Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted on here. I think it might have been way before baseball season.
My favorite movies are the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the Hobbit movies. That's why I decided to title this "An unexpected journey". Just like in the movies, we started out on a journey that we thought God was leading us down a specific road. We knew there would be a few different bumps in the road, obstacles to overcome. Then, something unexpected happens and we need to make a turn on a road never traveled, heading south.
When we first prayed about adopting again earlier last year, and confirmed that's what we were going to do, we started filling out everything to get ready to head back to Ethiopia. Well, it looks like that road to Ethiopia is going a little farther south. South Africa to be specific.
When we first started the process with Judah, and also, earlier last year, we had picked out a few countries to adopt from, and narrowed it down to Ethiopia for a few reasons. Some countries were going to be 50-60 thousand dollars after everything was all said and done. Some countries closed down temporarily. Yet others were going to require us to stay for six weeks. All of which we didn't think we were able to do. We sponsored a girl from Ethiopia, so it just seemed right. It was where God wanted us to go. So we thought it would be the same this time around.
Since we've had our stuff in Ethiopia waiting on a referral, we've been praying for God to put a face with the name we've been praying for. We did the same with Judah before we saw his face or knew his name. We wanted to give a name to this child so our children could feel as if they were praying for someone specific.
One day Sarah was looking at the waiting children's list (as she always does), and saw a picture of a beautiful little girl from Africa that she fell in love with . She inquired about her, and found out she was in South Africa. South Africa is one of those countries that require a six week stay.
About a month after we first inquired about this little girl we were asked if we wanted to pursue it further because there was another family that was also interested in her. We both decided we needed to be obedient and send our information over. The information looked over is to see if we would be able to be in the program, and second, if we were a good fit for this child. Well, we were both.
Now here is something that I find just utterly amazing. One afternoon while I was at work, I was praying that God would show us a face to the name we were praying for. As I was sitting there, God gave me a very distinct answer, telling me in a month. As I look back, I soon realized that a month after He gave that answer is when Sarah first showed me the picture of this little girl. At the time I wasn't even looking for the answer in that form. I was waiting for an official referral from Ethiopia. WOW!
So now it looks as if we need to figure out how we are going to live in another country for six weeks away from the rest of our children, and learn how to drive on the other side of the road:)
This journey has taught us that we need to continue to be obedient to where God is leading us. We could have easily said no. We could have continued to wait for a child in Ethiopia because that was what was easy and comfortable for us. It is what we knew.
But, we also realized we never went into adoption wanting to wait for a child. We wanted to be a family ready for a waiting child. Will it be easy? No. Will it be worth it? Yes!
Rock on
J
