The Father's Love

Scripture explains our relationship with God in so many ways.
And, it's simply amazing that GOD wants a relationship with us.
He uses analogies of relationships and our own daily experiences to give us a glimpse - an invitation - into the relationship He desires to have with us.

Adoption is used multiple times in scripture - but not as an analogy.
We are actually made sons and daughters through the gift of salvation in Jesus.

In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. - Ephesians 1:5

And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. - Romans 8:17

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. -
Romans 3:22-24

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit.  - Ephesians 1:13

We are justified by grace - which "legally" makes it possible to be adopted.  Jesus' payment for our sins makes us righteous - which makes it possible for us to join God's family.
Adopted as sons and heirs is true, not just an image.  We become children of God, chosen and loved by the King.
Sealed with the Holy Spirit is like our new last name.  We are claimed and labeled as God's children.


This journey through the adoption process has strengthened my understanding of God's love in so many ways.  There are so many correlations to the choosing, the transforming, and the new hope that God offers for each of us.

God has also been revealing a depth of Jesus' life that I never understood as completely before. . .
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As we anticipate bringing home our little girl, I am increasingly thankful that she will have brothers and a sister.  She will instantly have a family.
Family.
Something she needs deeply and desperately, but doesn't know it.
She doesn't even understand it.  She has no frame of reference for Mom and Dad.
She has needed someone to provide.  She knows someone must bring basic care, but Mom and Dad are so much more.
Family cannot be replaced by a facility with caretakers.
She needs a family and doesn't even know it.

In the beginning, she will likely turn away the help she doesn't understand.
She will possibly fight against the love she is offered.
But, love never fails.
(You can feel the correlations to our response to the love that God is offering.)

Drew, Kate, and Luke will be the beautiful interpreters of love.
They know how to give and receive.
They know Mom and Dad will provide.
They know Mom and Dad will not leave.
They know the meaning of family.
Our little girl will see what it means to be a daughter.
She will know that she can call on Daddy
And he will come.

She will know love.
The love of a family, because she can gain a special trust, even quicker, by the example her brothers and sister can give her.
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Jesus.
Son of God.
He spoke about the Kingdom of God.
He spoke about the Love we never really understood.
He told us about a God who pursues us.
He showed us what it means to say "Our Father."
Then, He made it possible.
He made it legal.
Adopted - Each of us can be.

Jesus taught us how to listen to God, how to talk to God, and how to walk in obedience to God in a brand new way - as a son.
Conversation with and obedience to a Father.

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
 He said to them,  
"When you pray, say:

‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come. 

Give us each day our daily bread. 

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?  Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
 Luke 11:1-4; 9-13


Jesus, the Son of God, taught us how to receive the Father's Love.

My Mind Swirls

My mind tends to swirl with life and logistics and dreams.  It's my personality.  I have a hard time narrowing down to one thing at a time. 
The intensity of my angst and hope for our adoption surfaces the most right now.  It's sort of like the last trimester of pregnancy, when you know you still have to function like a normal person and do normal things, but all you feel like doing is dreaming and praying and protecting - and worrying.

It's consuming.

I'm a person of projects.  Sometimes it helps to spill some of it out into the tangible.
So, I spilled a little into a video.  It sort of replays pieces of our waiting.
This song brings up images in my mind, so I tried to put them into a project.
(There will be a sequel when the time comes.)

One Step Closer - The First Thousand Years


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LID - One step closer

Our agency sent our dossier of adoption paperwork Friday, August 5th.

We tracked the package all weekend.

It was delivered at 9:12pm (our time) Sunday night - just as we began our family prayer time. :)

Today, we found out our official Log In Date (LID) with the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption is 8/9/16.

That is an important date in this process.
Now, that all of our approved paperwork is logged in, we have completed all the preliminary work we can.   The LID is also one of the ways we are "ranked" or "labeled" on the waiting list.

The next step will be a referral - We will get a phone call from our agency.  They will call us to discuss a child, and then follow up with an email including all the pics and records they have.
We will then officially request to adopt the child.

At that point, we will complete paperwork to specifically adopt her and prepare to travel.

We will travel 2-3 months after the referral.

The time frame now is very hard to predict.  There are so many variables it's difficult to know when we might receive a referral.
Some of the variables:
   -Waiting Child Program Acceptance - (ours was 4/1/16)
   -LID  - (8/9/16)
   -Timing and number of children whose files are ready for adoption
   -Waiting Child Program - special needs program which means children
          are also matched based on severity/type of special needs

Prayer sustains us through the unknown, because God is sovereign.  I am so thankful that I can put all the details, the worry, and our sweet girl in His hands.
I am so ready to hold her and protect her.  God is holding her now, and He will bring her to our arms.
Trusting Him is my only peace.

