Another adoption story...

Two weeks ago today we were given information about children who need a home. I can't go into specifics but they are gorgeous.
We realize that adopted children who are a bit older than newborn very very often have some emotional needs that need to be addressed, dealt with, and usually need to have some help getting through them.
We fell in love with these children immediately upon seeing their pictures. (We still haven't met them yet.) But being a Mother who desperately wants more children, I was afraid I was putting my heart before God's direction. So I prayed. And prayed. And prayed.
Finally I pleaded with God, asking Him to show me/us without a doubt that this was HIS will in our lives...and in the lives of these precious little children.
I asked Him to show me in the Bible without a doubt. Then I asked Him to do something for ME...this may sound silly, juvenile, for someone who has been a Christian for soooo many years, but I asked Him to allow me to open my Bible, anywhere it opens to, and I will start reading 10 chapters. Within those 10 chapters, I asked Him to show me the words, "Adoption, Orphan, or Fatherless". Then I told the Lord that if He doesn't show me those words, I will close the Bible and accept that these little ones are not the ones He has for us. (Immediately I started trying to figure out how I could get out of that last part of the prayer...because I really had fallen hard for these little children!!! But I didn't "weasel" out of the prayer. I knew that I would just not answer the email back if I didn't find those words. And a lump rose in my throat.)

I removed all the papers and bookmarks from my Bible and prayed again. Then I closed my eyes and opened the Bible....to Romans 8. I started reading there in verse 1. When I got to verse 15, I literally felt like I had been struck by lightening. It scared me to pieces! Romans 8:15 says, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of ADOPTION, whereby we cry ABBA FATHER." There it was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I continued reading. What else did He have for me in those chapters? Three times in the first 45 verses or so it says "ADOPTION"!!
I ran and showed my husband...Mr. Rational. He was fairly impressed. (as impressed as irrational thinking can impress him, that is....)
But I was at peace with the decision to move forward and started telling people about my experience.

Someone told me "Yeah, but ADOPTION is a pretty common theme throughout the Bible."

Oh, really???? I thought perhaps she was right. Do you know that the word adoption is mentioned only 5 times throughout the Bible? Three of those times were in the first 45 verses I read.

I've heard, throughout my whole Christian life, about people who say they open the Bible and put their finger on a verse and that's their answer. I've wondered about the wisdom of people who do that. (ok....yeah, I've done that myself a time or two.....) But I usually have done that out of my impatience. I want an answer RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
I honestly don't feel this way about our situation. We had to make a decision right away and we wanted the Lord's leading in this. I don't ever ever want there to be a time .... if we get these children...that we think, "Wow...this is hard. Maybe we weren't supposed to have done this."

I don't think we will feel that way. Oh, yes, I'm sure that there will be hard times. There are always hard times. Even with biological children who haven't been through what these children will have been through, I have UPON OCCASION thought..."Ewwww....sometimes I don't like teenagers...."

So it is now out of our hands, into the hands of the people handling the little ones' situation...and into the very capable Hands of our Lord...who loves them even more than we already do.

HIS WILL BE DONE......(but I hope it's with us!!! ;) )