May the great Lord God Almighty be praised. We had our court date today- finally. We know this only came about by the intervention of our mighty God. We thank all of you through out the country who have been praying for us and this court date. We went to bed last night discouraged as we were expecting to know our court date a day head of time. When the call did not come last night, we confess we were greatly discouraged and Betty, Kaitlyn and I wept. We knew and still know that God is in control, but we did allow Satan to discourage us. It is very hard here when you wait each day for the court hearing and no word comes. We had reached the point where we rose in the morning and counted down the hours until bed so we could move on to the next day and hopefully our court hearing. The last few days have been sooo long.
Today was the last possible day for our court date that would allow us all to go home together. We did not know how we were going to handle splitting up to come home. Betty called Lucia (Children's Hope rep in Colombia) after lunch to ask for some help getting our laundry done. She said Oscar (lawyer) was in Soacha trying to get us a date. Lucia said she would call back in an hour after Oscar called and then we would work out the laundry. The call came and Lucia said we had our hearing TODAY. She would pick Betty up in 10 minutes, they would start the laundry and head for the court in Soacha. Everything went --- well it went. Here is how Betty's time went! First when she got to Lucia's she got stuck in the elevator!! Nobody answered the alarm so they finally called Lucias son David and he came and pried the elevator door open so they could head to court. All she could think about was how she could be stuck in an elevator any other day but not when it is going to cause her to miss court! Once at the court in Soacha, they found all the documents were wrong and the court was closing. Somehow our lawyer Oscar convinced them to redo the forms and the Judge was gracious enough to stay around to sign the new decree. All of this in the midst of the hardest downpour we have we ever seen.
The call from Lucia was such an amazing blessing at a time we were struggling the most. Along with all of you, we have been in prayer- often. We have prayed with the children as well. Our immediate response was tears of joy, much hugging and we took the time to remind our children that God is faithful and stealing the line from Facing The Giants, we reminded them that nothing is impossible with God. This is a day we will all remember as a great example of how God answers prayer. At lunch when we prayed today, we asked for the court date and prayed that God would grant a miracle and grant our court date even today. I am reminded of Isaiah 40:31
"but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. "
We feel that the Lord has renewed our strength. Thanks to each of you for your prayers.
So what now? We have 4 things to acomplish next week. We have to have get new birth cirtificates issued, Medical exams at the US Consulate, Passports and lastly, visas from the US Consulate. We are scheduled to take care of birth cirtificates at 7 am monday and the medical exams are at 12 noon. This is normally a 4 day process so pray everything goes well and we will be on our scheduled flight next Friday morning. God is so great.
God bless each of you we appreciate you more than we can say.
Jim and Betty
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.
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.
Friday, December 12, 2008
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5 comments:
Praise the Lord :0)
I am so happy for you! The elevator, frustrating, but funny---isn't that the way the devil would try to work it? You are uprooting seed, potentially His... and giving these children a NEW name, a NEW legacy...you are giving them a home filled with LOVE and HOPE, with JESUS! So, why wouldn't he be a little upset? It's funny imagining how many angels God had with you riding in that elevator and at that courthouse! WOW! Be encouraged, my sister and brother, that as you've said GOD IS IN CONTROL, and He hears the cries of your heart... My prayer is that you get out BEFORE Friday! Do it God! Much love from MS!
I just thought about how the comment I posted earlier sounded... the "funny" part would have been on the devil to think he could thwart God's bigger plan in Your life and the lives of these children...
I can tell ya when we arrived back to Bogota from Florencia and I had not spoken to anyone in English besides my husband and the interpreter, I cried. Lucia actually told me I was spoiled! (OK, Ben might say that, too, but I don't think so!) I feel like I had different expectations. I don't feel like our situation matched what we read about and the reports we got some info wasn't all correct... as a new mom, it was a wild adventure! Adventures are often filled with a variety of emotions/feelings. Praise the Lord, now things are better and we're on the other side with a little discipline and structure!
So happy for you! Praise God that everything has worked out. Praying for God's continued help through this next week. It has been a blessing to me to follow you on this journey.
Congratulations! We have enjoyed following your journey. Enjoy your last few days in Bogota. We got our call for sentencia 15 minutes before they arrived to pick us up. I had been in the pool with Angelica. Needless to say, I was quite a sight with still wet hair and everything. But all went well. The adventure of adoption.
Deanna
CHI Mami to Brian (Guatemala) & Angelica (Colombia)
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