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God is so good!
Praise the Lord! Yesterday we were told that China has agreed to us adopting four. We will leave in 4-8 weeks, hopefully, to get our precious children, Elijah (1), Evie (2 on Monday), Lainey (2), and Min (13). We are all overwhelmed, ecstatic, and feeling extremely blessed.
You have trusted Him in a few things, and He has not failed you. Trust Him now for everything, and see if He does not do for you exceeding abundantly above all that you could ever have asked or thought, not according to your power or capacity, but according to His own mighty power, that will work in you all the good pleasure of His most blessed will. You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of it? – Hannah Whitall Smith
DISCLAIMER: I am hoping everyone understands that we have very unique home circumstances. We have two adult children living in an apartment on our property ready to help whenever we need it. My mother-in-law (Linda) and my mom (Marlys) are both retired and willing to help whenever we need it. My husband, Dan, is a physician specializing in the care of critically ill infants. Dan works at home during the week doing clinical and quality Improvement for a national company. He works a 25 hour shift every weekend while the kids are here to help. There is absolutely no way that we could proceed with this new adventure without all the help and medical training that we have. This is not going to be a precedent for China and they have graciously agreed to allow Elijah to be adopted on this trip to expedite his care.
That being said, when Judy called yesterday, tears were flowing. Well, everyone except Ben, who sat there with his “I told you” look on his face. This has been such an amazing, faith-filled, miracle producing year. Maisey and Ben have adjusted remarkably well. Delays with Eli lead to us proceeding and trying to adopt Min. I remember sitting in the bathroom and crying when I saw her face. I questioned God on why He would lay such a thing on my heart when China most certainly wouldn’t allow three at once. Friends of ours had just learned of a family that was proceeding with adopting three and we got in touch with them. Their words of wisdom gave us faith to proceed and ask China to allow us to adopt three. When China allowed three, we were blown away and so thankful. At that time, we figured we would proceed with returning as quickly as we could to get Eli. I have known since I first saw his little face that he was my son. I have never, ever doubted that God had planned for Eli to be with us. Ben’s absolute certainty that Eli was his brother brought peace to our hearts. It was so unexplainable how Ben felt about Eli that we have always felt it had to be a God thing.
When we did our home study we asked our social worker to change it from three to four children, knowing full well that China only allowed two at a time. Both Dan and I felt that God was saying four. The home study said four and our provisional I-800 said “allowed to bring four children into the United States”. We proceeded through our year knowing we were going to get Evie the whole time. We were waiting on Eli’s papers and it was taking a while so we proceeded with Lainey and Min. Trusting that God’s plan was perfect. When Eli’s papers became available, we asked if we could petition China for four. Everyone said that the chances of it happening were very small. It had never been done. It doesn’t seem like such a big deal to us here in the United States but China’s one child policy has led to people believing that you give all your attention to one child and that is the best possible thing for children. We have had miracle after miracle happen this year so we asked if it would hurt to ask and our agency said no. The agency had us prepare our Letter of Intent as detailed as possible, they sent it off, and we prayed. We prayed and so many of our wonderful friends and family prayed.
We have been overwhelmed with all that the Lord has provided for us during this adoption journey. We have proceeded with faith that God’s plan and His timing were perfect and we were just along for the ride. He has shown us some very clear signs and had burdened our hearts with adopting these four children. We have no clue what the future will hold and I’m sure our lives will change in ways that I can’t even imagine. When I watch Grace, Hope, Ben and Maisey laughing and consider that I will soon have even more laughter in my house, I am overwhelmed with emotion. Yes, I know there will be many trying times and sleepless nights ahead. We have many doctor’s appointments and surgeries in our future. But the fact that I have been blessed with being able to provide a home and love for these four children absolutely brings me to knees. I am so blessed and so thankful that God would bless us in such a way. To God all the glory is given! Praises upon praises!