A Reflection and a Challenge

For many people this is a time of refection as we think back on 2015 and think ahead to the New Year.  While running this morning, I was thinking about the different legs of our adoption journey.  If you would have told me of all the different obstacles to overcome, money to be raised, and papers to fill out from the beginning, I might have bailed out completely.  Yet, step by step, prayer by prayer, encouragement by encouragement, this journey is coming together.  We stand in awe of God and His amazing people who's faith has been way more than ours at times.

Our little family of four is about to change forever.  Life as we know it will never be the same in about 6 weeks or so.  With every new beginning, the previous chapter must come to a close.  We let go of what used to be and open our hands and hearts up to this new adventure and challenge.  If you are reading this right now, I would love to challenge you to consider what God might have you do to reach out and love the orphan in 2016.  When we travel to China, we will bring a little guy home who was abandoned at 6 months old at a train station and left without a family and a future.  We will meet him as an orphan and he will become our child with a whole new future and hopefully, in God's timing, he will become a child of God as well. 

Maybe God is tugging on your heart to step out and adopt a child.  Maybe you've put it off or you have talked yourself out of it because of the finances or the paperwork or the hassle or the unknowns.  If you feel God pulling your heart strings, Whitney and I would love to know about that and meet with you to help you clarify if God is calling you to bring another one of the millions of orphans home to a forever family.  Pray about that this year and then dare to take a step.

God bless you and Happy New Year!

Brian and Whitney

'The Nations Prove'

My mind always starts racing and going through thoughts in the morning.  I'm a morning person. This morning for some reason it went to the last verse of 'Joy to the World':

'He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love'

I've sung this verse hundreds of times but never really gave much thought to what I'm singing.  I started meditating on the part where it says that He 'makes the nations prove...'  In other words, it's my job and your job to prove or show to the world the 'glories of His righteousness' and the 'wonders of His love.'

When you step out to adopt, you get asked the 'why' question a lot.  'Why are you adopting?'  As Christians, the onlooking world should be asking all of us that constantly.  Why did you show kindness to that person?  Why did you help me?  Why did you forgive me?  Why did you give me another chance when I've blown it so many times?

Jesus said in John 13:34 "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other."  This is why Christians step out to adopt.  This is why Christians show forgiveness.  This is why Christians give grace to others.  This is why Christians turn the other cheek.  This is why Christians love the hard to love.  When we begin to think of the radical forgiveness, grace and love that has been poured out for us, how can we live any other way?

So may we prove and show the world the 'glories of His righteousness' and the 'wonders of His love' today!

We are getting closer and closer to bringing our little guy home.  We are currently waiting on our Article 5 paperwork.  The Article 5 is the collection of immigration papers, documents, and letters that we will need to complete Samuel's adoption once we are in China.  Right now the Article 5 is in Guangzhou at the Consulate being reviewed to make sure it's all in order.  It will be ready for pickup on December 29th when it will then be mailed off to the CCCWA (Chinese Child Welfare) in Beijing.  The next step after our Article 5 is in Beijing is receiving our official Travel Approval letter (TA) inviting us to come to China to adopt Samuel.  The average time between the Article 5 pickup and receiving the Travel Approval letter has been about 1-2 weeks which would put us possibly receiving our Travel Approval in mid-January.