As I am learning more and more, adoption is not typically a straight path to a final destination. It is a process that twists and winds, dips and dives and eventually you end up exactly where God wanted you all along. And, for us, we have twisted, winded, dipped and dived and now find ourselves adopting from a different country! Yep, it's true, after much prayer and thoughtful consideration, we have decided to pursue an adoption from China, rather than Ethiopia. This change did not come quickly and was not easy to make. But, we do so now with confidence that this is what God is calling our family to do. When we first started this process about a year ago, we looked into many different countries and adoption opportunities. The two countries that kept coming back up were China and Ethiopia, but China seemed to have all of these huge barriers and so we decided that door was not open to us and moved forward with an adoption from Ethiopia. Since then, without us seeking or asking him to do so, God has stripped away all of those barriers and has pointed us back to China instead. I don't think we are saying "no" to an adoption from Ethiopia forever, but for the time being. We are SO incredibly excited about this change and to see what and who God has in store for us. And, speaking of the WHO...it is always so amazing to see God's perfect timing play out. We made the decision to change countries this past Sunday night. I spoke to our case worker on Monday morning and she started the process to change over our paperwork (which at this stage doesn't require much additional work). On Tuesday evening, I got a call from our agency about a sweet 3 year old boy. So, my request to those of you that are following and reading this rarely updated blog, is that you join us in pray for God to give us His confirmation as to whether or not this is THE child God intends to join our forever family! A few weeks ago, my bible study teacher, gave us this quote, "When you are walking with the Lord, change is always in your favor." Well, I sure hope so because "change" seems to be our family motto right now. Stay tuned...
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. (Ephesians 1:3-8)
