Funny how when God begins to hone in on an area of growth in your life, He hones in.
In late November after being accepted into Lifeline's Congo program, God brought us to our knees to surrender control over the extraordinarily unpredictable and uncontrollable process of adopting from the Congo.
No control over the cost. No control over the health of our child. No control over the political climate of the Congo. No control over anything.
It wasn't easy, but once we got the memo, we thought "Great! Lesson learned. Now we can move on!".
So we did.
We scheduled an orientation phone call with our agency. We began reading and highlighting the 100-page manual to familiarize ourselves with the overall process. We contacted a local agency to do our home study. We even set up a fundraiser.
Then...
I had an upset stomach all day. I thought it was because I woke up early (after a late night of working on getting photos ready for the fundraiser), drank strong coffee (on an empty stomach), and then ate onions at lunch.
But by that night, I had this nagging in my gut...
"What are the chances?" I thought. Steve was openly skeptical. Somehow I talked him into begrudgingly traipsing to Walmart at 10pm that night for a pregnancy test.
And wouldn't you know...positive! (A second test the next day confirmed).
Yep. We are SOOOOO not in control. So there you go! Lord willing, baby is due August 10, 2012. And no worries. We still plan to adopt from the Congo, but will just hit pause for two years and resume the process in summer/fall 2013 :-)
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Surrendering our "Isaac"
For those doing the R12 study, you know what that title means. For those who don't, an "Isaac" is anything that is (or could potentially be) and idol (or something more important than God) in your life.
Today, after a tough day of deep soul-searching and duking it out spiritually and emotionally with each other and God, He revealed our "Isaac", and in a BIG (and thankfully obvious) way.
God revealed that each of us has the same "Isaac": CONTROL
Those who know us well may chuckle wisely at this "new" revelation, having known this about us all along. We've known it, too, I guess...often joking that we are equal and opposite forces; both choleric; both stubborn; both strong-willed.
When we work against one another, it can be World War III (and then some). But by God's grace, when we work together, His power, glory and purposes are manifested in ways we could never even ask or imagine!
We know that caring for the orphan is near and dear to God's heart. He has stirred our hearts likewise. We know this is an opportunity for our family to participate in God's work. We feel extremely compelled to take this step of faith. We know there is blessing for obedience (though not necessarily something we will experience on this side of heaven).
But it's scary. Terrifying, actually.
The whole idea of foreign adoption, especially from the Congo, is all about not having control over anything.
There are no guarantees.
We could pay all this money and not return home with a child.
We could dot all our "i's", cross all our "t's", but there are no guarantees that final approval will be given by the High Court (which we wouldn't find out until we'd traveled over there and met our child).
Even getting a visa or passport for our child from the US Embassy not guaranteed.
HIV/AIDS is prevalent and accurate in-country testing for this disease is not guaranteed.
There is war. The Congo is a hot-seat of conflict. The US Embassy is advising against non-essential travel to certain parts of the country right now. Our safety is not guaranteed.
The danger and chaos and risk are overwhelming. But so is the desperate need for those who are able to step in and be an advocate for those who are most vulnerable to the danger and chaos and hopelessness.
With no guarantees, our sticking point the past few days has been how and when to proceed with both wisdom and faith.
We've got a heaping plate of tasks to accomplish. We've got a pile of legal documents and contracts to sign. We have the first payment due to the agency. Those, we can handle.
But really, the heart of the issue is surrendering CONTROL, because once we sign on the dotted line, we're in. We are no longer in the driver's seat. We're steppin' out of the boat, people!
Hands down, this is the toughest and scariest thing God could ask of us, but God is good.
He began this work in us years ago and it's so awesome to sit back and watch as God weaves together the tapestry of our lives, interweaving it with other precious believers, stretching across an ocean to a continent we've never been to and a people group and culture that is foreign, yet so dear, to us.
Today, after a tough day of deep soul-searching and duking it out spiritually and emotionally with each other and God, He revealed our "Isaac", and in a BIG (and thankfully obvious) way.
God revealed that each of us has the same "Isaac": CONTROL
Those who know us well may chuckle wisely at this "new" revelation, having known this about us all along. We've known it, too, I guess...often joking that we are equal and opposite forces; both choleric; both stubborn; both strong-willed.
When we work against one another, it can be World War III (and then some). But by God's grace, when we work together, His power, glory and purposes are manifested in ways we could never even ask or imagine!
