Josh and I have been struggling for the past couple of weeks. We've been attacked emotionally, physically and spiritually. We had no doubt this was going to happen. Adoption is a call from God! It's an amazing thing! When we as believers, finally give in and start doing what God has called us to do, you can guarantee the enemy will not be happy, and will try to sneak in some way. Following God's will for your life makes you seek after Christ, makes you want to become closer to Him to hear what He's telling you, it makes you have to trust Him COMPLETELY. The enemy knows this, and this is the last thing he wants to happen. My belief is when the enemy attacks like this, he knows something great is around the corner, and will try to do all he can to stop you from reaching that corner, or crush you so hard that when you finally get to the corner it will be hard to enjoy even though it's from our Savior. Think of our Savior in the garden the night before He went to the cross! It's your decision if you allow the enemy to ruin it for you, to allow him to be involved, or to stop him. No matter what it is your doing that God is calling you to, satan will attack; adoption is no different. I strongly believe adoption is one of his most hated things that we as believers can do. Let me explain.......
I feel strongly that this all started out when my Savior was born. satan was defeated by a baby, a child, and since then I feel very strongly he HATES children. That is why there are so many orphans. He wants them to be alone, hated, despised, unloved, tortured, and in the end killed without ever knowing the unconditional love of our Savior. I believe satan gets angry when just one orphan is on their way to a forever home, a home that will no doubt show them the love of Jesus Christ, the child that defeated satan to begin with (Much of this thinking comes from the book by Dr. Russell Moore Adopted for Life, which I would recommend to your reading if you even have an inclining towards adoption, or want to know what you can do to help.) The quote I read over and over again and feel God has been engraving on my heart is,
"I firmly believe that the orphan is precious to God. He created them in His image, He loves them, and His heart is broken for them. His answer to this tragedy is you and me. We have to utilize our influence, our relationships, and our talents to fight this enemy. As long as we sit on our hands, the enemy will continue to unleash hell and savagely kill the innocent. Dare we continue to just watch it happen?"-Tom Davis
Christ has deep passion for the orphans. He says it over and over again in His Word.
Exodus 22:22 ‘You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.’
Deuteronomy 10:18 ‘He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow’......
Deuteronomy 27:19 ‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow’.....
There are so many more!
Christ didn't just ask us to "if you have the resources, the patience, the passion" care for the orphans He calls us to. No matter what.
Psalm 82:3 ‘Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.’
Isaiah 1:17 ‘learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.’
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.’
I'm not saying God has called everyone to adopt because He hasn't, but He has called us to act in some way. This could be adopting, praying and supporting a family who is adopting, help support an adoption financially, go on mission trips to work with orphans, the list goes on and on...
I still remember one of the first days we worked at Campi (the orphanage Lili, Josh's sister, was from) in Ecuador, when I walked in and saw all those babies (younger than my Tanner, who is almost 3) all lined up in the tiniest closet of a bathroom, sitting on little potty chairs, sores on their little bums from sitting there for no doubt hours, poop all over them, with an empty stare in their eyes knowing there was no help in sight. It was that day that I decided; I was going to let God use me to bless as many of these children as possible. Our baby girls are only 2 to start.
It says in scripture leave all you have, pick up your cross, and follow Him.
Matthew 10:38 ‘And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.’
Matthew 16:24 ‘Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’
Mark 8:34 ‘And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
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Mark 10:21 ‘And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'
John 12:26 ‘If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.’
This could be so many things to some. Comfort, time, and money are just a few things that may be needed to be sacrificed unto the glory of Jesus!
Christ went through torture and hell to adopt us into His family. Josh and I are not adopting because it's what people are doing these days. We're not adopting for us, for our boys, we're not even adopting for our two little girls who are institutionalized and without a loving forever family right now. We're adopting because that's what God did for us. He gave His only Son to come down to be in this sinful disgusting world, to be sacrificed and tortured so we could enter into His family, to be His daughters, His sons. He gave EVERYTHING! His life! Why should we not set aside a few years out of our lives, our comfort to do the same for children that He cherishes and loves just as much as us.
We are trying to complete a task that God has set before us and by His strength it will be completed. We had no doubt the enemy would attack soon. We're not done with this, and we're screaming to him “We will not tap out!”. We will keep going down the path Christ has set before us. He will lead us and refuel us for the next attack. satan wants to see our baby girls stay in an orphanage unloved, destroyed, tortured and most of all away from the love of their Savior.
The process of adoption is time consuming, long, tiring, and daunting. It hasn't been easy, and it's only going to get more challenging, but in the end the One worthy will be glorified as rightly deserved. We are so thankful for the community God has placed in our lives. It's been so amazing to have this community come along side us, pray for us, talk with us, and help us in any way we need. People who email us, Facebook us, call us, text us, and stop us in passing to let us know they are praying for us, loving us, and willing to help. This adoption process has given us a glimpse of Heaven, and how the church should work. I can't imagine doing this without our community God has blessed us with. You all know who you are, and thank you for blessing us with all your support!
I'm not trying to scare you, or deter you from adopting. It is extremely difficult and emotional to go through, but I can tell you, I've never felt this close to my Savior. I've never put my whole trust in Him. I've never called on Him so many times a day like I do now. I've never told Him take it all and have it be to ‘Your’ glory, like I have during this process. It's an AWESOME experience! I had someone ask me a little while ago, “Would you be devastated if you went through 2 ½ years of this, and come to the end never getting your little girls?” I had to think about that, I had to pray about it. It kinda hit me.... that may happen. I know I'm not in that situation yet, but I know God would give me the strength to endure the pain that would come with that, but I would ask Him through it, if our story brought other families to realize they are called to adopt and bring their babies home into forever families, I would PRAISE my Father and continue to give Him glory for those little ones being shown His ultimate love!
I do have faith we will have our baby girls soon! It's so close...... like I mentioned an attack usually means there's good news around the corner..... we may have been blessed with a little peak around our corner the other day..... ;-)
Keep the prayers coming! We're going to need them!
PRAISE and GLORY be to the only ONE who deserves!!!!
