Overwhelmed, excited, ecstatic, scared, and humbled are only
a few of the millions of emotions we are feeling right now! It is hard to believe it is actually
happening and we are really leaving to meet our son for the very first time
next week. Many of you have been so generous with your prayers and support we
can’t begin to thank you enough! We have been humbled beyond measure and stand
in awe of our amazing God. For us
this journey isn’t about adopting, it has been following God’s calling and
fully surrendering to Him even when we were scared. He has given us sweet reminders along the way that have
truly left us speechless.
When we started the adoption process last January John and I
were in the middle of some home renovations. I was looking for a few prints on etsy when I came across a
print specific to adopting from China.
I sent the etsy shop owner an instant message letting her know we liked
her work. From there I learned that she too was adopting from China but was a
few steps ahead of us in the process. We stayed in contact throughout the
summer, soon becoming facebook friends, and texting back and forth about our
journey. She also designed our
“Amazing Grace” shirts for one of our fundraisers. In early November we received our referrals only days apart
from each other and will now be meeting for the first time in China next
week. Yep you read that right… so
etsy friend who is from Kansas, who I met on etsy randomly, who we have stayed
in close contact with though never meeting, who has been an intrical part of
our journey is going to be in the same city we are… at the same time. I would normally call this a random coincidence
but there is just NO WAY. God is
good and He loves to give us sweet reminders that, yes, He does know what he is
doing.
So if that isn’t enough for you, here is another.
As many of you know I am not much of a journaler. I like to
think I could be but in reality I’m not. And I am not even a blogger because
John is normally the “fancy” word person. Last year I bought a notebook with
the full intention of journaling about our adoption experience… guess how many
times I have journaled over the past year? One! Yep, one time. But God can use even just one journal
entry to blow my mind. I wrote it
last April (before ever knowing about Theo). This is an exerpt from the one journal entry:
“I sit here and think about you. Pray
for you, dream of you. What are
you doing, where are you? Is someone kissing and loving you as I hope they are.
I know His purpose for your life is beyond anything I could ever imagine. Thank you God for choosing John and I
to be apart of this journey. I
feel rushed, but I don’t know why.
Maybe because I feel like you are waiting for us! I feel like you have
been born but I am not sure why, maybe it is the Holy Spirit. The beginning of March especially the 8th
and 9th you are HEAVY on my heart and mind. I weep for you. For what you and I both don’t know and
will never know about your past.”
I pulled this
notebook out two weeks ago after finding out our travel dates. I had somewhat forgotten about the
entry. As I read it I began to
cry, now putting a face to these prayers. I called our social worker and asked,“
Do you know what day we will receive Theo?” Her response was “March 8th
or 9th.”
What I realized
is that this little reminder from God was saying “trust me, I know what I’m
doing”. Yes it was the Holy Spirit and yes this entire journey of surrendering
to Jesus was real! Jesus used this
sweet reminder to tell me just as scripture says in Philippians 1:6 “He who
began a good work in you will bring it to completion”.
Again, thank
you for following along with our story!
We hope to update the blog frequently once we are in China!
We could use
specific prayers for safe travel, staying healthy in China, my parents to have
the strength to watch our children for 2 whole weeks, and that we would start
to gain Theo’s trust before travel.
