Blessings Abound

Even in our disappointments we can see God's hand at work. No matter what comes our way, we can be sure that he has our best interests in mind. Last Wednesday we set out for the Nashville airport to head to a youth workers conference in Colorado. The alarm went off at 4am and we groggily began getting ready to leave. We packed and got on the road before the sun came up and felt that we had given ourselves plenty of time to get on our 9 am Central Time flight. However, we didn't properly account for rush hour traffic. Our 2 hour drive turned into a 3 hour drive and we arrived at the ticket counter 5 minutes after they stopped checking bags. The plane was still there and wouldn't depart for 25 more minutes but we couldn't get on. Not to worry! We were rebooked for an afternoon flight. (blessing number 1)

Three hours later we returned to the airport only to find that the afternoon flight had been canceled due to snow in Denver. We couldn't leave Nashville till the following morning. We both left discouraged and kicking ourselves for not leaving Chattanooga earlier. Yet God is good in our disappointments. We were able to spend the evening with dear friends from seminary and left greatly encouraged. (blessing number 2)

The next morning we got to the airport on time....actually early (we weren't taking any chances)...and our flight went as planned. (blessing number 3) Upon arriving in Denver we learned that the previous day's snow storm had been intense and the mountain roads received 7" of snow in a couple of hours. Had we made our first flight we would have driven right into that storm. Locals described the road conditions during that time as scary and newspapers showed pictures of overturned and jack-knifed trucks. (blessing number 4)

By the time we made it to the conference we had missed more than half of it. It almost seemed that it wouldn't be worth our time to show up that late. Boy were we wrong. One of the men leading the conference met with us for 3 hours and walked us through the material. The great thing about this was that not only did he discuss the material with us, but he also helped us see how we could apply it in our particular church context. (blessing number 5) It was our own personal conference and we benefited so much by it. We now have a new strategic plan and mission statement for the youth group starting next year. We both were so encouraged and energized by the material.

While talking with the leader we mentioned that we had hoped to ski while we were out there because they had a bunch of fresh powdery snow on the slopes ("Freshy" as the locals call it). He was able to help us get free lift tickets to a nearby ski resort called Arapahoe Basin. (blessing number 6) We hit the slopes Saturday morning after the conference was over and the conditions couldn't have been any more perfect. (blessing number 7) The scenery was gorgeous and the slopes were freshly groomed. We skied for a few hours with neither of us falling or getting injured in any way. Victory!

If you had left me to my own selfish desires we would have been on the slopes from open to close. However, we had to get the rental car back and we had plans with my best friend, Lynnell, later that day. So we begrudgingly turned in our skis and drove off through Loveland Pass on our way to Colorado Springs. The views were breath taking. We stopped on more than one occasion to take pictures.

One thing we noticed was that on every mountain you could see locals hiking to the top and skiing or boarding down and then hitchhiking a ride back up. We both saw the "Caution Avalanche" signs posted all along the road and commented on how it wasn't smart to ski/board on back country trails where conditions are not monitored for avalanches. Sadly, an hour later there was a large avalanche on that pass that claimed the life of 5 boarders. We probably saw them out on the mountain as we drove past. They were our age. God blessed us (number 8) by having us drive through before it happened, but he didn't spare them. I don't understand why that happened. I am saddened for the families who lost their loved ones. But I am also so very thankful for God's protection over us.

So, I know this doesn't have that much to do with adoption, but then again maybe it does. Satan doesn't like that we're adopting. In fact, he hates it. Nothing could be more of a reflection of what God has done for us than adoption, and Satan definitely hates anything to do with God. One of the challenges we have found that adopting couples tend to face is increased attacks from the evil one.

But as you have no doubt seen throughout this blog post, God even uses Satan's attacks to bring about good for His people and glory for Himself. It's realizations like these that make me want to shout along with the Apostle Paul: "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!...For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."

The end is in sight

After months of running around like a chicken with my head cut off, life is slowing down. Our home study is complete. Our I600A is turned in to USCIS (it gives us approval to go get our boys). We are paper ready in Uganda and have our court orders! (That means we can post pics of the boys now!) We have a profile on adopttogether.org (www.adopttogether.org/missionadoptable) to allow people to donate. We have had a few successful fundraisers. Now it's a matter of completing a couple more fundraisers and waiting on USCIS to give us an appointment to be fingerprinted and then approving us.

