I had this sweet image of W in my mind-- his huge, sparkling brown eyes and his dazzling smile. The words of several adoptive moms who had met and played with W personally on their trips to Haiti kept playing through my mind. They described him as "joyful, smiley, playful, sweet, affectionate, etc." My odd visceral reaction to his picture the first time I saw his face also lingered in my mind. What was happening here? What was God doing? I was being so careful about getting "emotionally involved" before we had total peace and confirmation from God to move forward with this adoption. Yet I needed confirmation. Eric and I both desired confirmation that would give us the confidence to sign onto this journey with no turning back.
God had already been opening doors for us. He gave us several scripture verses in our "seeking phase" which encouraged us to keep moving forward. Through the words of songs and sermons and special words of insight from close Godly friends, we were also encouraged to move forward. The sense of peace and rightness of this path was growing every day.
Yet I was tempted to doubt. I would have God's peace one day, then prickles of doubt might trouble me the next. I had to keep surrendering W and his adoption to God. Each time I did, His sweet peace took over. Still I asked God for confirmation that would break through my weakness and humanity. He is such a gracious and loving God...that's exactly what He did...
#1 One day in early April I was at work at the coffee shop talking with my co-worker and friend Shannon, who also happens to be the store manager, a great family man and a pastor. I was soooooo wanting to tell someone about our intentions to adopt W (because it was still a secret!) and I thought Shannon would be a good choice. I respect and admire his walk with God...and I knew he wouldn't get all giggly and gossipy and spill the beans or anything. In the kitchen over a sink of dirty dishes, I began to tell the tale. But wait--in came a customer--I went out to make her drink. A couple minutes later I returned to the kitchen to continue the story. I showed Shannon a picture of W on my phone and said, "Eric and I are going to adopt this boy".
Before I could put the period on the end of my sentence, Shannon jumped into the air, slapped his knee and shouted, "I knew it!!" He then handed me a piece of paper on which he had written the word "adopting". While I was out front serving the customer, Shannon had written the word "adopting" in a note pad.
I was feeling strangely excited and confused. Shannon explained, "For almost 2 weeks now, God has been having me pray for your family--because I felt that you would be adopting again, adopting a little boy!"
Oh. My. Word!!! Seriously??! Ok God. I see that you are speaking to me here. With Shannon's amazing revelation, God blew one of my socks off!
#2 On that very same day, I was messaging back and forth with one of my new friends who is adopting a little boy from the same crèche (orphanage) where W is. She is one of the moms who has met and played with him and really cares about him and his future. As we were chatting she says, "I just realized where you live!!!" She said that one of her friends lives in our same city...and is adopting a little boy from the same crèche where W lives...and happens to be one of W's very best friends!!!
Oh. My. Serious. Goodness!!!
In all of the countries and in all of the cities that these Haitian sweeties could have ended up in,,,God is choosing to place two very good friends in the very same town!!! Amidst all the changes that a child experiences with international adoption, God is maintaining that precious connection of their friendship. How good is He!!!
Ok God. I got the message loud and clear. You have blown my other sock clean off!
~~~Thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving these two children so much that you are giving them this gift, this link of friendship! And thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving me so much that you answered my prayer and gave me not one, but two "God Sightings" to encourage me and Eric on our journey to our future son. (insert shout of "Hallelujah" here)
Monday, April 29, 2013
Recent God Sightings (Part 1)
I've been dying to tell you about 2 amazing things God did for us recently. As we sought His will about whether or not we should adopt W, He blew our socks off! Today, I'm gonna tell ya about those 2 things.
Both Eric and I can say that we have experienced many, many "God sightings" in our life together as Christ-followers. Being in vocational ministry together seems to have increased our "sightings" as we've had a front row seat to God working in the lives of people in our church and community.
In early 2006, when we first stepped onto the Road of Adoption, our personal God sightings increased tenfold. We have seen Him open tightly locked doors--plowing a Red Sea path through bureaucratic red tape. When our financial fields were empty, we have been on the receiving end of manna from Heaven. And the times when our spirits were dry, our hearts were hurting or we were tempted to doubt, our Heavenly Father watered our souls and filled us with His peace.
Adoption changed our view of life, family, parenting, Christianity...and God Himself. Previously, we felt confident in our understanding of God's Salvation Plan: A "child" lost in sin would receive the free gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and His resurrection. We had both been walking with God for many years. We loved Him and felt we knew Him well.
Then we adopted our first child.
