Adoption Journey - Revealing God's Plan to Mem and Pa

Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

        So, on Friday after meeting with Angie and a busy day all together, Jeremy and I went over to Mem and Pa’s to tell them the first time about the Lord’s answer to our prayers with infertility and the path of adoption that he has been preparing us for. Both had concerns of the adoption process, especially since we have chosen for our first adoption to be international. Jeremy and I listened to their ideas and concerns and understand their concerns reflect probably the thoughts of many. Both were worried about the monumental financial commitment, but we assured them we have a BIG God who we are trusting will provide. It was a lot to take in and they actually responded better than we expected. We are thankful for my sweet grandparents who I know love and care for us more than we could imagine.

But here is the amazing part…on Saturday morning when I woke; I looked at my bible app on my IPOD. The verse of the day was John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me”. So I opened the chapter to read it in its entirety, and came to John 14:18,    

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

        Is it not incredible how clearly God speaks to us when we are in his word. I have always known that the Lord was intricately involved in my life. I even began declaring a few years ago, that I don’t believe in coincidence, only God’s providence. But it is so true! Thank you Lord for being so very present in our lives and leading us in this journey! We are forever grateful!

        So Jeremy and I went back over to Mem and Pa’s Saturday night. Mem was sitting on the back step smoking and when we came through the back gate said, “I am so glad y’all came on over, I was just praying for your baby.” Don’t I have a precious Mem. I told her I was thankful for her prayers and that we were praying too, for that sweet baby and birthmother. I even declared how special it will be to tell our child that we were praying for him/her before they were even conceived. Mem said “yep, God tells us He knew us before we were even formed”. 

My precious Mem

Lord, thank you for loving us so much that you would give us the assurance that you knew of us and loved us before we were even formed!

Adoption Journey - Day 1

Friday, September 21st, 2012

Today marks the beginning of our Journey to Adopt. However, I know God has been orchestrating this long before today! When I woke up this morning, the verse on the bible app of my IPOD was Philippians 1:6 - "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus!" God today you definitely began a GOOD work! 

Here we are, application in hand, going to meet with Lifeline Director, Angie!

This verse is not just coincidence. The verse has been surfacing to me over, over and over since August 24^th! On August 24^th, God answered my prayer of “Lord, I just need you to be as clear as day whether we are supposed to adopt first or keep trying for biological children”, it was on that Friday that Jeremy and I got the news that biological children were not in our future. That evening at Beth Moore – she spoke of Phil 1:6, on Saturday she spoke on it, on Sunday September 9 we started a series in church in Philippians 1:1 – 1:8, and Monday September 17 during some devotional time I sat out on the porch and was led to Philippians and read the whole book. God, I know you are not a God of coincidence, but instead of God of purpose and providence who is SO active in our lives.

So we met with Angie, the director of Lifeline Children Services here in SC. What an amazing person! Her love for God and passion for adoption is so evident. Our conversation with her confirmed where you were leading us! We submitted our application, Christian questionnaire and doctrinal statements today!

We got to eat lunch with Becky in Mt. P and share the news with her. Her excitement for us was beautiful! God, thank you for blessing us with friends who are so encouraging and thoughtful during this process. Our friends have embraced and supported us in more ways than I could have imagined. Jessica, Laura, and Misty all three knew of the scheduled appointment with Lifeline. Jessica and Laura were both the first phone calls I rec’d today and Misty texted me to see how it went! How gracious you are to bless us with friends as excited as we are, and that they are thinking about us and wanting to share in the journey. I am so thankful… so thankful!

Here are are some of the dear friends God has blessed us with!

 

I also updated Mom today too. I could not be more thankful for her calm and steady spirit of strength! 

Lord as we are telling others (especially our family) of this journey that we get the privilege to experience, I pray you bring peace to their hearts, encouragement to their spirits, and reassurance of your plan and hands in this whole process.

Lord, thank you for CHOOSING us to be your children, for loving us and adopting us into your family… and thank you for CHOOSING us to go on this journey. We graciously accept the “children you see fit to bless us with!” (Genesis 3:5)  

We can’t wait to share your story and glory with the little ones you CHOOSE for us!