Once upon a time....

Flash back to 1999, we were a family of four. Happy in our new roomy house and comfortable in our ways. A few years later, the Lord blessed us with an additional little package, little boy #3. Now we were a family of five and sure that would be the end. As time moved on, so did we. The Lord used the time that passed to open our eyes to His will. Several years ago, Bob and I individually heard the call to adoption. It has been a long "pregnancy", but during this incubation time, the Lord has brought us to where He wants us to be. Spring 2010, we traveled to Ethiopia where two little angels were waiting for the Lord's timing - to become our children. Now we are home and can't imagine life any differently! What a blessing to be in His will.

Galatians 4:5 says "God sent Christ to buy freedom for us, who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as his very own children." We are just following his model. A Perfect picture of salvation.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

GPS - God Positioning System


Here is a picture of the boys this past July 4th. Aren't they cute??? They look like they actually like each other.

This is the recent part of the adoption story in a nutshell:
Adoption has never really left my heart and Bob doesn't talk much (you know how they are), so I really didn't know what he was thinking on the subject and was a bit afraid to ask. I was afraid that he would have lost the passion that we had developed for adoption and you know it has to be both or nothing! So, about Thursday last week I said to him, "I feel like the Lord isn't finished with us yet on adoption. I know I like to think as I talk and you (Bob) like to think then talk. So, think about adoption, pray about it, read scripture with adoption in mind and in about 2 weeks, we will make a point of having a discussion about adoption." Then, as hard as it was, I left it alone. On Friday at school, the PE teacher asks me, "Are you adopting?" When I asked her why she would ask that..., she said "because Marshall says you are." Friday evening, our worship team had a gathering. Our minister of music shared with us that he and his family (wife and 4 kids) were "resigning" to become full time church planters. He said, "I asked God to show me His will and He told me church planting." Then he said something I knew, but the timing was so profound, "When the Lord shows you His will, and he does, it is not for your consideration....to compare to other options you may have...IT IS HIS WILL FOR YOU." Friday evening, I began looking around on the internet for international agencies. Ethiopia caught my attention. There are some 5 million orphans there! Then our Sunday School class topic was on the sin of omission - what hit me was that NOT adopting, when we had definitely felt the call to, was a sin of omission. The sermon was on GPS - God Positioning System. When the pastor got to the point where he said that God tells you what you need when you need it....and that if you get off track, He recomputes and gets you back on track....and that when Phillip was told to go on a certain road...to meet an ETHIOPIAN!!!" I about fell out of my chair. Bob and I talked all the way home about how to get the application going, revisit our finances (remember it was only a year and a few months ago that we became a two income family and so we have not forgotten how to be frugal!) and how fast we could get the process started! I am excited about how quick the Lord jumped on our willingness to be open and hear from Him - I am sure He is thinking, "It's about time!"

Sunday, September 28, 2008

On the Road Again...

It has been so long since I blogged - is that a word? We are still in the adoption arena or so it seems. I think that God has been waiting patiently for us to come around. His will is still active and we were the ones that were blind to His intent for us. However, we believe that we are now attentive and following His lead in this adventure. We are pursuing his call to adoption - through Children's Hope International - THIS WEEK. The following postings will chronicle our journey. I really don't want to forget one single piece of this puzzle, so bear with me as I ramble. I am full up with JOY!