A child we had never met was placed in our arms. In an instant, a child without a family became a daughter. She came to us with a past and 18 months of life experience. She instantly went from orphan status to "the daughter of Eric and Jennifer Johnson" and our name became her name. We did not know her, but in the instant she became our daughter, all of our love was hers...forever.
Our Heavenly Father does that for us--
--Even though we have no claim on Him. Even thought we come to Him with dark and hurting places, hopeless and broken places. In spite of this, He gives us all of His perfect love. He adopts us and calls us His own.
"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."' Romans 8:15
When you or I accept God's love--in an instant--we are His child and that becomes our new name! We become a dearly loved and cherished child with a Father, an inheritance and an eternal home with Him in heaven!
Having received our child, we began to truly understand. Eric and I had experienced for ourselves God's perfect Plan of Adoption. Through our adoption of Noelle and later Selah, our own salvation came alive in ways we hadn't yet encountered. Our walk with Him was richer, fuller, deeper. Our hearts beat with His and our eyes were opened to see people and situations in new ways. We began to see God's hand at work all over the place! Yes, we had been witnesses to God's amazing acts before this time, but now our spiritual eyes had been opened wide. And you know what else? Our faith grew like crazy!! :)
Now we were ready for God to really show off. :-D
And boy did He!! In every phase, of every adoption, even the failed adoptions (yeah-we had some of those), God worked in our lives and in the lives of those around us. He provided in unimaginable ways. He opened impossible doors. He tested our faith (and the faith of the people around us) and strrrrrrrrrretched us, then grew our faith. People-- God is at work!! He is always working things together "for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 In our lives, He used adoption (He still is!) to be the impetus of our deeper faith-walk with Him.
What is God using in your life to bring you into a closer, faith-filled walk with Him?
In the next post, I dive right into just two of the super cool things God did to give us confirmation that we should adopt W. Love it!! (I'm writing that post now...hope to post it soon... ;-))
Both Eric and I can say that we have experienced many, many "God sightings" in our life together as Christ-followers. Being in vocational ministry together seems to have increased our "sightings" as we've had a front row seat to God working in the lives of people in our church and community.
In early 2006, when we first stepped onto the Road of Adoption, our personal God sightings increased tenfold. We have seen Him open tightly locked doors--plowing a Red Sea path through bureaucratic red tape. When our financial fields were empty, we have been on the receiving end of manna from Heaven. And the times when our spirits were dry, our hearts were hurting or we were tempted to doubt, our Heavenly Father watered our souls and filled us with His peace.
Adoption changed our view of life, family, parenting, Christianity...and God Himself. Previously, we felt confident in our understanding of God's Salvation Plan: A "child" lost in sin would receive the free gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and His resurrection. We had both been walking with God for many years. We loved Him and felt we knew Him well.
Then we adopted our first child.
A child we had never met was placed in our arms. In an instant, a child without a family became a daughter. She came to us with a past and 18 months of life experience. She instantly went from orphan status to "the daughter of Eric and Jennifer Johnson" and our name became her name. We did not know her, but in the instant she became our daughter, all of our love was hers...forever.
Our Heavenly Father does that for us--
--Even though we have no claim on Him. Even thought we come to Him with dark and hurting places, hopeless and broken places. In spite of this, He gives us all of His perfect love. He adopts us and calls us His own.
"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."' Romans 8:15
When you or I accept God's love--in an instant--we are His child and that becomes our new name! We become a dearly loved and cherished child with a Father, an inheritance and an eternal home with Him in heaven!
Having received our child, we began to truly understand. Eric and I had experienced for ourselves God's perfect Plan of Adoption. Through our adoption of Noelle and later Selah, our own salvation came alive in ways we hadn't yet encountered. Our walk with Him was richer, fuller, deeper. Our hearts beat with His and our eyes were opened to see people and situations in new ways. We began to see God's hand at work all over the place! Yes, we had been witnesses to God's amazing acts before this time, but now our spiritual eyes had been opened wide. And you know what else? Our faith grew like crazy!! :)
Now we were ready for God to really show off. :-D
And boy did He!! In every phase, of every adoption, even the failed adoptions (yeah-we had some of those), God worked in our lives and in the lives of those around us. He provided in unimaginable ways. He opened impossible doors. He tested our faith (and the faith of the people around us) and strrrrrrrrrretched us, then grew our faith. People-- God is at work!! He is always working things together "for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 In our lives, He used adoption (He still is!) to be the impetus of our deeper faith-walk with Him.
What is God using in your life to bring you into a closer, faith-filled walk with Him?
