Following His Lead to Lili Beth

We are going to adopt again!

One of the most common questions I get from folks is, "Why did you choose to adopt?" The answer, though to many, may seem complicated, is really quite simple. You see, we are faced with choices. Thousands of choices - daily.

Do I want to hit the snooze button?
What should I eat for breakfast?
Lunch?
Dinner?
Should I fix my hair a certain way or wear a hat?
Do I drive the speed limit?
etc., etc.

The choices are endless. While on this rock, we have the choice to be comfortable or obedient. Our choice - obedient. Adopting isn't easy. In fact, it's very difficult. Mounds of paperwork, fundraising, waiting, travel- and that's all before getting our children. Then comes the re-building phase; establishing trust, bonding, sickness (physical and emotional), and healing. But in he end it all becomes worth it.

You cross over the threshold from adoptive family to just... family.

So if you haven't heard, we're going back. This time God has told us that our Lili Beth is ready for us and waiting. I'm not sure what that looks like or how long it will take, but I have a choice - comfort or obedience. Honestly, I'm nervous; make that very nervous. It's not an uncertain nervousness, it's an excited nervousness. So if you've been called to adopt and you're waiting for the "perfect" time, it will never come. If you're expecting the utopian "Annie" adoption, it's not going to happen. Prepare yourself for many sleepless, screaming, crying nights.

And then expect those same nights from your children.

But honestly ask yourself, "Would I want someone to hand me over a championship title when I didn't work for it? Would I want heroic accolades for a job that had no meaning?" If your answer was no, then you are a perfect candidate for adoption.

Hosea 6:6 says, "For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." (NASB)

Ben Sternke writes, "Sacrifice in this sense is actually an attempt to gain independence from God. If we sacrifice for him, then we have put him in our debt. If we sacrifice for God, he owes us something (so we think). Sacrifice is a way of "buying" whatever we want to get from God (protection, deliverance, provision, favor), while at the same time remaining independent from him. Obedience, however, is the response of someone who is in a relationship of trust with God. We trust God, we depend on him, we are interactive with him, but he takes the lead. Obedience is better than sacrifice because we are letting God be God and staying in our proper place with him, the place of dependence and surrender to his goodness."

So now what? Well, our commitment is to God. And if that means discomfort now for comfort later, then so be it, because I know that even in discomfort my family will be blessed.

We're coming, Lili Beth! As God's timing is perfect, we're coming!

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