Jon and I graduated from college and less than a year later were engaged. As we began to talk about our future we both knew God would call us to adopt. We just had no idea what that would look like.
"Wait for the Lord..."
We got married in 2006 and a few years into our marriage we began to feel a stirring to add to our family so we started to look into adoption. As we talked through the calling God had placed on our lives it was clear he was calling us to bring home a daughter from India. So as I began to research adopting from that specific country I was dismayed to see every program specify age for the adoptive parents. We weren't even close to being old enough. So...we waited.
"...be strong..."
The Lord blessed us with a son in 2010. Our lives were quickly turned upside down like all families who welcome a child for the first time. We welcomed a new normal for our family and ran with it. Less than a year after our son's birth we packed up and moved to a new city as Jon pursued God's calling to full time ministry. In the midst of getting settled in a new place something else began to stir in us.
During the fall of 2011 God began to quicken our hearts to pursue adoption. We began fasting and praying. God very clearly said yes but Jon felt a strong leading to prepare our finances first. We had a large amount of credit card debt resulting from the financial strain we felt after having our son. Our job situation was rough at that time and we hardly had enough to make ends meet. Jon felt compelled that we should honor God by hammering away at that debt before even thinking about raising money for an adoption. So following Jon's leading, God opened up a part-time job for me. Currently my paychecks are steadily paying off our debt. In a matter 4 months we have paid off almost half of our credit card debt! Praise the Lord!!
"...and take heart and wait for the Lord." - Psalm 27:14
Currently, that is where we stand. We are waiting again although it is a wait with a purpose. God is moving and we are being obedient to his leading. However, as I think of this wait I can't help but realize that our lives as Christians are in this same waiting pattern. Christ has come to ransom a world for himself. He has completed his work as Savior by living a perfect life, dying on the cross and rising from the dead allowing those who put their faith in him to have forgiveness of their sins and eternal life. Amen, the work as been done. However we still wait.
"Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and
he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to
those who are waiting for him." - Hebrews 9:27-28
We live in a broken world. We still struggle with sin in our own lives as we strive to live a life of holiness. Our hearts ache for more. We see that our desires cannot be fulfilled in this world. Our aching, our groaning is for the return of our God. Our ache is to see the face of our Savior and to worship him for eternity, to experience that unbroken fellowship with God that we were made to enjoy. We ache for our own adoption. Yes Lord, come!! So just like our adoption journey involves a purposeful waiting period so does our walk with the Lord. We are waiting for the completion of God's work but we have been given work to do while we wait.Our debt has been paid but so many others live without Christ. Our lives have been ransomed but we still often live like they belong to us. There is much work to be done as we wait, so we wait in expectation knowing that what is to come is better than what we could have ever imagined.
"...we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly
as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redeemed of our
bodies." - Romans 8:23b
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