A Match Made In Heaven

Today is the last day of National Adoption Month which has become a very special month in our hearts.  We could not find a better way to end it then to announce to you that we have been matched and have just become parents to a beautiful 20 month old little girl!!!

There is so much more to share, but it's going to take many posts to cover all that we have walked through in the past 72 hours.  For now our focus is on more paperwork, so please stay tuned.

We know this post is vague.  We long to share details about her and pictures of her with you, but are restricted from doing so until we have our "letter of acceptance" from Ch*na, which could be 2-3 months from now.  We respect this policy knowing it is in the best interest of and to protect our child.  However, if you see us around by all means stop us and ask to see her picture because we carry her picture with us everywhere we go and long for the day we can carry her everywhere we go.

Keep praying for us because our journey to her is far from over.

Silence. Surrender. Stubborn.

After praying hard that we would be logged in and matched in October, the 31st came and went without a log in date (LID).  Nothing but silence.  This is one of those moments when you pray for your desire and then when you look back you can clearly see that God knows what's best.  Scott and I took a very unexpected, last minute, week long trip to California the third week of October, we returned on a Friday and then Scott turned around and headed back to CA that Sunday for another week.  If we had been LID and matched in October it probably would have pushed us over the edge.  The paperwork and decisions we would have had to make combined with everything else going on would have been overwhelming.  Scott wouldn't have even been here to sign paperwork the week we could have been matched.  So in hind sight it was a good thing we did not get LID in October.  November came and every week we prayed hard again that we would receive our "log in date".  Each week came and went, and nothing but more silence.  Most people receive their log in date 1-3 weeks after DTC, we are on week seven.  I happened to be awake at 4am this morning thanks to a little Black Friday shopping trip with my daughter and niece.   I decided to check email before snuggling into bed for a little sleep.  An email from Proverbs 31 Ministries caught my attention, by why wouldn't it with a title like "Tired of Waiting?".  It was a perfectly timed message.  You can check it out here:  Tired of Waiting Devotion.   So there I was at 4am reading it, knowing God was speaking to my heart.  You see the next shared list is coming out on Monday, November 26th.  We need our LID date to be matched with a child on that list.  No LID, no match.  As I read the article I prayed, Lord please don't let this take 20 years (like Isaac and Rebekah), but I will wait, with your help I will wait on you.  It's a heart of surrender, but a stubborn heart like mine takes a looonnngggg time to get to that point.

At 12:32pm today we received an email from our case worker.  The subject line was "Received Log In Date".  We got the long awaited LID, 11/21/2012.  That's just in time for Mondays list to come out.  Now my heart wants to say that means we are going to be matched and know our childs face by late Monday night.  The reality is, it will happen...In.  God's.  Perfect.  Timing.

Please pray for us, if we do get a file match on Monday we have some huge decisions to make and we have some major paperwork to process and all within 72 hours.  It could be the most exciting, yet anxiety producing week, yet one we welcome with open hearts.

Promotional Hope Donation

Back in June I posted about a very generous company called Promotional Hope.  They sell various kinds of promotional products for your business, fundraiser event, church or school event.  The owners of this business have a huge heart for adoption so they highlight an adopting family on the front page of their website for a period of time.   During that time Promotional Hope donates a portion of their sales to your adoption.  We were blessed to be one of these highlighted familes.  It is with great thanksgiving that I am excited to share we were the recipients of a $525.00 check from Promotional Hope that went straight to our agency and added to our adoption fund.

Here's the scoop, although our time is up, they will always highlight a family that is adopting.  So if you ever need any promotional products then please consider Promotional Hope for your purchase.  As a matter of fact the family being highlighted right now is someone we know, who like us, are adopting from Ch*na.  You can check out their blog here:  Jason and Jessica Benner - Our Journey to MacKenna.

National Adoption Day

Today is National Adoption Day.  I wanted to share this video on our blog for anyone who has ever even had the slightest pull on their heart for adoption.  You know, you've thought about it, but allowed certain fears or life circumstances to talk you out of it, you have convinced yourself now is not the time, or maybe you think you can't afford it.  I can say that, because I am was that person.  So this video is a message to you.  You just may be..."

To Jesus Everyday is Orphan Sunday

Today there are more than 143 million orphans in the world.  Every two seconds another child becomes an orphan. That makes 43,200 new orphans every day.  Approxiamtely 400,000 orphans die every year due to malnutrition; 60 million orphans go to bed hungry.  That means that sixty million orphans cry themselves to sleep every night with pain in their growling, empty tummies, left alone, scared, and hungry.

This past Sunday, thousands of churches both in the US and abroad spent time recognizing Orphan Sunday, some more than others.  It's a day set apart to give people an eye and an ear to God's heart for the millions of orphans around the world.

Our church recognized and spent time praying for those in our congregration who are in the process of adopting. There are five.  We can find ourselves both encouraged and discouraged by that number. Discouraged because only five families against 143 million orphans, that is not a good ratio.  However, encouraged because five less orphans, five children that will no longer be alone and hungry, unloved, untouched or without a family.

There is a child, rejected and fatherless waiting for us to bring them home.  They probably don't even know that is what they are longing for as they find other ways to comfort themselves.  They long to have a mom or dad hug them close, but without it compensate for the loss by possilby pulling their hair out or banging their head on the side of a crib.  Desparately seeking ways to fill those desires of the heart for love. 

Our child happens to be in a foreign land, waiting for us to come to them.  They have no way of finding us, but someday, hopefully soon, we are going to find them.  When we do we will bring them home, call them our son or daughter, give them our name and make them part of our family.  It's the most amazing journey to be on and it is an everyday reminder of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to us.  We are not a Savior for this child, please don't misunderstand, but we will point them to the one who is.  It's what He did for us that moves our hearts to go find our child and bring them home.  Jesus came to a foreign land.  He made a way to bring us home to our Heavenly Father through adoption.  I am beginning to believe that adoption is the closest model to the Gospel we have on earth.  There is nothing we can do to get to Jesus on our own, but He came to us right where we are.  And, when He meets us, He makes us His own.  He defends the weak, fathers the fatherless, touches the untouchable, heals the sick and shamed, accepts the rejected.  He is our Creator God yet our Abba Father.  He is our Savior.

Yesterday was one day in a year that churches all over take a moment, a fleeting moment, to highlight the needs of orphans. But, Jesus, His heart, it beats for every single orphan, EVERY.  SINGLE. DAY.   That's Jesus, that's our savior.  We didn't always see or know this.  We didn't know Him and we didn't know our need for Him.  Our child doesn't know us, or their need for us.  We didn't know the orphan crisis was so severe, but our eyes are open now.  They are open to Him, and by His grace they are open to adoption.  It's a journey we still question how we ever got on.  Ask God to break your heart for what breaks His, and see what happens. 

Jesus Friend Of Sinners by Casting Crowns