We know that caring for the orphan is near and dear to God's heart. He has stirred our hearts likewise. We know this is an opportunity for our family to participate in God's work. We feel extremely compelled to take this step of faith. We know there is blessing for obedience (though not necessarily something we will experience on this side of heaven).
But it's scary. Terrifying, actually.
The whole idea of foreign adoption, especially from the Congo, is all about not having control over anything.
There are no guarantees.
We could pay all this money and not return home with a child.
We could dot all our "i's", cross all our "t's", but there are no guarantees that final approval will be given by the High Court (which we wouldn't find out until we'd traveled over there and met our child).
Even getting a visa or passport for our child from the US Embassy not guaranteed.
HIV/AIDS is prevalent and accurate in-country testing for this disease is not guaranteed.
There is war. The Congo is a hot-seat of conflict. The US Embassy is advising against non-essential travel to certain parts of the country right now. Our safety is not guaranteed.
The danger and chaos and risk are overwhelming. But so is the desperate need for those who are able to step in and be an advocate for those who are most vulnerable to the danger and chaos and hopelessness.
With no guarantees, our sticking point the past few days has been how and when to proceed with both wisdom and faith.
We've got a heaping plate of tasks to accomplish. We've got a pile of legal documents and contracts to sign. We have the first payment due to the agency. Those, we can handle.
But really, the heart of the issue is surrendering CONTROL, because once we sign on the dotted line, we're in. We are no longer in the driver's seat. We're steppin' out of the boat, people!
Hands down, this is the toughest and scariest thing God could ask of us, but God is good.
He began this work in us years ago and it's so awesome to sit back and watch as God weaves together the tapestry of our lives, interweaving it with other precious believers, stretching across an ocean to a continent we've never been to and a people group and culture that is foreign, yet so dear, to us.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
50,000 ft. fly-by
As the first post to the Christin Chronicles, I thought it would be beneficial to give a 50,000 ft. fly-by of what God has been up to in our family over the past few years to bring us to today.
Although, this quote pretty much sums things up:
"Having seen all this, you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again, 'I did not know'". ~William Wilberforce
In 2008, God started tugging on our hearts to be more and more involved in His global purpose - for all to know the fame of His name and worship Him as Lord!
This tugging really began during preparation for a short-term mission trip to Romania that spring as God prompted our family to realign our priorities with His global purpose through stewardship of the resources entrusted to us.
In early 2010, God ruined our family for the ordinary through a class called Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.
If you have the opportunity to take this class in your community, we *highly* recommend it!
This 15-week course stirred within us an inexplicable desire to part of something deeper and bigger than our own dreams and ambitions - to be part of God's global purpose!
Per the above quote by William Wilberforce, we could choose to look the other way and continue on with our life as before, but we could never say again that we did not know about God's greater purpose and that He wanted to involve us in it!
We were no longer content pursuing the "white-picket-fence American dream". Later that year, we began working with World Relief in our community and got involved helping Congolese refugees. We developed close relationships with a few families and were incredibly blessed to welcome the stranger to our community and country.
In January 2011, our church launched an Orphan Care ministry, and God began to stir our hearts a desire to care for the orphan, specifically through adoption. Not knowing which path to pursue, we waited, knocked, prayed, and waited, knocked and prayed some more.
We considered all avenues of orphan care - domestic adoption, international adoption, private adoption and foster care. But we seemed to encounter nothing but closed doors and dead ends over the next several months.
Meanwhile, we continued working with new refugees and investing in relationships with our Congolese friends. They were still strangers, but slowly learning how to survive in America. So as our hearts were continually stirred for adoption, they were also tugged more and more towards Africa.
We did some research and networking and found that Ethiopia was the most stable African country for international adoption. But after praying about it, and even setting up a meeting with a local agency, our hearts just did not have peace with that direction.
By the beginning of November, we were discouraged and disheartened and had put adoption on the back burner (again).
We knew there was an upcoming Orphan Sunday event at church, but talked about not even going since we felt stalled in the process. We spent the Saturday before Orphan Sunday with our Congolese friends, and I remember thinking that night that if there were just an opportunity to adopt from the Congo, it'd be a no-brainer for us.
We'd gone to church Saturday evening, so by Sunday afternoon, we weren't really super motivated to head back over. However, we decided to go anyway, albeit with low expectations of what the evening would hold.
Amazing how God works!
Shortly after we arrived, a friend (who I didn't even know was actively pursuing adoption) found us and shared that she and her husband had applied to adopt from the Congo and had found several reputable agencies with Congo programs!
Crazy thing (well, not crazy to God!) is that they didn't even know our desire to adopt from the Congo or that we'd been working with the Congolese community! We were beyond excited and in awe of God's ways and timing.
