Faithful Faithful God

My Sweet P - 2010, 2011, 2012


Time is passing too fast for my taste.  When I look at this sweet boy and how much he has changed and grown in just two and half short years I have to catch my breath.  Seriously, it is just amazing to me that the little chubby grump on the far left (he was sick at the time as you can tell from the rash all over him) is the same little boy as the one on the far right.  Be still my heart!!

This is my dream baby.  I have said it before and I will say it over and over again because next to my relationship with Christ and my husband and raising my children to walk in Truth - adoption is the single greatest passion in my life.  I have lots of soapboxes that I used to think of as passions.  I have lots of things that get me excited and that I could talk about for hours if given a chance.  You've heard them all before - home schooling, to vaccinate or not to vaccinate, alternative and nutritional healing, organic whole food nutrition - and this time of year, politics.  These things are important to me and yes, I have strong opinions on each one - just ask me - I dare ya.

BUT, other than Jesus and my family - nothing, nothing, nothing even holds a candle to how I feel about the orphan.

NOTHING.

Every morning I wake up snuggled up next to this baby boy (yeah, add co-sleeping to the above list) and I remember what God has done in our family.  As he rolls over, blinks those huge eyes open and looks up at me with a grin, I can't imagine that life could possibly get any better than this.  I look into his eyes and I remember.  I remember that two and half years ago he was lying in a NICU unit of a children's hospital.  A tiny, preemie born addicted to drugs. A baby who no doubt would have ended up just another statistic in the foster system.

But, God had other plans.  Plans to rescue us.  Yes, I said us.  Adoption is not about rescuing babies.  As John Piper said, "We don't adopt to be the rescuers, we adopt because we are the rescued."  God, in His sovereignty and amazing grace rescued me.  A sinner with nothing good inside of me apart from Him.  He rescued me and now I get to play a part in His redemptive work.  Patrick is the one who saved us.  He saved us from a life of selfishness.  He saved our other children from the typical teenage attitude of entitlement.  He saved Stan and me from saying, "We're too old to start over."  Because when you get the privilege of seeing life through the eyes of a baby, there is no room for thinking only of yourself.  The delight in his two year old eyes at the sight of a dusty pumpkin patch brings a smile to the face of even the most belligerent of us.  His squeals of ecstasy at the prospect of baking a batch of "choc cookies" brightens up even the worst of days.

This baby, the one I dreamed about my whole life - the one who grew in my heart instead of my belly - he has been a delight to our entire family.  None of us can imagine what we would have been without him.  He has brought joy to our lives.  His story has been an influence on many others we know about to adopt and I pray many that we don't know about have or will adopt as well.  Stan and I were not young, we already had more than the average amount of children, and starting over is not necessarily the popular thing to do in our culture.  Basically, we had our "hands full" already.  The thing is though, when God steps into your world, you can't go on unchanged.  When God calls, you must answer.  You must allow yourself to break for what breaks His heart.

Friends, orphans in crisis break the very heart of God.

They do.  Children who look at you with eyes just longing to be loved break the heart of God.  He desires that every child have a mommy and/or daddy to kiss them goodnight.  He desires that they have a family to call their own.  I promise you from the depths of my heart that you will receive the biggest blessing.

God is always faithful.  If adoption has been on your heart and you are making excuses, then stop.  There are no valid excuses.  Not age, not finances, not time.  If you are struggling with all the practical questions, please take a few minutes to read my friend Linny's blog posts entitled "He is NOT a Deadbeat Dad."  I have linked the first one and then you can follow her links to the other three parts.

God's heart is FOR the orphan.  Every.single.time.  He will never never never disappoint.