Spill Your Guts AND Fill Your Guts
The Late Late Show has a segment called Spill Your Guts OR Fill Your Guts wherein a celebrity has to answer a personal question or eat something gross.
Well, I'm no celebrity, but this post is Late Late in coming. And I have some guts to spill plus a full heart (which in the Greek old testament was expressed by saying your bowels (gut) was full. I'm running with this analogous title all the way, baby).
Thank you for your prayers and patience. I had a lot of poetic and profound ways I planned to organize this blog post. But so much has happened over the last couple of weeks, I'm going with the spill-my-guts plan. I'ma just tell you things as they come to mind.
Big news first, right?
We know who our kids are. We have seen their precious faces. We call them by name around our house. Joy upon joy upon joy.
We cannot share pictures yet. Their initials are A and S. If you put our four children's initials in order from youngest to oldest, it spells SABE. Do you know what sabé means in Spanish?
It translates: He knows.
Enjoy a sigh and a couple of tears with that little dose of God's goodness.
And He. Is. So. Good.
The glory story we will be able to tell about this exercise in obedience known as adoption is jam-packed full of His blessings, providence, and whispered reminders that say, "I am here. I am with you. I am in this. I am."
There are shouts, also. Loud booms of His thunderous love that echo through our days. Like coming home to an unexpected mortgage refund check for almost the same amount as we spent on food while we were out of town.
I want to share one of those moments with you now. I received an email this week that showed how God works all things for our good and His glory; how He is in this process ahead of us as well as alongside us, in ways we could not even have known to pray about.
We gave an age range in our adoption paperwork for three to ten years. Best practice dictates keeping birth order when possible. We figured as long as Eirinn remained oldest, we were good. As it turns out, we will keep birth order with all of our kids. Brent and Eirinn are older than their (new) siblings.
Our little Lala (S) will turn four next month. This means she is too young for kindergarten. -- One reason I am praying and asking you all to pray that someone gifts or discounts a car for us is the monthly day care payment being added to our 'new normal.' Monthly payment for 8 passenger vehicle + day care will stretch us, but not beyond what we can bear. We'll make it work if that's what God ordains. We believe in His provision fully and faithfully. --
So Lala will need to go to preschool/day care for a year-ish. The preschool next to my place of work is wonderful. Brent went there until he was two years old. We had only great experiences there, and it is very affordable compared to others in town. I emailed the director this week to inquire about a place for Lala. I am posting a picture of his reply below with names and private details covered. Read it and weep - literally - tears of awe and adoration for our great God.
You guys. YOU GUYS. We didn't even know that preschool placement was something we should pray for until this past Wednesday. Look at how God took care of us miraculously! Not only was this TA hired just in time for Lala to come home; not only does she speak fluent Spanish; but of all the classrooms the director could have placed her in, she is in a 4yo class. That's Lala's class! I almost emailed back and said, "Please accept this as God's will and sign us up today." But I held it in and replied with a thank you and a time when we could meet.
This is one of many instances where we have seen God work in a way only He can. These are not coincidences. These are the works of our kind Father whose good pleasure is to bless His children.
As for our little Lolo (A), we have similar stories. Particularly surrounding the network of specialized support God has built into our lives - supports we never thought we would need.
In respect for Lolo's privacy, this won't be full disclosure. But Lolo qualifies as special needs beyond those typically associated with institutionalized children (ugh, doesn't that phrase just break your heart?). He will need several therapies and interventions over the next few years, possibly indefinitely. Well, guess who surrounds us, figuratively and literally.
My dear friend and small group partnerjust happens to has been called by God to be a pediatric occupational therapist, who just earned her doctorate (go, Megan!) and is already certified in several of the therapies Lolo will need. We had her professionally review his file, and I think she wanted to reach through the phone and sign the letter of intent for us, she was so excited. My other sweet friend (hi, Jill!) astounds me daily with how she joyfully and obediently parents her special kids. She welcomed me to the 'coolest club nobody wants to join' and promised to be a fountain of knowledge regarding services, camps, etc. Did I mention the International Adoption Clinic is in Birmingham...five minutes from our house...right next to our church? Well, it is. There are many more I could name, and I'll try to do that in a future post.
