Crazy beginning! I am ever explaining our school to friends, our family has figured it out! We home school three days a week and the other two days the kids are at school. At a normal school going from class to class, eating lunch, being taught by highly qualified teachers and getting an accredited education. On home days we follow the home work assigned by our teachers and everything is turned in and an actual grade is given. I guess we are a hybrid school. We are not a traditional school by any stretch of the imagination and we don't home school in the traditional home school way.
I teach 8th grade American History at the school and have for the past 5 years. I also assist, for 5 years in 5th grade and in 3rd grade last year and this year. I have all of these glamorous jobs because I love, love, love middle school, call it an illness, I love to teach, I love history and seeing how God has worked in history and to pay tuition for 3 kids. Our school has two sessions. Our buildings aren't large enough to accommodate all the families that want to be a part of this amazing program so we have a Monday/Wednesday session, the kids are at school on Monday and Wednesday and a Tuesday/Friday session where the kids are at school. Thursdays are for high school and middle school labs, clubs and meetings. It's an amazing program that really prepares kids for college. The idea of getting an assignment on Thursday that will need to be completed and turned in on Monday leads to having to plan your time wisely and keep up with things. Just like in college, where you aren't in the same classes everyday. Our family happens to be on the M/W session. We love it! That's the session I've worked on for the last 7 years. Where I teach and assist. There's a point to this information.
This week, okay really last week we had our big China program introduction call with Liz our favorite adoption social worker. She happens to have been our Thailand adoption social worker too, which is super cool. We had been planning and preparing to pay our first payment and thought we had it covered, but as we talked we realized that we didn't really understand the wording of the payment schedule and we were going to owe $1,400 more than we had planned. We don't have an extra $1,400 sitting around...we don't have an extra $140 sitting around generally.
School was starting so I stalled on the paperwork. Our social worker was going on vacation so I felt I could stall and we prayed, not like we ever stopped, but we prayed in earnest for God to provide. My sweet friend had done a fund raiser for us and was going to pay a significant amount toward the first agency payment, God had provided the rest...except the $1,400 that we weren't planning on.
As this week moved along the need to get the paper work signed and back to our agency and to pay our fee was weighing heavy on me. So we decided to wait and then send what we could on Friday and hope they didn't charge us a ton for late fees. They are a great agency, but they are a business and have expenses too. We don't just get to decide what to pay. So Thursday rolls around and Veldon came home from work. We had company, he got the mail, I never get the mail, never, never, never...it's some sort of phobia it's weird, but I won't do it. The kids won't even ask me to anymore they know it will probably lead to some sort of breathing incident. (I have asthma.) Thursday evening got crazy and Veldon and I didn't get a minute alone. As we were getting ready for bed he said, "Guess what, we got a check in the mail for $1,000 from my doctor. Do you think that's enough to pay our agency fee?"
Me, "Wait a minute why would your doctor send us a refund?"
Veldon, "I don't know but don't you think it's great?"
Me, "No, we can't keep it we haven't even paid them that much."
Veldon,"Oh, that's true we haven't. Darn I was thinking this was our answer."
Me,"Who was it from?"
"GA ...." (Sweet, wonderful, sometimes clueless man whom I love!!)
Me,"Baby, that's not your doctor. That's Max's doctor. How much did you pay to the hospital for the deductible for his surgery last year?"
Veldon, "$..."
Me, "That's the whole deductible! This is a refund for the prepayment to the doctor!"
You see Max had surgery last year, 14 months ago, we had to pay $1,000ish up front to the surgeon and they promised if they filed after the deductible was met the money would be refunded. Over two months after the surgery the hospital billed us for the whole amount of the deductible (they got to the insurance first) and Veldon paid it. He didn't put it all together, God didn't let him put it all together. He put that money on hold for us to return to us on August 22, 2013 to pay the difference for Chen Hui's first payment. Had we realized we were getting a refund we would have bugged them to death...obviously! We didn't see it coming, we couldn't have guessed God would provide in this way, but He did! He's so able to meet our needs even beyond what we could hope for or imagine. I know I said we were $1,400 off and we received $1,000. The entire amount was sent yesterday. I really have no idea where the other $400 came from but it was there!