In the next post, I dive right into just two of the super cool things God did to give us confirmation that we should adopt W. Love it!! (I'm writing that post now...hope to post it soon... ;-))
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Jewelry Auction - Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday nights!
Tuesday's Auction - $203 raised!!
Wednesday's Auction - $147 raised!!
Thursday Night's Auction - $143 raised!!
We are truly thankful for Kate and Phil for their beautiful items, and for all the sweet people who participated and purchased items. And now we are $478 closer to bringing W home from Haiti! I do still have 3 necklaces left that I may put up for auction in a few weeks. We'll see. You can post a comment here if you have a question.
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Weare in the middle of just completed a jewelry auction with beautiful, handcrafted items provided by Kate at The Adopt Shoppe and Phil at PHD Leather. Each night we will have had new items! All proceeds will go towards our adoption of W.
Here's the link to our facebook page...where all the actionis happening happened!
https://www.facebook.com/haitiloveadoption
Here's just a sampling of the items:
Wednesday's Auction - $147 raised!!
Thursday Night's Auction - $143 raised!!
We are truly thankful for Kate and Phil for their beautiful items, and for all the sweet people who participated and purchased items. And now we are $478 closer to bringing W home from Haiti! I do still have 3 necklaces left that I may put up for auction in a few weeks. We'll see. You can post a comment here if you have a question.
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We
Here's the link to our facebook page...where all the action
https://www.facebook.com/haitiloveadoption
Here's just a sampling of the items:
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
#2 - Restaurant Voucher Fundraiser ($20 gets $50!)
For every $20 you spend on a CoupAide restaurant voucher (affiliated with Restaurant.com), you get $50 to spend, and we get $10 for our adoption. It only takes a couple minutes and is easy to sign up. Sweet deal, huh?!
For more information or to purchase your voucher, click this link: http://coupaide.com/deal/johnson-adoptionfund/
We would also love for you would share with your family and friends about our CoupAide fundraiser. They do have to use our direct link, however, for us to get the $10 credit. Feel free to pass along the link above, or the link to our blog so they can follow our journey to W. in Haiti.
And every time you sit down for a meal at a CoupAide restaurant, you can know each delicious bite is helping a little boy get home to his forever family.
Thanks so much! We love you guys!
#1 - Noah's Ark Puzzle Fundraiser
This is a sweet way to raise potentially $5000 for our adoption!!...And to have YOU be an important part of our future son's story!! This Noah's Ark puzzle has 500 pieces. We are asking everyone who is able, to donate $10 for every piece you would like to "purchase", such as one for your family or one for each of your children, etc. On the back of that piece, I will write your name so we can always remember the special someone who helped make our adoption possible. As all 500 pieces of the puzzle come together, the names of all the wonderful people who donated will represent all the loving hearts who helped give W a forever family! The completed project will hang in W's room as a reminder that God loves him, and so do a whole bunch of other people!3 WAYS TO DONATE:
1) By Credit or Debit card. Just click the donate link. When you enter your donation amount, be sure to put "Puzzle Fundraiser" and your name(s) in the memo.
(Questions? You can email me at: eric.jennifer.noelle@gmail.com)
Eric and I say, "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You from the bottom of our hearts!" God is using YOU in our family story. Please share this post with all your friends and anyone else you think might want to get involved. We love you!
Two Great Fundraisers!!!
Edited 4/24/13: These 2 fundraisers will be ongoing.
We have lots of puzzle pieces left for many more good folks to participate. And the restaurant vouchers are something that anybody can use and enjoy. Thank you for helping out!
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THIS IS IT. The moment where we either stop right here and tell God, "No, we can't adopt W. It's beyond what we can do."
OR We step forward into this journey HE led us to and say, "Yes, God. We will walk forward into the great unknown, trusting YOU to provide all the resources needed." We say YES!!!
Here's the thing. We need to raise $4300 this week!
We must raise $2500 to submit the adoption contracts to officially start the process. The paperwork arrived in the mail today! Our task is to sign and return them a.s.a.p. with a check for the first agency fee of $2500. Plus $1800... We have just started our home study paperwork and have to submit a check to our social worker for $1800. TOTAL = $4300
This amount intimidates us. We simply cannot come up with these funds in such a short amount of time. But after all, to God it's just a number. If we are the family God wants to adopt W from Haiti, the HE WILL OPEN DOORS and PROVIDE all the resources needed. If you'd like to be part of God's provision, we would be humbled and blessed for you to take part. One less orphan! And God's blessings all around!
