant ocean and bounds through the deserts and jungles of Africa. And then it stops...Right there in Ethiopia.

I wonder what it's like in Ethiopia. I have been to Africa before, but never right to Ethiopia. I have been doing my homework, you know. I am learning all about the geography and the animals, the people and their food. My head is filling with facts about Ethiopia, but I cannot wait to be there-Mostly, because it's where you are.

I still haven't met you, haven't even seen your face in a picture. It's strange to me that you may not yet be born, and yet it's strange as well to consider that you could already be smiling and crawling. I often imagine what you look like and what you may be doing right now. I bet you'll have those big, beautiful brown eyes. I look forward to my first glimpse of them.

It's when I begin to consider what you might be doing right now that my emotions are conflicted. With my imagining, my thoughts race from joy and excitement to sadness and heartache. It is because I start to realize the circumstances that will lead me to you...It could be for any number of reasons that lead to you ending up in the orphanage.

My heart breaks to think that you may be still in the womb, while your birth mother battles her own emotions--wondering if she will be able to care for you, feed you, sustain you. It could be now that she is making the most difficult decision to give you up. What a decision. It may be that the choice isn't hers--maybe her own health has failed and you are left alone without your parents. Whatever the circumstances, I can't help but imagine that you are alone...wondering where your loved ones are.

You may already be in the orphanage. I pray that your nannies will be sweet and loving to you. I pray that you'll get enough food to grow strong and fight off infection. Most moms get to control every little thing that will enter their child's body--from prenatal vitamins all the way through a well balanced diet. I have absolutely no control over that yet. But I do know that God is caring for you. He will watch over you. I pray that you'll be a favorite with one of your nannies--that she'll come when you cry, give you extra formula/food. Wow-am I thankful for those nannies!

I am praying for you! Be strong, little one. We are almost done with our home study here. We just saw the rough draft today! We've already been working hard at gathering our important papers for our dossier to send to Ethiopia. We should be done with that in just a couple months. And then we'll wait--wait to be matched officially with you. We're coming, little guy!

Love,
Mommy

Bring Orphans Home

God has been faithful in giving us blessings, large and small, along our adoption journey. In some ways, it seems like we've already been on this road for a long while. Sometimes, it feels like we've just begun. Each blessing that God sends our way is an extra little boost of encouragement that His hand is on our adoption.

The day that we announced to the world (via facebook: you know it's official when it's facebook official) that we were adopting, a friend from high school messaged me. Before I share her message, let me tell you a bit about Susan. Late last fall, I started seeing Susan's posts about her opportunity to participate in an orphan hosting program over the Christmas season. She and her family welcomed a sweet teenage girl (Anna) from Eastern Europe into their home and loved on her the entire time. I really enjoyed seeing her updates as she shared how God provided for this opportunity and as she experienced life with this girl. They shared God's love through the Gospel and everyday life. It broke my heart as the time came for them to send Anna back home. Although they wanted to adopt her,  they fell one year short of the age gap requirement. Since that time, I have watched as Susan has tirelessly sought to raise money to either host Anna again this year or to assist another family to actually adopt Anna. Through this entire story, God has laid it on another family's heart to adopt Anna, and Susan is still working to help this family. Wow. This is an excellent story of real religion--caring for orphans.

During this whole time, God had been already at work in our hearts about the possibility of growing our family through adoption. Each time I saw Susan's posts, it only made me more excited about what God could do through our family!

When Susan heard about our adoption, she messaged me to tell me how excited she was about it. She also explained that she would love to do whatever she could to help us. She continued on to say that she has an etsy site (Bring Orphans Home) where she sells jewelry that she makes and that she would be willing to help us raise funds for our adoption. While taking out only the cost of supplies, Susan donates the rest of the purchase price to adoption: the majority to our adoption and one part for her Anna. Susan took a graphic that I had already designed and did her magic transforming it into jewelry. There are three different choices for purchase:

            

If you'd like to support our adoption in a tangible way and have a constant reminder of both our spiritual adoption and the need of physical adoption, you can purchase your necklace here. Just over the last few days, we have already raised over $250 through Susan's site!

We are so grateful and incredibly overwhelmed with God's goodness to us in His provision in this way. Our friends and family (and even people we don't know!) have been very supportive in this process. We look forward to how God will continue to meet the needs to bring our little boy home. 

30 Years Later: Adoption, Providence, Prayer, and the UPS Lady

We have each just offered a lung and kidney for thorough medical analysis, have used antibacterial soap on every square inch of our home — including our lab's chew toys, and have sworn on the graves our ancestors that we will be good parents. Okay, it's not that bad. We are in the midst of the "paper chase," which includes criminal background checks, a financial study, complete physicals, meetings at our home with a social worker, as well as the gathering of other important documents.

Last week, I ordered some needed copies of my birth certificate from the fine state of Tennessee (i.e. the Holy Land), selected overnight shipping and was hopeful to see them soon. UPS tried to deliver three consecutive days (at the same time, of course) and missed us each time. A little inconvenient, but not a big deal. I had to drive 30 minutes to the UPS distribution center in Watertown, WI, where my wife and I went to Bible college and where my parents presently live and serve the Lord.

