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.
Hello from San Antonio
What an amazing week we have had. A little over a week ago, we received a call completely out of the blue. I (Jim) was at volleyball practice with Kaitlyn, and Betty called my cell phone. So fast I could almost not keep up, she was telling me we had been called that there was a set of twins in San Antonio and they want us to consider adopting them. After a few years of hoping to adopt an infant and having thought God had other plans for us as parents (like going back to Bogota), we were taken completly by surprise. So after Betty spent 10 seconds telling me 4 minutes of information followed by a pause.... "What do you think?" I was shocked, I was dumbfounded, I was elated. The only words I could find to say was YES!!!
So the last several days have been a whirlwind. We are in my brothers house in San Antonio. This morning we welcomed Makenzie Joy Elizabeth into our family. She is so beautiful and so tiny! We are blessed beyond measure and just don't know what to say. We are still absorbing it all and just feel overwhelmed by it all- God IS so good.
We will have to wait a bit to have Isaiah Samuel join us. He is still in the hospital and can't be discharge until he overcomes his decompression. This is when his heart rate slows down and he can stop breathing. The last instance was on Saturday. He has to clear 5 days without an episode before he can be discharged- maybe Thursday. He was only 2 lbs when he was was born- he is now a bit under 5 lbs. We will get to go into the neonatal unit tomorrow to meet him and visit a bit. Please pray he will not have another episode. We will post pictures of Isaiah tomorrow but for today enjoy our postings of Makenzie.
5 comments:
She is beautiful!!!!! Talk to you soon.
Frank
she is so tiny!!! congrats! sometimes, our plans aren't always god's plans! look what joy he has put in your life. she is absolutely beautiful! will be praying about her brother. keep us informed! congrats and maybe bogota is just supposed to be on the back burner for now, but maybe later... =) you guys are awesome!
Congrats. She is beautiful. Look forward to meeting them both.
Christi & James
Congrats. She is beautiful. We look forward to meeting them both.
Christi & James
What a beautiful little girl our glorious God has given you! Hopefully Isaiah can come home soon. We're so excited for you!
Melissa
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