When He Calls...

Last summer I had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala for a mission trip that centered around schools and orphanages (don't think it could have been more "up my alley!"). It was a wonderful trip where we were able to serve hundreds of kids and caretakers. On a mission trip it has been my experience that God uses these times to really speak to me about the direction He wants me to go. While we were there I kept feeling Him pushing me, calling me to lead a trip. When I got back I shared this feeling with Justin and kept finding myself on the Seacoast site, looking at the trips, thinking about what God might have been pushing me towards. None of the trips were really speaking to me (not that they aren't amazing trips, just wasn't feeling called for any of them). I decided to step back and see if something else came up. Meanwhile, I have been mentioning to Justin for quite awhile that I wished Seacoast did a trip to Ethiopia and wondered if I could get one started. I began to do a little research on other organizations that traveled to Ethiopia but, again, wasn't finding anything that really spoke to me.

Fast forward to January-ish because I must admit between the months of November and February, I was busy preparing for Olivia's arrival :) AWAA (our international adoption agency) sent out an email sharing that they were going to be sending out teams to various countries to work in orphanages and they were looking for leaders. Since our daughter was due in less than a month, I read the email, flagged it to return to, and got busy with more baby stuff. I tucked that thought in my "to do" file in my brain but things were such a whirlwind, I really wasn't giving it the prayer and thought it deserved. Fast forward to the end of February... We had just returned from Pennsylvania and Olivia was about 3 weeks old when I received a text from a dear friend. The text asked if I had seen the email about the trips and was thinking about going. I knew it then. It was like this flood of relief came over me as I began typing my response "I did see that. I was thinking about applying to lead the December trip." Nope, hadn't really talked it all through with Justin a whole lot during the crazy month. Yep, I was holding our three week old daughter as I was typing. But what do you do when God calls? You answer, you respond. We happened to be out with our friends from our Togo teams and I mentioned the trip and the interest in leading to them, they were amazingly supportive and my excitement grew. Less than 3 weeks later I had sent in all my stuff to apply for the leadership spot and soon heard that they had selected me.

There are so many reasons you can come up with to not go on an international mission trip- cost, fear of travel, fear of tough accommodations, timing, fear of leaving your family, fear that you aren't "Christian" enough, just fear in general. In the past 5 years of my life, God has called me to take leaps of faith, to trust Him in ways I  never dreamed He would ask. Every single one of those leaps has resulted in the best experiences that I can't imagine having missed. Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope) became one of my life verses. No matter what He is calling you to do, no matter how scary, unexpected, or "out there" it seems, go for it. Respond. Follow. Be Obedient.

Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

So here's my plug...
If you feel Him calling you to do mission work, to go and love on kids that have no families, that feel as though they have been lost and forgotten- GO! There are over a dozen trips to orphanages around the world in the next year through AWAA alone. Nope, you don't have to want to adopt to go. You just have to love the Lord and love kids. I would love to have you on my team if you feel like Ethiopia is where you are supposed to go but if not, let me know how I can help you go where you are called. I promise you won't regret it.

www.awaa.org/act

John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

 

 

Movement and Magnificent Blessings

     After 13 months of waiting and moving only 1 spot on the unofficial list, I am happy to tell you He is moving adoptions with Ethiopia again! I don't know what has changed or why there has been no movement for so long but I am so thankful for these past 5 days. In the past 5 days we have moved up 7 spots to #37! It is important that the "37" part of that is unofficial and we actually have no idea what number we are at but the part we are certain about is that we have seen 9 families get referrals in the past 5 days (2 were for families that requested girls so they are in separate lines)! That's 10 children (1 was a sibling set) that have families to call their own and that will no longer be referred to as orphans! My hope is that this means the MOWYCA (Ethiopian government agency in charge of adoption) has been able to make the process more efficient while also making sure children are being referred with proper paperwork and thorough investigations.
     The families that are being referred have been on the list approximately 6 months longer than we have. Does this mean we have only another 6 months? Probably not. Those families started their wait time on a list that moved much faster. Do I feel it is possible that we will get a referral within a year? I do. Will I be devastated if it takes longer than that? Absolutely not. These years of waiting and trying have brought Justin and I so many blessings. From stregthening our marriage to teaching us how to give our lives to God and stop trying to control them to mission work to career goals to financial stability, the blessings He has given these past 5 1/2 years are mind blowing! I can't wait to be a mom and watch Justin be the amazing father I know he will be, but I also can't wait to see what happens during the rest of our wait! I truly thank Him for the journey He has taken us on. Has it been easy? No way. Has it changed me down to the very fiber of who I am, how I define myself, and how I live my life? 100%. When I go back and I look at pictures, read posts I wrote, or think about my life 5 years ago, I don't even recognize myself. All of these experiences have shaped me into the person I am today and I wouldn't change a thing. One of the biggest blessings through all of this has been my husband, Justin. He has been my rock that I could cry to, laugh with, be angry with, and love. The patience, compassion, and strength he has shown are amazing. God sure knew what He was doing when He teamed us up! 

