Perspective in the Waiting

Adam and I had the opportunity to speak at our church this weekend and I thought I would share some of it on here.  One of our pastors was speaking on perspective and thought we might have a little insight into the subject!  We shared a little about where we were in our adoption journey and just a couple of things that God has done while we are waiting...

So this is just a little back ground on us. We have been going through the process of adopting two little girls from the Democratic Republic of Congo.   This process was supposed to take 9-12 months and we are in year 4.  They are legally adopted but the DRC will not issue exit visas for them to come home.  This has been the hardest journey of our lives.  We thought the endless paperwork and government red tape was difficult the first year but it paled in comparison to what was to come.  I have traveled to the DRC three times and held these little girls in my arms only to have to give them back over to other people to raise in our absence. 

It has been excruciating. 

But even through all the heartache and pain, God has shown us he is working in big and small ways every day. 

When I think of perspective, my mind always goes back to one conversation. About three and a half years ago, I was in ladies Bible study here at Summerdean Church and I was really upset about our adoption process not going as I planned.  I asked the ladies there to pray for us and they did.  A little while later that evening Debbie Ronk walked up to me and shared a scripture she had read that week about Peter walking on water.  She talked to me about Matthew chapter 14.

Jesus has just finished feeding the 5,000 and had sent the disciples on ahead of him.  Starting at verse 25 it says,

 ^"Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified.

“It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.  

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”  

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”  

“Come,” he said. 

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.

“You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?"

Debbie reminded me that Peter only began to sink when he took his eyes off of Jesus.  This has been a constant reminder over the last few years.  When I begin to look at our circumstances, it never fails, I become overwhelmed.  But the moment I call out to Jesus he gives me his peace and I am able to keep going.  I ask him every morning to help me see every person and every circumstance as he sees them because perspective matters. 

In November of 2013, I was up early praying for a little boy named William and his sister Elisa that were living in an orphanage in Kinshasa.  I really wanted to send them a Christmas present so I sent our agency an email asking if we could send them gifts.  About an hour later, I received an e-mail back saying that we could not.  Our agency rep, Debra, said that they would have to send fifty-five other presents for the other children in that orphanage if we did that and it just wouldn’t be fair.  After reading her reply, I just sat on the couch and cried.  I know that sounds silly but I just needed to send these kids something.  The thought of the two of them without a family just broke my heart.

Well, a couple of hours later, I received a phone call from someone and it started out as most phone calls do, with the person asking, "How are you?"  Well, instead of giving the normal, "I’m fine,"  I was truthful and told them I was having a rough morning.  I explained the e-mail that I sent asking if we could send those two children a present and that the agency said we could not because they would have to send fifty-five other presents and then the coolest thing happened!  The person on the phone said, "Go ahead and tell them we will send all the presents to the orphanage."  I went on to explain that it would be very expensive, like thousands of dollars, to send that many presents, that we would have to buy all the presents and then pay the shipping and the person on the phone just said, "I have the money.  Just tell them we will send the presents."  Well, you can imagine what I did, I am crying so hard at that point that I can barely tell Adam what happened so he called Debra at our agency and she could not believe it! She actually asked Adam if he was serious!  She was astonished that a person would do that!  She told Adam how appreciative she was and that this would be a huge blessing to these children. 

God has reminded me of this a few times over the last couple of years.  If our agency had said "yes," that we could send those two children a present, there would have been fifty-five other children there without one.  I feel like the Lord reminded me that He is sovereign.  That even when it looks like he is saying "no," sometimes the "no" is because he sees the big picture and he knows what will happen if we are just patient.  Sometimes the "no" is because he has something much better planned!  This continues to be a message I need to hear.  I don't know why Elysee and Etta are not here yet but I know our God is sovereign and He is STILL working all of this for our good and His glory!  I feel like he continues to remind me that I would choose his plan if I had all the information…if I could see the future and I could see what was coming, I would choose his plan EVERY single time. 