Fundraiser #1 = Puzzle Fundraiser
Each Noah's Ark puzzle piece you purchase for $10 (there are 500 pieces!) will have your name written on the back of the piece. As the puzzle comes together it will be made up by hundreds of loving donors. It will be a permanent memory of your love and generosity hanging on the wall in our son's room! CLICK HERE for details.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Surprising Mom and Dad
So how should we share the exciting news with our parents?! Turns out, as I'm concocting clever plans, I learn that Eric has already told his parents. Huh?? How did I get to be the patient one, honey?? When did you become the excitable one?? ;-)
Every time we've adopted, we announced the news in a different way, so I needed a new idea. I scanned the internet and scanned my scrapbook supplies and gradually an idea began to form for sharing the news with my mom and dad. I found a few stickers and bright post-it notes and here's what I came up with:
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| I purchased a map of the world gift bag and a map of the Caribbean. I labeled the bag with a card with colors in the Haitian flag... |
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| My dad loves maps, so I sent them on a super easy hunt for the star... |
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| ...located where W. lives... |
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| This bag contained a small and suspiciously empty picture frame... |
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| The next bag-- 2 (children we have now) + 1= |
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| Open the paper to find a sonogram of Haiti... |
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| Drumroll please...Photos of W.!! |
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| A note clipped to the back of the photos. A teaser-- Mom and Dad, you have to call us to get the story... :) |
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| A photo collage of some of my favorite photos of W. |
How did it all turn out?
I asked a friend to help me carry out my scheme. I put everything inside the gift bag, then the gift bag into a brown paper shopping bag. I wanted the surprise to look innocuous. We drove to my parents house and used my key to sneak in. Where to leave the bag?? Ah ha! On the kitchen counter where the bag wouldn't seem immediately out of place, until they remembered they hadn't shopped at Earth Fare that day! Ha!
That night Eric and I expected a call. Waited. Never came. Hmmm. Could they seriously have missed the package??
We did eventually have that exciting talk with them, at 12:30pm the next day! Turns out they didn't discover the package until late the previous night!! ;-)
Monday, April 15, 2013
Finding "Caleb" - Part Two
(Please read THIS POST first, otherwise you may be confused! :)
After seeing the face of this beautiful 5 year old boy in Haiti...
Eric and I spent time praying for W. and how God might allow us to be part of his life. We both felt we should learn more about him and see if we could adopt him. Then on went our day. I can't speak for Eric, so I don't know what he was thinking / feeling, but I was in a bit of a daze. The extreme reaction to seeing W's photo was something I had never experienced. I was no stranger to looking at "Waiting Child Photo-listings" (photos w/ brief description of children available for adoption, usually older kids or kids with special needs - i.e. harder to place children) and over the years we have enquired about quite a few. We felt very drawn to a handful of kids, enough so for Eric and me to pray together and consider adoption. Yet no photo bowled me over--and with such intense emotion--like I immediately experienced when I saw W's face. As one of my friends said to me recently, "That was when his family story began. That was his moment of "birth", when God birthed him into your family." I think she is right about that. :)
So what next??
Since I am the DAS (Designated Adoption Specialist)(ha!) in our home, I set to work contacting the crèche where W is living, as well as the two adoption agencies they work with. Eric and I filled out an application to the crèche and expressed our serious interest in adopting W. After a few weeks of getting questions answered back and forth, we selected one of the agencies to work with us (Praise God, they still had a couple of openings in their Haiti program). We filled out the official application and mailed in the fee--woot!! We also continued to express to the crèche that we wanted to adopt W and asked them lots of questions about him along the way.
Then early last week, we heard back from our adoption agency that the crèche had selected US to be W's family!!!
Now here's "the catch". In order for us to be officially matched with W by the crèche, we have to complete our home study. Once that is submitted, we will have what is called a "soft referral", meaning W's has been "promised" to our family, if everything works out... Then we complete our dossier (more paperwork) to submit to IBESR-- the government agency in Haiti that processes the dossiers. They are the ones who decide which child goes with which family. This is the nerve-wracking part of the process. I can tell you, Eric and I sure will be praying that IBESR honors the match made by the crèche and will let us adopt W...
What now??
We (meaning me - the DAS) are in high gear planning fundraisers, trying to figure out what items in our house someone else might buy (anyone interested in purchasing an antique settee??), and how we might earn a few extra dollars by doing a few extra things. Hey--I am totally open to bright ideas! Mostly we are doing lots of praying. Only God can fund this adoption. He knows we don't have the funds. But He knows that HE does!! That gives much comfort as we look out into the unknown.
