Do the Next Thing
With each of our adoptions God has
laid a verse or two on my heart that has been encouragement and hope through
the rocky journey that was ahead. For
adoption number 1 our greatest challenge was that a private adoption (which is
what we had chosen) would cost more than we made in a year. How could we move forward? How could we afford this? But how could we NOT move forward? I don’t remember the circumstances or story
behind when I started clinging to Ephesians 3:20-21, however, that became the
verse for Hannah’s adoption. We saw God
work out circumstances and conditions that seemed impossible, we saw him
provide and pay for an adoption that we could not afford, we saw God do “Immeasurably
more” than we could have asked, thought, or imagined in the course of just a
few months. So God can and does do “Immeasurably
more” became our testimony.
For adoption number 2 it was all
about prayer! I prayed a very specific
prayer and the next morning I got a very specific phone call. I was in awe of how God worked through that
prayer of mine. Daniel said, “Who told
you that you could pray like that!” Of
course he was joking and he was just as thrilled as I was that we were going to ride
the coaster again! So for Benjamin it
became very fitting for 1 Samuel 1:27, “For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has
given me my petition which I asked of Him,” to be his verse.
Adoption number 3 came around and
boy was it the craziest roller coaster ride we had ridden yet! We experienced so many emotions in the years
it took for us to bring Malachi home.
There was heartache and loss, encouragement, joy, fear, waiting,
waiting, and more waiting. And while a
couple of verses about waiting brought me hope and comfort and peace, the verse
that continued to speak to me throughout was Proverbs 3:5-6. Adoption number 3 was all about trust. Trusting God had a good plan in all of
it. Trusting He would bring us the child
that was best for our family. Trusting
that the route that seemed safer might not be the route that He would
ultimately take us down. And at the end
of that ride we learned “’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” We wouldn’t trade the ride and the result for
anything. We were so thankful God
directed our paths the whole way.
So you may be wondering why I’m
recapping the last 3 adoptions, well, it is because adventure number 4 is about
to come our way. Or shall I say, ride
number 4. The roller coaster has always
been a fitting metaphor to use for adoption and since 4HIM was always my
favorite group it is fun to sing, “This Roller Coaster Ride of Life….” I’m not calling it adoption 4 yet because we don’t
know where this ride is going to take us.
We have begun the process of foster to adopt. It is quite a bit different than our last
three, which were private adoptions. We
hope that through this process we will get to adopt more kids, however, it is
uncertain if the children placed in our home will remain or if they are just
passing through. This way seems so much
more uncertain (though all adoptions have a level of uncertainty) and a bit
more scary. However, I feel like God has
led us this direction and that He has a definite reason for leading us
here. God hasn’t laid a verse on my
heart for this time around, yet, however I do have a phrase: “Do the next thing.” This phrase comes from a poem that was made
famous by Elisabeth Elliott, though I do not believe she wrote it. Not long after we started the homestudy
process this poem showed up in my facebook newsfeed. I felt like this poem really confirmed that
though I have no idea what to expect with this I just have to have faith God
led us here for a reason and my job is simply, “do the next thing,” and let God
take care of the rest. So here we are
doing the next thing, trusting God, and we’ve learned that He will do
immeasurably more than we can ask or think, he hears our prayers, he guides our
paths, it is sweet to trust in Him, and so we jump on this ride in faith knowing that
He “is faithful to be right by our side, on this roller coaster ride.”
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who
comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who
seek Him.”
Here is the poem I talked about: http://www.achristianhome.org/Good_Things/a_poem_quoted_by_elisabeth_elliot.htm
