Guest Blog: Obedience

We have a very special guest blog post from Michele, one of the families who came through our workshop in 2011...read and be encouraged!

[Whitney asked me to write about what God has taught me through our adoption experience. The first thing that popped into my head is Obedience. ]

We didn't know when we first started thinking about adoption a few years ago what this journey would look like. When God impressed upon us last fall that it was time to start this journey we still didn't have any definitive answers, like when or how. All we knew is that God wanted us to obey Him in taking the first step. In January 2012 we submitted the pre-application to our adoption agency. That was the first step. Then we received several pounds of documents to complete and we worked on completing them and got those submitted. That was another step.  God still hadn't sent us a registered letter or given us any writing on the wall to tell us what the end result was going to be. We knew only that we needed to take the next step.

At the end of April we completed our homestudy and were officially waiting for a match. We prayed daily for the child or children that God would place in our family. We were told by our social worker and others with adoption experience that we needed to be prepared to wait a long time. In my head I thought, Oh, maybe we could have child by Christmas. Wouldn't that be nice?

Over the next several weeks my husband and I talked about our yet-to-be child. Maybe if we tweaked our requirements a bit? What if we were willing to take an older child? No, my husband said, this is what we've agreed on and what we know God has told us. We've been obedient to what God asked us to do and now we wait. My mother's heart ached, wanting our child to be in OUR home and family instead of in some waiting place. But instead we waited.

The third week of June we received an email with a sheet of information attached about a precious wee boy in Sacramento County that was available for adoption. Were we interested? That morning, as we sat in our car waiting for our older kids to finish VBS, we said YES.

We brought him home July 13. A few minutes ago I left him sleeping on our bed. Our little boy is a tangible reminder of how God is faithful. Our obedience to God allowed Him an opportunity to teach us that His plans for us are best and that He has everything under control.

The other day my husband and I were talking. Jeremy was holding our wee little boy and I caught his eye and said, “Next time we adopt, let's...” And Jeremy agreed that there will indeed be a next time because God has already planted a new seed of love for a child that will be a part of our family, forever.

Friends, I encourage you, I URGE you, be obedient in all things. If you are feeling that little nudge toward adoption, just take the next step. Find out more information. Talk to people that have adopted or are adopted. Don't worry about the end result. Your Heavenly Father has a plan for your life and the life of your family that is richer and more meaningful than you ever hoped or imagined.