I don't have the time or the information yet to go into a lot of details...but please pray for all orphans in Uganda right now. Due to beaurocracy and government red tape, there has been a halt on the U.S. issuing any visas for adopted children to travel back home. I don't know all the details yet, but our agency's blog said there will be some kind of hearing in the next couple of days that should let us know what is going on and how these new laws/wording of laws will affect adoption from Uganda.
I believe that this is a spiritual battle...I really do. Please pray for God's grace and mercy to prevail...His justice to change hearts so that Ugandan children can be adopted and brought home. Right now children are adopted through a loop hole...adoptive parents are issued guardianship, the US issues the child a visa, and then the children are adopted legally once they arrive home in the US. In order to adopt IN Uganda, the child must be fostered for 3 years.
Needless to say, these semantics and red tape have the power to change millions of little lives forever. I know God's heart is FOR the orphan and FOR adoption. We MUST cry out to Him. Please join in prayer.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Humbled to Tears
If you have been reading the blog over the past month or so, you know that we are in the adoption process again to bring a little one home from Uganda. I have struggled with fear over the financial details of this adoption (as most people probably do) a lot, and am constantly handing it all back over to the Lord...my worry in exchange for His peace. I asked the Lord to do a miracle that only He can get credit for...so my post today is to brag on Him and Him alone!
This past month Gene and I have decided to slow down our home study process and wait on the Lord financially. We are trusting Him to provide the funds so that we do not have to go into debt for this adoption. Right after we made that decision, we have had to pay out $1,000 for car repairs, a broken heater at home, car tags, etc. I have been overwhelmed to say the least.
So a few days ago I went to check the mail and found a letter from a friend that I went to South Africa with. She wrote inside that she is weeks away from getting married, and in lieu of gifts, she asked her friends to donate to our adoption, along with some other causes/needs. I began to weep...what an incredibly selfless thing to do. I honestly was humbled to my knees. There were several checks folded up inside and I began to open them...$200...$400...$600...$650...$695...my hands shook in disbelief. Wait...maybe that said $20, not $200, so I recounted. Nope, I saw right. These precious people, many of whom I don't even know, had given us $695 towards our adoption! And as if that wasn't enough, I got another check in the mail today from someone who couldn't attend the shower where the money was collected.
I have always heard stories of people opening the mailbox and receiving some large amount of money from an anonymous donor...but that has never happened to me. To be honest, I always secretly wondered if these stories were true. This one is!
I share this to give glory to God, the defender of the fatherless. I was beginning to question whether or not we were even supposed to adopt...His answer came quickly with a resounding "Yes." How could it not be His will to adopt an orphan based on His words in James 1:27?
There may or may not be more miracles like these in our journey...but I think there probably will be. I think that's what happens when we wait on Him to move instead of finding our own way. First, He gave us great success with our Ornaments for Orphans drive at Christmas...and now this unexpected gift. He seems to be providing just enough for the next step, causing us to depend on Him mightily.
I think about how far-reaching it is when God's Church believes and lives out His words that it is better to give than to receive. When one young bride in Alabama chose to give up wedding gifts it is reaching all the way to other side of the world. When I finally pulled myself together and quit weeping I thought, "How can I even express my gratitude? Thank you doesn't seem like enough." Then I thought about bringing my newly adopted African child to meet this special couple for the first time and saying, "This is what you helped to do." I'm sure that will be all the thanks she will need or ever want...and I'm sure she will never regret giving up place settings or linens in exchange for a life that God created for His glory.
Now THAT is what I call a thank you note!
This past month Gene and I have decided to slow down our home study process and wait on the Lord financially. We are trusting Him to provide the funds so that we do not have to go into debt for this adoption. Right after we made that decision, we have had to pay out $1,000 for car repairs, a broken heater at home, car tags, etc. I have been overwhelmed to say the least.
So a few days ago I went to check the mail and found a letter from a friend that I went to South Africa with. She wrote inside that she is weeks away from getting married, and in lieu of gifts, she asked her friends to donate to our adoption, along with some other causes/needs. I began to weep...what an incredibly selfless thing to do. I honestly was humbled to my knees. There were several checks folded up inside and I began to open them...$200...$400...$600...$650...$695...my hands shook in disbelief. Wait...maybe that said $20, not $200, so I recounted. Nope, I saw right. These precious people, many of whom I don't even know, had given us $695 towards our adoption! And as if that wasn't enough, I got another check in the mail today from someone who couldn't attend the shower where the money was collected.
I have always heard stories of people opening the mailbox and receiving some large amount of money from an anonymous donor...but that has never happened to me. To be honest, I always secretly wondered if these stories were true. This one is!
I share this to give glory to God, the defender of the fatherless. I was beginning to question whether or not we were even supposed to adopt...His answer came quickly with a resounding "Yes." How could it not be His will to adopt an orphan based on His words in James 1:27?
There may or may not be more miracles like these in our journey...but I think there probably will be. I think that's what happens when we wait on Him to move instead of finding our own way. First, He gave us great success with our Ornaments for Orphans drive at Christmas...and now this unexpected gift. He seems to be providing just enough for the next step, causing us to depend on Him mightily.
I think about how far-reaching it is when God's Church believes and lives out His words that it is better to give than to receive. When one young bride in Alabama chose to give up wedding gifts it is reaching all the way to other side of the world. When I finally pulled myself together and quit weeping I thought, "How can I even express my gratitude? Thank you doesn't seem like enough." Then I thought about bringing my newly adopted African child to meet this special couple for the first time and saying, "This is what you helped to do." I'm sure that will be all the thanks she will need or ever want...and I'm sure she will never regret giving up place settings or linens in exchange for a life that God created for His glory.
Now THAT is what I call a thank you note!
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