We are also starting the home study process!! We are going to use a great social worker in town who knows us well, due to our long and varied **Adoption Journey**. Selah and I picked up the stack of forms from her office this morning. Boy am I hoping and praying the home study and dossier paperwork process will be smooth and efficient...and into the hands of IBESR in just a few short months. Let's get this boy home!!!
After seeing the face of this beautiful 5 year old boy in Haiti...
Eric and I spent time praying for W. and how God might allow us to be part of his life. We both felt we should learn more about him and see if we could adopt him. Then on went our day. I can't speak for Eric, so I don't know what he was thinking / feeling, but I was in a bit of a daze. The extreme reaction to seeing W's photo was something I had never experienced. I was no stranger to looking at "Waiting Child Photo-listings" (photos w/ brief description of children available for adoption, usually older kids or kids with special needs - i.e. harder to place children) and over the years we have enquired about quite a few. We felt very drawn to a handful of kids, enough so for Eric and me to pray together and consider adoption. Yet no photo bowled me over--and with such intense emotion--like I immediately experienced when I saw W's face. As one of my friends said to me recently, "That was when his family story began. That was his moment of "birth", when God birthed him into your family." I think she is right about that. :)
So what next??
Since I am the DAS (Designated Adoption Specialist)(ha!) in our home, I set to work contacting the crèche where W is living, as well as the two adoption agencies they work with. Eric and I filled out an application to the crèche and expressed our serious interest in adopting W. After a few weeks of getting questions answered back and forth, we selected one of the agencies to work with us (Praise God, they still had a couple of openings in their Haiti program). We filled out the official application and mailed in the fee--woot!! We also continued to express to the crèche that we wanted to adopt W and asked them lots of questions about him along the way.
Then early last week, we heard back from our adoption agency that the crèche had selected US to be W's family!!!
Now here's "the catch". In order for us to be officially matched with W by the crèche, we have to complete our home study. Once that is submitted, we will have what is called a "soft referral", meaning W's has been "promised" to our family, if everything works out... Then we complete our dossier (more paperwork) to submit to IBESR-- the government agency in Haiti that processes the dossiers. They are the ones who decide which child goes with which family. This is the nerve-wracking part of the process. I can tell you, Eric and I sure will be praying that IBESR honors the match made by the crèche and will let us adopt W...
What now??
We (meaning me - the DAS) are in high gear planning fundraisers, trying to figure out what items in our house someone else might buy (anyone interested in purchasing an antique settee??), and how we might earn a few extra dollars by doing a few extra things. Hey--I am totally open to bright ideas! Mostly we are doing lots of praying. Only God can fund this adoption. He knows we don't have the funds. But He knows that HE does!! That gives much comfort as we look out into the unknown.
We are also starting the home study process!! We are going to use a great social worker in town who knows us well, due to our long and varied **Adoption Journey**. Selah and I picked up the stack of forms from her office this morning. Boy am I hoping and praying the home study and dossier paperwork process will be smooth and efficient...and into the hands of IBESR in just a few short months. Let's get this boy home!!!
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| Just a 'little' paperwork. Uh huh. ;-) |
Saturday, April 13, 2013
This arrived today
I realized I never told ya'll what was IN the box! lol If you didn't figure it out...it was the beautiful Noah's Ark Puzzle to hang in W's room after the puzzle fundraiser is complete.
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Inside this oversized box is something I've wanted to do for a long time. Ever since I saw one of my online adoption friends do it a couple years ago. I think it will be fun and SO special.
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Inside this oversized box is something I've wanted to do for a long time. Ever since I saw one of my online adoption friends do it a couple years ago. I think it will be fun and SO special.
Something you should know about this blog
I shared in my previous post that we had chosen the name Caleb if God ever brought us a son. This name was chosen long before we even started trying to have a family. I guess our assumption was always that Caleb would be a tiny baby born to us, upon whom we would lovingly bestow the name Caleb. At that early stage of Eric's and my life together, we could not have imagined the different and exciting family plan that God was preparing us for.
So now we have before us a "little man" instead of a baby. A boy who will soon be 6 years old. He has a Haitian name and this is what is familiar to him. For a child who has experienced loss and uncertainty since the beginning of his life, I imagine that his name is very important to him. Eric and I decided long ago that if we ever adopted an older child (past the toddler years), especially a school aged child, we would have the child make the decision with us about his new name. With Noelle (18 months at adoption) and Selah (10 months at adoption), we kept their Chinese and Taiwanese name to use as their middle name. With "little man", he may want his new name to be like his sisters', or he may want his Haitian name to remain first. Either way, we will find the name that fits him.
