Friday, April 27, 2012

Thoughts a month later....


Thoughts a month later….

Well, it has been a month since our failed adoption, so I thought I would share where we are now and what is next. 

It has been an interesting month full of so many emotions….most of them that can’t be sorted out and understood.  You can ask so many questions that really cannot be answered easily.  If you allow yourself to think too hard about it you can fall into the “what if” trap or the “did I do something wrong” trap of your mind that can send you swirling all around.  You can play the blame game too, maybe the agency did something wrong, maybe a nurse said something, maybe her family members got to her, maybe we didn’t do or say the right things.  You often find yourself asking “why”, “why when God had worked so much out?”  “Why when you were basically told this is a “done deal”?”  “Why us and not someone else?” (a very selfish question – actually all are selfish).  But in the end asking all of these questions and analyzing the situation really gets you no where.  We may never really know why it happened the way it did.  So, the thing to do in a situation like this is to focus on what we do know!

We do know that God is good.  Psalm 100:5 “For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal;  His faithfulness endures through all generations.”  (Mark 10:18 Jesus says, “No one is good but One – God”; 

We do know that God has a plan for us that cannot be thwarted. (Thus discounting the did _________ do something wrong)  Job 42:2  “I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted”  (See also Psalm 139:14-16, Jeremiah 1:5)

We know that sometimes we will experience trials of many kinds and we must count them as joy, understanding that the testing of our faith produces endurance, so that we can become mature and complete, lacking in nothing.  (James 1:2-4)

We are to bring glory to God in everything we say and do.  Psalm 117:1 says, “Praise the Lord, all nations!  Glorify Him, all people!”  and I love what King Nebuchadnezzar says in Daniel 4:37 “….praise, exalt, and glorify the King of heaven, because all His works are true and His ways are just….” 

We know God is faithful!  (Psalm 36:5; Psalm 91:4; Lamentations 3:23 – I could go on forever with this one so if you need more proof let me know!)

We also know that in the last 11 months we have been able to share the peace of God and His gospel message with two birthmoms.  A baby who could have been aborted was not.  Two women who were in desperate situations were able to hear that we need to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path” (Prov. 3:5-6)  A birthfather heard the gospel and received it (not from us but from a pastor we know)!  We were able to follow God in a way we felt Him leading and trust Him that He would get us through no matter the outcome.  We were able to share with a birthmom that no matter what God would bring us peace.  Though our desired outcome was a baby and it is so hard to understand it all, we continue to trust God and look forward to seeing how he will work in our lives and in the life of our family. 

So where do we go from here?  Our homestudy expires in May.  So we have to get all of our background clearances renewed (fingerprints, etc.), we have to update our medical forms, which means doctor visits, we need to have a home visit.  We have planned a vacation to the beach in early May.  We are taking our time to get our documents updated and plan to try to get everything updated by the end of May.  Last March we sent an application to an agency in Florida.  They said they still have our application and all they need is our updated homestudy and some profile books.  Our profile book is now two years old.  The kids have changed so much, so I will plan to at least do a few new pages in our book.  And we pray that God will lead us to a baby or babies or sibling group or wherever/whatever He has for us!  We have the desire to add to our family and unless God leads us otherwise we will continue to pursue that direction. 

We are so thankful that God has given us family and friends that can go along this journey with us.  That is why God created the church to encourage one another and to pray for one another!  We are so thankful for all of you!!!