Friday, October 7, 2011

The story

Once upon a time,
there were two really cute kids.
And they decided to
play house get married.

Then there were babies...
the first four came one at a time...
then three came at once.

Then God said...
"I'm not finished yet."

Chrissy began to pray for direction...
Paul began to pray for wisdom...
they both tried to figure it out alone.

The calling had already been defined...
the location was the mystery.

Chrissy gave God lots of parameters,
and God said...
"You're so funny when you say stuff like that!"

Then one day, Chrissy got an online message that said:
"So, your family has a heart for siblings."


Then, there was a photo in the email box.
A photo of FIVE precious, gorgeous children
who need a Mommy and Daddy.
Chrissy made a phone call and sent an email.
And her sweet hubby said "Sounds like fun!"

And at that precise moment,
the Father of Lies set his eyes on this family.

What happened over the next few weeks...
the details are too many,
the pain is too great,
the privacy should be protected...
but suffice it to say,
We had unknowingly entered into a battle we hadn't prepared for.

As the difficulties mounted, 
we began to see less light, less hope, less possibility...
and more despair, more inabilities, more weakness.
We weren't seeing how this was possible.

Until, Monday morning when the worst decision needed to be made.
To walk away from the precious babies we had chosen.
I thought my heart had been ripped from my chest.
This is where I thought the story ended.

I literally felt rejoicing from the enemy.
He had won.
But just like that moment when he thought he won
when Christ was on the cross...
Ohhhh...
did he ever underestimate
MY God.

Over the next few days,
much prayer, much mourning,
many tears, many hurts,
great confusion
and
sadness reigned.

And at the moment when all hope was lost...
the Creator walked right into a hotel room
in another state and grabbed my husband
by his fragile heart
and molded it, changed it,
and declared it GOOD.

And JUST LIKE THAT...
the man who has loved me through some of my yuckiest,
messiest, meanest, saddest, happiest days...
opened his eyes
and realized his heart had changed.
He wanted our children in our home 
with a fierce, fatherly devotion
that I couldn't create for him. 

The next morning,
he emailed the agency, 
asked for permission to bring our babies home
and they said YES!

Oh, and THAT'S the point at which he told ME
about this whole God-transformation!?

So, sweet blog-readers, friends, family...
Our family is "expecting"!!

We are expecting challenges,
difficulties,
great joy,
great struggles,
financial miracles,
lots of noise,
a van-full of kiddos,
and a great number of people who will 
NEVER understand our hearts this side of eternity.

Pray for them...
pray for us.
Pray for the right words to speak when people DON'T understand.
Pray for our family to be a light on a hill.

I don't want the world to see our adoption and
MISS that it is ALL about Jesus!

Yes, we will need money.
We will have to travel TWO times to Africa.
But the very IDEA of being even remotely CONCERNED 
about that right now... well, it's just LAUGHABLE!

Once upon a time,
God gave us a calling.
Please don't miss that this is about Him.
We are so blessed to be on His journey!!

20 comments:

  1. Congratulations!

    I'm so happy for your family. Twelve is going to be a handful, but a beautiful, wonderful, sent from God kind of handful.

    It makes me so happy to know that the mom who shed tears over not being the one to get the sweet hugs and kisses, will, in the end, be the one that gets to tuck them in at night, read them stories and give them kisses.

    Enjoy your journey!
    Jessica

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  2. OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am just outside of my skin!!!!! I just shared with my hubby.....and we are REJOICING!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you JESUS!!!!

    That is what I get for missing reading anything in bloggyland due to church on Wed and shopping last night. WOW did I miss some AMAZING NEWS!

    We are sooooo HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I sooo want to come give you a hug right now!!!!! And jump and down with you, and squeal like little school girls with glee!!!!!

    God is going to be doing some AMAZING THINGS!!!! Praying for protection, encouragement, patience, provision, and transition!!! GOD CAN AND WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Watch out world NOTHING CAN STOP OUR GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOTHING!!!!!

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  3. Tears.

    God is good and He is always faithful.

    Brooke
    www.TheAnnessaFamily.blogspot.com

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  4. Beautiful! Tears here as I rejoice with you!

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  5. Congratulations. I am definitely in awe of the fact that Paul emailed the agency and then let you know - those are the kinds of good surprises that life is all about. I loved his facebook post telling you to stop trying to find a family for HIS kids. I'm so glad to have met you and hope our paths will cross again once you have all your children home (and maybe you can give ME some pointers on how to parent only 4 kids....though yesterday a stranger did feel the need to comment on the fact that my car looked like "a carseat convention" with all of 4 carseats in it. Wonder what she'd make of your van!?? :-)

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  6. Ah, I'm crying with joy and I don't even know you or your children, so I can't imagine what you all must feel like! Congratulations again. May God continue to bless your growing family.

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  7. Amazed at your journey and your news. Seriously I have thought about these children every day since you posted them and even spoke with my husband about it....i just knew a loving family would find them this week and it was you guys all along. How wonderful!!!

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  8. Wow that is fantastic!!!! Congratulations! We'll include you in our prayers, you can do this with the Lord's help!

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  9. Wave after wave of chills. God is mighty.

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  10. tears, tears, and more tears. OF JOY! So happy for you all and PRAISE JESUS! God bless you ALL!

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  11. Just wonderful and amazing. God bless you and your family. Peace and goodness. A fellow adoptive mom.

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  12. I'm a sobbing mess! Just beautiful. BEAUTIFUL!!

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  13. I knew it!!! So awesomely fabulously wonderful, I knew they were yours, only a mother could talk that way about her children, luv it congrats 5 times more!

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  14. Those babies AND your broken heart have been on my mind all week. I am now sitting here BAWLING with joy for you and them.
    Praise our Heavenly Father for what He has done!
    Praying for those beautiful children and your family!
    -Kryste

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  15. Awesome!!! Congratulations!!! I will be praying for your family :) God is good!

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  16. Chrissy, I am so happy to be your friend and a part of your journey. One word comes to mind, providence. I loved how your worded this blog post. Can't wait to celebrate their homecoming with you.

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  17. Congratulations! Can't wait to follow your journey...and continue to be reminded of the joy that comes with living in God's will.

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  18. WOw!! Congrats Chrissy! I know you have felt the call for a while! Praise God and I will be praying for your journey!

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  19. over joyed for you and your family....saw your "Questions" post was down...I am hoping you are not getting some "meanie" comments and all is well.

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