So, what is his Haitian name?
Well...here is where that issue comes up about telling the story but not over-sharing. Of particular concern would be sharing information that could jeopardize the adoption process with its many legal steps. The other concern would be having information "out there" that could end up making the child feel awkward or uncomfortable later on. I will try to strike a healthy balance as I tell his story. As we get further into the process we will be able to share more of the backstory details. Regarding sharing photos of this oh-so-handsome fellow, details about where he is living, etc., we will find out what our adoption agency recommends and go from there.
So without further ado...
His name is W.!
Haha! That's all you get for now. :)
When our family talks about him at home, we call him by his Haitian name (it is soooo sweet) and not Caleb...for the reasons mentioned above. And the fact that we are a very long way from an adoption decree. So for this blog, "little man" will be referred to as W.
So now we have before us a "little man" instead of a baby. A boy who will soon be 6 years old. He has a Haitian name and this is what is familiar to him. For a child who has experienced loss and uncertainty since the beginning of his life, I imagine that his name is very important to him. Eric and I decided long ago that if we ever adopted an older child (past the toddler years), especially a school aged child, we would have the child make the decision with us about his new name. With Noelle (18 months at adoption) and Selah (10 months at adoption), we kept their Chinese and Taiwanese name to use as their middle name. With "little man", he may want his new name to be like his sisters', or he may want his Haitian name to remain first. Either way, we will find the name that fits him.
So, what is his Haitian name?
Well...here is where that issue comes up about telling the story but not over-sharing. Of particular concern would be sharing information that could jeopardize the adoption process with its many legal steps. The other concern would be having information "out there" that could end up making the child feel awkward or uncomfortable later on. I will try to strike a healthy balance as I tell his story. As we get further into the process we will be able to share more of the backstory details. Regarding sharing photos of this oh-so-handsome fellow, details about where he is living, etc., we will find out what our adoption agency recommends and go from there.
So without further ado...
His name is W.!
Haha! That's all you get for now. :)
When our family talks about him at home, we call him by his Haitian name (it is soooo sweet) and not Caleb...for the reasons mentioned above. And the fact that we are a very long way from an adoption decree. So for this blog, "little man" will be referred to as W.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Finding "Caleb" - Part One
YES, WE ARE ADOPTING AGAIN!!! Here's the story.
Long ago Eric and I chose the name "Caleb" for the son that God would send us.
We chose the name Caleb because of his story in the Bible. A story that demonstrates that Caleb was a faithful man who served God with all his heart. He was one of the 12 spies who went into Canaan to scout out the land for Moses, who believed that Canaan was The Promised Land God was giving to Israel. Caleb spoke up, in boldness and courage, to say that the nation of Israel should go and conquer the land. Not even Joshua, their leader, had that initial confidence. Caleb was the one who encouraged Israel to follow God's will, in spite of fears and doubts and opposition. (Thus the ancient Hebrew meaning of Caleb = "whole hearted".) This is the kind of son we would be privileged and humbled to raise, if God would bring us such a son.
Skipping forward to the latter part of 2012...
We now had two precious daughters, our beautiful princesses from China and Taiwan. Selah had been home with us for more that a year and was doing so well in her forever family. We took such joy in how God had helped her attach to us and to integrate fully into our family. We felt so blessed and content with the family God gave us. And yet,,,we were becoming unsettled again. God was stirring something inside us. We began to talk, pray and dream about the future of our family. To dream about our next child. I personally began to feel that our next child would be a son - our son Caleb. I sensed that God was preparing this child and preparing us for what was to come.
Eric and I prayed about several different options for adding the next child to our family. We have always been open to any child. Well, if I'm being completely honest,,,NOW we are open to ANY child He would bring us. God used some amazing and some heartbreaking circumstances over the past several years to bring us to this point. God does stuff like that. :) He works on us, and refines us, and chips away the ugliness in us, until we have hearts like His!
That is why we have said yes to God about sooooo many things when it comes to adoption. We have said yes to:
~Adopting a kiddo right here in the United States
~Adopting a kiddo overseas
~Adopting a group of siblings
~Adopting a kiddo of any race or ethnicity
~Adopting a baby, a toddler, a preschooler, or a school aged child
~Adopting a kiddo with special needs
~Adopting a kiddo with a medical condition that requires ongoing treatment
~Adopting a kiddo with Hepatitis B or HIV or some other condition that (uneducated) people sometimes call "scary" or "ugly" or even "no way in heck!"