Back to our school. As I said I have worked and taught on the MW session. This year, shortly before school started, our principal called me, on a Friday night, (when the principal calls on a Friday night somethings up!) and offered me the TF 8th grade American History classes this year. Four classes in total now! It doubles what I make and although it won't pay for an adoption it will go a long way in filling in the gaps and helping us to take care of little things that get pushed to the back while trying to adopt a child. I have always thought it would be great to teach all the 8th graders history, but having taught on MW for 5 years and never being offered the TF position, even with several teacher changes, I didn't think I would ever be offered and I was...exactly when we needed it. Without any warning, without any manipulation.
Every way that God has provided for this adoption so far has been out of the blue. My mom was able to help us some with our last adoption, but we live in a different world and money isn't as available today. God doesn't need the economy to be great, He doesn't need us to figure this out. He's got it. When He gives it doesn't deplete His resources. When He gives there are no strings attached. We don't have to choose between the adoption and something else. He just provides. He just speaks it into being. He just does it.
This is our adoption verse it was with Max and it is again with Chen Hui. It's not a prophetic promise, we aren't claiming that He's promised to bring Chen Hui home because of this verse. It's a spiritual truth. What He begins He will see to completion. We have seen Him continue to provide and we believe at this time, that it is His desire for Chen Hui to be our son. Of course, if it's not His will we trust Him in that too.
But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!
Habakkuk 2:3
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Welcome Pictures...Hard Realities
Today in my inbox was an email from another adoptive momma who spent a good part of yesterday at Chen Hui's orphanage and looked for him for us and took pictures and asked questions.
He's as beautiful as he was 3 months ago when we got the most recent picture. His eyes are alert, his cheeks are full, but he is bone thin. He appears to have almost no muscle tone and you can even see the shape of his heel bone in one picture.
I was sobbing to see him, to know that just 24 hours ago he was fine, but I was also sobbing that he's so clearly hungry.
This family took crackers to pass out and the children devoured them. What a special treat for all those sweet babies. But, again, how very sad. They are given a small amount of food at mealtime and that's it, no snacks nothing else. This is such a change for us. When we were waiting for Max every single picture we got was of a very plump, well fed little boy. His tummy was round and full of parasites, but he wasn't hungry...ever. Our guide told us he ate candy and drank Pepsi with the nannies every day.
I have so many thoughts swirling around in my brain. Concern, joy, frustration, weariness, excitement, anticipation, wonder. I could go on and on, but the biggest thing that comes to my mind right now is RANSOM.
I believe that these babies are stuck, they are locked away and the proverbial key has been thrown away, they are owned by the government, they have no voice, they have no choices, they are in darkness, in bondage.
Every time we look at our finances and there's enough to pay for a step in the adoption my mind's eye is watching our God ransom our son out of bondage, his son out of bondage. Every grant I look at, every application I am working on I am praying for God to provide the ransom for our son. We can't do it, we don't have 40% of our yearly income to give for our son, we would gladly do it if there were any possible way, but there isn't. But we serve a faithful God who can ransom Chen Hui.
Along the same line, God's provision, ransom, rescue, adoption I keep coming across negativity about adoption...which is interesting because I'm not really on any groups and I don't follow any blogs. One group for Thailand that rarely posts anything and a home school group. I have my little blog and I some how ended up on a FB adoptive parent page. Nevertheless, I keep reading about how wrong it is for people to adopt a child to "rescue that child" that the right reason to adopt is that you've always wanted kids. Okay, if they are saying that we Christians are adopting out of guilt and we don't want kids at all, then yes it would be wrong to adopt, but that's not the impression I get from these statements, posts, articles. It's as if there's something wrong with adopting an orphan because you want to help a child, because they have a need you can provide. I can be a mom, I've been doing it for a really long time. Veldon can be a dad, he too has been doing it for quite a while. (Okay technically the same amount of time, but I did have 9 months of actually carrying 3 of the 4!) So it's wrong to adopt to help a child? It's wrong to rescue a child because adopted kids don't want to be rescued! Really? I look a Chen Hui, he's malnourished, sitting in a hot room with heat rash and other sores on his body. His shirt is too big and, besides a rather large diaper, he's not wearing anything else. His legs don't look strong enough to hold his weight for long and there aren't even many toys to play with. He shares a metal crib with another child and spends a good amount of his day there. He would rather stay there? When he's 15 he'll wish his parents had left him alone? (Okay well maybe 15 is a bad example.) It seems to me that the world has it wrong. It seems to me that it's selfish and wrong to adopt a child to fill a need in your life or at least to believe that a child will in any way be able to fulfill a need for you, because they are greedy, needy, adorable little creatures! Why can't we all just rejoice that a child, any child, will be in a loving home?
