A BEAUTIFUL GIFT

On February 8 of this year, my world was rocked..in a beautiful way.  At breakfast, I told William about my plans for co-leading a mission trip this summer to China  for Our Covenant's Call, the orphan ministry at church.  My friend Stefanie and I were scheduled to meet with Amanda from Visiting Orphans that day for lunch.  William told me he did not think I should go this year, and gave every reason he could think of (child care, Jack...etc), but I kept butting my head and insisting.  Finally, he told me that he had PLANNED on telling me in June, but since I kept pushing on February 8, he told me then.  He had decided LAST August that he also wanted to adopt, and had been working extra hard to save money for this adoption.  He did not want to tell me until he had the finances in place...so we could just focus on HER :)  I was floored...for years I had really wanted to adopt, and felt that God was calling ME to do so, but then I realized that William was not in the same place as me. I fought with God about it, and then finally prayed that we would meet in the middle.  My passion to adopt was quieted as I focused on Our Covenant's Call,  the Safe Room, and the Middle TN Orphan Alliance duties.  William is a strong, passionate person as well, and he does not like to be "cornered" into making a decision! Once I backed off about adoption, he started his own research and decided YES...we could have one more child in our family.   It is one of the most BEAUTIFUL stories of our family!

We told the boys at Disneyworld on April  7.  They have sponsored babies at Starfish for their birthdays for the last 3 years and always asked WHY we could not bring a sister home too.  I think they thought when I went to China in 2008 that I would have brought home a sister then!  I made fortune cookies with special quotes inside, and had each one in a box that had a letter in  "SISTER" on it.  The waiter at the Chinese restaurant brought them out for us, and the boys immediately spelled out "RESIST" :).  Once they figured it out, they were stunned and excited!

They are now so excited!  They have been collecting toys to put in her "room" when she gets here, even though it will be quite awhile from now!  Ben took a Mandarin Chinese class at one of his camps so he could "talk to his sister" when he meets her! On June 19, William gave me the thumbs up to get started on the process...so we have been knee deep in paper chasing and social work meetings since then.  I will put up a time line soon, but just had to get the word out that WE ARE ADOPTING..... and adding a new precious little one to our family!!!

Love,
Eve

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11