One small step closer!

Have you ever thought about how incredibly hard it is to "take the high road"????  Just for a minute think about a situation in which you were called to be the bigger person, to turn the other cheek.....how did that go for you?  I can remember specific times in college where I should have done this, instead I acted in a way that I knew would get a response out of the other person.  I'm not proud to admit this.....but there was a time, I like to refer to this period in my life at PJ....Pre Jesus, where I actually told someone, I WISH YOU WOULD CRY!...I mean who does that, who tells a person that they wish they would cry, that is CRAZY talk. JUST CRAZY! I am sure no one else  out there has every been so upset that they do and say things that they wish they had not....reacting to someone or a situation that you don't agree with is incredibly easy.  That gut reaction never takes patience, never takes careful thought out words, doesn't take love into account, very rarely takes thinking.....

Taking the high road on the other hand does take all of these things in account.  It's not enough to just turn the other cheek because  Jesus also calls us to love that person, to respect them, to pray that they are blessed beyond measure!  Now that is HARD!  This reaction does not come naturally to most of us, it does require us to sit down and think about our words, to take love in account, and to understand that what is deep down in our heart is what comes out when ugly situations like this arise.  Doing this also does not mean that you are a door mat where you allow someone to verbally attack you because they know you will not react in such a harsh manner back. Speaking the truth out of love goes a long way.  I am reminded of

1Peter 3:8-12

"Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers, and be compassionate and humble, not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing. For the one who wants to love life and to see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, and he must turn away from evil and do what is good. He must seek peace and pursue it, because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their request.  But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil." 

I struggle with this, but I am praying my way through it.  Bob always tells me, you can't help what other people think or say.  But I can control how I think and say and for right now, that is what I am going to do.  

Home Study! 

We had our first official home study today and I was a total mad woman I tell you!  I was running around here with the most sever case of ADD trying to get things in order and make sure the kids had lunch early so we wouldn't be doing that while she was here.  My awesome husband came home to our social worker already here, while I was trying to feed yogurt to our youngest and me in the middle of telling our social worker how I came to faith all those years ago.  And he just jumped right in with lunch things an helped out! I just love this man....I mean I just LOVE his heart, every day I am amazed by how God put this man in my life!  After the lunch time chaos, we reviewed some more procedures and policies about the adoption and what to kind of expect those days and months after adopting.  I have spoken to a few people about all the things we are doing to get our paper work ready for China and everyone just has a look of amazement. Not amazed that we are doing it, but amazed that there is just SOOO much paperwork to prove you are capable to raise an adoptive child.  

What I find amazing in this whole process is how we could expect anything less???  Yes, these orphans need a home. But more importantly they need a home that is stable.  A home that loves them through their temper tantrums, their attachment issues, when they have nightmares, when they cry for no reason.... Yes there are a lot of hoops to jump through, but they are worth it when you think about the heartbreaking things these children feel because they were abandoned by their birth parents. 

We ended our visit with a tour of the house, which the kids LOVED giving!  Our social worker was so sweet to the kids and listened attentively as they spoke.   All in all, it was a great visit and we are so excited to have her back soon!  We are ready to knock out the next two visits so we can get our paperwork sent off to China!  

And so it begins...

Disclaimer: I first want to say that if you are any type of English language expert and post things about people's grammar and punctuation on social media, you can look at my blog one of two ways:
                   1.) with disdain, because although I was born in America and went to school here, I have not grasped the ins and outs of this language, it's punctuation rules, and how to make certain things plural!!!! I truly believe as a child I had a learning disability that went un-diagnosed and really did not figure out how to "learn" information until I was going through college and learned about different learning styles.
                     2.) with a red pen.....you can use by blog as a cathartic exercise!  Print it out and take a red pen all to it and correct every single thing I have written...just please don't send it to me!

On to the better part of this blog post..... As many of you know I recently went to China on a mission trip.  Our goal was to not only spread God's love but to fully live out what he says in James 1:27

"Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world." 

This, THIS verse is what we did for those orphans in China.  So much preparation went in to going that I never really had time to actually sit and think about what it would be like once we got there.  But I can say that it was more than I could have ever imagined.  I felt the closest to God in that orphanage than I have ever felt in my walk.  We held babies and children, we fed them, played games with them, and just loved them for who they were. When we went back to our hotel rooms we prayed for these children, prayed for one another, and prayed for where we should go from here.  Because you see, an orphan can just be an orphan until.....

              "orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.... see their faces... hold them in your arms.  But once you do, everything changes." 

Radical by David Platt 

  

Once I returned from China, I felt like my work was not done in China.  I felt that God was calling me to do something more.  While in China, I would send Bob pictures of some of the kids and he would send pictures of what our kids were doing.  It was one of those things that I think we both were thinking about the question but we never really talked about it.  On our drive home that night, we had the best time talking for the hour and half it took to get back home. It was truly perfect!  I love talking with my husband and to have an hour and half of just him with no one needing a diaper change, a glass of milk, or a boogie to wipe I was in heaven!!!!  It was midnight when our flight arrived and I felt like it was a day on my honeymoon.  We talked about everything, still kind of dancing around the adoption topic.   For about two weeks after I returned we both began to pray really specifically for God to show us if this is the route He had for us.  And to tell you about the Peace that comes from God would be like me trying to explain String Theory! I just can't, you just have to know it and experience it.  We both just had a peace about adoption. The conversation came easy, the joy was overwhelming! Now I  know that not everyone who has adopted went to an orphanage first  but this is how adoption has been experienced by our family...if that makes sense.    

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo we are adopting from China!  We are in the midst of what is known as the paper chase and are loving every minute of it!  The more we share our news with people, the more we fill out documents, talk with our social worker, the more confirmation we have that this is our next step as a family!