One Month to Go!!

Today is November 4th. It is one month till we board the plane to meet our new little boy for the first time.....It's all so amazing! I was thinking yesterday about how last Nov. (2009), I was really praying for God to speak to Trevis' heart about adoption. After Orphan Sunday last November, he was sold! He knew God was calling us to adopt. I was so excited and nervous all at the same time. It's amazing how fast time has flown and yet at the same time how we long to have Justus home with us. We have done so much over the past year. It has been a faith-testing, faith-building kind of year.....When you step out of the boat though and trust God, life is exciting...sometimes scary, but exciting. I have learned that I am not in control. I think I'm a slow learner on this one though b/c for some reason, my stubborn self wants to try to figure things out or think about how circumstances will work out. All I know is that I'm thankful He's opened my eyes....You know, there are so many needs even right around us.

As I am now starting to prepare my heart to travel, I feel ready. Now, some things I don't think you are every fully prepared for....Like I remember when I had Spencer I was 22. They had me sit in the wheel chair and rolled me to the car with a sweet little baby bundled in my arms. I remember thinking, "What? Are they just going to let him go home with me?" Even though I had read every book I could put my hands on about parenting and I thought I had an idea of how I was going to do, it was a totally different thing as we strapped him in the car seat and drove away. I remember thinking about the responsibility of it all....

I feel the same way now. I have read and read blogs of other's experiences in Ethiopia and their adoptions. I have read books, ordered a CD, prepared Justus' room, prayed, ordered his pictures to put in frames, filled out all the necesary paperwork. However, I'm thinking about the responsibility part all over again....

It takes me back to the web address of our blog. Proverbs 24:12. The message version just strikes a cord in my heart.

11-12 Rescue the perishing;

don't hesitate to step in and help.

If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business,"

will that get you off the hook?

Someone is watching you closely, you know—

Someone not impressed with weak excuses.

 

I know we will see joy in the people that will be amazing and heart warming, but we will also see poverty like we've never known. We are working to step in and help the life for one, but what more could God be calling us to? I want to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit while I'm there. I know God's going to do a work in our hearts. Sometimes the feeling is almost overwhelming and I haven't even been there yet. I see videos of the government orphanages filled with toddlers and older children and my heart just breaks....They just want to be held and loved--to have a family. We all have so much to give. If God has ever put adoption on your heart, please seek him. He'll provide. He has done it over and over and will continue to do so. He loves these children. If you've never even thought about adoption, please begin to pray. God may call you to help out financially for someone's adoption, be a cheerleader, or become a parent all over again. Honestly, I was not one who felt God calling me to adopt my whole life or anything. I was just minding my own business, when God stepped in and rocked my world. As I watch Justus pictures flash on my husband's computer right next to me as his screensaver, I think, "What if I missed it?"....He's waiting for us. He's going to have a big brother and a big sister; a mom and a dad. He'll have two crazy cats and a dog he'll probably be afraid of. He'll be my son. Wow! What a big responsibilty and a precious gift!

 

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

With Much Love,