One More Ladybug: Dally up

This picture was taken at our FCC picnic in June, and I had to share it. That's my sweet hubby teaching J how to rope. What fun! Thank you, V, for sharing the picture!

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After all the grant proceeds have been applied, garage sale and decal funds, love offerings tallied, we still owe $14,000 on our most recent adoption process. That means that God has already provided more than half of what we needed since August 2007! We believe He will provide the rest as well. The question we ask ourselves is what more can we do with the resources He’s given to reduce and eliminate this debt. We are often asked, “Are you done now?” I can candidly tell you that we’re not sure if we’ll adopt again, but most definitely we’re not ‘done.’ We have surrendered our lives to serve as He leads, whatever and wherever that may be. So far, His plans have been so incredible, we dare not imagine what’s next. God has given us this life as a prep for eternity. I don’t believe He intends for us to accept the gift of salvation through Christ Jesus, then sit on our hands waiting for Heaven. Through Jesus, we can have abundant life, a life full of blessing, but only through obedience. Sometimes obedience comes with sacrifice, but I don’t think our sacrifice is what honors God. It’s the obedience that glorifies Him. He gives us the strength to endure the sacrifice that may accompany the obedience. Our family has been incredibly blessed by God’s plans, and if there has been any sacrifice, it’s the lack of funds (or if you ask the kids, lack of vacations!). We know that every dime we have is from God and belongs to Him. Our role is to take stewardship over those dimes. We know that whatever plans He has for us next will require the reduction and removal of all debt. If you are so led, will you join us in prayer. We are asking God every day to multiply funds and alleviate our debt. Also, if you have some really radical fundraising ideas, I’d love to hear them! I think many people believe that since our son is home, the financial burden is over. I can’t tell you how many people have approached us expressing a desire to adopt but are discouraged because of the lack of funds to do so. We know wholeheartedly that God placed adoption on our hearts, and we finally realized that He did not intend for us to make our own way. If we had everything we needed, it wouldn’t be a journey of faith. We are not testing God’s ability to provide by stepping out with nothing, but rather claiming His promise to always be with us and finish what He starts!

Why Adopt? Why China?

God instantly gripped my heart in 2003 as I listened to Steven Curtis Chapman share his adoption testimony with Dr. Dobson. I’d never heard about international adoption, never knew there were millions of orphaned children worldwide and adoption agencies who specifically facilitated uniting these children with their forever families.
As God broke my heart and burdened me for these children, my prayer became, “Lord, show me what to do or give me peace in knowing there’s nothing I can do.” As I nervously shared my heart with my husband, to my amazement he said he’d always secretly desired to adopt.
When we thought our family was complete, God set us on an unfamiliar path, the path that would lead us to two China-born daughters He had already “set” in our family. Even though we were overwhelmed by the adoption process and the financial drain, we knew without a doubt this is what God had in mind for us.
We had no funds set aside for such a process, and as we cried out to the Lord He revealed this is exactly where He wanted us ~ totally dependant upon Him.
Because God had used Steven Curtis Chapman to stir our hearts, we became familiar with Shaohannah’s Hope and applied for an assistance grant. We were so grateful to receive grant assistance to help bring our daughter, Jiang Xiao Jun, home from China in October 2004. God had been faithful in completing what He had started.
As soon as we arrived home with our daughter, now named Kayden Faith, we knew God was preparing us for another child. Six months later we began the paper process for the child God had conceived in our hearts. Only this time we were saddled with $9,000 debt from the first adoption and the fees for the second. Still, God nudged us forward, reminding us that His strength is made perfect in weakness. Our second journey began in April 2005 and we expected to have our child home within a year. Once again, we were reminded that God’s timing is not our own as China slowed the referral process and days turned into weeks, months and years.
We set out to raise adoption funds in every way we could. We designed and sold adoption decals. We held a huge garage sale, inviting our church family to donate items. We received a matching grant wherein we raised funds that were matched by the agency, and we were once again blessed to receive an assistance grant from Shaohannah’s Hope.
We received the referral of our daughter, Xiu Fu Jun, now Kambry Hope, on February 1st, 2007, after waiting nearly two years. Miraculously, God had provided all the funds we needed to complete the adoption.
Early on, in moments of doubt and weakness, we struggled with the question of whether we could really love a child not born to us, whether we could provide for our children, whether the children would bond, how our church family and community would respond.
In the difficult wait, God surrounded us with His love, revealed the truths of His Word and gave us peace beyond understanding. He reminded us that while a child needs a parent’s love, more than anything he needs to know Jesus’ great love. He brought Scripture to life through the adoption process. God reminded us that even when we reject Him, he loves us unconditionally. God has moved in the hearts of our church and community as they have embraced our family. God also reminded us that He is our provision!
We didn’t realize that God could use two tiny girls from halfway around the world to change us forever. He has introduced a new culture and strengthened faith to our family. He has proven that no obstacle, whether real or imagined, is too great for Him. He has taught us to view things from an eternal perspective rather than a worldly or human perspective.
We’ve learned that sometimes He speaks to us in subtle ways, sometimes uses circumstances, and sometimes He must slap us silly, but one thing for sure is we don’t want to miss the things He’s inviting us to do. So … while we were in China with Kambry, Clayton began to sense that we had another child, a son, whom God was preparing us for. We did everything possible with this notion: ignored it, questioned it, prayed about it, joked about it, struggled with the financial aspect of it, and finally in July came face to face with God over it. We ultimately asked ourselves, “Would it please the Lord if we said yes?” Having spent countless hours in Scripture, especially over the last four years trying to figure out why God would allow us such blessing when we are not equipped for such a task, we realized that adoption is where God’s heart is at, and we could do nothing other than surrender to His call to adopt again.
I began to familiarize myself with the “waiting child” process, different agency policies, CCAA requirements, made phone calls to dear friends who have been there, done that, and of course scanned the lists of waiting children on Rainbow Kids. There was one little boy whose file I intentionally skipped over several times, but my heart told me to “just look and see.” Finally I contacted the agency and requested his file via email. In my struggle with “looking” for my child, I’d asked friends, “How will I know?” They all told me I would just know. When I opened the file and photos of Hai Zi Hao I just knew he was our son! Everything about him screamed, “Baby Boy Johnson”!
I only had slight reservation because of some ambiguous information contained in his file, and the morning I was to visit with our pediatrician about it, our amazing case worker, K, contacted me with updated information which made this a non-issue! Thank you, God, for hearing my cry and responding!
Now, since we are praying for this child every day, he needs a name, and how many more six-letter “K” names are there? We finally chose Kaeleb Jon. Kaeleb after the Israelite Caleb who was one of the only two adults to enter the promised land because he had faith in God’s promises, despite the majority opinion. And Jon after Clayton’s late father, who would have loved to hold his China-born grandchildren.
Kaeleb was born in June 2006, which makes him one month younger than Kambry. We are preparing for the blessed chaos of having virtual twins. He is residing in the Foshan NanHai SWI in the Guangdong province of China. From what we’ve learned, this orphanage is very nice and open to visits from adoptive parents.
Kaeleb is bound to have some developmental delays because all the pictures we have of him are in his crib. And no matter how clean a facility or how well managed, it’s no comparison to the love and nurture of parents, so with each passing day we become more anxious to bring our son home.
We have now completed the necessary paper work, have been logged in with CCAA since November 12, 2007, and are awaiting LOA, anticipating travel in March or April 2008.
We wouldn’t have imagined four years ago that God would forever change our family in a way that was no surprise to Him. God’s plans for us are far greater than anything we can imagine!
Connie

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Dally up

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