Thank you for your prayers!
One step closer.
  

DTC!

All of our paperwork is flying to China!!!!

This is amazing news.  This is the final step  - for the waiting part of the journey.

Dossier to China (DTC)

Our dossier of paperwork will be "logged in" with the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA).   We will receive an official Log in Date (LID) from them.


NEXT - We wait for a phone call from our agency with a referral.  The call could be any day, but we expect it to be within the next several months.  It will take about 2-3 months for that next stage of paperwork, and then we will fly to China to bring her home.  (I'm excited just typing those words!)

We have her bed ready to go, right next to her big sister.
We want to be ready, plus help prepare our whole family for the many upcoming transitions.




You can also see many of the little items we have been collecting for her over the last few years.













Including the cross we have always held during our family prayer time.
It's been even more special to kneel at her bed as we pray.





 







"Little Sis"







Please continue to pray for God to take care of all the big and little details of this process.
Even as big as our love for our little girl is, I know God's love is even bigger.  He wants her home with us even more than we do.  I know He is at work, and we continue to see evidence of His presence.

Please continue to pray for our sweet little girl.

I've tried to put words to this process, but I just don't have adequate words for all I see and feel.
We serve an amazing God.

I don't have words that can adequately thank you.  Thank you for reading this.  Thank you for the kind words, and thoughtful questions.  Thank you for the smiles and "likes".  Thank you for the blessing of donations.   
Thank you for the prayers!!  Nothing compares to the prayers.

Our Promise

Drew and Kate have been looking for the end of the rainbow.

They have determined that the best treasure is there...
our sweet little sister.

We have had a lot of rainbows over the last several months.  They have become a very personal sign of hope and promise for us.

God loves to whisper hope to us.
He is so faithful to His promises.

Today, we found it.

A complete rainbow with both ends - right in our yard.
Our whole family stood on the porch and knew He was speaking.

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.  -Deut. 7:9



The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. -
1 Thessalonians 5:24





 

Dossier for China!

  
We prayed over it Tuesday!

We mailed it Wednesday!










Our dossier arrived at our agency today!

This dossier is the collection of documents we have been compiling for the last four months.  It will represent our family in China during this process. 


Our agency will process it through the U.S. State Department and Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C.

Then, they will send it to China.

Once it arrives in China, we are fully available/eligible to be matched with a little girl.

We expect to be matched within the next several months, but it could literally be any day.

Thank you for all the prayers you have lifted up for our family!! 
God has truly been working in this process, and we are thankful for all He has done and will do. 
We can't wait to see all He is about to do!
We are ready for our sweet little girl to experience all of this love!

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, for He who promised is faithful. - Hebrews 10:23

The Lord's purpose will prevail.

Well, I want to drop a little update and ask for prayers.
Adoption paperwork has a very unique stress.
Details, timelines, personal info and evaluation
And, every completed step must line up in a certain way in a certain time frame.  Even one glitch can set you back weeks (and weeks feel like years).
We have actually been in an unforeseen delay the last few weeks.  An error from U.S. Immigration created some issues that have set us back.  Waiting is hard, but the added worry of an error is even more unsettling.  In the grand scheme of it all, not massive, but it's definitely a current stress as we move closer to some deadlines. 
We are so anxious to complete our Dossier of paperwork and send it to China.

So, two things:
1.  The "unforeseen" descriptor above is from my perspective.
God knows every detail.  He's never fazed, and He's been holding me close.  My planning mode shifts to worry very quickly, so I am constantly seeking Him.  He is quick to comfort, and His presence and Word are the only things that keep me from panic. (not exaggerating)
This is a pic of the calendar over my desk.  I erased it.
I erased the numbers and appointments that were staring me in the face, and I replaced them with Proverbs 19:21.

"You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail."  Proverbs 19:21








Scripture is powerful.  God's promises are true.  My God is sovereign in this process and in all things.  I believe it, and I cling to it.
Timing is a HUGE piece in the adoption process, and "The Lord's purpose will prevail."

2.  Please pray with us and for us.  Prayer is powerful, and we need it.  Our little girl needs it as she waits for us.  Thank you for praying!!

Thank you for praying with us, supporting us, and being a part of our journey.