The Glory of Our Adoption by God

The most recent update is not much of an update. :-)  Now that we have entered the waiting  period of being on the list, there isn't as much to update on.  But we do want to continue to write every week sharing what's on our hearts and how we are doing.  We also hope to encourage others who might be considering adoption with what God has done for us, has taught us, and continues to do and teach us along this journey.  

Today, we want to share a number of great quotes on adoption from the book  Reclaiming Adoption, put together by Dan Curver:

Paul teaches that God does not merely redeem us -- through adoption he brings us into the warmth, love, and gladness of his own family.  Redemption was never intended to be God's "be-all and end-all" work of grace.  God redeemed in his His Son so that he might love us and delight in us even as he loves and delights in his eternal Son.  As we shall see, adoption is God's act of making room within his triune love for prodigals who are without hope, and providing them with homes in this world and the world to come.  This is the story of adoption. 

(p. 14)

From God's perspective, adoption is not essentially about orphans at all.  It is essentially about estrangement.  Adoption is about God taking into his home those who have rebelled  against him.  All humanity is naturally estranged from God.  We are all rebels, all disobedient sons, for we are all made in his image and created to worship him, yet we have rejected him -- as did Adam, as did Israel.  Adoption is about the reconciliation of the rebellious.  Our confusion comes when we look at human adoption and end up focusing on the fact that a child needs parents.  God focuses on the fact that a lost person needs saving... The ultimate purpose of human adoption by Christians, therefore, is not to give orphans parents, as important as that is.  It is to place them in a Christian home that they might be positioned to receive the gospel, so that within that family, the world might witness a representation of God taking in and genuinely loving the helpless, the hopeless, and the despised.

(p.14-15)

The glory of our adoption by God is that it gives us the only object of affection (God) that provides rest, satisfies the longing heart, and makes the impoverished unimaginably rich, even in our soul's darkest nights.  In other words, adoption gives our restless and fearful hearts the all-satisfying love of the triune God.

(p.21)

Please continue to pray for us, as we seek to trust God in His angood timing to bring our child's referral to us so that we can then plan to go over to Ethiopia to meet him!

We are Expecting!!

           Due to the holidays, I haven't updated the blog as often as I would have liked.  But, since there hasn't been an update for about 1 month, there's a lot to tell! ;-)  
            
           Since the last post, we have now reached our fundraising goal!!!!  In about a month's time, we got the rest of the money needed to reach our goal!  Praise God!  Again, it has been so incredible to watch God faithfully provide.  He has been amazing us with His very apparent provision.  (as a side, if you have been watching the blog and our fundraising ticker, you will notice that we had to adjust our predicted $30,000 amount to $36,000, due to travel and our plans of taking Ethan and Emma with us on our second trip to Ethiopia).  Even so, we have received word from two grants in the last month, that get us all the way to our adjusted goal!
             
            About the grants... we want to praise God for answered prayer and Him working in the hearts of the committee members in choosing us to receive a grant.  We have heard, that with an increase in people adopting (which is wonderful), getting grants has become much harder and  more competitive than it used to be.  So, we know that God worked to provide us with not just 1 grant, but 2!!  We have to tell you about one of our grants because it's a cool story. ;-)       
           We had just received an email on December 21st saying that we had been chosen for a matching grant from Hand-in-Hand.  And then just two days later, we received a call from friends saying that they wanted to support us and had already decided on an amount.  The amount that they wanted to give is exactly the amount that this grant will match and give us!   We are blown away by how God has been working in others' hearts in wanting to care for orphans, as He has been working in our hearts!  
              
             Through this adoption journey it has encouraged us greatly to see God providing.  We definitely feel that God is preparing the way for us to do what He wants us to do.  It gives us hope and confidence in the days to come, as we prepare to meet our child for the first time and face many unknowns!     
              
             As we have reached our fundraising goal, we want to again thank all of you who have supported us financially and prayerfully!  What an immense encouragement and blessing you have been, as you partner with us in answering the call to care for orphans!  

              Our most recent update it that the dossier arrived in Ethiopia this last Tuesday, January 8th.  So, we are now officially on a waiting list and will be notified at the beginning of each month what number we are on the list.  We should hear Feb. 1st what number we're starting at!  The amount of time that we have been told that we will most likely wait is about 1 year.  Although, if God gives us a child with special needs, it could be a bit faster.  
               
               We will continue to update you along the way!  

The doctrine of adoption is one of the most precious doctrines we have as children of God.  Just to be called "children of God" is such a wonderful blessing.  Because I am now in God's family, I have a new relationship with God.  No longer is he just a being far away; now he is my Father.  What a tender relationship that is!  I really belong in God's family.  The Holy Spirit says to me, "you belong here.  You are part of the family."  In a day when people feel alone and families are broken, what a wonderful gift this is.  Adoption is indeed a precious truth for me"
                                        - Robert A. Peterson