So this is Valerie blogging today on the Two Maries - it will much later in the day before Darren realizes his blog has been hi-jacked! And it is 4 am and I am just coming off a string of working nights. So, please excuse my poor grammar and exaggerated sense of my own humor (I think everything is funny at 4 am) while I attempt to update all of our loyal followers (all 4 of you out there) on the latest update about our adventure to bring our sweet girls home.
After worrying myself sick this past weekend (Mother's Day), I found out today from our agency that our adoption decree has been amended. Hallelujah! Never mind that it has taken 3 months, we are praising God that it has finally been fixed. God willing, we are scheduled to leave the states on June 5th for Africa. I am sure glad I didn't fully unpack after our last travel date fell through....
It has been hard living in limbo adoption land for the past 2 1/2 years. More difficult than I ever imagined. We live in a small community so everyone knows about our adoption drama. Several times I have wished that no one knew what we were going through, that we could be anonymous and somehow protected from having to share this with everyone. We are so raw and exposed. After this most recent travel date fell through, everyone at the hospital, church and the kids' school asked why we hadn't left yet and it was so painful. But in the midst of the tears and the worry, God showed up miraculously in our lives through our unsuspecting co-workers, friends and casual community contacts. If we had not been so public about sharing our journey (and the truth is with a mouth like mine and daughters who talk just as much, we didn't have a chance on earth of keeping this semi-private), we would never have been able to experience such tremendous love and support. I would never have imagined that the Maries' story and our quest to bring them into our family would inspire a 12 year-old girl to cook, clean and babysit her way to raising $4000 towards our adoption costs. I would never have imagined that complete strangers would come up to me in the grocery store, ask about our Congolese daughters and tell me that they are praying for our girls. I would never have imagined that God would use this process to crack me open, pour me out and open more space for his love and grace.
So, as grateful as I am for all the unexpected graces of this process, I am darn ready to bring our girls home. Suddenly, 3 weeks doesn't seem like an eternity and I am able to picture the faces of our precious daughters in my mind. On our own, none of this seems possible. On paper, adopting 2 kids when the rest of our life looks semi-stable seems like a sentimental decision at best and a financial disaster at worst. And on the hopeless days, I have wondered if we had even heard God's voice because this journey has been nothing short of a continual struggle. But today I continue to believe that God has called our family to exactly this. To enter into the struggle of the orphan, to die to ourselves a little bit more each day, to let go of the false promise of financial security and long-term planning, to fully trust him with every detail of this insane, improbable and very bumpy ride.
So thank-you dear family and friends for walking along side us on this long road, for crying with us and holding us up in prayer when we didn't even know what to pray. Thank-you God for the cleaning lady at the hospital who tells me she is praying that our whole family can be together soon. Thanks also for my two amazing older daughters whose faith never wavers. Thank-you for their evening prayers for their little sister then their little brother then for their little sisters over the past 2 1/2 years.
All is Grace.
Val
After worrying myself sick this past weekend (Mother's Day), I found out today from our agency that our adoption decree has been amended. Hallelujah! Never mind that it has taken 3 months, we are praising God that it has finally been fixed. God willing, we are scheduled to leave the states on June 5th for Africa. I am sure glad I didn't fully unpack after our last travel date fell through....
It has been hard living in limbo adoption land for the past 2 1/2 years. More difficult than I ever imagined. We live in a small community so everyone knows about our adoption drama. Several times I have wished that no one knew what we were going through, that we could be anonymous and somehow protected from having to share this with everyone. We are so raw and exposed. After this most recent travel date fell through, everyone at the hospital, church and the kids' school asked why we hadn't left yet and it was so painful. But in the midst of the tears and the worry, God showed up miraculously in our lives through our unsuspecting co-workers, friends and casual community contacts. If we had not been so public about sharing our journey (and the truth is with a mouth like mine and daughters who talk just as much, we didn't have a chance on earth of keeping this semi-private), we would never have been able to experience such tremendous love and support. I would never have imagined that the Maries' story and our quest to bring them into our family would inspire a 12 year-old girl to cook, clean and babysit her way to raising $4000 towards our adoption costs. I would never have imagined that complete strangers would come up to me in the grocery store, ask about our Congolese daughters and tell me that they are praying for our girls. I would never have imagined that God would use this process to crack me open, pour me out and open more space for his love and grace.
So, as grateful as I am for all the unexpected graces of this process, I am darn ready to bring our girls home. Suddenly, 3 weeks doesn't seem like an eternity and I am able to picture the faces of our precious daughters in my mind. On our own, none of this seems possible. On paper, adopting 2 kids when the rest of our life looks semi-stable seems like a sentimental decision at best and a financial disaster at worst. And on the hopeless days, I have wondered if we had even heard God's voice because this journey has been nothing short of a continual struggle. But today I continue to believe that God has called our family to exactly this. To enter into the struggle of the orphan, to die to ourselves a little bit more each day, to let go of the false promise of financial security and long-term planning, to fully trust him with every detail of this insane, improbable and very bumpy ride.
So thank-you dear family and friends for walking along side us on this long road, for crying with us and holding us up in prayer when we didn't even know what to pray. Thank-you God for the cleaning lady at the hospital who tells me she is praying that our whole family can be together soon. Thanks also for my two amazing older daughters whose faith never wavers. Thank-you for their evening prayers for their little sister then their little brother then for their little sisters over the past 2 1/2 years.
All is Grace.
Val
WAHOO!!! PRAISE GOD for miracles!!! We are rejoicing with you all in this great news of the paperwork finally being done correctly!!! Can't wait for you to be able to bring those precious girls home!!! I must tell you again how amazing it has been to watch your whole family walk this adoption journey that God has set before you. You all have been such an amazing testimony of His grace, faithfulness, mercy, strength, endurance, etc... TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
ReplyDeleteLove you all and continuing to carry you in prayer! Gracie