Over the past year, or maybe longer, I have kept my heart open to adopting again, though I definitely wasn't thinking I was ready to do it anytime soon. We already have an active house with our own six kids, plus two exchange students, and me finishing up my master's degree. Despite that, I have continually prayed that if or when God was going to call us to adopt again, it would have to be my husband who initiated the journey... now watch how that journey unfolds and ripples.....
You see, while I stood in that airport watching Lan walk through the gates, along with my heart, next to me stood a woman (we'll call her Jane) who came to meet Lan before she returned to China. Why? Because she was interested in adopting Lan. When my husband said "maybe we should lock her file" my heart was so confused. When deciding to host Lan, I went into the journey with the full intent of finding her a family. I put up a "barrier" around my heart so I would be able to "let her go", as long as she had a family.
As I stood there, reading his text my heart sank , thinking that Jane might be her family. I couldn't just tell Jane "sorry you spent money on a plane ticket to meet this precious girl but we've changed our minds" - I wasn't sure what to feel. Therefore, we didn't really talking about it, I wanted to allow time for things to "work out".
In the mean time, our oldest daughter, who is 12 years old, was devastated after leaving the airport. She sobbed most of the way home, and off and on for the next few days; she pleaded with us, asking why we couldn't be Lan's family. The idea weighed heavy on my heart, therefore, I sent an email to Jane, asking for an update. She mentioned she had received files from her agency for a few other girls and was looking over them. I responded that that our daughter was struggling with Lan being gone, without a committed family; as well as sharing what my prayer had been for the past year and the text I received from my husband while standing at the airport, that I was contemplating what it all meant. With much relief, I received an email back stating that she didn't think pursing Lan was going to work out for her family, that she and her family would give us their blessing to adopt Lan!!! Sweet relief!
And so our third adoption journey began at the end of July. We submitted our letter asking for China's permission to adopt Lan on August 2nd and received the letter of pre-approval on August 19th! She will be our youngest daughter, but not youngest child, Corban and Tegan are about 16 months younger. And answered prayers don't stop there....
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