Waited and Waiting Some More

Well, it's been a little over three months now since we were officially "approved and waiting". And now....we wait some more. You hear a lot of people talking about the INSANE amount of paperwork you have to do to adopt (and don't get me wrong....it is an INSANE amount of paperwork), but waiting is by far the HARDEST part. At least when you're filling out all of the endless paperwork, you feel like you're doing something to get closer to your child. Once that's done and it's all been submitted, the hard part begins....waiting and waiting. Now, that's not to say we're just sitting around twiddling our thumbs. We do have 4 children between the ages of 2-7. Twiddling our thumbs is not an option around this household!! But, just having to wait (knowing that there's absolutely nothing you can do to "help" things along) can be excruciating at times. The verse that continues to swirl around in my head is "They that wait upon the Lord, will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

So, just in case you were wondering.....we're still waiting!

Child of God

In the past few weeks, I have been extremely overwhelmed with the plight of orphans world-wide. I have been reading a lot of adoption blogs that have shown child after child that are aging out of the system, somewhere. If you've read any statistics at all, concerning orphans, you know that their odds of having a productive life after leaving these orphanages are very, very slim! Knowing these statistics and seeing the beautiful faces of so many children without families, it is very easy to become depressed. This morning, however, a verse from my Dad's sermon hit me like a ton of bricks. I've heard it a hundred times, but this morning it hit me in a completely new way.

"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." John 1:12-13

The fact is that not all of the orphans in this world will be adopted by a "forever family", but they can be adopted by the Father. These children have been neglected by those who gave birth to them, not chosen by someone who wants to adopt them, but if they believe in His name, they will become children of God. What greater family is there to be a part of than God's family? In light of this, it makes the Great Commission seem even "greater" (if that's possible)!

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

These children do have a great need to find a "forever family", but they have a greater need for a Savior! May we be deliberate in spreading the gospel to these sweet children that society has deemed unwanted. May we show them that they are WANTED by a Father that loves them more than any human can or will.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" Matthew 19:14

I will continue to fight and try to help orphans find their "forever families". I want to fight harder though to make sure they know their Heavenly Father, first!

Adoption Conference - Don't Miss

If you haven't heard about the Empowered to Connect Conference that's going to be in Irving, TX, February 17-18, please check out the link below. It's being put on by Show Hope and it's going to be excellent!!! Don't miss it!

Show Hope | Empowered to Connect Conference

"So Far To Find You"

A friend of mine sent me a text this morning and told me to listen to Casting Crown's "So Far To Find You". So, being the impatient person that I am, I pulled it up on my phone on the way to church. As you can imagine, by the time we pulled into the parking lot, I was crying. I cannot tell you how God is tranforming my heart through this process of adoption. I am going so far to find my child and that's exactly what Christ did for me. Looking at Christ's love for me, through the eyes now of an adoptive parent, has changed me. My life will never be the same (and my child isn't even home yet), and I'm so thankful for that!

In the Waiting

I have so many people asking what's going on with the adoption and wondering why I haven't posted anything in a few weeks. The answer....we're just waiting. So often I think that I should post something, but most of the time all I can come up with is....we're still waiting. Not exactly something most people want to rush to read. As far as the waiting goes, we are approaching week 11 of our wait. In the adoption realm, that's hardly considered waiting. But, it is waiting nonetheless!

A lot of things have been going on in my head and heart the past week. The main thing that keeps coming up is that God IS IN the waiting! And...if we get too caught up in "we're just waiting", we can miss out on A LOT that He has planned for us while we wait. There is a reason why we have to wait. I have no clue what it is. I can speculate all day long, but only God knows that answer. He alone knows exactly when our child needs to come home with us. Until then, He wants me to live every day to the fullest and minister to and love those around me.

There are a lot of children out there (and by "out there", I mean probably right next door) that are hurting! Small children are carrying around burdens that most adults couldn't even handle. Sadly, we're living in a generation that see children as a burden rather than a gift. Somehow we have completely lost sight of the fact that "children are a heritage of the Lord". It breaks my heart to look around me and see just how many children have been abandoned and hurt by the people that should love them the most. My prayer during this "time of waiting", is that God will use me to minister to as many of these children (and their families) as I can. I pray that God will spark a revival in our hearts to truly see children the way that He does. Childhood lasts but a brief moment, but what happens during that time has far reaching effects. May we be the tools that God uses to help heal this young generation.

My Christmas Song

I usually listen to Pandora radio every morning on my phone as I get ready. A couple of days ago, the song that began to play when I turned it on, stopped me in my tracks. It expresses exactly how my heart feels this Christmas. I hope you'll take a minute to watch the video below and say a prayer for all of those that will be alone at Christmas. (Hopefully next year, our child won't be alone anymore!!)

It's Been A While

It's been quite a while since my last blog post. This is the time of year when my schedule gets incredibly busy!! For the past couple of weeks, I've been running from one singing engagement to another and from one Christmas party to another. In the past, I've been discontent with how extremely busy the weeks leading up to Christmas are for me. This year however, it's been a great distraction. A distraction from thinking about our child spending this Christmas without us.

I've also been thinking a lot about WHY we celebrate Christmas. We celebrate because God chose to send his one and ONLY son down to this earth to save us from our sins. That's a love that is almost too hard to comprehend. That's a love that humbles me every moment of every day! Why? Because I know that I have done absolutely nothing to deserve it. That love is the exact reason why we have chosen to adopt. Our precious child has done nothing to make us love them (we haven't even met him/her yet). And he/she DOESN'T have to! We love our child with every fiber of our being (yes, without even knowing who they are yet)! We love because HE (God), FIRST loved us! When you've experienced the overwhelming love and saving grace of God, you have NO other response but to love. "They will know we are His disciples by our love." John 13:35

I hope you take a moment in the next couple of weeks to really think about what Christmas is all about. Sure, it's fun giving gifts, looking at the lights, decorating the tree and even eating yummy food until you almost feel sick. If that's all Christmas is to you though, you're missing it all together. "For God so loved the world (YOU), that He gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

May God bless you and your family in the next couple of weeks as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.