Five years ago, when God burdened our hearts for a little girl who had yet to be born, another little girl's story inspired us to start our journey.
Enjoy this "gotcha day" video from weloveourlucy.blogspot.com
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Our very important papers left Ethiopia on Wednesday and should be on our doorstep in a few hours! Now we can move on to the next steps to get our little miss home. Yay for progress! Five years ago, when God burdened our hearts for a little girl who had yet to be born, another little girl's story inspired us to start our journey. Enjoy this "gotcha day" video from weloveourlucy.blogspot.com
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Why are we adopting? I mean, really... aren't we busy enough with our 4 boys? Couldn't we find other ways to use this money we are paying to agencies? John Piper explains the theological basis of adoption... we adopt horizontally (adopting children) because of our vertical adoption (adoption by God). Not every believer is called to adopt, and this blog is certainly not intended to convey that. What we can do is to consider how we can be involved in the spiritual and horizontal adoption of others! What a year this has been! Our last post one year ago found us waiting on the Lord’s leading for our family to a new place of ministry. By November, God had opened doors and our family stepped through them. We are thankful for God’s gracious direction. And now two years after first talking about the possibility of adopting, we are ready to officially begin the journey! It can be an overwhelming thought, but our God is big, and we know that His heart is for the fatherless and for His glory to be spread throughout the earth. Why adopt? Why our family? Why now? Don’t we already have 4 children? Simply put, we want to adopt because of God’s love for and adoption of us. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:4-9 "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." Ephesians 1:4-6 We want to adopt because of the gospel. All of life for the believer – for married couples, singles, childless couples, and families with children-- must be motivated by the gospel, about the gospel, lived for the gospel and Christ’s glory being spread throughout all the world. God has placed adoption in our hearts and we want to follow Him. While your family may not be called to adopt, you are called to live out the gospel. How does that look for you and your family? “In a skeptical age, love on display is the greatest apologetic for the Gospel.” Francis Schaeffer We are excited to finally begin this journey. We want to bring a little girl into our home, show her the love of a family, and point her to God the Father who alone can give her abundant life through Christ. We are happy to be Making Room 4 One More. Seth holding our adoption application Now some details:
We will be adopting a little girl between the ages of 0-4 from Russia. We discovered an agency that specializes in Russian adoptions only a skip and a jump from where we live now. They were the second American agency to receive accreditation from Russia. This adoption will now require 3 trips to Russia as of 2012. The first step will be to complete our home study. We will also be updating our Just Love Coffee Storefront to begin raising some funds for our adoption expenses and travel expenses. How can you help? Pray for our family. Pray for the little girl God has for us. Pray for her heart and emotions to be calmed during this process. Pray for her safety and health. Pray that she would know God’s love for her and come to saving faith. Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel because of our adoption. It is a clear picture of what God did for every believer! There are more ways you can help, and we will tell you about them soon. "If our theology envisions an absent or indifferent God, then we have no reason to be anything but absent or indifferent when it comes to children that don’t share our genetic material. But if we truly grasp that every soul bears the image of God, everything changes. If God pursued and adopted us at infinite cost to himself when we were orphans of sin, then we can do the same…with joy at getting to mirror the heart of our Father." Jedd Meddefind.
Read the entire post here. If there be any reserve in my giving to
Him who so loved that He gave His Dearest for me; if there be a secret "but" in my prayer, "Anything but that, Lord," then I know nothing of Calvary love. ~Amy Carmichael But drops of grief can ne'er repay The debt of love I owe: Here, Lord, I give myself away, 'Tis all that I can do! ~Isaac Watts We are in a holding pattern right now, due to providential reasons, as it relates to taking the next steps to move this adoption process forward. But our intentions are to pursue ahead as soon as possible. Just wanted you all to know why there are no new developments on the timeline. All in God’s time.
In our small group adult Bible study class on Sunday we were discussing the topic of risk as it pertains to different biblical characters. Clearly, some were more willing to take risk than others. Everyone has a certain comfort level with risk – maybe not liking to take risks at all or thriving on recklessness or somewhere in between. My thoughts returned to a phrase that one of my high school teachers shared back in those days. He said, “Without risk, there is no reward.” And that phrase has stuck with me. It’s true. From the simple first date, comes a marriage proposal, then a wedding, then 4 kids! From the risk of putting yourself out there, you get to know your neighbor, cultivate a relationship over time, and are presented with opportunities for sharing the gospel. Without risk, there is no reward. Without the cross, there is no redemption. How does this relate to adoption? Well, in our small group, we were discussing whether biblical characters really had any risk involved if they were simply asked to be obedient to what God had commanded them. They were assured success, because God had told them specifically what to do. But there may still be a measure of sacrifice involved. Likewise, God has specifically commanded Christians to care for the fatherless. James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Prov. 31: 8 Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute…defend the rights of the poor and needy. Matt. 18:5 Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me Matt. 18:14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. I John 3: 16-18 By this we know love, that he (Jesus Christ) laid down his life for us…let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. When we follow God’s directives in Scripture, we are assured success and His blessing. That doesn’t mean there isn’t potential hardship and trial in the way. Without risk there is no reward. But the reward is great when the risk is taken up with pursuing spiritual treasure! God has given our family a great desire to pursue adoption. That may not be your family’s story. But there are certainly great things He wants you to do to further His Kingdom! What risk do you need to undertake in order to follow God’s will for your life? Finding God’s will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter of your life is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody’s else’s chapter. "We love because he first loved us." I John 4:19
We are so thankful on this Valentines Day for the One who loved us even when we were spiritual orphans. God's love gave His only Son to pay the penalty our sins deserved. Trusting in Christ's work alone for salvation, we have been adopted into God's family --enjoying the benefits now, but also looking forward with hope to all that this spiritual adoption promises! (Romans 8:12-19) Looking forward to sharing the love of God with a special little girl that God will bring into our family in His timing. Looking forward to making room for one more. This is the obvious question asked of our family. I mean, we really do have a busy life with our four busy, loud, energetic boys. And they are all boy - digging tunnels to China in the backyard, bouncing off the walls if they're in the house too long, and the whole frogs and snails and puppy dog tails thing.
Why adopt? The answer for us is that God put that desire in our hearts. God’s way of creating desire is very unique, perhaps even counter-intuitive. A very familiar verse reads, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4). This does not mean that God promises to give us everything we dream of, but that He will change our desires to be ones that He can bless. As we delight in Him, we will be infused with the Spirit’s delight who alone can give us desire compatible with His own. In the very next verse, God says simply “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.” For our family, the question became “Why not adopt?” It won’t be something God burdens everyone about. But for us, the reasons we could give to the question “Why not adopt” just didn’t seem to hold weight in comparison to the opportunity to change the life of a child. In looking at international adoption, we realize that we will be adopting a child that may not have an opportunity to hear the Gospel otherwise. And we pray that our story will point people to the story of Redemption and God’s adoption of us when we were in desperate need because of our sin. To love an orphan is our joyful response to the loving Father who sought us when we were orphans. “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace…” (Ephesians 1:5-6) “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18) |