We totally trust that God knows the perfect child for our family-- the child who needs us and what we have to offer. God also knows which child we need. Because let's face it. Raising children makes us better people. It teaches us about ourselves and the areas where we need to grow. It teaches us about laughter and joy, and sometimes pain and tears. It teaches us the meaning of unconditional love. And most importantly, it teaches us what it means "to be adopted as sons". Our Heavenly Father adopts us into His "forever family", where we will spend eternity with Him and all those who love God!!
So here Eric and I are on the edge of the unknown. What did God have in store? For me especially, the excitement and anticipation of another child was growing. For Eric? Well yes, him too. But you have to understand my husband is the calm headed practical one. That's why he needs ME to balance him out!! :-) We started into the whole research thing again. ("we" means "me", but I did give Eric regular briefings.) We continued to pray and discuss our options.
We also came up with a really good Plan. We decided that we would learn all we could during 2013, and in early 2014 we would make a final decision (with God's leading) as to which adoption route to pursue. That would give us time to finish some much needed home improvements and pay off all those car repairs to our two elderly automobiles (poor things), as well as those pesky medical bills (who knew how expensive tubes in the ears are--eek!). See what I mean? Perfectly good plan. Well, unless sometime before that God brought a child to us that was The Child that would be Our child.
Now we come to January of 2013...
During one of our adoption conversations, we learned something really important. We both had a heart for Haiti. Three years prior, right after the devastating earthquake, Eric and I had looked seriously into adopting a child from Haiti, because the need there had become so great (still is, by the way). We also looked into fostering some of the evacuated children until they could return to Haiti. In the end, neither option worked out. However, each unbeknownst to the other, Eric and I continued to hold special feelings for the Haiti and its children. We discovered this in January, three years later.
We took that as a meaningful sign and began to seriously pray if God might be leading us in this direction. Within a few short weeks our answer was, Yes, Haiti seems to be the direction God is leading us.
During this time I joined a wonderful and supportive online community of people adopting children from Haiti. What an amazing source of information, not to mention very amazing and caring people! I started making some friends in the group, and they helped guide me through the Haiti process and told me about many ministries / organizations that run orphanages (called "crèches") for orphaned children available for adoption. I started visiting websites to read all I could about these ministries and their crèches. It is amazing how many godly people have answered the call to serve the children and communities of Haiti. Praise God for those individuals!
So one day in mid February I looked up the website of another highly recommended ministry that ran a crèche. I was blessed and amazed to see all that they do in their local community in Haiti-- educational programs, medical clinics, job training, agricultural programs and much more. But I didn't leave the website until I checked out their adoption page, of course. Everything seemed straight forward, so I moved on. I couldn't resist clicking on the adoption link, The Children, before I left their website.
I scrolled through all the faces of boys and girls and sibling groups until I got to the very last child.
And I saw it. I saw the face. The face of a beautiful 5 year old boy with sparkling eyes and The Most beautiful smile. Immediately I burst into tears...great, gasping sobs. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but something very significant had happened. I was making such a racket that I got Eric's attention at the other end of the house.
"Honey? Are you okay??"
"I'll be right there..." I say, still sobbing.
I took my laptop to him, set it down in front of him and pointed at the little boy. Through tears and a very unsteady voice, I said, "I think I just found our son!!"
Eric stared quietly at the boy for a moment. Then he wrapped me in his arms and said, "Let's pray. Dear Lord..."
AND SO ENDS PART 1. TO BE CONTINUED...
Long ago Eric and I chose the name "Caleb" for the son that God would send us.
We chose the name Caleb because of his story in the Bible. A story that demonstrates that Caleb was a faithful man who served God with all his heart. He was one of the 12 spies who went into Canaan to scout out the land for Moses, who believed that Canaan was The Promised Land God was giving to Israel. Caleb spoke up, in boldness and courage, to say that the nation of Israel should go and conquer the land. Not even Joshua, their leader, had that initial confidence. Caleb was the one who encouraged Israel to follow God's will, in spite of fears and doubts and opposition. (Thus the ancient Hebrew meaning of Caleb = "whole hearted".) This is the kind of son we would be privileged and humbled to raise, if God would bring us such a son.
Skipping forward to the latter part of 2012...
We now had two precious daughters, our beautiful princesses from China and Taiwan. Selah had been home with us for more that a year and was doing so well in her forever family. We took such joy in how God had helped her attach to us and to integrate fully into our family. We felt so blessed and content with the family God gave us. And yet,,,we were becoming unsettled again. God was stirring something inside us. We began to talk, pray and dream about the future of our family. To dream about our next child. I personally began to feel that our next child would be a son - our son Caleb. I sensed that God was preparing this child and preparing us for what was to come.