I know the world does not revolve around us. But right now it sort of feels like it - not in the conceited way, but in the showers-of-blessings way. I am overwhelmed that the Creator God of the universe looks at my sinful, inadequate helplessness with love and sees the goodness and righteousness of Christ - and then dotes on us as beloved children.
The gospel is adoption in action. One of the phrases that has stuck with me since our first home study is, "All adoption begins with tragedy." For the 153 million orphans in the world, the tragedy comes from many circumstances, all of which result from living in a fallen world yet to be restored. For us as Christians, the tragedy was that first self-loving sin that plummeted our world into despair and our constant repeating of disobedience. In adoption, family is recreated anew, full of hope and life. In the last days, God will accept us as righteous through Christ and restore us to His presence. For now, we wait.
Lolo and Lala wait too, as do we. If our paperwork and immigration applications process as expected, and our fundraising efforts are successful, we could leave for Colombia as early as September. (I told you my babies would be home by Christmas. :))
We appreciate your continued prayers and the ways you are constantly giving and sacrificing. We certainly do not feel worthy of your affection or gifts.
There are other stories I want to tell you, like how I struggled to wait patiently on Chad as he poured over Lolo's files for two weeks trying to determine if we could provide for all of his needs. Or about what it is like to miss someone you haven't met yet so much that for a split second you almost look around to see if he is there. That happened to me last night while I was at Brookwood Village.
Here's the general timeline of events for those of you who want to know or pray for us in detail:
Our letter of intent to adopt these specific children has been approved by our agency and sent to Colombia. Our case worker is confident it will be approved, so much so that she told us to share pictures of our kids with our family, which we have done. That was fun.
Whew! I need to invent new adjectives for the emotions we have experienced this week. Our current lexicon is inadequate.
Feel free to pass this post or any of the links below along to anyone who might be blessed by hearing our story.
Thank you, thank you, thank you again - for praying, for listening, for sharing your stories and ours, and for supporting us whole-heartedly. I need a new word for that too - a word beyond thanks.
Hugs and love and joy and awe and a little bit of anxiety,
Christa
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" - Matthew 7:11 Amen, amen!
Here is our online fundraising link. 😊
This link should take you to my Etsy shop, to which I will add a bunch of verse prints today.
Well, I'm no celebrity, but this post is Late Late in coming. And I have some guts to spill plus a full heart (which in the Greek old testament was expressed by saying your bowels (gut) was full. I'm running with this analogous title all the way, baby).
Thank you for your prayers and patience. I had a lot of poetic and profound ways I planned to organize this blog post. But so much has happened over the last couple of weeks, I'm going with the spill-my-guts plan. I'ma just tell you things as they come to mind.
Big news first, right?
We know who our kids are. We have seen their precious faces. We call them by name around our house. Joy upon joy upon joy.
We cannot share pictures yet. Their initials are A and S. If you put our four children's initials in order from youngest to oldest, it spells SABE. Do you know what sabé means in Spanish?
It translates: He knows.
Enjoy a sigh and a couple of tears with that little dose of God's goodness.
And He. Is. So. Good.
The glory story we will be able to tell about this exercise in obedience known as adoption is jam-packed full of His blessings, providence, and whispered reminders that say, "I am here. I am with you. I am in this. I am."
There are shouts, also. Loud booms of His thunderous love that echo through our days. Like coming home to an unexpected mortgage refund check for almost the same amount as we spent on food while we were out of town.
I want to share one of those moments with you now. I received an email this week that showed how God works all things for our good and His glory; how He is in this process ahead of us as well as alongside us, in ways we could not even have known to pray about.
We gave an age range in our adoption paperwork for three to ten years. Best practice dictates keeping birth order when possible. We figured as long as Eirinn remained oldest, we were good. As it turns out, we will keep birth order with all of our kids. Brent and Eirinn are older than their (new) siblings.
