Such a Time As This

Faith, Hope, & Love

What You Need to Know About God’s Ability and Our Willingness {International Adoption}

Spotlight on International Adoption

What You Need to Know About God’s Ability and Our Willingness

The following was written by Darnell Duncan for her blog darnellduncan.wordpress.com.  This excerpt was used with permission.

 

Have you ever experienced a waiting for something that can’t come fast enough…but is also coming too fast?!?!  That’s how I feel right now.  I desperately wish I could board a plane tomorrow and bring Claire home NOW!  But there are so many details that have to take place between now and our actual travel that I feel like it is coming too quickly.  Who knew so much went into overseas travel???

 

As for our adoption process we are moving right along!  We now have our immigration provisional approval and our visas!   We are looking at 6-7 weeks until travel right now!!!

 

CRAZY EXCITING!!!

God Opens Doors

I can’t even begin to express how God has brought us to this point and completely made a way with open doors.  He has constantly affirmed His will that we follow this path.

 

I love knowing that the only way I am able to act on the convictions of my heart is through God’s sovereignty.  I typically feel immensely sad when I see pictures of hurting children without families, shelter, food.  But it is not my nature to tackle the difficult reality and I feel like it is not within my abilities to do something about it.

 

He Makes The Way

God is revealing to me that I don’t have to have some supernatural ability because HE DOES.  I just need to give Him what I have and come with a willing heart and He will take care of the rest.  I don’t want to sound like it is or will be easy, but I do know that our daughter’s tiny little life is so worth doing the hard.  Isn’t every child’s life worth it?  My heart breaks for every orphaned child who doesn’t have a choice.  Millions upon millions…seriously!

 

We are all so invested in living the American Dream that we don’t think we have time or money or space for one more child.  While that one child is waiting for us to pause long enough to let God show us that we are that parent He has chosen for that one child.  I know God’s timing is perfect, but it breaks my heart that it took so long for me to see that He wants to use me in this way.

 

An update a few months later, two weeks after the adoption was finalized:

Tears also flow when I think about the work God is doing in many hearts – moving them toward adoption.  I am so encouraged by those that have voiced new desires toward adoption because it reminds me that God is working on us all…one by one.  I want to be used by God and I am humbled that He has chosen me to be a voice for His heart for adoption.

 

He Equips Through Faith

He has chosen many for this work and I am no more equipped than any of you, yet He uses me.  I had read once “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called”.  To see Him call and then equip, allows us to see His faithfulness.  But without ever taking the first step of faith, we will never know what He is capable of equipping us to do.  And we will never know what child is missing out on their forever family because we have refused to be willing.

 

Tears really flow when I think about what my family and I would be missing if we hadn’t been obedient to God’s call to adopt.

 

Ways People Helped

More tears flow when I think about sooooo many people that have helped us along this journey. God has used numerous people.  Many in prayer…many in financial help. Others in encouragement.  He has used family and close friends in watching our kids while we were gone and providing meals as we transition.  Do you remember my prayer warriors that pray over me each day of the week?  I could not walk a Jesus-centered life without them!!  They continue to pray for me and I am absolutely privileged to pray for them…they have hearts on FIRE FOR JESUS!!  Every ounce of help has not gone unnoticed.  I WISH WORDS COULD BETTER EXPRESS OUR APPRECIATION FOR ALL OF IT!!!!  Chad and I are immensely grateful for the body of Christ that we are a part of because the body we know truly acts as the body Christ intended.

adoption

 

11 Lessons Learned This November about our Calling & Christ’s Love

Filed Under: Faith

A Mom Shares Why She Chose to Adopt from Foster Care

Today’s post is from a family who felt the call to adopt and are in the process of going through a local adoption through foster care.  They will soon be bringing home a sibling set of four children.

A Mom Shares Why She Chose to Adopt from Foster Care

Spotlight on Local Adoption

by Chantelle Moore

We have always wanted bigger family. Not Duggar big, but somewhere between a basketball team and a soccer team. I (Telly) have just one sibling who is 6 years older, so a lot of times growing up I yearned for siblings who were more like friends. I want my own kids to have more sibling camaraderie than I did.

 

God’s Call

There are kids everywhere who need help. The bible tells us to take care of the orphans. Not everyone can adopt, we know that. Not everyone is called to, but we DO feel called. Strongly. We may not have a lot of money, but our family is rich in love, support, and friendship. We have a lot to offer kids, especially those that have been taken into the foster system.

 

Adoption is a perfect picture of the gospel. To take in someone who was not born to you, who hasn’t done anything to deserve a spot in your family, but giving them a home simply because every person is worthy of love.

[Read more…] about A Mom Shares Why She Chose to Adopt from Foster Care

20 Practical Ways You Can Help Orphans Right Now

About 5 years ago God opened my eyes.  He had shown me His call to help orphans. I had once lived in my nice warm little bubble and I had closed my eyes tight to the atrocities of this world.  I didn’t know that there were children who needed help, orphans who had nothing. How did I not know? You might ask.  It wasn’t on my radar because it wasn’t placed in front of my face.

 

For my entire life I always believed that the people who adopt children did so because they couldn’t have biological children and that these children completed their family.  My eyes had been closed tight to God’s call on all of our lives to serve and help orphans.  Once my eyes were opened I couldn’t turn my head. I realized that our world is filled with the fatherless – those who want and need families.  Then I had a whole new problem. What could I do about it?

help orphans

My husband and I looked into adopting.  We actually explored both international and local (foster) adoption.  We quickly realized the difficulties that it presented us – especially because we had 5 small kids all under the age of 10.  Our youngest was only about 9 months old.  We found out some challenges, at least at the time, made it nearly impossible to adopt.  Many countries have laws regarding how many children you can have in your home.  It turns out that even our state also had these laws.  I think 4 kids was the limit – we already had one “too many”.  Some countries had long travel requirements – which just wouldn’t work with the ages of our kids and the special needs of our oldest.

 

Frustration welled up inside of me.  Why had God put this in front of us only to not let us fulfill His call?  This question led me to a deeper understanding of this call.  We are not all called to adopt, but we all are called to be an advocate for orphans.

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A Mom of 12 Shares the Beautiful Truth about Adoption

A Mom of 12 Shares the Beautiful Truth about Adoption

by

Elizabeth Curry

I’m pleased that Sasha has invited me to share a little bit about our experiences with international adoption. First a bit about me. I teach piano. I love to read. I’m a bit of a brain science junkie. I am on year 21 of homeschooling. And I have twelve children. Sometimes I keep that last one under wraps for a while when meeting new people. It’s easier to get to know each other (ie let the other person think I’m normal for a while) first, because I’ve learned that once that number is out of the bag, that’s all I’m talking about from then on due to the questions and amazement that people have about it.

 

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