This is the year

Well friends, here is something from the depths of my heart.

If you read my blog faithfully, you know Jacob and I have our hearts open to international adoption.

In my daily quiet time I pray for the children who will be "birthed" into our family through adoption. This is something I've been doing for the past 2 years.

In setting some of our personal and family goals this year, Jake and I decided to jot down doing some more research on adoption. It seems like such a huge process I don't even know where to begin. We don't even know anyone personally who has done international adoption.

So I have been committing this matter very seriously to prayer. God has changed my heart quite a bit about what type of child(ren) I could open my arms, heart, and home to. I have been doing much reading online about the process. And part of the result has been regularly reading some other familys' blogs about adoption and what that looks like in their family. It gives me a picture of what that reality is like.

One of the things I sensed so strongly from the Lord recently was that we were going to start the process this year. "This year!???" was my thought. That can't possibly be right. Our house isn't big enough, we fill every seat in our 7 pass. mini-van, we haven't started saving for adoption, we just had another baby, homeschooling is brand new to us, how could this possibly be the right time?! So I filed it away in the back of my mind as a "I'm not sure I really heard that from the Lord right" type of thought and have continued to pray that God would clearly lead us, bring the provision, and guide us in the timing.

You may or may not know that I'm an avid reader of Above Rubies magazines. I love Nancy Campbell, her daughters, and have greatly benefited as a wife and mother from their articles and the other articles written by Above Rubies contributors. The other day in cleaning up a bookshelf (thanks to my new Paperbackswap addiction hobby!) I discovered an Above Rubies mag I didn't finish reading! I usually love to sit down at night and read it through all at once :-)

Nancy Campbell has written much about adoption in the last few years and encouraged that if you feel God leading you, start the process even if you don't know how you'll financially afford it - He will provide.

Hmm.. "Maybe," I think.

The other day, I told Jacob about something I had read that a father wrote while being in Ethiopia. About a little girl's comment to him, a child from the orphanage they were adopting from, that "I don't have a family." I burst into tears. I prayed "Oh God... if you will only please bring families to these children. Help Christians to open their homes to the fatherless. Bring parents and siblings, grandparents and aunts and uncles, into the lives of these children."

I told Jacob about the story and how I just desperately want to see the Church (Christians universally, no specific denomination or just our home church) doing that - opening their homes to orphans. I asked him, why don't we know anyone who has done this? And he said "Because we haven't done it yet." It struck me that when one person speaks and acts out in conviction from God, many will follow. I'm praying for a revival in the hearts of Christians to act out in the "Spirit of Adoption" that we have been given.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."

So I've been considering this before the Lord. And Jacob said to me the other day "This year is the year. This is the year we begin starting the process to adopt. Let's do it! We need to start researching more seriously."

He echoed what I thought was my misheard thought from the Lord. And I think "But how?" How will we? I don't see how we can possibly? The house, the car, the money, the time!

And very contritely I realized, since when does a house, car, money, or time slow down the Lord? We are willing, our children already pray for and talk about the children we will someday adopt, why not just leave the rest up to Him instead of worrying or trying to accomplish it all on my own?

I find out then that friends of ours that we've lost touch with for a little bit are in the process of adopting! I tell her how it's been on my heart and I'm just starting to consider where in the world to begin and she said "Oh come over! I love to talk about it!" and so I will see her tomorrow.

And so this is what has been on my heart for a few weeks. We have some ideas about the countries we'd like to adopt from. But first, I was wondering if any of you have an Agency that you would highly recommend. We'd like to know people who have had a positive experience with a particular agency prior to just choosing one. Or if you know someone who has had a good experience with an agency, feel free to recommend it. Thank you!