Since Mother's Day in May (my last update), we completed our home study and sent it in to Homeland Security (Texas), along with our I600A document, so that we can get our immigration (biometric) fingerprinting. This is the last hurdle to being able to send our dossier in to get put on our adoption agency's waitlist for a child!!! Praise the Lord that things are going so smoothly!!!
Last week our agency called to tell us that they made a change in this process, which benefitted our adoption journey greatly. Again, Thank you, Lord! We could send in our dossier before we got the I600A fingerprinting appointment, which facilitates our adoption more quickly and can get us on the waitlist for our child that much faster. Praise the Lord! We sent in our dossier last week, as it was all complete and just ready for the go ahead to send out. Our agency received it, approved it after we send in one missed document. We have our fingerprint appointment for July 16th. We are just waiting to see where we fall (what number we will be) on the adoption agency's waitlist to get matched with our child. This is exciting news to say the least. We are praising our Lord and Father in Heaven for moving this process along so quickly! We are singing happy songs and doing happy dances in the Holwerda household :)
We have had little set backs here and there since May, but nothing that has been too devastating! We feel we have accomplished alot (that the Lord has accomplished alot in our lives as we grow more patient, trusting and faithful in His plan for our family), as we move closer and closer to that day that we will see our child face-to-face for the first time! I know we will glimpse the Lord himself in the face of this beautiful orphan, who, on that day, will be an orphan NO MORE! We know it is a long journey that we have ahead of us, and we know the daunting statistics of the large number of orphans out in this great, big world. We are only one family adopting one child. There are millions of children still out there waiting for a forever family!
However, one story that comes to my mind often (as we think of how staggering the number of orphans is in this world) and as I prayed about and thought about adoption for our family a year or 2 ago, is the story of the little girl and the starfish... My husband would also admit that this story played a role in his prayer life, also, as it came to his mind a few times, too! The Lord made us listen and be reminded of this story in our quiet times with Him... If you listen, maybe the Lord is telling you something as you read this story, too... It is short, sweet and to the point, so I hope you take the time to read it now :)
The Starfish Story
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,
“Well, I made a difference to that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved. - adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley
Just imagine what it would be like if we as God's people, saved the life of just one orphan....just one? There would be no more orphans....not one left in this world!!!!!
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,
“Well, I made a difference to that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved. - adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley
Just imagine what it would be like if we as God's people, saved the life of just one orphan....just one? There would be no more orphans....not one left in this world!!!!!
