Our God Hears

We have been MIA for the past 2 + months not out of neglect but as we have been overwhelmed by the goodness and graciousness of our God. Let me start out by telling you about His first, sweet provision. Our adoption is now completely and totally funded. Every single penny has been supplied on our daughter's behalf and that is an absolute miracle. Our mighty God provided everything we needed in a little over a year. Talk about awe inspiring!!

Now for the even bigger news...Jon and I have wanted to shout this story from the mountain tops for months now and it has been killing us to have to keep this news secret! Get ready for a God story.

Remember how we felt lead to pray big prayers? 

Remember how God lead us to ask for a quick referral and for the first referral to be our sweet daughter?

Well...

only TWO days after my last post,only TWO days after we felt led to pray in big ways, my husband and I received a very unexpected phone call from our agency. We were told of a sweet little girl, only 18 months old who needed a family. Our coordinator asked us if we would like more information. Our answer...

YES!!

Within minutes my inbox contained an email with the name, face and medical information of our daughter. As we stared at not one but FIVE pictures of our child we were just overwhelmed with so many emotions. After all of those years knowing that we had a daughter in India, the tears, the waiting, the wondering...it was all worth it just to finally see her face. Currently we are not at liberty to share her picture online but oh how I wish we could show you how completely beautiful she is. She is just gorgeous and has utterly stolen our hearts. Just staring at her picture makes this momma's heart so full! She is a beautiful petite little thing with gorgeous dark eyes and a crazy head full of black hair. From what we we have been told, she is in a place where she is being well taken care of and that small bit of information makes this wait a tad more bearable. Oh, how we long to have her in our arms!

You are probably wondering why it has taken us so long to finally post this news. The weeks and months of waiting have been due to talking with some doctors, waiting on specific paperwork and spending countless hours in prayer. There are numerous God stories to share that took place over the past couple of months, but I'll save those for later. God deserves all of the glory and praise and there simply isn't time and space to adequately share all that He has done but our hearts are overflowing with praise!

Anyways, we have received her official paperwork from the orphanage. It has been signed by us and is now on the way back to India. In a later post I will detail what comes next. We still have a long wait ahead of us, but I wanted to pause and take this moment to rejoice at all the Father has done. He graciously granted our request. God is all powerful. He answers the prayers of his children. Yes, His Father heart beats for the fatherless and he longs to see them in families. Even in the midst of this less than perfect situation He is making all things new and bringing about redemption and wholeness. Praise God that there is one less orphan and that this family has finally gained our daughter! Now we just have to get her home!!

I will close this out with some verses the Lord gave me when I was fearful and doubting. These verses happened to be the next passage in my reading plan and after a difficult day of wrestling with the wait God granted me this beautiful passage to cling to. Dear friends, our God fulfills His promises. 

"Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

I will bring your children from the east

and gather you from the west...

Bring my sons from afar 

and my daughters from the end of the earth!"

- Isaiah 43:5-6

Praise be to our glorious God!!

Happy Dance

 I couldn't help myself with this picture!

I was too giddy for words last night. A little after 5pm our family coordinator from America World called to inform us that she registered us with the online database in India and we are now officially waiting for a referral. We could get a phone call today (highly unlikely but still...) That is just crazy!

The wait for a referral will most likely be a long one. There is just no telling what the time-frame looks like from here on out. It is a bit odd because we went from knowing the steps and how long each step would take to being in limbo. After talking with other moms adopting from India this is how things seem to pan out until the day we get word to travel. So I am rejoicing in the moment and praising the Lord that he has brought us this far. He has used you, your prayers, your giving, and your encouragement to sustain us and prepare us to bring home our little girl.

Dear friends and family, rejoice with me today because this is a major step forward. The reality of seeing a picture of our daughter drives me to work even harder to get her home. The next phase in our fundraising is actually raising money toward our travel costs. This is where it gets exciting folks. Just the thought of applying for visas and buying plane tickets brings tears to my eyes. It's getting real.

Words of Encouragement

 I wanted to share a short devotion from John Piper that served to bring me encouragement yesterday. Hopefully it does the same for you.

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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

God’s mercies are new every morning because each day only has enough mercy in it for that day.

This is why we tend to despair when we think that we may have to bear tomorrow’s load on today’s resources. God wants us to know: We won’t. Today’s mercies are for today’s troubles. Tomorrow’s mercies are for tomorrow’s troubles.

Sometimes we wonder if we will have the mercy to stand in terrible testing. Yes, we will. Peter says, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14). When the reviling comes the Spirit of glory comes. It happened for Stephen as he was being stoned. It will happen for you. When the Spirit and the glory are needed they will come.

The manna in the wilderness was given one day at a time. There was no storing up. That is the way we must depend on God’s mercy. You do not receive today the strength to bear tomorrow’s burdens. You are given mercies today for today’s troubles.

Tomorrow the mercies will be new. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).