One Year In
One year ago today, we said yes. We didn't know everything we were saying yes to at that point, but we knew that God was preparing a way for us to adopt a child from Ethiopia, and we didn't want to miss out on the great things the Lord was doing.
On the surface, it is easy to see the blessings & lessons that we said yes to. Care to dive deeper, though?
When we said YES to adoption, we said YES to:
1. Unending Examples of the Lord's Faithfulness. There have been MANY times in this past year where things didn't add up on paper, yet the Lord provided, or we questioned how things were going to fall in place, and we saw the Lord's sovereignty. Who makes $4,000 in yard sales? We did. Even in my heart- I have seen the Lord reassure me of who HE IS and how this adoption is just one tiny aspect of how good He is to us. We have seen the Lord multiply our efforts to make money for this adoption, and bless us in many ways. We have seen specific answers to prayer, and we hope that the way we receive these gifts honors God.
2. Deep Adoption Community. In addition to the growing adoption community at our church, I have followed the journeys of many families through blogs, and also had the opportunity to meet some incredible women at Created for Care. These aren't just invisible friends, these are real friends that I have cried and rejoiced with. And this is only the beginning of our journey! I can think of several adoptive mamas who are now my best friends - I could have missed those friendships if we hadn't had this connection. And the best part? We don't even have our baby yet- so these relationships will become even more important (and new) when we are doing play dates and praying together in that stage of life. Bring it!
3. Easy Gospel Opportunities. This has to be one of the sweetest perks of adopting. Almost everyone who finds out that we are adopting (and adopting our first child) want to know why. We can easily share the gospel and how we are adopted as sons through the inheritance we have been given in Christ. Because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice (himself on the cross), our sins have been atoned for and we can be children of God if we believe. Even though we were sinful, didn't deserve to be saved, and had no hope to save ourselves, Christ made the way for us to be heirs in God's kingdom. Similarly, we have the opportunity to give a child a home- to bring home a child that would otherwise have no hope and raise them in a home that will teach the good news of Christ.
4. Trials and Tests that Refine Our Faith. If we said that this year was easy, we'd be lying. People say that when you choose to follow the Lord, Satan gets really angry, and its true. We've had people say some pretty rude things, and there have been times this past year that it seems like nothing is working in our favor. Even on days when it seems like it would have just been easier to get pregnant, we know that God is refining us and giving us the character that comes through perseverance. I have had to learn submission that is NOT easy, but so good, and learn how to trust that God is in control, even when numbers don't add up or it seems like we're never going to get our baby home.
5. Opened Eyes to the Broken and Lonely. While we are not dealing with the healing process of our baby yet, and we don't know what our baby's story will be - we realize that our baby will have had immense loss by the time we meet him/her. And what is worse, there are so many stories of kids that have similar losses that never have the hope that our baby does. There are kids who do grow up without moms, dads, toys, organized sports, education, family vacations, new clothes, doctor visits, etc. There are kids who won't ever hear "I love you" or taught that Jesus loved them enough to die for them. And adopting one healthy baby isn't going to solve that problem. Yes, it is 147 million orphans minus one, but what about the rest? We don't know yet what God will call us to next, or how our adoption process can make a bigger impact on the kingdom of God, than just "minus one." The minus one is a good thing, but what about those other kids? How can I feel like such a hero when there are so many others that need the gospel too? When we started the process one year ago we certainly didn't know that our eyes would be opened to more than just one baby getting a home. Not that we know what that means yet!
6. Being A Part of the Bigger Picture. This may seem like the flip side of #5... Whether it has been encouraging other families to go ahead and adopt/foster now, or this little blog helping others see the gospel through this adoption process, or other families seeing that we (a young seminary family) can adopt (and if God is faithful to us surely he will be faithful again!)- we're a part of something bigger than just one baby getting a home. We would have missed that had we not said yes to adoption.
7. Allowing the Gospel to be A Part of our Daily Life. Not that you have to adopt to do this... but we are able to see that our daily sacrifices (living frugally, saving, etc) are on behalf of an orphan finding hope in Christ. Hi, gospel. We're seeing that we must daily trade in our expectations, control, desires- and receive blessings that are even better than what we were holding tight to in the first place.
8. Adoption Being Natural. Now that we are in the process we are hearing about all sorts of people that are adopting or have adopted. But it is even more fun to hear about family members talking about adopting one day, or to imagine a colorful family portrait and go- yes, that is natural. For us, it was a natural decision to see the need for adoptive families, have the calling from the Lord, and to move forward. It is amazing to see other families come to the same conclusion about adoption/foster care, and go "this makes sense" to move forward with these processes. I love that when we think ahead 10 years, we imagine more adopted kids and can't even guess at what our Christmas card will look like, because that is natural and right.
And good things to come:
9. The joy/trials of parenthood. Ahh we can't wait! We know we will need much grace as we learn how to be parents, but already I'm overwhelmed by the blessing of being charged with raising our future children to know and love God. Who am I to receive such a gift?
10. Visiting Ethiopia twice. What a blessing to go overseas together, celebrate another culture, and learn about the beautiful country that our child came from.
I could go on. God has been so good. We had no clue that when we said YES to adoption that we would get so many more blessings. So what is God asking you to say YES to?
On the surface, it is easy to see the blessings & lessons that we said yes to. Care to dive deeper, though?
