Thursday, January 30, 2014

But God...


Have you ever been apart of something so driven by God that, even though you were working at it, in reality, God was actually the One accomplishing it all?  As in, unmistakably so?  To experience it is almost indescribable. It’s like I’m just watching it all happen.  We sign our names, fill things out, write a few reams worth of background information, and get things notarized.  But God has been the One raising the money, blessing the people who touch our paperwork with a mind to be efficient, cutting through busyness to have people return emails, and more than promptly.  These things could not possibly be done by us. It’s all Him.

Initially, when we considered adoption the mile-high pile of insurmountables (cost, paperwork that has to be perfect, tons of international red-tape, etc.) was enough to stop us dead in our tracks.  There’s SO MUCH, we thought.   …Which made it so much easier to talk ourselves out of it.  Again and again. However, those thoughts were not filtered through God’s word.  They weren’t considered in light of discipleship. They weren’t paired with faith. Faith, as a matter of fact, had nothing to do with those fearful thoughts, we realized. But God, in His mercy (Some of my favorite words in the whole bible) was patient with us. 

The phrase in scripture… “Behold, I am doing a new thing!” comes to mind. Like He’s excited and wants you to get on board!  Listen, when God has a mind to do something new, and blesses you with the opportunity to be apart of it, 1. Wake up and accept the opportunity!, and 2. He makes it happen!  (I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but God doesn’t need you to accomplish His will… He allows you… us, to be apart of it.) What He requires of you is a desire for faithful obedience.  You’re not going to be awesome at it the whole time, you’re just not. The temptation to doubt will be all around you. But God rewards faith with more faith!  He builds us up.   HE writes our life’s story; we are His workmanship. HE is the author and perfecter of our faith… and this is what that looks like.  It starts with that first, scary, step towards obedience. But here is the great news: There is blessing in obedience! Not only is it going to be “OK”, it’s going to be really good!
 
I LOVE it when God blows my socks off.  LOVE IT. I pray for it.  In fact, if you know me personally, you’ve probably been in the room praying with me when I’ve said it.  And do you know what?  I think He loves it too.  One of the incredible things that has happened through this adoption is that I’ve have had the enormous privilege of watching our boys’ faith grow.  They have seen, with their own eyes (figuratively, of course) God’s hand moving through this whole thing.  We have a running total on our huge white board in our “school room”/family room of where we are with the adoption fundraising. (Let me just tell you, it was an act of faith just in the decision to do this; I was afraid they might not see the numbers change and lose heart. I repented of my unbelief and have since felt so stupid, I wish I could un-think it!)  But God, in His grace, has provided. Incredibly so!  They have watched that number shrink steadily. He has continued to provide, and through some of the most delightfully unexpected sources!  It has nothing to do with the money. I’ll say that again, it has nothing to do with the money.  …And everything to do with watching the Creator of all things direct His attention on tiny us by supplying what we need.  In humble amazement, I am stunned by this thought.  He makes me giddy.  And my kids are starting to understand just how big our merciful, gracious, God really is and it just tickles me to no end.  I wonder if John-Patrick will ever understand all of this?  I hope so.

All for Him,
Meg

p.s.

Our home study is nearly complete! It should be done in 2-3 weeks, and then our final official dossier sent to the Central Lithuanian authority! This means we could be travelling by April or May!!! Praise God!

p.p.s.
Reece's Rainbow, a great Christian organization that provides help for families seeking to adopt special needs children, has approved our request for help! What does this mean for you? There is now a TAX DEDUCTIBLE way for you to donate towards our adoption expenses. While personal donations to us are NOT tax deductible, a donation to Reece's Rainbow (a 501(c)3 corporation) is. Many people have helped us financially, and we are SO grateful for their sacrifice on our (and John-Patrick's) behalf!

View our Reece's Rainbow page HERE.

We pray that you will prayerfully consider donating towards our adoption, not because you can get a tax break, but because God has moved you to do so.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Moving Forward

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 NASB)

While it has been nearly a month since our last update, it doesn't mean that things haven't been happening. We continue to be blessed with the love and support of our friends and church family as the process continues to move forward.

We received our dossier guidebook from our agency in Georgia. It's monstrous, overflowing a 1.5" 3-ring binder! So much information! It's got steps of the process, samples of forms we'll be filling out, and more stuff that I (Rich) still need to review. 

The home study is underway. The most difficult part of that to this point was finding a physician's office that also had a notary. Once that was done, it was seven(!) physicals including lab work and TB testing. Then, the home study agency accidentally shredded our check payment so they could actually do the study! Not really a big deal, somewhat amusing, really, but it did slow us down a couple days while they waited to receive another check. 

The first of three home visits was yesterday. It went superbly! I was incredibly anxious about the home inspection process but we did fine. All my worry over the fact that I didn't scrub and/or sterilize all the baseboards and every other square inch of our (already regularly cleaned) home was for naught. Once again, I was reminded that God's got this and I should relax and trust Him!

Our case worker for the home study is great, and was more than happy to volunteer to be a resource for us after we bring John-Patrick home. (John-Patrick is what we'll be calling Patrikas after we get him home.) That has been a great relief and blessing, just knowing that the help is available from trained professionals. Our next visit is scheduled for the 27th. Your prayers are appreciated as that visit nears.

Also, our agency's in country representative has received and forwarded our introductory letter to the Lithuanian Central Auhority. This letter is the Lithuanian government's first chance to meet us and decide if we are an appropriate match for Patrikas. Your prayers for the hearts of those reviewing this intro letter is also appreciated!

Meg and I are also taking sabbaticals from our leadership positions at Christ  Community Church as we prepare for the adoption. Pastor Dan wondered how we will prepare for something that we can't prepare for, and it reminded me of a quote I'd heard from Kung-Fu legend Bruce Lee. He said, "The way of no way is the way." 

That is the method I'm using. I'm trusting God that he has placed the correct tools, resources, and people in my path. I'm using those things to prepare in every way I can. Reading books, talking to people, researching things online, any and everything I can reach.  Has it helped me know what to expect? No, but I'll have no reason to be disappointed, either, as I have no expectations. I know that God will help us to be prepared, and He's doing that right now. 

Otherwise, our financial needs are still there, and we've been very blessed by the generosity of those close to us. We're two-thirds of the way to our goal! Thank you again for your generous gifts, we are so grateful for your blessing of us in this way!

Right now, it's really starting to sink in that this process is really going to happen. It's really going forward. We could really be traveling to Lithuania by April or May! It's exciting and spiritual and terrifying all at the same time. Just, wow!

I opened this post with Christ's admonition to us the we go and make disciples. My prayer as we go through this adoption process is that I can be a man who does that. If I am able to encourage you in some way to become a doer of the Word and not just a hearer, then my prayer has been answered. 

God bless!
Rich