God's Timing

I Can't tell you how many times I have thought a certain something would go a certain way, but God has different plans. We thought for sure that my husband would get hired with a bigger airline, everything seemed to line up perfect. The interview couldn't have gone any better, etc....But God had different plans.  It was a No!  Another job opportunity came up...another NO!  When my heart was stirring and broken for the orphans of this world, I thought it was another definite NO for my husband....But, God had different plans, and he changed my husbands heart in a matter of days! So, now we are on this journey of adoption, if any of those jobs would've happened, we wouldn't have been able to adopt.  We wouldn't have met the requirements.

We thought we would've had all our paper work done by Jake's 1st birthday (Nov. 18th), but we sent our dossier to our agency at the end of January.  With the Chinese New Year, it didn't go to China until February 14th.  Human timeline told us that it would get there in 3-5 days, and be logged in within 3 weeks....BUT God's timeline was again, different.  Our dossier was received on February 19th and logged in on the same day! We found this out on Thursday, February 20th...Awesome news! Excited was an understatement! While talking with our agency, the gal told me that it would be soon, and I should have asked, how soon is "soon"?  But don't worry, I called the next day (Friday the 21st) to ask that question (and some other questions so I wouldn't seem so obvious)!!! Wouldn't you know that "soon" was in fact that day....YES! We received our referral during that phone call!!!! I was floored! And apparently calling for your own referral doesn't happen all that often!  It could have possibly been the first for them!!!  Something that should have taken around three months, took one week.  God sped things up for a reason and I believe the reason was that this little boy was the one he had picked out for our family from day one.  I believe this to the core of my being.

He was 2 months old when Jake was born (adoption wasn't even on our radar).  He was 8 months when we had made the decision to adopt, and 9 months when we took this picture.

I am completely overwhelmed and amazed at how much God cares for us, his children.  When we have no idea, or understanding of what is going on, he does!  He is omniscient and sovereign...But, above that, he is loving, and I feel so blessed to live this life knowing him.....it's hard to contain!

As we move forward, human timeline is telling us 5-6 months, but we know that his timeline is different. It could in fact be 5-6 months....it could be longer....or it could be shorter, but we trust that his timing is perfect.  We look forward to bringing our son home, and we look forward to loving on him, but for now we will love on him from afar.  Please join us as we continue to pray for him.  For his health and safety, for his ability to bond, and for him to know how deeply he is loved by his Heavenly Father!  

We are one step closer sweet boy!  We love you so much and were so excited when we saw your face for the first time! You are a precious gift and we look forward to holding and hugging you!  Hopefully it won't be too much longer!  

"Beautiful Things"

"Beautiful Things" was the title to one of the songs we sang this morning in church.  I have also been watching way more "gotcha day" videos than I should and this song has made its appearance in quite a few of them.  Here are the lyrics to the song:

 "Beautiful Things"

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

As I sang the words to that song this morning, I immediately thought of adoption and all the videos I had watched in the last couple of days.  How those little lives will be changed in a huge way.  "You make me new, You are making me new"....these words hit me this morning....how in a few months we will receive a picture of a little boy or girl who's life will be forever changed...who's life will be made "new" in several ways....but what struck me even more was that I feel like this journey of adoption is more for me being "made new" than it is for this child.  He is teaching, and pruning, and shaping me....he is making me new.  It's a constant changing and making me "newer", than I was before.  I hope that this experience and the things that I have learned and am learning will be poured out in the lives of my kids and this child I have yet to meet.  That they will want God to be continually making them new....continually making them more like him, even if it is hard and painful.  It's out of pain, suffering and sacrifice that he makes something beautiful!  

Let the Waiting begin!

It has been SOOOOO long since I have posted anything at all!  I am not the best when it comes to blogging. With four kiddos and homeschooling, I find myself doing laundry, lesson planning, cleaning, etc. in the hours after the kids have gone to bed.  So, I apologize for the big gap!  I will try my best to be better at it!
The past few months since we have started the adoption process, it has been a ton of paper work....well, not so much for me, my husband did all it all!!! He is amazing! We would still be doing paper work if I were in charge of it!  There hasn't been to much to report until now! The paper work is out of our hands....it is in the hands of our agency and soon to be in China's hands in a couple of weeks or less!!!!  Then we wait to be logged in....then wait to receive a referral...and then wait some more to travel to bring home our child!!! My patience is about to be pushed to its limits!!!  It is all becoming so real as we get closer and closer to seeing our child's face.  I can hardly contain the excitement!  I know once I do see my child's face, it will be even harder to be patient as we wait to go and get him/her!
Although there has not been a whole lot to report as far as the process goes, it doesn't however mean that I haven't been feeling, thinking, praying, for and about this child that we will be introduced to in the near future! I am excited to see his/her face...to hold, kiss and hug him/her for the first time,  yet I know how scared they will be when they meet us.  It breaks my heart that they will have experienced so much pain in such a short amount of time here on earth.  I long to make that pain stop.  I long for them to know their forever family, and I long for them to know their heavenly father.   Though they have been abandon, He will never abandon them.  His love for them is not based on their gender and physical appearance....it is unconditional and it never fails.
So as we wait, and wait, and wait....I will continue to think about him/her.  But more than that, I will continue to pray that this child would come to know the love that God has for him/her.  That yes, there will always be pain here in this imperfect world, but He is the one that we can take that pain to.  He takes that pain and heartache and makes it into something beautiful!
He will:

"comfort all who mourn, 

and provide for those who grieve in

 Zion-

to bestow on them a crown of

beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of 

righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor."

Isaiah 61:2-4

For you baby Bramlett, as we wait, my prayer is this:

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,

may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better.

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may 

know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious 

inheritance in the saints." 

Ephesians 1:17-18

I love you so much and can't wait to see your sweet face.  I look forward to the day when I get to hold you for the first time! 

So until I write again (hopefully there won't be such a gap), please pray for our child who waits that they will be comforted and cared for....and pray for us as we wait, that God will be at work in our hearts, continuing to make us more like him!