Today was another long day at CHOP for Evangeline.
She had a pulmonary function test to evaluate her lungs, a visit with urology and a quickie with orthopedic surgery.
It looks like she will need bladder surgery too in the not too distant future.
We are so thankful Evangeline is finally getting the medical care she has needed for so long.
About a week ago I shared my thoughts on adopting two children at once in my post called Our Very Long Day.
As I have read through the comments on that post and on Facebook, I realized many of you are struggling with many of the same issues and questions that we wrestled with as we began our adoptions, and I am compelled to share some of the things we learned in the process.
Before I do, I want to share a couple of the comments that were left for me.
…SO encouraging as we begin our adoption journey. With 5 biological children, it is easy to believe that our hands are “full enough” and adopting will only be at the expense of both the biological and adopted children. We are about to start our home study and considering adopting 2 at a time. I’m going to print this post and save it.
Diane, your blog provides more comfort and encouragement to me than you’ll ever know. I’m in the same boat as Carinda… We have 5 and people just cannot understand why we would want to add more and “take away” from our five. I wish they could understand… I really want to bring home a teen that is about to age out along with the younger girl we are hoping to adopt. We’ll pray and wait and see.
I think there are a few important points to make about caring for orphans that are frequently overlooked or just missed altogether.
We do not bring the children home in our own strength,
and we do not care for them once we get them home in our own strength.
Our children are not charged for our obedience to God.
They are blessed.
Hearts grow and expand to love another.
They do not split or divide,
and neither do our resources.
We live in this finite world, and we have come to believe it’s lies.
We believe there is lack, that there is not enough. We think we must keep things small so we can manage. We believe we are limited by our own strength and limitations. We believe that if we add to our family, we are spreading our resources thinner, even taking away from the children already born.
This kind of limited thinking is not only wrong, but it is also not Biblical.
God is not bound by any limitations, and He lives within us.
The Bible tells us we are one with Him.
The Bible tells us we can do all things through Him who gives us strength.
The Bible also teaches us that it is in giving that we receive and in dying that we live.
God restores the giver.
He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done. ~Proverbs 19:17
A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. ~Proverbs 11:25
All throughout the gospels, Jesus promises to provide all that we need.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ~Mark 11:25
Do we not believe Him?
Do we not expect Him to provide?
Do we think that He will bring the children home and then abandon us?
if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. ~2 Timothy 2;13
God gave us a mandate in the Bible to care for the orphans.
Do we think for a moment that He would forget or refuse to provide for a family that is doing His will?
We can trust Him.
When we step out in faith to meet the needs of someone less fortunate than ourselves, we can trust our Heavenly Father to move all of Heaven and Earth to help us do it.
When Mark and I first got married and were living on both of our salaries, I never could have imagined that seventeen short years later, we would have eleven children, have no debt other than our home, and be living on one salary.
It is God who blesses. It is God who brings the increase. We must be faithful in our work and with what God has given us, but the blessings are from Him. We do not earn them. God blesses our obedience.
Blessings come from God.
He is a able.
When we walk by faith to love the least of these, We are blessed beyond measure.
Our children are blessed.
And we are richer for having loved them.
Precious Father, grow the faith of Your people. May we believe You for big things in our lives, and may we dare to love the children.
Blessings!
Totally agree. Thanks for sharing your heart and the truth.
I agree 100% too…..maybe sometime you could write a post about a way forward when your spouse doesn’t see it that way….I trust that G-d can find a way to that too, if G-d wants….