Eric and I prayed about several different options for adding the next child to our family. We have always been open to any child. Well, if I'm being completely honest,,,NOW we are open to ANY child He would bring us. God used some amazing and some heartbreaking circumstances over the past several years to bring us to this point. God does stuff like that. :) He works on us, and refines us, and chips away the ugliness in us, until we have hearts like His!
That is why we have said yes to God about sooooo many things when it comes to adoption. We have said yes to:
~Adopting a kiddo right here in the United States
~Adopting a kiddo overseas
~Adopting a group of siblings
~Adopting a kiddo of any race or ethnicity
~Adopting a baby, a toddler, a preschooler, or a school aged child
~Adopting a kiddo with special needs
~Adopting a kiddo with a medical condition that requires ongoing treatment
~Adopting a kiddo with Hepatitis B or HIV or some other condition that (uneducated) people sometimes call "scary" or "ugly" or even "no way in heck!"
We totally trust that God knows the perfect child for our family-- the child who needs us and what we have to offer. God also knows which child we need. Because let's face it. Raising children makes us better people. It teaches us about ourselves and the areas where we need to grow. It teaches us about laughter and joy, and sometimes pain and tears. It teaches us the meaning of unconditional love. And most importantly, it teaches us what it means "to be adopted as sons". Our Heavenly Father adopts us into His "forever family", where we will spend eternity with Him and all those who love God!!
So here Eric and I are on the edge of the unknown. What did God have in store? For me especially, the excitement and anticipation of another child was growing. For Eric? Well yes, him too. But you have to understand my husband is the calm headed practical one. That's why he needs ME to balance him out!! :-) We started into the whole research thing again. ("we" means "me", but I did give Eric regular briefings.) We continued to pray and discuss our options.
We also came up with a really good Plan. We decided that we would learn all we could during 2013, and in early 2014 we would make a final decision (with God's leading) as to which adoption route to pursue. That would give us time to finish some much needed home improvements and pay off all those car repairs to our two elderly automobiles (poor things), as well as those pesky medical bills (who knew how expensive tubes in the ears are--eek!). See what I mean? Perfectly good plan. Well, unless sometime before that God brought a child to us that was The Child that would be Our child.
Now we come to January of 2013...
During one of our adoption conversations, we learned something really important. We both had a heart for Haiti. Three years prior, right after the devastating earthquake, Eric and I had looked seriously into adopting a child from Haiti, because the need there had become so great (still is, by the way). We also looked into fostering some of the evacuated children until they could return to Haiti. In the end, neither option worked out. However, each unbeknownst to the other, Eric and I continued to hold special feelings for the Haiti and its children. We discovered this in January, three years later.
We took that as a meaningful sign and began to seriously pray if God might be leading us in this direction. Within a few short weeks our answer was, Yes, Haiti seems to be the direction God is leading us.
During this time I joined a wonderful and supportive online community of people adopting children from Haiti. What an amazing source of information, not to mention very amazing and caring people! I started making some friends in the group, and they helped guide me through the Haiti process and told me about many ministries / organizations that run orphanages (called "crèches") for orphaned children available for adoption. I started visiting websites to read all I could about these ministries and their crèches. It is amazing how many godly people have answered the call to serve the children and communities of Haiti. Praise God for those individuals!
So one day in mid February I looked up the website of another highly recommended ministry that ran a crèche. I was blessed and amazed to see all that they do in their local community in Haiti-- educational programs, medical clinics, job training, agricultural programs and much more. But I didn't leave the website until I checked out their adoption page, of course. Everything seemed straight forward, so I moved on. I couldn't resist clicking on the adoption link, The Children, before I left their website.
I scrolled through all the faces of boys and girls and sibling groups until I got to the very last child.
And I saw it. I saw the face. The face of a beautiful 5 year old boy with sparkling eyes and The Most beautiful smile. Immediately I burst into tears...great, gasping sobs. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but something very significant had happened. I was making such a racket that I got Eric's attention at the other end of the house.
"Honey? Are you okay??"
"I'll be right there..." I say, still sobbing.
I took my laptop to him, set it down in front of him and pointed at the little boy. Through tears and a very unsteady voice, I said, "I think I just found our son!!"
Eric stared quietly at the boy for a moment. Then he wrapped me in his arms and said, "Let's pray. Dear Lord..."
AND SO ENDS PART 1. TO BE CONTINUED...
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