"Package for Marriott, please" I said, upon entering the facility. As the employee finished up some paperwork, I started to explain to her, "I had to order some birth certificates because my wife and I are adopting a child from Ethiopia." She seemed genuinely interested and so for the next several minutes I was able to explain to her that adoption was our "plan A" for growing our family and that we were motivated to do this because our spiritual adoption into God's family was His "plan A" at an incredible cost, the cross-resurrection of His own Son, Jesus Christ. She said some kind things and handed me the package. I was almost to the car when I heard, "Wait!" I turned around as she continued, "Are you Miriam's son?"

As an almost eery feeling crept over my body, I was thinking, "Why, yes I am Miriam's son, but how in the world does this woman know that?" Honestly, though, I should not have been surprised at all, since my Mom meets everyone, literally everyone that she comes across — gas station attendants, grocery store clerks, flight attendants, medical receptionists, etc. But she doesn't just meet them and introduce herself to them; she also introduces them to Her Savior, Jesus Christ.

I rejoined the kind lady in the store and listened as my new friend told me how she and my mom had been coworkers at a nursing home 30 years ago when my mom was still in college. She recounted how my mom had befriended her, cared about her, and talked with her about the Lord. Apparently, she had bumped into mom 2 years ago at a craft fair, had taken her email address down, and then placed it into her checkbook. "Every time I write a check, I think about reaching out to your mom," she explained. I urged her to call my mom, assured her that my mom's offer to get together was beyond genuine, and expressed how thankful I was to have met her. She concluded, "If I ever thought I was receiving a sign from God, today is that day."

Imagine how encouraged my Mom was to hear that God was still using the seed of her witness — some 30 years later! I was reminded that one sows, one waters, but God gives the increase. We must never underestimate how God can work through our words and lives to bring forth fruit even many years later. God can save anyone, at any time, through the most unexpected means, and from the most surprising seeds — even 30 year old ones. We must not grow weary in well-doing!

Throughout our entire adoption process so far, we have prayed that our adoption would be a sort of "first-fruits," that other Christians would be moved by God to participate in orphan care and that unbelievers would be adopted in God's family through Jesus Christ! 

Missing the Point

I love to have control of my life's circumstances. I might seek it through a variety of different ways, some of which may sound pretty "spiritual." When I begin to get overwhelmed with a particular circumstance in my life (ie. adoption), my automatic response is usually to come up with my own plan as to how I can fix the problem/accomplish my will. I organize and plan until everything makes perfect sense in my mind--then I begin to tackle the list until my plan is carried out. Sounds like a great thing, huh? I am an organized, pick yourself up by your bootstraps, independent kind of girl.

In this world's economy, this solution seems great! It looks and sounds good. But, as a Christian, when I attempt to carry out my own will in this way, I COMPLETELY miss the point!! You see, although I am called to be a wise steward of all that God gives me (my time, my life, my finances, etc.), I am not the one that is ultimately in control. My God is sovereign over all of life's details, great and small. He did not just create us, and then send us out on our own without His involvement and intervention. As God, He has the authority and the ability to hold this position in my life. As my sweet friend Jo often says, "God is God, and I am not."

God has been accomplishing much in my heart--teaching me over and over that HE is in control of my circumstances. This week, He used a Christian book study (Praying Backwards: Transform Your Prayer Life by Beginning in Jesus' Name by Bryan Chapell) that I am going through with a small group of ladies from our church. As I was preparing to lead the study, this paragraph jumped out at me:

We seem content to ask God to bless our management of the details of our life. These details, it seems, are best handled by our own grit and wit but, of course, with the hope for God’s intercession in times of crisis when he might really be needed.

This was describing me to a "T." This is precisely what I had been doing, handling life's struggles and details with my own grit. Pray with me that God will continue to solidify this Truth in my mind, heart and actions. 

Tuesday morning, our little group gathered together to discuss this week's chapter from our book. As we settled in at our corner table, it became quickly evident that each of us had come in heavy-laden with the burdens and worries of life. Yet we each came that morning--hungry for relief from burdens, ready for encouragement, wanting to grow as we were changed by the truths of the Word. I am thankful for this group of ladies. As we shared our struggles of the week, applied God's Word to our hearts, and lifted up one another in prayer--we each walked away encouraged. Our focus had been realigned on Truth. Now, we were ready to face the week. I am thankful for these friends who sharpen me to be more like Christ.

Dave and I have been busy, whittling away at our weekly checklist. I'll let you know in the next post what we've been up to. But as I've been going about my way this week, God's truth has gripped my controlling heart. Continue to pray with me that I will allow God to direct my paths. As David writes in Psalm 61:2, pray that when my heart is overwhelmed, I will allow God to lead me to Himself-the Rock that is higher than me.

Weekly Checklist

I am a list person. You know, the kind that has a to-do list for everything. There's a certain joy when I can check something off the list. Side Note: I may or may not add things to the list that have already been done, just so I can check them off.

