Twists and Turns

Everyone that we know who has adopted has told us to "buckle up for the ride".....and every time I have found myself thinking, "maybe it was a rough and twisty ride for you, but IT WON'T BE LIKE THAT FOR US......we've got this" - you know, fairy tale like.

 Well, I'm not sure in which fairy tale the prince breaks his leg, but it's happened in this one.  My biggest prince Todd took our oldest son, Prince Adlee, on a 13 year old birthday trip.  We have always planned for Todd to take our boys on a father/son trip for their 13th birthdays to spiritually challenge them as they enter the teenage years.  Finding ourselves at the beginning of this adoption journey as Adlee turned 13, we knew we had to make the trip happen as economically as possible.  So, Todd found a cheap as you can ski deal, a cheap as you can sleep man lodge (of which he said he would never take me), and a cheap as you can eat white bread and bologna sandwiches meal plan.... and he and Adlee drove out to Taos, New Mexico to snow ski for a few days.  All went well the first two days.  Todd talked to Adlee about staying pure the first day and seeking wisdom the second day.  The third and last day was on borrowing strength...."Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up on wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired; they will walk and not faint" (Is. 40)  This is the verse he shared with Adlee that morning.  Well, our vigorous young prince Todd took spirital application to a new level and stumbled badly while skiing.  He broke his left leg.....both bones in the lower part.  Poor Adlee learned to borrow strength the hard way.  Long not-so-fairy -tale story short, I had to fly out to Albaquerque, spend the night in a hotel, take a 3 hour "shuttle ride" (which was an old beat up truck with a 1-legged rough looking Spanish driver) in a snowstorm to Taos, arrive at the hospital in time to see Todd into surgery, find another hotel for Adlee and me to stay in that night, buy pain medication and pillows, check Todd out of the hospital, stay another night in a hotel in Taos to be sure Todd was ok to travel, then leave Taos to head home for a 2 day drive (and another night in a hotel) before the next snowstorm hit that night......not to mention that it was the week before Christmas and I was supposed to be at home finishing up things for that perfect Christmas we all plan...whew!  Talk about twists and turns that we were not expecting.

Today I read: Isaiah 48:21  "They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.  HE made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock and the water gushed forth."

Water came from an unexpected place.  And it came when they were thirsty in the desert, a place HE led them, where only HE could provide for them.  Hmmmm....Fairy tale??  No, God's Story....the greatest and most perfect story that ever can be told.

Isaian 49:23c "Those who HOPEFULLY wait for ME will not be put to shame." Please pray that our family will hopefully wait for HIM.  Isaiah 49:26  "And all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the MIGHTY ONE of Jacob." 

God never ceases to amaze me....that makes Him God, right!....how He speaks to my circumstances through my daily reading of His Word....I have been reading in Isaiah for a while now, and yesterday I read,

"Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the EAST (!), and gather you from the WEST"... (Ch. 43)

You can't really get more east than Russia!!! 

One thing we have been learning about Russian orphans is that lots of them suffer from attachment disorders.  Russians aren't the warmest, most loving people in the world.  Many of the workers in the orphanages, we are told, do not believe in holding and loving on the children.  The younger the child when adopted, the less the chances of attachment disorder.  Our baby girl will be 3 years old or younger.  From what we understand, orphaned babies in Russia have to be put on a public list for 6 months that allows any Russian relatives to adopt them first.  We have been praying, and ask you to pray too, that our baby girl will not suffer from any attachment disorders.  One Sunday morning as I stood singing in church, I was thinking about her and what she might be going through in an orphanage.  Wondrously, the next song we sang was "Your Love is STRONG".  God spoke to me in that instant and assured me that His STRONG LOVE would meet all of her needs and MORE! 

 Every night at bedtime, the boys pray such sweet and comforting words for her.....that she would be touched and played with, that she would be warm, that she would have joy and know she has a family coming......Thank you, Father, for "gathering (us ) from the west" to be her family. (Is. 43:5)

Someday Comes!

Family and Friends,
On September 7, our family began the official adoption process.  For many years, we have known that God would lead us to adopt someday....and someday came this year.  Not knowing from where we would adopt, we began our home study.  As we talked with our AR adoption agency and shared with them our hearts, they asked if we had considered adopting from Russia, to which we replied, "No".  We always thought we would go to a Hispanic country to adopt an orphan.  BUT GOD.....(isn't that Biblical?!) began that very night working, and in the weeks to come GAVE us a heart for a Russian orphan......."Your ears will hear a word behind you, 'THIS IS THE WAY, WALK IN IT,' whenever you turn to the right or to the left."  (Isaiah 30:21) So, we began walking....


Oct. 6 - Cleaned house, fixed trampoline, built gun cabinet that locks, finished gathering paperwork


Oct. 7 - 1st home study meeting


Oct. 18 - Finished autobiographies, ordered multiple copies of birth certificates and marriage liscenses, began online adoption classes


Oct. 20 - 2nd homestudy meeting, personal interviews, chose international adopting agency


paperwork, waiting, paperwork, waiting


"I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, in paths they do not know, I will guide them.  I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains.  These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone."  Isaiah 42:16


These words I read yesterday are such a comfort to me.....No matter how I try to push this adoption process along or plan it out to the penny, I must remember that everyday it is GOD who leads (that means I follow), GOD who guides (that means I look for His movement), and GOD who straightens me (that means I have to be moldable).....and unlike me, HE will never leave anything undone.


Please, please pray for our family.....to have the mind of Christ, to trust the provision of Christ, to love our baby girl, our gift from Christ.