Since November, the month of my last post, we set about to dissolve our contract with our old agency. This, unfortunately has been a difficult process and has taken a great deal of time, most of December until now, the beginning of March. It was easy to sign the contract that dissolved our tie to our old agency, but to get our paperwork back from them and convert it over to our new agency has not been easy. Our old agency asked for more money, which didn't set well with us, as we felt that was just plain unneccessary, but only made clear the new path we were taking with our new agency, who has done nothing but work within all of the fees we already paid. We paid the money, but it has been one problem after another. We know who orchestrates the plans for our lives, and He is allowing these minor bumps to happen for a reason, whatever thoses reason may be... We know God is bigger than these little setbacks. I must confess, however, that this part of our adoption process, at least, for me, has been the most difficult time so far. I have experienced a lot of tears, and all of us have been so frustrated. The adoption process some days beats us down, when I picture our sweet child being stuck because of this red tape. We try not to dwell on the details and think only of the end result!!! We know, through our faith in our Lord and savior and through His promises to us, that we WILL move forward and that it will be the best plan for all of us - plans to prosper us, not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future....
We are encouraged by our new agency's philosophy, people, and shorter wait time. Once our paperwork is converted (we thought we had it all done this weekend, only to find out a date was incorrect, and, as crazy as this sounds, because of this incorrect date, we are stuck, until a new original document can be made - isn't that crazy?), we can move forward with our new agency and finally be done with our old agency - yay! My hope is that by this coming week, our documents can be checked over, sent to Ethiopia, and then translated. Once the documents are translated, we can be matched with our child. We don't even need to deal with waitlists with our new agency, because we are the only family that wants a child over the age of 2. Yay, we went from being #100 on our old agency's waitlist to #1 on our new agency's wait list. This change has saved us at least a year, possibly 2 years of waiting. That is really priceless!!
So much has happened to our family in this wait, though, that has been amazing and can only be from God (all a part of HIS amazing plan).........
Our oldest son, who has severe ADD, who has struggled with reading for years, has really made some amazing strides this year at school. He went from reading at a 4th-grade level at the beginning of 6th-grade to reading at a 6th-grade level this past month. All of his hard work and struggling and our hard work with him and struggling have paid off!! This has been a huge answer to prayer on behalf of so many to get him where he needs to be... Thank you God. We can't tell you what a victory this has been. We credit God for this stride forward. It has only bolstered his confidence and helped him to see and feel his reliance on God for things... Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." He could actually connect a verse in the Bible with his struggles. It was an a-ha moment and very meaningful for us all.
I also have to mention this amazing story, because, as small of an event as it was, it made a huge impact on my faith.... I have had some health issues the last few months, which required me to have to go in to the hospital for an MRI in early February. To say that I don't like small spaces is pretty much an understatement. I freak out. I have had several MRI's in the past and know my limitations. Of course, I was going in to be checked out for MS, which was scary in and of itself, also. I got a card of encouragement from a friend that week before the MRI appointment, and she wrote some of the lyrics from Chris Tomlin's song "Whom Shall I Fear" in the card. At the exact time I opened the card in the car, while the radio was playing, that song came on the radio - wow! That was amazing. If you have ever had an MRI done, you know that they can play music into your ear phones, while you are in the tube. I asked my friend, who is a local Christian radio personality, the night before the MRI appointment, to play a certain song for me at a certain time of the day, so I would know I was half way through the appointement, that her voice would be there with me in the tube, and that I could have that song to look forward to hearing. The song, of course, was "Whom Shall I fear". I went to the MRI appointment armed with my iphone (for radio streaming into the tube), my blindfold, and 2 vallums :) I was ready - LOL!!!
The first thing the MRI tech asked me is if I had ever had a contrast MRI (they insert dye into your body through a needle); well, I was going to have a contrast dye MRI that day - surprise! I had never had one - DEEP BREATH, as I don't like needles and it meant a longer MRI appointment - boo. Then, I asked him if he could stream my iphone into the tube. He said he could - whew. I put my blindfold on as soon as I got in the room - the less I had in my sights the better. The tech put me onto the table, but told me that he could not get my phone to load. I'd have to listen to a Christian radio station from satellite - DEEP BREATH. At least it was still Christian radio... The test began. About 10 minutes into the test, I began to have a panic attack...My heart started racing; I felt like I was being strangled and couldn't breathe; I wanted to scream out that I couldn't continue. Then, all of a sudden, I heard "Whom Shall I Fear" pipe into my ears! Are you kiding me? I started to cry and immediately began to calm down :) I heard my girlfriend's voice come on the radio. The tech got my phone to stream JUST as my song came on the radio - PTL!!! The tech asked if that was my song, and I said yes. How did he know? He said he just knew. We got to talkling about Christian music and if he attended church, and he did attend church. He was so kind and accomodating to me. PTL! I was given the dye injection for the contrast test, and I hardly flinched. I felt a wave of peace come over me like never before. Was it the vallum? I think not!! God had moved me in this small but significant way. Prayer for calm and for a good test were answered. I will never forget being a part of that little miracle in my life. I do not have MS, AND I conquered the dreaded tube :)
These small victories in the grand scheme of life may seem small, but they are significant to us!! In a stretch of months where we have felt like our adoption process is just stuck, we cling to these victories and KNOW that God does move and orchestrate and control and give us peace and love us and want only the best for our lives. We know He can move this adoption process along tomorrow, if necessary, but maybe we aren't ready just yet. We need to see and experience more of HIM before we can move forward. We pray for our little bundle in Africa... We pray he or she is healthy. We pray he or she is being provided for. We pray that our child is loved in a very real way by the KING!
We are coming little one; WE ARE COMING!!
l
