I honestly can not imagine our life without him. He is a little gift that God wrapped up and handed to us on July 2, 2014. I had no idea that it could be this joyful. None. When the Lord first put adoption on our hearts, I would love to say that we ran forward with whatever God had for us, but that wouldn’t be correct.
How could this be? I knew that God was calling us to adopt, but I already had so much on my plate – a husband, two growing kids, homeschooling, managing a house, running a business, the to-do lists, I could go on and on. I gave God e v e r y excuse for why it might not be a good idea for us to add one more thing to our already busy and full life. Thankfully, He had other plans for us. Plans of which I couldn’t see the details.
My first reaction when the Lord puts something on my heart is to say no, or maybe later. Never once do I respond like Samuel and say “Yes, Lord, I am listening!” However, by saying “Yes, Lord” to this precious gift, I have seen the love of God. I can feel His care and tenderness towards us. All of my fears He has turned into blessings that I could never have anticipated.
Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
A heart that could love more deeply and grow to bring in one more addition.
A strength – both physically and emotionally – I never knew was possible. (It is not my strength, but His!)
Children who absolutely adore their little brother. They wake up earlier just to be the first to get to come in and snuggle him first! (This might be my favorite surprise yet.)
A husband who amazes me with his tenderness, selflessness and patience.
A sweet baby who is cuddling, cooing, snuggling, drinking lots of milk, messing up LOTS of diapers and completely filling our hearts.
I could go on and on. But each of these are blessings that have filled my heart and come only when I was able to trust Him fully and say “Yes, Lord”. I can’t help but be so incredibly grateful that He allows our hearts to say “yes”. That He loves us so much that He has a whole storehouse of blessings just like this when we allow Him to take our hearts and make them His. Now, what would happen if I completely opened myself up to whatever He had for me?
I don’t know about you, but I often draw my greatest encouragement in hearing others stories of redemption and their journeys of faith. If you would be so brave, would you share yours with us?
What blessings has He showered on you that have come through complete and total submission and trust in Him? I would love to hear your story below.
Feeling incredibly blessed,
Kelly
God Is Good! Such a beautiful story and image of what he Can Do! So happy for your beautiful family. Thank you for sharing!
What an answer to prayer your new baby is. I am so happy for you. Our own beloved daughter is adopted. Our Lord blessed us with her when she was two days old. We went through all the typical fertility treatments and could not have natural children so we relied upon the Lord for Him to bring us together with a baby we could love and raise as our own. We diligently prayed for such a long time for a child. One night we were praying at church with friends for the following days service. In the middle of praying, I distinctly heard our Lord tell me that we would have a daughter and that we should name her Rebekah. Such an overwhelming peace and joy came over me. From then on, we continued to pray for her and just about a year later, she was born on April fools day. Can you imagine? The birth mom was being driven to the hospital, in active labor, and she was thumbing through the yellow pages and called the first attorney she found, which just so happened to be OUR private adoption attorney, who happened to be a Christian. We knew then that this was the baby our Lord promised we would have. She is now a beautiful teenager and we cherish her like none other.
Congratulations on the adoption of your son and i look forward to reading more about your journey.
Kate, I love your story! Thank you so much for sharing it. 🙂
What a beautiful story of how your “yes” turned into an amazing unexpected blessing.
Our “yes” centers around radically trusting God with our finances during this season of growth for my husband’s pastoral life coaching & counseling business. It hasn’t been easy but He is faithful and we’re learning to appreciate the “little” blessings as we wait and work toward financial freedom.
Thank you for your encouragement for us all to continue to say “yes” to whatever God call us to!
THank you so much for sharing LeeAnn. I love hearing how God speaks to each person differently.
A quick “yes” without hesitation. Got it! Thank you for sharing your testimony and these precious pictures.
Glad to have you here!
God laid adoption on mine and my husband’s hearts many years ago. I had a dream of adopting a little girl internationally. I had it all worked out in my mind (thank goodness God’s plans are greater than my own, Amen). However, as we were waiting for the “right” time for all this to take place, we felt as though God was nudging us to become licensed foster parents. My husband and I became officially licensed in December 2013. On the morning prior to our first placement I was talking with God, and clearly felt as though He was telling me that we would receive a placement soon, and that it would be a little boy. It was at this moment I knew that I had to let go of my dreams of having a little girl knowing that God knew what would be best for our family. I specifically prayed that morning that the little boy placed with us would be a perfect fit for our family, and that we would be a perfect fit for him. That very afternoon I received a call from DCFS stating that they needed to place an 18 month old little boy, and that he would most likely be available for adoption in 3 to 6 months. Of course we said yes to the placement, but more importantly I could not imagine if we had not said yes to God. Baby “E” has now been with us for 5 months. Dealing with a child who has been through trauma is hard. There has been many sleepless nights, and days when I wanted to give up. Yet God’s grace has been sufficient. We have slowly seen Baby “E’s” heart transformed, and his emotional and physical wounds healed. We have watched his blank stares replaced by eyes that glimmer with hope, his screams replaced by joyous laughter. We have watched our older sons love unconditionally. We have watched our family grow closer to God more than ever before. God is in the business of healing, healing of hearts, redeeming of lives for His glory. Saying yes to God can be difficult, but it can also be the biggest blessing. Our “yes” to God has given my husband and I the gift of parenting our foster son, weather it be for awhile or forever. I feel truly blessed to call God the author of my life, and I am so very excited to see what He writes next. :o)
What an amazing story! I absolutely love how God works in every detail. Thank you so much for sharing, it is so encouraging to hear others stories. 🙂
Kelly, I stumbled upon your post. It was truly encouraging! Congratulations to you and your family! God bless. ☺
I am so glad it encouraged you!
Shawna, So glad to have you here! Thanks for leaving a comment. 🙂
What an absolutely beautiful story. I’m looking forward to sharing this with friends considering adopting. I think it is great to see your story both for families that have kids of their own already and those struggling to conceive
Thanks again for sharing your heart
I lost track of you over the summer but I am so happy to hear the adoption went thru and that everything is going well.
I have a little different situation but have seen God move in a supernatural way in our blended family. We are a “yours, mine and ours” story. Being a step-mom is by far the toughest job I have ever had and the frustration with this is sometimes beyond words, but God has used this relationship to teach me what unconditional love truly is. I see now that the love for a biological child is often automatic, where the love for a step child (or adopted child) is a choice, and also a gift. I could not do it without Him. He is faithful and loving and kind toward me…and I get to pass that love on to another without asking for anything in return.
I have come to realize being a step parent is a lot like adoption. As a matter of fact, reading the book “The Connected Child” has helped me in my role as a step parent and as a parent in general. It is written for adoptive parents but so many of the key points are true for any parent relationship.
Thank you for sharing your story! I am looking forward to watching your family grow 🙂
JV
I love it! The picture of you holding him is precious! The story is precious!
Joyful, encouraging, uplifting, hopeful, and peaceful! That is a GOD story.
Bless your family!!
(From a Homeschool Mommy, expecting baby#7)