Togo, West Africa 2011

1 Year Later

   Tomorrow is our 1 year anniversary of being DTE. When we got on the "list" we were listed at #45. Now, here we are a year later and we are listed as #44.
   A few weeks ago our pastor gave a sermon on patience and I thought I'd share some of the scriptures and messages from them that he spoke of and that have helped my husband and I through this year of no movement.

Psalm 37:7 Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to
act.
Ask yourself- who can I help while I am here? This will help you to have patience with a purpose.

Phil 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Ask yourself- what can you do while waiting? What do you fix your thoughts on? Seek His purpose for your wait.

Psalms 23-24 If the Lord delights in a man's way,he makes his steps firm; 24though he stumble, he will not fall,for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
Remember, you are where you are because He wants you there. His timing is perfect and His plans for us are always for good.

   So as we finish out year 1 of our wait, I hope you all are finding the positive in the wait and comfort in knowing that He would not ask us to wait if it was not for a purpose. Although I hate that I never have any "real" news to share, I am also so grateful to have others to share our story with! I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.

Love,
Rachel

God doesn't do Plan B

   Last weekend I was talking with a friend who has just entered into the world that Justin and I have been a part of for 5 years now. She and her husband had a failed IUI and were trying to decide if they wanted to do IVF or adoption. When we were talking she shared that she never wanted to choose adoption because it is "plan B," that she knows that people who are adopting are called to do so. This really got me thinking...
    When people ask me why we are adopting my answer varies depending on the person. Do I portray our decision to adopt as plan B? Is that what people hear when I tell them our story? Then I started to giggle to myself. To think that adoption is "plan B" is to think you are in control. Isn't that what this entire chapter in my life has taught me- that we are not in control? And that I am so thankful that we aren't? Yes, I know there are lots of theological debates about free will and predestination. I, for one, believe it is a mixture of both. Without getting too much into that, I can honestly tell you I don't know how Justin and I would have made it through everything if we didn't believe God was in control and that He will protect and care for us. That He loves us and made us who we are- including making us unable to have children- and that He doesn't make mistakes. We are going through this because that was His plan. We are adopting because that is what He wants us to do. Is it more difficult than the average person's path to parenthood? Absolutely. Do I think it would have been easier if I had opened my eyes earlier? Yes. I've said it before and as the days pass, I see it more and more. God has been preparing us to be adoptive parents for a long time. This wasn't something He came up with on a whim one day and decided to change course, to do plan B. This was His plan A all the time. I just had to step back from my own view of what family means, of what future I had envisioned, and realize what He was trying to tell me. Man, I wish I had seen that earlier. It would have saved me a lot of heartache. But maybe that is what was supposed to happen. It taught me to rely on Him. It taught me to let go and not kid myself by thinking I do have control. It taught me how strong I can be through Him, with Him, because of Him. It helped Justin and I put God in the center of our marriage so that when we do become parents, we will be better equipped to teach our children to do the same thing. It is such a comforting thought to know He always has plan A all ready to go. That He is never caught off guard and, therefore, He is always preparing us for what lies ahead and pulling us out of hurt when we are going through trials. The words from one of the songs at church resonated with me today so I thought I'd share them with you:

