A short synopsis of a very long journey...
God had convinced us.
Gordon was a man who had idealized adoption at one time as a good thing to do someday but who had later resisted and abandoned the idea, and Heather with a heart for adoption but only under certain circumstances, such as minor correctable conditions or healthy siblings, never sick or disabled.
We were to adopt and now.
He spoke to his wife in the darkness of early morning. “God has been speaking to me loudly and clearly... scripture, prayer, sermons, relentlessly telling me His heart for adoption and then urging me that He wants us to adopt...now.
She listened in disbelief. She had been so sure last October when they had talked that one last time that adoption would not be in their future, at least not directly. Her heart took a very small leap, not wanting to run ahead of God’s plan, for certainly He had done the changing of her husband’s heart. His parting comment though, “I just have a feeling that this won’t be traditional, choose an agency, choose a country, choose a child. I have a feeling that this will just drop in our lap.”
When the she read the ezine
about this tiny girl, undernourished, abandoned at birth with multiple disabilities and malformations, brain damaged who needed a lot of help to live, she thought “Wow, that’s not for us. That’s huge.” Then realizing that the decision wasn’t hers to make, that this was “dropped in their laps” so to speak, she forwarded the ezine to Gordon. Intense conversations of what this might look like if this was from God ensued. Discussions about a myriad of things of what life might look like were held. At the end of the conversing, Gord wanted to pray. He wanted to discuss this with his God.
Two weeks went by,
days of bringing the issues, the problems, the maybe’s, what if’s and how’s to God, seeking to be very clear in the hearing, he sought her out. He didn’t know how to tell her. Hadn’t she said it was too much?
“I have taken every issue to Him. Each time I have brought a problem; we’re older, we don’t have a lot of resources, she might be an infant as long as she lives, she might die soon, after we’ve attached to her or she might outlive us, what about our other children, we won’t be able to pick up and go, we’ll never empty nest, how can we afford this, He has said “I know and I will provide.” Each issue I’ve brought up, He says the same thing to me. Gordon dropped his head and said, “The Lord told me, “This is what you were to Me, blind, lame, with nothing to recommend you and I adopted you and made you my heir and a joint heir with my Son Jesus Christ.”
Looking up at his wife, he said “God wants us to adopt her”.
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The Lord has kept her alive in an orphanage an ocean away from us. We didn't envision doing anything so hard as making her a part of our family and loving her. But He led us to her and prompted us to move as quickly as the fragile nature of her state demanded. She is seven, the size of a 3 year old in length and with stage 3 malnutrition, weighs only 15 and a half pounds. She is completely fed through a tube going in her nose and down her throat to her tummy. She can’t swallow so chokes on her saliva. She is blind with hip joints that are immovable and non-functioning or non-existent knee joints so she lays board-like. Her head and brain are undersized and she has spastic cerebral palsy. She can cry or make happy sounds to communicate.
We submit our dossier this week and Ukraine has promised us a very quick reply with the travel date. The country requires a nurse or doctor travel with her. Heather is a nurse.
God has already shown us a number of miracles in this process and He has encouraged our faith and given us the confidence to keep moving toward bringing her home. Her life is a miracle. How is she still living with her frequent pneumonias? She has had her life spared from the fate of many disabled children in Eastern Europe because of God’s intervention.
We don’t know what God has in mind to use this little girl’s life for, we are only in awe that He wants to and that He is willing to use us to accomplish some of His plan.
The days ahead will be long and hard yet filled with deep joy in joining the Lord in HIS purposes. Please pray for us all.
Gordon was a man who had idealized adoption at one time as a good thing to do someday but who had later resisted and abandoned the idea, and Heather with a heart for adoption but only under certain circumstances, such as minor correctable conditions or healthy siblings, never sick or disabled.
We were to adopt and now.
He spoke to his wife in the darkness of early morning. “God has been speaking to me loudly and clearly... scripture, prayer, sermons, relentlessly telling me His heart for adoption and then urging me that He wants us to adopt...now.
She listened in disbelief. She had been so sure last October when they had talked that one last time that adoption would not be in their future, at least not directly. Her heart took a very small leap, not wanting to run ahead of God’s plan, for certainly He had done the changing of her husband’s heart. His parting comment though, “I just have a feeling that this won’t be traditional, choose an agency, choose a country, choose a child. I have a feeling that this will just drop in our lap.”
When the she read the ezine
about this tiny girl, undernourished, abandoned at birth with multiple disabilities and malformations, brain damaged who needed a lot of help to live, she thought “Wow, that’s not for us. That’s huge.” Then realizing that the decision wasn’t hers to make, that this was “dropped in their laps” so to speak, she forwarded the ezine to Gordon. Intense conversations of what this might look like if this was from God ensued. Discussions about a myriad of things of what life might look like were held. At the end of the conversing, Gord wanted to pray. He wanted to discuss this with his God.
Two weeks went by,
days of bringing the issues, the problems, the maybe’s, what if’s and how’s to God, seeking to be very clear in the hearing, he sought her out. He didn’t know how to tell her. Hadn’t she said it was too much?
“I have taken every issue to Him. Each time I have brought a problem; we’re older, we don’t have a lot of resources, she might be an infant as long as she lives, she might die soon, after we’ve attached to her or she might outlive us, what about our other children, we won’t be able to pick up and go, we’ll never empty nest, how can we afford this, He has said “I know and I will provide.” Each issue I’ve brought up, He says the same thing to me. Gordon dropped his head and said, “The Lord told me, “This is what you were to Me, blind, lame, with nothing to recommend you and I adopted you and made you my heir and a joint heir with my Son Jesus Christ.”
Looking up at his wife, he said “God wants us to adopt her”.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Lord has kept her alive in an orphanage an ocean away from us. We didn't envision doing anything so hard as making her a part of our family and loving her. But He led us to her and prompted us to move as quickly as the fragile nature of her state demanded. She is seven, the size of a 3 year old in length and with stage 3 malnutrition, weighs only 15 and a half pounds. She is completely fed through a tube going in her nose and down her throat to her tummy. She can’t swallow so chokes on her saliva. She is blind with hip joints that are immovable and non-functioning or non-existent knee joints so she lays board-like. Her head and brain are undersized and she has spastic cerebral palsy. She can cry or make happy sounds to communicate.
We submit our dossier this week and Ukraine has promised us a very quick reply with the travel date. The country requires a nurse or doctor travel with her. Heather is a nurse.
God has already shown us a number of miracles in this process and He has encouraged our faith and given us the confidence to keep moving toward bringing her home. Her life is a miracle. How is she still living with her frequent pneumonias? She has had her life spared from the fate of many disabled children in Eastern Europe because of God’s intervention.
We don’t know what God has in mind to use this little girl’s life for, we are only in awe that He wants to and that He is willing to use us to accomplish some of His plan.
The days ahead will be long and hard yet filled with deep joy in joining the Lord in HIS purposes. Please pray for us all.