Never Easy. Always Worth It. | Family Friday
We had already received guardianship of two former foster sisters and thought we had done our part as Christians for orphan care when God brought across our path a picture of an 11-year-old Chinese girl.
After looking up her file and seeing how many orphans needed a home, Nick looked at me and said, “We have to do this.” This was not the vision I had for my future. I had been a stay-at-home homeschooling mom for 22 years, my youngest was a freshman in highschool, and I was looking forward to doing something different. But God. He was asking us to surrender our vision of our future to Him and trust Him with it. So we surrendered to the first step of hosting her over Christmas 2014. When we put her back on the plane it was confirmed in our hearts that she was to be a part of our family. We looked at our finances and knew there was no way we could financially do this, but knew she was getting close to the aging out time of 14 when she couldn’t be adopted, and we had to start acting now.
About 2 months into the process we wondered if we should adopt two girls so they would have each other to bond with, speak Chinese together, and have someone in their life who would always understand what adapting to a new life would be. So we had all our paperwork completed with the option of adopting two.
So it is here that our story transitions and my testing coincide. We had the big I-800A fingerprinting due. I started to fret that I couldn’t push through all the needed things on time.
It was there that I was reminded that God was working all things out and to surrender my need to get things done in my timeframe.
Our timeline was pushed back a couple of months and God used that to bring our second daughter across our path. She is a Chinese girl with albinism. As soon as I saw her video on Project 143’s hosting page, I called my husband and told him about her. He said, “She sounds perfect; get her!” So began our process of now adopting two!
Here are some (among many) specific answers to prayer:
- The second daughter had no file started on her yet and it was very important to my heart that we get them and bring them home together. It usually takes 4-5 months for China to get a file together and when we committed to her we had to commit to two trips to China if needed. Two and a half months later, the day it had to be done so both files could go through China together, it was completed. Huge praise to God.
- Soon after this we received the news that Lifesong had accepted our file and that we had received a matching grant. It was so hard to ask for help, but when people knew that their dollar was worth $2 up to our matching grant it made it MUCH easier to humble ourselves and ask.
- Because our second girl had never been in an orphanage they waived their orphanage fees and the other orphanage reduced their fees because of differing circumstances, saving us $10,000.
I had heard from others who had adopted that when they had an expense or bill it was provided for. I could not fathom this until God walked us through it. They were right. Every time a bill was due we had the money. It was incredible to watch. Whether we had saved it ourselves, had a fundraiser, did respite foster care, or people just wanting to care for the orphan by writing a check, God used all those avenues to provide.
We have now been home and adjusting to our new normal. We are so grateful that once again God gave us the sweetest girls. Most of all, I am thankful for the opportunity to walk in obedience to God and see Him supply all our needs. Not just financially, that is basic, but emotionally when we had to adjust to the needs we were unprepared for. Working through the process of dying to what our vision had been was a process. Spiritually we have had to die again to what we thought would be our new life and surrender to what God has actually placed in our lives to mold us into His image. These are all gifts that I am grateful for and encourage others to take the step of faith and open your hearts and home in surrender and obedience to what He is calling you to do.
The faith you learn, though not always easy, is worth every step.
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