Our home study on Monday, July 16th, went amazing! I'll admit, I was at peace and not frazzled at all.......until the DAY OF! That morning I woke up to a list of things that I thought we needed to get done by 2:00 p.m. to present a great home study; so we worked hard! At 1:00, Eric knowing how stressed I was, was so precious and told me to go on a date by myself and be back by 1:45 to pray as a family. I came back settled and eased remembering that the Lord is in control of IT ALL and nothing will pass His hand without Him already knowing about it and permitting it. When we are busy being Martha and all about "doing" we easily forget foundational truths that we wouldn't forget as much if we were busy being Mary. Two hours at the table and then one quick tour of our house concluded the meeting. When I say "quick tour of our house", I mean we could've left the toilets uncleaned and the hole on Elijah's bedroom wall un-patched and not done ANYTHING with the basement! After our caseworker friend left, Eric closed the door and looked at me with this, "Are you kidding me, you did not just make me do all of that work" look on his face. Hey, they got done regardless, right?!?
That following Friday, the 20th, was our appointment for all of our physical exams and we are all healthy. HOLLA! Our doctor, who is a Christian was very encouraging to us! Thank You Lord!
We are now at a standstill in the process of adoption. The next step is to send in our contract with our agency in Florida along with $6,500.00!!!
This ginormous cost includes:
- $2,500.00 (Agency fee)- Costs related to our agency's (ASC) ongoing services in helping us in this process on the US side of it.
- $2,500.00 (Agency fee)- Costs related to our agency's ongoing services in helping us in this process on the Colombia side of it.
- $1,500.00 (Dossier Processing fee)- As I mentioned before, a Dossier is the french word for bundle of papers. This cost will provide assistance for us, through ASC, in compiling dossier documents according to Colombian guidelines.
This is the next step and BIG HURL of money and we cannot start it until $6,500.00 travels with it! So, please be in prayer over that. We're praying that this will come before or by October 1st at the latest!
NITTY GRITTY...
I was sitting down with my children the other day; Eden 8 and Elijah 7. We were going through our devotional for that morning and reading how God had chosen Jacob to be the leader. Even though Esau was born first and had inherited a birthright, God chose Jacob to inherit it after all and not by anything that Jacob had done. Jacob was not born first so the birthright obviously wasn't his according to birth order and Jacob was not the manly one. Esau was the hunter and worked outside, his father's favorite. Jacob cooked with his mom and had her favor. Pause... I'm not saying only manly men hunt and do not cook!
After we read the story, I asked my kids, "How does it make you feel to know that God chose you? You did not choose God before He chose you. In fact, the only reason we choose God is because He chose us and gave us the gift of faith to choose Him back!"
I could see that my daughter may have had a harder time grasping this concept than my son. She looked bothered and spoke up, "Mom, but I chose Jesus and then He gave me a new heart." I responded with, "You're right babe, you did choose Jesus. But you chose Him because He was already drawing you and had chosen you before the foundations of the earth were even laid." I remember first hearing this truth that I didn't choose Jesus on my own and being utterly offended for a while. I felt robbed. Worthless. Helpless. I believed for so long that there was something good enough in me to want God on my own without His help. NOPE... not the case at all. (Ephesians 2 is my favorite chapter of the bible now!)
My son, smiling from ear to ear, shouted, "I feel free!"
I thought about that statement for a little while and realized the truth behind God choosing us to choose Him and then feeling free. How would you feel free knowing that God chose you to be able to choose Him? Think about it. Resting on the fact that God chose us, adopted us into his family because of His love and goodness brings freedom, security and peace to my soul. The certainty of salvation in Jesus alone increases as we rest on that truth.
It's such a mystery, a great tension, that we probably won't 100% completely comprehend until we see Him face to face; God's choosing and us responding. But I am thankful I can rest on the fact that He has chosen me thus equipping me to respond to His amazing grace!
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