Last Friday, we received a call from Nichole. She had been made aware of a sibling group of two girls in Medellin and asked if would we be interested. But first...
We have prayed that God would send to us children that are hard to place, children that might face a long wait for their forever family. Our twins were children such as this, several states were searched before God brought them to us. Many families turned down Makenzie and Isaiah- we believe God closed all these hearts because He intended them for us. That He desired to give Betty and I the desire of our hearts times two!
We prayed that we would return to Colombia to welcome two girls that needed our family. God answered this prayer by bringing to us two special needs girls in Medellin. Two girls who are created perfectly in His image needing both the love of a forever family and the love of Jesus. We hope to be able to give them both.
On Monday we received 47 pages of case study for 6 and 9 year old sisters. We will not be allowed to give their names yet nor will we be able to post pictures for a while- sorry- hopefully this gives you something to look forward to! The 6 year old has a cleft pallet and has had 3 surgeries to correct this. She will need at least a couple of more surgeries to resolve her cleft pallet and then quite a bit of speech therapy. The 9 year old girl was born with hip displasia. She has had surgery but the hip problem remains far from resolved. She also has an undetermined problem with her right knee and foot. We expect to work through several surgeries with her when we get her home.
They have not yet been given to us as an actual referral. After reviewing the case study on Monday, we clearly felt God calling us to reach out to them. We sent a specific request to ICBF on Tuesday asking to adopt them. Now, Colombia will have to review our request and then join it together with our dossier. Our dossier is currently in the Bogota regional office. ICBF must recall it from that region and then send the dossier to the Medellin regional office- then we can be given the official referral letter. At this point, we don't know how long all of this will take, but we think best case we would travel by mid February. And so .... when Nichole asked us what we thought about this potential adoption, we wasted no time in telling her YES, YES and YES.
We know these are the girls God has intended for us, and pray you will rejoice with us.
God Bless,
Jim
We strongly covet your prayers as we move forward. Here are some specific ways you can pray:
1) For everything to come together administratively so that we can travel.
2) Safety while there. Jim can only stay two weeks this time. Betty an Katie will remain the rest.
3) God's provisioning for our remaining costs.
4) Transportation- we currently have a 12 passenger van. With the new girls, there will be 14 of us still living at home. We pray that God will provide a 15 passenger van or a small bus. This is our greatest need at this point. We ask you to pray and to ask your churches, families and friends to pray for this. We trust that God is able, and that the prayers of the righteous availeth much!
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.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
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1 comment:
Rejoicing with you! What a wonderful testimony. I hope everything comes together and you are able to travel soon.
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