Seek First...

Ok, the story left off when we had said “yes” to God on the matter of adoption.  It was September 2009.  We were charting our next steps (decide upon an agency, narrow in on country, investigate financial assistance, etc).  We both had complete confidence that this was the right thing for us to do, but we were also a little disappointed that I wasn’t pregnant. 

Then in October 2009, would you look at that?!  Pregnant.  Rather than turning us in another direction, we saw this as confirmation that we were headed down the right path.  If in fact, children are a gift from the Lord (and we believe that they are), and if those whose “quivers are full” of them are blessed, then we counted this as God’s blessing on our decision, our commitment, to adopt a child as He had asked (Psalm 127:3-5). 

It was immediately clear that God had used, if not orchestrated, this 6-month halt in the “production facilities”, to obtain our attention, to turn our faces toward Him, and to communicate with us.  If we had gotten pregnant right when we hoped and expected, is there any doubt that we would have been preoccupied with that exciting addition and lulled into submission to the trajectory of our own “family plan,” and less open to the still, small voice that was speaking to us.  I shudder to think of all that we would have missed.

During Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he tells a crowd of followers to “seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).  Jesus is talking about food, drink, clothing, material things…things that the people wanted and desired.  We wanted and desired another pregnancy.  But we set that aside and sought God’s heart on the matter.  Once we died to ourselves, to our approach, to our agenda; we were able to be wholly available to God’s master plan.  And once we committed ourselves to obey and follow hard after Him, He fulfilled the initial desire of our hearts to go through another pregnancy.  I am absolutely aware that it doesn’t always work out just like this, but I do believe that God is adept at satisfying the hearts of those who seek His will before their own.

So, four kids.  Wow!  Four does seem like a lot more than three, doesn’t it?  Though my great-grandmothers could juggle four with one hand while simultaneously milking a cow, I think things are going to get pretty busy around here.

We simply adjusted the projected timeline for our adoption (none of the agencies we were investigating would allow us to officially start the process while we were pregnant).  We first met with an adoption agency in December 2009 and had several meetings with various agencies over the subsequent months. 

Sarah