So the other day,
Kris and Kate and I were driving up to Atlanta to have our fingerprints made as
part of the process of adoption, and we had put the address of the building we
were going to into the GPS. I know God
has a sense of humor because when He put Kris and I together He was teaming up
probably the two people with the worst sense of direction in the free
world. He had to giggle a little when He
looked at our future at all the times we would get lost together – HA! But isn’t that one of the things that makes
marriage so much fun?…….getting lost together and breaking down in hysterics? The most useful wedding present we received
was when my parents gave us our first GPS system. I mean, it changed our whole mind-frame for traveling. In our pre-GPS life, Kris would drive and I
would read the directions. That worked
out ok as long as I could read my own writing.
But then we would get on a long stretch of road for 30 miles or so, and
I would set down the directions and we’d settle onto some good
conversation. We would just be talking
away until one of us realized that we’d driven 20 miles past our turn. Ooooops!
That’s when everything would go south, we’d turn around and try to find
the right road, but we’d inevitably agree on the wrong one and get ourselves
further away from our destination and more and more confused until we would
eventually have to stop at the gas station and ask directions (SO incredibly
thankful that my husband has no issues with this, or we would have wasted
another hour here pretending he knew where we were when we both knew he had no
clue!) So that was our pre-GPS life. The first time we took a trip with our GPS,
everything was so different! We just
stuck in the address, and that was that!
The nice lady tells us where to turn and even what time we’re going to
be there! And in those times when we
get into those conversations that make us forget we actually have a destination,
and we miss our turn, it’s the lady that sounds a little stressed out and frantic,
“RE-ROUTING!! RE-ROUTING!!!” and we
just relax and wait for her to tell us how to correct our path.
So, the other day
when we were driving to Atlanta for our fingerprinting, I got a text from my
mom who was worried about us traveling.
It said, “where are y’all now?”
Well, Kris and I looked at each other and realized that we had
absolutely no clue. We were somewhere
on the path between our house and the fingerprinting building, but that’s about
all we knew! We starting talking about
how different driving is now that we have a GPS, and all of sudden we
realized…..driving with a GPS is like navigating life while you’re following
Jesus! He is the ultimate GPS!! Before we were following Jesus, we were
trying to navigate through life on our own….stressed out all the time from
trying to understand “maps” and figure which direction to go and then bearing
the weight ourselves when we made a bad call and got ourselves into trouble. But when we set our eyes on the real GPS –
Jesus – we are just along for the ride!
We know where we will end up at the end of this story, but the
where-we-go between now and then is really not up to us, and there’s no point
in us wasting our energy trying to make a specific life-plan or worrying about the trails He may lead us through
between now and then. And when we
really truly and intentionally set our eyes on Jesus, so much of what we are
worrying about becomes completely inconsequential. And the best part is, when we screw up, Jesus forgives us and "RE-ROUTES" right around our sin! :-)
We have realized that
defines this adoption process for us.
We are simply along for the ride, and it’s not for us to worry about the
timing or the finances or the medical issues or anything else – this is God’s
plan, not ours.
When we first
started the paperwork for this adoption, we instantly had questions and
worries….how long would it take?, what if our baby’s special needs are more
than we can handle emotionally and financially?, How in the world are we going
to afford the $30,000 bill that goes along with the adoption? God used some very special people to
encourage us through this. I remember a
very sweet lady that has adopted three children told me, “……and I know you are
probably stressed about the finances, but I’m telling you, don’t worry about
it, God will provide for this.” Then we
heard more adoptive parents tell us the same thing. And then we realized they were right!! God would not call us into this if He wasn’t going to provide
EVERYTHING we need for it, including the patience, the finances, the strength
and wisdom to lead and raise an orphaned child, the emotional support, and
things that I don’t even yet realize we will need at this point. So, we traded in that worry for some
trust…..trust that God will provide for whatever His plan is with this, and we
haven’t looked back since! We curiously
anticipated the how God might provide for the adoption, and imagined ourselves
standing at the other side of it encouraging them through their worry with our
story of how God provided for our adoption!
So, you can imagine our excitement the other day when we found out that
we had been awarded a matching grant for a total of $10,000!!! (Hand in Hand Christian Adoption will match
up to $5000 of donations for a total of $10,000.) This is such an awesome gift from God, and we could not be more humbled
about this part of God’s story in our lives.
So, we wanted to post the information here on the blog so if you would
like to be part of God bringing this little girl into our family, you have the
opportunity to do so. Any amount helps
and will be doubled thanks to this awesome grant!
As a side note, I
think it’s so awesome how God was preparing our hearts to depend on Him even
before this journey began. About a year
ago, I was talking to a gentleman who was telling me about a mission trip to Turkey
that he just had returned from that had changed his life. I was curious about the cost (I’m a numbers
girl!) and asked about that and if they had done fundraisers or how that had
worked. This is what he told me. “Well, the cost of the trip was about $3000. We were encouraged to send out letters to
family and friends to give them an opportunity to support us, but I had the
money, so I just paid it and didn’t think about it again. Then on the plane ride from Turkey, I was
talking to another member of our team about how his trip was paid for, and he
had sent out the letters and God clearly showed His glory....... one, by providing
the funding for the man's trip through his family and friends, and two, by allowing
the family and friends the opportunity to be part of the mission trip that they
were not actually going on through both prayer and financial support. He really made me realize that I had done a
disservice to my loved ones by not allowing them to be part of this. I won’t make that mistake again.” Well, I was honestly astounded when he told
me that. And God used that man to chip
away another little bit of my “self-sufficiency” and realize that God does not
want me to try to be dependent on myself.
So, that’s why the person who a year ago would have never dreamed of
applying for a matching grant because it is dependent on the actions of others,
is now putting this information about how to contribute to our adoption right
here on our blog. If you feel God is
leading you to give any amount of money to help bring our daughter home, here’s
a good opportunity to do so and it will be doubled. If you do not feel led to give, PLEASE do not give. :-) If you feel that God is leading you to put
our daughter and our hearts during this process on your prayer list, we would
be eternally grateful.
Please send all donations made payable to “Hand in
Hand Christian Adoption” postmarked by August 22, 2012 to: (for tax purposes
please include our name on the outside of the envelope only…do not put our name
on the check itself)
Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
Maguire
18318 Mimosa Court
Gardner, KS 66030
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