Relax and Enjoy the Journey

A friend sent me this devotional today from "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young and I just had to share it.  It could apply to any and all situations, but really spoke to me in relation to adoption.  We are stepping out in faith and following Him to the secret things He has for us.  This was a wonderful reminder to not be anxious, but to TRUST in His promises. 

I am leading you, step by step, through your life. Hold My hand in trusting dependence, letting Me guide you through this day. Your future looks uncertain and feels flimsy-even precarious. That is how it should be. Secret things belong to the Lord, and future things are secret things. When you try to figure out the future, you are grasping at things that are Mine. This, like all forms of worry, is an act of rebellion: doubting My promises to care for you.

Whenever you find yourself worrying about the future, repent and return to Me. I will show you the next step forward, and the one after that, and the one after that. RELAX AND ENJOY THE JOURNEY IN MY PRESENCE, TRUSTING ME TO OPEN UP THE WAY BEFORE YOU AS YOU GO.

Deuteronomy 29:29
"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."

Psalm 32:8
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you."

Officially Finger Printed

When I think of people's finger prints being in the "system" I imagine the criminals on "Law and Order" and now we are among them.  We went today to be finger printed and essentially to be cleared of any kind of bad record.  I have to admit, I felt a little bit like a criminal going in for booking as we walked through the back halls of the Homewood Police Department (also home to the Homewood Jail), but the officers who helped us were extremely nice and made us feel very comfortable.  There were alot of locked doors, but no "jailbird" sightings.  I was amazed to find out that they no longer use ink to capture your finger prints.  I know it makes sense, considering how far technology has come since the last time I was finger printed in elementary school, but I was still surprised.  Now, they use a fancy machine that looks like a copy machine and basically scans your prints.

All kidding aside, we have now completed one of the first steps on this long road.  In addition to sending off our finger prints, we are finishing up the Child Abuse and Neglect forms, too. We also had an overview call with our sweet social worker today.  She gave us an idea of what to expect and a list of things to start working on now...up next Hague Online Training and our Autobiographies.  We will also have our first meeting of our Home Study next week.

Stay tuned, things are starting to happen.  The sooner we get through the paperwork jungle and the Home Study, the closer we are to finding our daughter and ultimately holding her in our arms!

Adoption Application Complete-Check!

This weekend we completed our application to adopt through Lifeline and  today we sent it in!  We are so excited knowing that this first step will set things in motion toward bringing home a precious little girl to join our family.

I am trying really hard not to jump too far into the future with my plans, but it's really hard.  In my head I am already imagining what kind of big sister Adair will be, what we will name her, what her room might look like, introducing her to our friends and family, taking her to church...and on and on!  I know I need to slow down and I am sure I will once the next round of paperwork comes our way, but it's fun to dream about her.  It is also comfortable to do so knowing that God is in control and that we are following His leading. 

I know that no matter how long this road is, it is all in His plan and it is out of obedience that we are walking (sometimes wanting to run, leap, jump for joy) it together.

A Heart for China

Today, Hank and I met with two counselors at Lifeline Adoption Agency (http://www.lifelineadoption.org/), one specializes in domestic adoptions and the other in international adoptions.  It was very relieving to be able to ask questions openly and get answers.  The counselors were great to talk with and they didn't bother to "sugar coat" the adoption process. 

Over the years, as Hank and I have talked about adoption, it was obvious that I leaned more toward international adoption (China) and Hank was more interested in domestic adoption.  When I really started to think about that, it made sense...most of my friends who have adopted have adopted from another country, whereas most of Hank's close friends have adopted infants from the US.  We were each drawn to that with which we were most familiar.

So, my prayer going in to this meeting was 1) that God would use it to confirm the direction we are going in or to send us in a different direction and 2) that (if he confirmed our direction) Hank and I would walk out of it with a heart to adopt from the same place whether it be the US, China, Uganda, Twain, etc. 

Leaving the building, I felt like a giddy school girl.  In my heart, I knew that God had answered our first prayer and confirmed our direction, but I wasn't sure about the second one until we got in the car and Hank said, "my heart just swells to think of adopting a child from China".  Thank you, Lord, for clearly answering our prayers!

So, that being said, over the next few days we will fill out our application for adoption.  This is the first step (of many, many, many) toward bringing another precious child into our family.