We came home to begin researching agencies that night...fast forward a week...and after much prayer, patience, reflection, surrender and submission, we applied with Lifeline Adoption Agency and were accepted into the Congo Program as of yesterday!
Their Congo Program is just out of the pilot stages, so the best estimate is about 15 months for the entire process.
Our first step will be fill out all the legal paperwork, disclaimers, waivers, contracts, etc.
Then we begin with the home study process (approximately 2-3 months).
After that, we will prepare our dossier which will be sent to the Congo.
Then we wait for a referral and all the legal proceedings in-country.
And last, we'll head to the Congo for two weeks and bring home our child!
There are many unknowns and mountains of details and information to sort through, and while we are super excited, there is much trepidation as we begin this journey.
But God is good. God is faithful. God is in the details. God is in control.
So our family begins this journey with much faith and great expectation....!
Although, this quote pretty much sums things up:
"Having seen all this, you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again, 'I did not know'". ~William Wilberforce
In 2008, God started tugging on our hearts to be more and more involved in His global purpose - for all to know the fame of His name and worship Him as Lord!
This tugging really began during preparation for a short-term mission trip to Romania that spring as God prompted our family to realign our priorities with His global purpose through stewardship of the resources entrusted to us.
In early 2010, God ruined our family for the ordinary through a class called Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.
If you have the opportunity to take this class in your community, we *highly* recommend it!
This 15-week course stirred within us an inexplicable desire to part of something deeper and bigger than our own dreams and ambitions - to be part of God's global purpose!
Per the above quote by William Wilberforce, we could choose to look the other way and continue on with our life as before, but we could never say again that we did not know about God's greater purpose and that He wanted to involve us in it!
We were no longer content pursuing the "white-picket-fence American dream". Later that year, we began working with World Relief in our community and got involved helping Congolese refugees. We developed close relationships with a few families and were incredibly blessed to welcome the stranger to our community and country.
In January 2011, our church launched an Orphan Care ministry, and God began to stir our hearts a desire to care for the orphan, specifically through adoption. Not knowing which path to pursue, we waited, knocked, prayed, and waited, knocked and prayed some more.
We considered all avenues of orphan care - domestic adoption, international adoption, private adoption and foster care. But we seemed to encounter nothing but closed doors and dead ends over the next several months.
Meanwhile, we continued working with new refugees and investing in relationships with our Congolese friends. They were still strangers, but slowly learning how to survive in America. So as our hearts were continually stirred for adoption, they were also tugged more and more towards Africa.
We did some research and networking and found that Ethiopia was the most stable African country for international adoption. But after praying about it, and even setting up a meeting with a local agency, our hearts just did not have peace with that direction.
By the beginning of November, we were discouraged and disheartened and had put adoption on the back burner (again).
We knew there was an upcoming Orphan Sunday event at church, but talked about not even going since we felt stalled in the process. We spent the Saturday before Orphan Sunday with our Congolese friends, and I remember thinking that night that if there were just an opportunity to adopt from the Congo, it'd be a no-brainer for us.
We'd gone to church Saturday evening, so by Sunday afternoon, we weren't really super motivated to head back over. However, we decided to go anyway, albeit with low expectations of what the evening would hold.
Amazing how God works!
Shortly after we arrived, a friend (who I didn't even know was actively pursuing adoption) found us and shared that she and her husband had applied to adopt from the Congo and had found several reputable agencies with Congo programs!
Crazy thing (well, not crazy to God!) is that they didn't even know our desire to adopt from the Congo or that we'd been working with the Congolese community! We were beyond excited and in awe of God's ways and timing.
We came home to begin researching agencies that night...fast forward a week...and after much prayer, patience, reflection, surrender and submission, we applied with Lifeline Adoption Agency and were accepted into the Congo Program as of yesterday!
Their Congo Program is just out of the pilot stages, so the best estimate is about 15 months for the entire process.
Our first step will be fill out all the legal paperwork, disclaimers, waivers, contracts, etc.
Then we begin with the home study process (approximately 2-3 months).
After that, we will prepare our dossier which will be sent to the Congo.
Then we wait for a referral and all the legal proceedings in-country.
And last, we'll head to the Congo for two weeks and bring home our child!
There are many unknowns and mountains of details and information to sort through, and while we are super excited, there is much trepidation as we begin this journey.
But God is good. God is faithful. God is in the details. God is in control.
So our family begins this journey with much faith and great expectation....!
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