You turned my way, you heard my cry
You turned my mourning into shouting
Sorrow may last for a night
But with your light, I am seeing, I am singing

You lifted me out, lifted me out
And set me dancing, dancing
Free, now I am free, your love rescued me
Now it's the anthem I'm singing

Many will see, many will hear
And find you strong enough to save
Many the wonders you have done
Your light has come, and I am seeing, I am singing

You lifted me out, lifted me out
And set me dancing, dancing
Free, now I am free, your love rescued me
Now it's the anthem I'm singing

Lost is where you found me
Shattered and frail
But you loved me still
Trouble may surround me
My heart may fail
But you never will (You never will)

"You Lifted Me Out" by Chris Tomlin

Love,

Rachel

New Challenge

      I am heading to Guatemala this summer! I absolutely fell in love with Togo and would love to keep going every year but it is so hard missing 2 weeks of work. More importantly, my gifts are definitely NOT in the medical field and I feel like the Guatemala trip (a teaching mission) will be a better fit. So, after lots of prayer I have signed up to go on a trip without Justin this year. Not only will I not have Justin by my side for this one, I don't know a single person on the team. Talk about God challenging me! I hate going anywhere without knowing someone and I'm going to Central America?? I can do this(that's what I keep telling myself, anyway)! To be totally honest, I'm not even nervous about it which tells me I am doing what God wants me to do. I'm sure I'll get a little nervous when it gets closer but so far, so good.
      As for the adoption, I go through ups and downs. Justin and I are trying to use this time to pay down debt, travel, and just spend some time together. Yes, I know, we need to enjoy it while we can because when we bring our little one home we won't be able to do that stuff again (if you could hear me say this you would sense the frustration at hearing this sentence over and over and over again). **Venting Warning** What I really want to say to people when they tell me that is, why don't you wait over 5 years for a child and let me know how you would be so excited about waiting?
      We are still praying for God to send us a sign and working every day at putting our human impatience, frustration, hurt, and jealousy (we have officially entered into baby season with all of our friends) in His hands.

Slacker

Ok, so I know I've been a total slacker in that I haven't posted in about 3...maybe 4?...months. Sorry about that. To be honest, I haven't wanted to write anything. Why? Because there is nothing to write. Our adoption process isn't just moving slowly, it's not moving at all. We are still #45. Yep, you read that right, #45. Justin and I have gotten to the point where we hate hearing someone ask "so, how are things going with your adoption?" Don't get me wrong, we LOVE the support and encouragement from all of our family and friends. It's just that everytime someone asks us that, we are reminded that things aren't moving. We are literally begging God for a sign as to what we are supposed to do... is He giving us time to have together? Is He teaching us patience? Is this not the direction He wants us to go?  I need a big blaring sign, please Lord.

Togo Time

   So I know I have been super slack in my posts...welcome back to the school year! Part of that is because there really is no news about the adoption to share- you guessed it, we are still waiting! We haven't even moved anywhere on the list so that I can post about that (sorry, Jessie). What I can post about is Togo!

    God has worked his magic again and Justin and I are going to Togo again this year! We have a team of 21 (crazy that it is even larger than last year) going and I'm really excited that there are 3 other couples going this year. I think that will be cool. It's so different being a "veteran" this year. My entire perspective has changed and there is no nervousness. Now when they talk about things at meetings I get an accurate picture in my head of what things will be like, although I'm sure it's different every year. Tracy Jo and I are really working hard to find a way to share the message of Christ's love with the kids, last year it was total chaos. There were at least 200 kids at every clinic and it was impossible to do anything but sing and dance and play with them. While I completely and thoroughly enjoyed doing that, we both left last year knowing we wanted to have a different plan. The areas we are going into this  year have little or no knowledge of God. Close your eyes and try to imagine having never heard of Him... I can't imagine facing life's challenges without Him with me. It must be so lonely for them. They don't even know what they are missing!! The Pioneers Togo group will use our clinic to "plant the seed" of God in these villages and move missionaries into them to "help the seed grow and grow!" How cool is that? I am so excited!!