We recently received a HUGE binder from our adoption agency that is filled with tasks that we have to accomplish, appointments we have to make, documents we have to gather and notarize, etc. The list really goes on and on and on! Within the first 24 hours, I think I had already read just about every piece of information in the whole binder. My adoption to-do checklist grew exponentially. The first few nights, I would just sit in bed with no hope of falling asleep soon, going over the many details that needed to be done still. This was overwhelming--to say the least. I quickly realized that I would need to compile a to-do list for each week, slowly chiseling away at the massive list of tasks. 

That being said, this week, we were able to cross a few more things off our to-do list. :)

On this last week's list:

1) Order brand-new copies of our birth certificates

• All of our documents for our dossier will have to be less than six months old when we send them out. For this reason, we cannot use any of our current certificates and must order new ones. We ordered Dave's from Knoxville, Tennessee and mine from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mine already arrived at our front door. Unfortunately, we keeping missing the UPS guy and haven't been able to sign for Dave's yet (despite UPS's multiple-3-attempts). 

2) Order brand-new copies of our marriage certificate

• Dave went down to the Waukesha County Courthouse to pick up a few copies of our marriage certificate. Mission accomplished.

3) Police Background Check

• While at the Courthouse, Dave also dropped off our form to the Police for our background checks. These will be forwarded on to our home study agency and our international agency for our dossier. 

4) Character References Received by International Agency

• Each of our character references were received this week by our International Adoption Agency. Yippee! Thanks to our friends, who have already written a few references for this adoption process. 

5) Contract from Agency

• Since our character references all came in, our agency has officially accepted us into the program and has extended the official contract. Hopefully, we'll be signing that and sending it in (along with the starting agency fee) next week!

6) Begin Researching for a Family Doctor/Pediatrician

• When our little boy first arrives at home, we will likely have to have a pediatrician who specializes in examining international children--It is very possible that, although he will be deemed healthy, he could have a variety of physical issues that are considered normal in an underdeveloped country. 
• Dave and I, personally, are not really "doctor people." I basically have to be dying in order to even consider going to the doctor. No offense, to my doctor friends. :) I don't know why--but it's just the way it is with us. I cannot remember the last time I went to the doctor--After all, I haven't been dying any time too recently. For this reason, we do not have a primary care physician. Both of us need to complete a physical for our home study and our dossier. This week, we are doing our homework on choosing a physician. Big step. Pathetic, I know. 

It's been a busy week, but we've accomplished much! We'll try to keep you all posted on what we're up to each week to bring us closer to completing our adoption. Thank you all for your continued prayers, questions and notes of encouragement!

Letters to My Boy

My sweet little boy,
I can never quite seem to fall asleep at night without thinking about you and praying for you. Ever since the first day that your daddy and I decided that we would adopt--that we would begin our planning and our search for you--this is how I fall asleep each night. I don't know how long it will take for us to find you, until you are safe at home in our arms, but I can hardly wait. I just keep trying to remind myself that God has it all planned out. I want to write you letters along the way--someday, when you are older, I will give them to you. I want you to know all about your special story of how you came to be my son.

From the beginning, God knew that you would be a part of our family. He has planned out each detail--down to the day that I will meet you. Psalm 68 says that God is the Father to the fatherless. He is already watching out for you. I'm trying to rest in that truth.

We are just starting your adoption process in the United States. We have so many forms and papers to fill out! We even had to be interviewed by someone from our home study agency to decide if we would be good parents for you. Every time I see my family, they ask about you too! You have a lot of cousins who will make great playmates. :) Many of our friends already love you as well. A few of them have even written letters to our adoption agency, explaining why they think we will be good parents to you. You are already loved here.

We still have quite a ways to go before we will be ready to send all of our important papers to Ethiopia, where you will be. But once our papers get there, we will get to meet you for the first time. We will have to wait in line for just the right amount of time--and then God will match us up with you. Then, we'll get to see your face. After that, we'll get to come to Ethiopia to meet you in real person. While we're there, we will have to go to the judge in Ethiopia to adopt you. We will definitely have an amazing celebration with you that day! You'll be officially ours. That day will be like your second birthday. Every year, for the rest of our lives, we'll celebrate that day together. Lucky you-it's like having two birthdays--one for the day you were born and one for the day you came into our family.

After that special day, I am going to have to do one of the most difficult things I can imagine ever having to do. I will hug you tight and cover you in kisses, and then I will have to say goodbye. You see, they won't let you come home with me just yet. I will have to get on an airplane and fly back home--further and further away from you with each mile. I will have to remind myself that God will take care of you--that He is your greatest Protector, not me. But I will come back. I promise. It will be a few more long months of waiting. But then, when I do come back, you will get to come home with me and Daddy.

Until then, I will keep thinking about you and praying for you every night before I fall asleep. You already have your own little corner, deep in my heart. It'll be your spot forever.

With love,
Mommy

Testing our Religion

This morning, I preached a sermon from James 1:27, entitled, "Testing our Religion." We looked at the following three tests to determine if our religion is pure and undefiled.

1. Real Religion is God-ward. Is mine? 
2. Real Religion Pursues Holiness. Does mine? 
3. Real Religion Blesses the Helpless. Does mine? 

Under the 3rd point, I discussed the biblical rationale for orphan care. If you'd like to listen, click here.