Once upon a time, a girl married her very best friend. And, life was good. God blessed them with one son, then two sons, then three, then four, then five sons. Son #4 waits for their joyous reunion in heaven one day. But, even amidst loss, life was good. It was a life filled with love and laughter and lots and lots of testosterone! And, their family was complete.
But, God has a way of working in unexpected ways. The nudge to adopt was persistent, but equally persistent was their ignoring of the nudge. “We can’t afford it,” they said; “We are too old,” they said. But, God’s nudges turned into audible, tangible undeniable leading and they finally said yes to adopting a son in 2013. They stood amazed at how the life that was good already could increase in goodness, but it did. Their new son was their delight, and now their family was complete.
But, God has a way of working in unexpected ways. They found themselves longing to adopt another child. But, they became quite good and pushing it aside. “Adoption is so very expensive!” “We still have loans to pay off from our first adoption;” “After years of struggling financially, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel;” “And, we are even older now!” So, the longings were ignored and the quiet nudges were ignored as well and justified away…until last month.
Friends were hosting a little boy from China this summer. “Isn’t that great? Oh boy, he’s so handsome.” She shared pictures of Lego creations he made. “Wow! Isn’t that incredible that he made those himself? Josiah would love him.” She posted these words:
Oh my goodness. He just sat down at our dining room table and imitated us praying complete with hands folded and a “dear Lord” in the beginning. #Hehearshim #findinghisfamily #whohasroomforonemore
“Oh wow. Do we have room for him?” With every post, what started as a quiet nudge increased in volume until it was a loud voice that we could no longer ignore. A whirlwind of conversations and connections led to a trip East to Philadelphia where we spent a weekend with our friends and the boy they were hosting who we learned was our son.
We are his family.
Mark and Kelly and their four children committed to following God’s call through hosting a sweet boy from China; they prayed that God would move through their efforts to provide him with a family of his own. God’s will became clear as both families prayed for His guidance. His handwriting was on the wall—in the support of our older sons, in the time we spent in Philadelphia, in the encouragement from Mark and Kelly, in the prayers of our son Josiah, in the unity between us. Early on in the process, before we gave our resounding yes, I voiced my fear: “It sure would be easier if we just dropped the whole thing.” One of our sons responded with, “Since when does God call us to do what’s easy?”
On the day after we returned, the day we knew we needed to respond one way or another, this is what my husband and I read during morning devotions:
Oh, Lord, what an amazing opportunity you have spread out before me – a chance to make a difference for you in a desperately hurting world. Help me to see the needs you want me to see, to react in a way that honors you, and to bless others by serving them gladly with practical expressions of your love. Help me be Jesus’ hands and feet, and through your Spirit give me the strength and wisdom I need to fulfill your plan for me in my own generation. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Later that day, we sent this message to Kelly:
M.Y. is going to be a DeVries. Happy Day!!
Our son…the seventh son of a girl and her best friend is coming home! We praise God who does far more than we could ask or imagine. He IS a good, good Father.
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Follow their journey to bring him home on THIS FACEBOOK PAGE. Consider helping them HERE so that M.Y. doesn’t wait a single day more than he needs to because of any reason related to finances.