A Lifeline for a Life Time ... and an Answered Prayer

"Guess what Lily, God's Working on Our Little Sister!"

This past Sunday, during our Sunday School prayer request time, I felt compelled to ask those in my class if they would pray for the process of adoption for Chinese children with special needs. I hadn't mentioned it before or requested prayer, because there are always so many requests that seem to far outweigh our desire to increase the size of our household by one angel. So I remained quiet about the difficulties we were encountering this time around versus what we experienced with Lily Grace. In a nutshell, God brought Lily Grace into our lives in merely 8 months. With Lia Faith, we're already at 9 months and no prospects yet. I should note that there are many, many families who have waited much longer and who continue to wait. And I am in awe of their faith and their perseverance. And for them I wish there were words to express how much we love them for their willingness to pursue the adoption of these children in the face of so many obstacles and delays. I pray their wait is shortened and that they get to hold one of God's little treasures as a parent soon.

But on Sunday, when my time came, I sat there, for what seemed like several minutes, quiet. I suspect my classmates thought I was about to lay something really heavy on them and so they waited patiently. Just to be sure, I have the most wonderful classmates anyone could ask for. They are incredibly supportive. Joe, Tracie, Scott, Angie, Joey, Cindy, Randy, Teresa, Yvonne, Bill, Larry, Dwight. Everyone should be blessed with friends like these. They are good Christians. They are faithful. I know when I go there, I will see their smiling faces. I just know in my heart that Jesus is smiling when he sees this group together. There is nothing about them that is not genuine and I know that they love my family as they do their own. And we pray for each other.

So after a while, I finally spoke up. "We're having some difficulties in our adoption. Would you please pray for us and pray that the Chinese are able to figure things out so that our Lia Faith can come home to play with Lily Grace. Would you please pray that the Chinese are able to have a good Olympics so that they will be proud of their country and gain stature with the rest of the world and be compelled to reach out to join the world community by sharing their amazingly beautiful and precious orphaned children with those who would love them and provide for them with God's guiding hand."

Three days later, we get a letter in the mail from our agency, Lifeline Children's Services. With initial curiosity, Connie opened the letter and her curiosity turned to joy with the first sentence:

"We are so excited to announce that we have been officially approved for the Special Needs Online Process through the CCAA. We are thankful to be able to continue to assist the CCAA in finding loving, Christian homes for these precious children!"

"He is Working on Lia, Austin!"

Wow! Talk about answered prayers! I know that God answers prayers in His way, in His time. And sometimes the answers aren't to our liking, but they are always what's best for us. God knows that because He created us. God was already working on this, He just wanted to hear from our hearts. And He wanted me to open up and acknowledge that I can't do this without Him. He knows that Connie is not blessed with a lot of patience and that I have only slightly more than she. So maybe He dropped this little nugget for us to keep our hopes alive and to keep us diligently pursuing a sister for Austin and Lily Grace. It's funny that for the first time in several weeks, this weekend I laid out all the paperwork for our dossier on the dining room table to take stock and see if there was something we needed to be doing. Well, there was something. Pray. Pray. And Pray some more. Humble yourself, therefore, before the Lord and wait patiently for His plans to unfold.

We're certainly not there yet and there are many who will go before us, but at least now, things are looking up. Who knows? Lia Faith in 2008? It does have a nice ring, you have to admit.

Oh, and did I mention that He also provided all the financial resources needed for the adoption. It just so happened that a financial transaction from three years ago matured this week and the value well exceeds that which is required to complete the adoption. I had forgotten about this instrument, filed away somewhere under a few years worth of income taxes and refinance paperwork. I know, Dave Ramsey would not approve of my inattention to certain financial matters! But at least this time around, there will be no home equity loan or lifting the seat cushions on the sofa to fund our travel to China!

Our God is an Awesome God, He Reigns from Heaven Above with Wisdom, Power, and Love. Our God is an Awesome God!

Getting Fingerprinted Back in February

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith out there somewhere)
Green, Party of Five