Why "Eight Is Not Enough"?
When we were younger, there was a television sitcom that was called "Eight is Enough". The television watching world was entertained with the thought of a family with eight children. Most of us were shocked at the prospect of such a large family- myself included! Then ever so slowly, God began to work on our hearts, until we surrendered to Him all of our lives- yes even gave Him sovereign control over the size of our family and He has blessed us immeasurably, with eight biological children. Each of these children have been an amazing gift to us and we cherish each of them. And we praised God for them and felt to ourselves "eight is enough" - at least for a time.
Then God began to stir our hearts. It was as if He spoke to say to us "these 8 precious children I have given to you, but what have you given to my orphans in return?" A burden began to build on our hearts to adopt. We knew that for us God still had other plans for us as parents if we would be faithful to His calling- that eight is not enough. And so, we followed this call to adopted and He has continued to blessed us through adoption. First a sibling group of three from Soacha, Colombia. They joined our family in November, 2008. In May 2010, we adopted twin infants from Texas. In September of 2012 we were privileged to return to Colombia and adopt a sibling group of two from Cali. At this time, we anxiously wait for our travel date to depart for China where a very special girl and boy wait for their forever family. By the time they all reach adulthood, we will have had the amazing privilege to be parents of children in our home for a half century. Our life is full beyond measure, beyond our wildest expectations, yes even beyond anything we could have ever hoped. Truly, eight is not enough. As of late we have wondered if God's plan for us as parents all along was not for eight children, but rather eight plus eight. Our heavenly Father knows and His word assures us "I know the plans I have made for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you." We trust He knows the number of His children He wants us to love and to nurture on His behalf, and whether that is eight or eighty times eight we stand ready and say speak Lord, your servants are listening and are prepared to be father and mother to your fatherless on earth.
Fruit, Rides and the Park
Today we tried a new Colombian fruit called Granadilla. We had heard about it from other people and were told it is a favorite of Colombian children. Check it out in the pictures for today. It looks really slimey and looks like - well I'd rather not say what it looks like. You can use your own imagintion. If you can get past what it looks like it is not bad. Crunchy seeds- with a citrus taste. Yummmm
We also went into an arcade in the mall that we discovered yesterday while we were getting passport photos. Kids had a great time. We had an encouraging note left on our blog yesterday- we hope Beth is right! Please keep our court date in your prayer. God bless each of you.
Jim and Betty y ninos
1 comment:
Just a note to let you know our family is still checking in on your blog regularly, and we send prayers for a quick court process. As I look at the local displays for the Christmas season, it pales in comparison to what we viewed while in Colombia last year. Thanks for pointing that out because the Colombian people certainly do put out some nice displays and nativity scenes.
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