Our little Lala (S) will turn four next month. This means she is too young for kindergarten. -- One reason I am praying and asking you all to pray that someone gifts or discounts a car for us is the monthly day care payment being added to our 'new normal.' Monthly payment for 8 passenger vehicle + day care will stretch us, but not beyond what we can bear. We'll make it work if that's what God ordains. We believe in His provision fully and faithfully. --
So Lala will need to go to preschool/day care for a year-ish. The preschool next to my place of work is wonderful. Brent went there until he was two years old. We had only great experiences there, and it is very affordable compared to others in town. I emailed the director this week to inquire about a place for Lala. I am posting a picture of his reply below with names and private details covered. Read it and weep - literally - tears of awe and adoration for our great God.
This is one of many instances where we have seen God work in a way only He can. These are not coincidences. These are the works of our kind Father whose good pleasure is to bless His children.
As for our little Lolo (A), we have similar stories. Particularly surrounding the network of specialized support God has built into our lives - supports we never thought we would need.
In respect for Lolo's privacy, this won't be full disclosure. But Lolo qualifies as special needs beyond those typically associated with institutionalized children (ugh, doesn't that phrase just break your heart?). He will need several therapies and interventions over the next few years, possibly indefinitely. Well, guess who surrounds us, figuratively and literally.
My dear friend and small group partner
I know the world does not revolve around us. But right now it sort of feels like it - not in the conceited way, but in the showers-of-blessings way. I am overwhelmed that the Creator God of the universe looks at my sinful, inadequate helplessness with love and sees the goodness and righteousness of Christ - and then dotes on us as beloved children.
The gospel is adoption in action. One of the phrases that has stuck with me since our first home study is, "All adoption begins with tragedy." For the 153 million orphans in the world, the tragedy comes from many circumstances, all of which result from living in a fallen world yet to be restored. For us as Christians, the tragedy was that first self-loving sin that plummeted our world into despair and our constant repeating of disobedience. In adoption, family is recreated anew, full of hope and life. In the last days, God will accept us as righteous through Christ and restore us to His presence. For now, we wait.
Lolo and Lala wait too, as do we. If our paperwork and immigration applications process as expected, and our fundraising efforts are successful, we could leave for Colombia as early as September. (I told you my babies would be home by Christmas. :))
We appreciate your continued prayers and the ways you are constantly giving and sacrificing. We certainly do not feel worthy of your affection or gifts.
There are other stories I want to tell you, like how I struggled to wait patiently on Chad as he poured over Lolo's files for two weeks trying to determine if we could provide for all of his needs. Or about what it is like to miss someone you haven't met yet so much that for a split second you almost look around to see if he is there. That happened to me last night while I was at Brookwood Village.
Here's the general timeline of events for those of you who want to know or pray for us in detail:
Our letter of intent to adopt these specific children has been approved by our agency and sent to Colombia. Our case worker is confident it will be approved, so much so that she told us to share pictures of our kids with our family, which we have done. That was fun.
- Matching should be official within a week.
- We will submit immigration application (to travel) on Tuesday. That typically takes between 40 to 60 days for approval. (Since January, it has only taken 30 days for Colombian adoptions.)
- Chad and the kids will apply for new passports - I got mine in the mail this week - which should take about two or three weeks.
- After the above items are complete, the only remaining obstacle will be money. Again, not an obstacle for God. What is $12,000 to Him? Nothing. Like a penny. Once we pay all the fees and buy the plane tickets, off we go!
Whew! I need to invent new adjectives for the emotions we have experienced this week. Our current lexicon is inadequate.
Feel free to pass this post or any of the links below along to anyone who might be blessed by hearing our story.
Thank you, thank you, thank you again - for praying, for listening, for sharing your stories and ours, and for supporting us whole-heartedly. I need a new word for that too - a word beyond thanks.
Hugs and love and joy and awe and a little bit of anxiety,
Christa
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" - Matthew 7:11 Amen, amen!
Here is our online fundraising link. 😊
This link should take you to my Etsy shop, to which I will add a bunch of verse prints today.
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