Whoever Welcomes a Little Child...

...like this in My name welcomes Me" Matthew 18:5.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" James 1:27.

Every adventure needs a theme, right? God has me scrambling with many--and I asked for it.

In March, myself and another 7 individuals from my church will take a two-week trip to Brazil. Our mission: to spread the great, glorious and wonderful good news of salvation through Jesus Christ and encourage the missionaries already at work.

An adventure to say the least.

The other more notable journey the Lord has had me and my husband on the past few years is adoption. Door after door has slammed closed, practically breaking our spiritual noses in the process. Disappointment and almost complete surrender have loomed in the foreground. Last summer, I succumbed to such discouragement my motto became: Abandon plans to God, but not hope. Is that possible?

Typical Sunday school answers came to my mind when I began to question whether I'd misunderstood God in leading our hearts to adopt, "His timing is never late, seldom early and always on time;" "You can't rush God, He's got that special child for you...;" "Trust in the Lord...;" "Those who wait upon the Lord will be strengthened;" etc.

My husband seemed to waver in and out of full-fledged commitment. Admittedly, this marks the first time (other our marriage, I suppose) that I've put consorted effort and perseverance into keeping an idea alive. The good Lord, in His infinite, omiscient wisdom enabled me through His Spirit to keep on keepin' on. Through crooked agencies, closed programs, enormous amounts of money and unaccounted for fear (Satan)--God is.

Last Friday, after a passionate session with a friend on how ready I was to adopt and also how ready I was then to wait on the Lord, He moved. And when God decides to move, nothing on this earth can stop Him. We can either ride the wave or stay on shore. Me? The shore is sadly often my home. In this case only one option remained. Maybe the heat of the sand had burned my spiritual feet, or the vultures were circling above. I don't know. What I did know was, I wanted to surf, to ride the proverbial waves of His great and glorious love. Would I drown? Maybe. Would I have to do something I feared? Probably. Would I be made of fool of? Most certainly. Was I ready? No, but He is and He is with me.

Names have been changed to protect the unaware.

After a children's phys ed class, I overheard another mother speaking with my friend (who had adoped from Ethiopia Dec 2009) about her goal to adopt. Call me nosy or an eavesdrop, I'm fully convinced it's an internal radar for a mother who desires to adopt to pick up on any/all words that have to do with adoption. Anyway, we walked out at the same time and I inquired about her adoption experience. Betty, a friendly gal, opened right up and joyfully shared the adoption agency information (Passionate Corazons) with me topping the conversation off with, "And the lady, Cathy, is super sweet..." Good enough for me. As soon as I got home I called.

Passionate Corazons' target country, at the time of my talk with Betty, was Democratic Republic of the Congo--one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Cathy, who turned out to be just as sweet and knowledgeable as Betty described, informed me their program is not accepting anymore applications. They were a small agency and the Congo was their biggest, well, only adoption country. I thanked her and found myself curiously not disappointed or ready to throw in the towel. Instead, I remained hopeful as I parted and told her I'd be in touch.

"What are you looking for exactly?" Cathy asked just before hit the red button to end call. I explained that we weren't picky on country, but we did prefer an infant girl. Like a revelation which rolls slowly off the prophet's tongue, she explained a trifecta of agencies that she works with in international adoptions. One in particular recently popped up in dire need. Apparently, they had a thriving Ethiopian adoption program and gradually quit promoting and marketing. Pretty soon, they had no new families. Next thing the director knew, he had many small children in his orphange with no potential homes.

"Really?" Could this actually be happening? I mean, how long has it been? I was getting good at waiting...

Rapid palpitations of my vital organs ensued, like a knob had been turned from autopilot to overdrive. For me, tears fall quickly and I before Cathy had finished I began to blubber quietly over the phone. Since that initial contact, less than one week ago, God has opened His endless stores of resources, love and gifts. He has ushered to our disposal money to help with the initial costs: app fee, agency fees, dossier fee. I've printed and will begin penning the needed information onto the required documents. Dotting every "i" and crossing every "t."

Again, is this really happening? After two miscarriages, a heart that burns furnace-like for orphans, is God actually going to bring this about? Yes, I believe so.

We had waited, with learning patience, on the Lord. And then He moved. His presence lacked nothing and brought with it a housewarming of peace; His signature gift. On the flip side, it honestly frightens me!

This wonderfully terrifying experience, which has occurred in such a flurry, has been nothing short of a miracle of God's goodness and greatness. All glory to the Lord!

Enter spiritual warfare.

To be continued...