Thanks to some generous donations we are only $2,000 away from being able to pay all of the lawyer/orphanage fees! After that it's just money for flights and we are done! Thanks to a friend, we are in contact with a lady who is helping us get a deal on flights. God is AMAZING! Back in January, raising that much money seemed daunting. Now I wonder how I could have ever been worried about this. God's got this!

Last Thursday, we were able to "meet" our boys via Face Time (like Skype). I have to admit that when I first laid eyes on them I started to cry. They are more precious and beautiful than the picture we have. Nathaniel's two front teeth are starting to grow in. As they are only halfway in and not perfectly straight he reminded me of Mater from Cars. :-) It won't be long before he can watch the movie with us and laugh when I call him Mater. (At least until his teeth come all the way in.) Elijah has grown a lot in the last 3 months. He is taller and his facial features have filled out more. His little smile stole my heart.

We did learn that their English skills are still in need of improvement and we may have a little language barrier to overcome but we aren't worried. The boys were being shy but we found out that they already take after their daddy. Their favorite meal is meat, rice and Coke. :-)

I wish that we could go over there tomorrow and scoop them up in big hugs and kisses but alas we must wait. Until we get to see them again I am encouraged that God answers prayers and that I must press on towards the goal (in this case bringing them home). We only have to wait 2 1/2 more months before we can meet them face to face and for that I am grateful. There are other families that have to wait years.

Enjoy the above picture but know that they are waaaay cuter in person. :-)

Adoption Ain't Easy

So I thought that going the adoption route would be much easier than being pregnant. I wouldn't have to deal with morning sickness, pregnancy brain, or being extra emotional. My body would be just fine and I could sit back and wait for all the paperwork to be done and the green light to bring my boys home. Boy, was I wrong.

I have found that I actually have my own sort of morning sickness... I don't deal with extreme amounts of stress well. I can handle a classroom full of 20 five year olds but give me a long list of items to do and a short timeline to do them in and I'm done for. All this stress is actually upsetting my stomach and making it so that I often feel sick after meals which makes me not want to eat. The one silver lining to this is that I've lost 5 lbs, so it's not all bad. :-)

I have so many things to do that I have "paper pregnant" brain. I can't remember what the date is, what's on my schedule and when things are due. Talking to me at the end of the day might not get you anywhere because I have lost my ability to think by 5pm...some days even earlier.

I can cry at the drop of a hat provided you say the right thing or catch me at the right time. Tell me that I've done my home study or USCIS paper work wrong and I'm done for. Show me a picture or video of orphaned children and I'm a gonner. And never, under any circumstance allow me to listen to "Kings and Queens" by Audio Adrenaline when I'm alone.

So maybe I didn't escape some of the down sides of being pregnant, but I do think that my unique situation has so many blessings that I'm not sure I would get if I was pregnant. For one, to watch others sacrificially give so that we can bring these boys home blows me away. It is costing others something and yet they are cheerfully blessing us and our boys by making sacrifices to expand God's kingdom.

One family gave us their tax return! I know how many people look forward to that tax return so they can buy something they couldn't afford otherwise or to help pay for a vacation. Tax returns seem to be "fun" money we allow ourselves to splurge with. And yet this family chose to "splurge" on our boys. (It makes me cry with gratitude when I think of it...I told you I'm extra emotional)

I get to watch the church/kingdom expand by 7 children who currently live on the other side of the world. If I had my own biological child I would take it for granted that the child would know God and learn to follow Him. These 7 little Ugandan children might not have the priviledge of following the King if they didn't get adopted into Christian homes and instead aged out of the system and were turned out onto the streets of Kampala.

I get to see God work in amazing ways. God works in amazing ways every day but we don't stop to take notice. The fact that a woman's body can make and hold a precious little child inside is a miracle. But it is a miracle that we see happening all the time. Therefore, we don't always stop to think about how amazing it is. I know that if I were pregnant I would have days, weeks, if not months where I wouldn't even think about how God was working and knitting my baby together. But through adoption I see how amazing it is that God knits the whole story together in a way that only He can so that He alone can get the glory. It opens my eyes and draws me closer to Him.

Lastly, I'm learning again and again what it means to depend on and follow God daily. Only He can make this all work and get it all done in time for us to go to Uganda in July. Only He can make sure the judge grants us the children. Only He can bring us through this stress. I cannot make it through my day without prayer and dependance on Him. I think God knew that I "needed" to adopt so that I could have a much fuller picture of His adoption of us and a stronger dependance on Him.

So while adoption ain't easy I think that this is exactly what God has called us (Morgan and I) to do and I wouldn't have it any other way.