When we said YES to adoption, we said YES to:
1. Unending Examples of the Lord's Faithfulness. There have been MANY times in this past year where things didn't add up on paper, yet the Lord provided, or we questioned how things were going to fall in place, and we saw the Lord's sovereignty. Who makes $4,000 in yard sales? We did. Even in my heart- I have seen the Lord reassure me of who HE IS and how this adoption is just one tiny aspect of how good He is to us. We have seen the Lord multiply our efforts to make money for this adoption, and bless us in many ways. We have seen specific answers to prayer, and we hope that the way we receive these gifts honors God.
2. Deep Adoption Community. In addition to the growing adoption community at our church, I have followed the journeys of many families through blogs, and also had the opportunity to meet some incredible women at Created for Care. These aren't just invisible friends, these are real friends that I have cried and rejoiced with. And this is only the beginning of our journey! I can think of several adoptive mamas who are now my best friends - I could have missed those friendships if we hadn't had this connection. And the best part? We don't even have our baby yet- so these relationships will become even more important (and new) when we are doing play dates and praying together in that stage of life. Bring it!
3. Easy Gospel Opportunities. This has to be one of the sweetest perks of adopting. Almost everyone who finds out that we are adopting (and adopting our first child) want to know why. We can easily share the gospel and how we are adopted as sons through the inheritance we have been given in Christ. Because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice (himself on the cross), our sins have been atoned for and we can be children of God if we believe. Even though we were sinful, didn't deserve to be saved, and had no hope to save ourselves, Christ made the way for us to be heirs in God's kingdom. Similarly, we have the opportunity to give a child a home- to bring home a child that would otherwise have no hope and raise them in a home that will teach the good news of Christ.
4. Trials and Tests that Refine Our Faith. If we said that this year was easy, we'd be lying. People say that when you choose to follow the Lord, Satan gets really angry, and its true. We've had people say some pretty rude things, and there have been times this past year that it seems like nothing is working in our favor. Even on days when it seems like it would have just been easier to get pregnant, we know that God is refining us and giving us the character that comes through perseverance. I have had to learn submission that is NOT easy, but so good, and learn how to trust that God is in control, even when numbers don't add up or it seems like we're never going to get our baby home.
5. Opened Eyes to the Broken and Lonely. While we are not dealing with the healing process of our baby yet, and we don't know what our baby's story will be - we realize that our baby will have had immense loss by the time we meet him/her. And what is worse, there are so many stories of kids that have similar losses that never have the hope that our baby does. There are kids who do grow up without moms, dads, toys, organized sports, education, family vacations, new clothes, doctor visits, etc. There are kids who won't ever hear "I love you" or taught that Jesus loved them enough to die for them. And adopting one healthy baby isn't going to solve that problem. Yes, it is 147 million orphans minus one, but what about the rest? We don't know yet what God will call us to next, or how our adoption process can make a bigger impact on the kingdom of God, than just "minus one." The minus one is a good thing, but what about those other kids? How can I feel like such a hero when there are so many others that need the gospel too? When we started the process one year ago we certainly didn't know that our eyes would be opened to more than just one baby getting a home. Not that we know what that means yet!
6. Being A Part of the Bigger Picture. This may seem like the flip side of #5... Whether it has been encouraging other families to go ahead and adopt/foster now, or this little blog helping others see the gospel through this adoption process, or other families seeing that we (a young seminary family) can adopt (and if God is faithful to us surely he will be faithful again!)- we're a part of something bigger than just one baby getting a home. We would have missed that had we not said yes to adoption.
7. Allowing the Gospel to be A Part of our Daily Life. Not that you have to adopt to do this... but we are able to see that our daily sacrifices (living frugally, saving, etc) are on behalf of an orphan finding hope in Christ. Hi, gospel. We're seeing that we must daily trade in our expectations, control, desires- and receive blessings that are even better than what we were holding tight to in the first place.
8. Adoption Being Natural. Now that we are in the process we are hearing about all sorts of people that are adopting or have adopted. But it is even more fun to hear about family members talking about adopting one day, or to imagine a colorful family portrait and go- yes, that is natural. For us, it was a natural decision to see the need for adoptive families, have the calling from the Lord, and to move forward. It is amazing to see other families come to the same conclusion about adoption/foster care, and go "this makes sense" to move forward with these processes. I love that when we think ahead 10 years, we imagine more adopted kids and can't even guess at what our Christmas card will look like, because that is natural and right.
And good things to come:
9. The joy/trials of parenthood. Ahh we can't wait! We know we will need much grace as we learn how to be parents, but already I'm overwhelmed by the blessing of being charged with raising our future children to know and love God. Who am I to receive such a gift?
10. Visiting Ethiopia twice. What a blessing to go overseas together, celebrate another culture, and learn about the beautiful country that our child came from.
I could go on. God has been so good. We had no clue that when we said YES to adoption that we would get so many more blessings. So what is God asking you to say YES to?
Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love this!! So many of my exact thoughts!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE THIS!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is so wonderful-thanks for sharing your story (not just today, but the whole year)!
ReplyDeleteAgree on all of these! Especially #2-#4! Thanks for reminding me of God's goodness.
ReplyDeleteLove this post!! We feel the same way!!!
ReplyDelete