More thoughts on Adoption...

So, I was just realizing how excited I am to fill out forms and put pictures together to make a Life Book for our adoption process. And I began to realize that everyone starts this process with excitement. Everyone. Then, somehow, as time goes on, the excitement fades into doubt and sadness and just a tiredness in the process. I was asking the Lord why this is the way it is, and I was asking Him to keep the excitement in my heart that I have now - even if this process takes years. So, as I prayed and contemplated the situation, He gave me a really simple thought. It was as if He simply said, because people quit believing that it is really going to happen. Then, He took my mind to vacation. You know, the summer vacation that you plan, or the spring break plan that you make. We are planning to go to California this summer and we are stoked!! (That is a Californian word for really excited!) As time goes on, even though it has been months since we made the plan, we get MORE excited because we KNOW that the time is closer now than it was before! It should be the same way with adoption. Because every month we wait, we are one month closer to having our baby! That is truth! But, the enemy comes in to steal from us and we let him! We give him our hope and our trust in the Lord's Sovereignty and we say, that's okay, I'll just become apathetic! NO WAY! I am begging the Lord to protect me from that. I don't want to make it appear easy - every act of war is just that - an act of war. There aren't toy guns and pretend arrows. It is really intense and you have to fight literally for your life. But, I am asking the Lord to help me fight for the CONSTANT excitement in this process. In my mind, 8 to 10 months seems like perfect timing - BUT MY TIMING ISN'T NECESSARILY THE LORD'S TIMING! So, I want to grow more and more excited as each month passes and not let the enemy take anything away from this beautiful and amazing process. Please pray for our family as we begin our journey. Pray that the Lord will get amazing glory from our journey through adoption! And, let me know if you want to see our Life Book! I can't wait until it is finished!

Adoption

Galatians 4:5, "God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, "Abba, Father".

Ken and I have just begun the process of adopting a precious baby into our family. There are many unknowns. There are many fears - most of which are unfounded. The Lord in all of His sovereignty already has a baby picked out for our family. He alone knows if this sweet one is even conceived, whether it is a boy, or girl. He alone knows what struggles the baby will have already had in this life. I want to have a heart of prayer for this baby’s biological mother (the birthmother, in adoptive language). I want people to realize that the stigma that is usually placed on women who give their babies a fresh start in life through the process of adoption is not accurate. They are depicted as uncaring, unfeeling, and even selfish. Selfishness looks like abortion. Selfishness looks like raising the baby in a crack house, or in the midst of prostitution. Selfishness is not letting someone else raise the baby that grew in your womb for 9 months. That is quite possibly one of the most selfless decisions a woman could make for her child. And it is not rational to think that any woman would have an easy time of delivering a baby only to place it in someone else’s arms. The nurturing instinct of a mother doesn’t just fade away after delivery. These sweet women have to grieve as if they have lost a child to miscarriage. Yes, ultimately they know that life awaits their baby. A good life, with someone that they have chosen. But, the child will grow up calling someone else Momma and Daddy. As we go through this process, I am praying that we will realize all of the ways that we can love this birthmother. Sometimes that might look like drawing near. And sometimes, that might look like backing away - and giving her room to breathe. This is just the start of an amazing journey. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead! The Lord is faithful. The Lord is loving. The Lord is a mighty God!

Ephesians 1:5, "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son."