In December 2013, Adam and I received all of Elysee's translated court documents giving us custody of her in the DRC and telling us that her name changed to Elysee Stultz :-)  Adam and I both sat down on the couch that night and read through all of the documents detailing what they were able to find out about her past and in all of the information one line read...."she is an only child."  It was really a bittersweet moment.  We were excited to finally get all of the documents and to have custody of her but I really had been praying for siblings and it did not look like this was going to work out that way.
Well, the next morning, I was sitting in a Bible study when I got a text message from Adam and it said, "She has a half-sister."  Well I literally gasped!  A friend of mine, Sarah Stultz was sitting next to me and asked if I was okay and I showed her the text message and then both of us just started crying.  I quickly texted him back and asked, "How old is she?"  And Adam replied, "Born last night :-)."

If we had met our timeline for this adoption journey we may have never known about our sweet Etta.  We received Elysee’s referral in April and we should have had her home with us in October but God had other plans.  I will never know if this is one of the reasons that God has stretched this thing out so long but this is what I do know… in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

During this delay we have had the opportunity to go to the DRC three times.  Each time we travel we have collected and delivered items to benefit the Congolese people.  We have taken infant formula, medications, toys, clothes, money and water filters.  It has been very interesting to see how those items have benefited not only orphans but the Congolese people in general.  In November 2015, we were able to collect money to take 84 water filters to the DRC.  Each of these filters will provide a lifetime of clean water for an average family.  We have received pictures of these water filters being installed in schools, orphanages, medical clinics, churches and people’s homes.  This has a made a difference and will continue to make a difference for years to come.  Through this process we have made contacts and friends with people who are serving the Lord there.  Through these people we hope to help orphans and the people in the DRC from afar for a very long time.  This would not have happened if this had gone according to our plan.  It is really overwhelming to see all of things God has allowed us to take part in and all the ways he has blessed people through the waiting.    

We have  also been taking part in these prayer conference calls for a couple of months now.  An adoptive mom who has a child waiting in the DRC arranges these conference calls and she sends out a time and a phone number and little code to put in and people from around the world call in and pray together for our children.  Moms, dads, grandparents, just whoever wants to can call in and one at a time for about an hour we all pray together.  One of the really cool things God has taught us through these prayer calls is that the President of the DRC, President Kabila is a child of God too.  Now, we know that but when someone began praying for him it really changed the way we prayed for our children.  We had of course been praying for their release but we started to boldly pray that President Kabila would come to know the love of God.  That he would accept Jesus as his savior and in turn see that these children are loved by God and need a family.  We believe that this adoption is about way more than just our little family and our two girls in the DRC so we have started to ask God to use this in President Kabila’s life and in the government officials lives both here and in the DRC to point them toward Christ. 

Over a year ago, I read a verse one morning.  One I had probably read before but for some reason that morning the Lord drew my attention to the words.  “On him we have set our hope, that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.  Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.  2 Corinthians 1:10-11

The scripture is out of a letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians and he is speaking of the hardships they faced during a missionary journey.  He realized that they could do nothing to help themselves, they simply had to rely on God.  We are in the same place.  We can do nothing to help ourselves or these two precious girls, we simply have to rely on God.  I felt the Lord speak to me through this scripture…”Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” So over the last month,  I have contacted 975 churches asking for prayers for our girls and the over 1,000 legally adopted orphans in the DRC to be released and for the salvation of President Kabila.  The response has been really cool!  People have written us back from all over the nation telling us they are praying for us.  Giving us words of encouragement and sharing their own stories and asking us to pray for them.  On Friday, we received an email from a Church here in Roanoke, Soveriegn Grace Church and they said they would love to pray for us and they have asked us to come tonight to a prayer and communion service at their church. 

PRAYER IS A POWERFUL THING! 

I have a saying hanging up on the wall in my kitchen that says “No problems equals no miracles.”  Well we have some problems so we need a miracle and my God is a miracle worker!  The Congolese government has said they will be releasing some of the children this Wednesday February 3^rd and we are praying that Elysee and Etta will be on the list.  We are not only praying they will be on the list but we are asking for the release of all of them because our God can do that! 

I will ask him for their release everyday as long as I have breath in me but I am confident that no matter what happens on Wednesday, MY GOD IS GOOD and I can trust that if they aren’t on the list, he has a better plan. 

I believe that he will work this all out for our good and his glory. 

This perspective has not come easily but we are so thankful for the journey. 

Amen