We love children, we always have. We love being parents. We love adoption! We love it because we have been adopted, ransomed, rescued by our Father. We believe that to adopt an orphan and change his life is the gospel at work. We believe that we are commanded to be involved in the lives of orphans, that God loves the orphan and that we are to be involved and the very best way to be involved is to make a child an orphan no more.
As I look over the pictures of our son and as I contemplate the future. As I hear the voices, yay and nay echoing in my head. I can't help but believe that any orphan would rather be in a home and that if they could they would say "yes please rescue me!". I believe that those little children would want the naysayers of adopting because we love children, and because we believe it is a mandate from God for those of us able to adopt, to walk a day in their shoes, or lack there of, and then criticize the parents that love them enough to beg God to ransom them.
He's as beautiful as he was 3 months ago when we got the most recent picture. His eyes are alert, his cheeks are full, but he is bone thin. He appears to have almost no muscle tone and you can even see the shape of his heel bone in one picture.
I was sobbing to see him, to know that just 24 hours ago he was fine, but I was also sobbing that he's so clearly hungry.
This family took crackers to pass out and the children devoured them. What a special treat for all those sweet babies. But, again, how very sad. They are given a small amount of food at mealtime and that's it, no snacks nothing else. This is such a change for us. When we were waiting for Max every single picture we got was of a very plump, well fed little boy. His tummy was round and full of parasites, but he wasn't hungry...ever. Our guide told us he ate candy and drank Pepsi with the nannies every day.
I have so many thoughts swirling around in my brain. Concern, joy, frustration, weariness, excitement, anticipation, wonder. I could go on and on, but the biggest thing that comes to my mind right now is RANSOM.
I believe that these babies are stuck, they are locked away and the proverbial key has been thrown away, they are owned by the government, they have no voice, they have no choices, they are in darkness, in bondage.
Every time we look at our finances and there's enough to pay for a step in the adoption my mind's eye is watching our God ransom our son out of bondage, his son out of bondage. Every grant I look at, every application I am working on I am praying for God to provide the ransom for our son. We can't do it, we don't have 40% of our yearly income to give for our son, we would gladly do it if there were any possible way, but there isn't. But we serve a faithful God who can ransom Chen Hui.
Along the same line, God's provision, ransom, rescue, adoption I keep coming across negativity about adoption...which is interesting because I'm not really on any groups and I don't follow any blogs. One group for Thailand that rarely posts anything and a home school group. I have my little blog and I some how ended up on a FB adoptive parent page. Nevertheless, I keep reading about how wrong it is for people to adopt a child to "rescue that child" that the right reason to adopt is that you've always wanted kids. Okay, if they are saying that we Christians are adopting out of guilt and we don't want kids at all, then yes it would be wrong to adopt, but that's not the impression I get from these statements, posts, articles. It's as if there's something wrong with adopting an orphan because you want to help a child, because they have a need you can provide. I can be a mom, I've been doing it for a really long time. Veldon can be a dad, he too has been doing it for quite a while. (Okay technically the same amount of time, but I did have 9 months of actually carrying 3 of the 4!) So it's wrong to adopt to help a child? It's wrong to rescue a child because adopted kids don't want to be rescued! Really? I look a Chen Hui, he's malnourished, sitting in a hot room with heat rash and other sores on his body. His shirt is too big and, besides a rather large diaper, he's not wearing anything else. His legs don't look strong enough to hold his weight for long and there aren't even many toys to play with. He shares a metal crib with another child and spends a good amount of his day there. He would rather stay there? When he's 15 he'll wish his parents had left him alone? (Okay well maybe 15 is a bad example.) It seems to me that the world has it wrong. It seems to me that it's selfish and wrong to adopt a child to fill a need in your life or at least to believe that a child will in any way be able to fulfill a need for you, because they are greedy, needy, adorable little creatures! Why can't we all just rejoice that a child, any child, will be in a loving home?
We love children, we always have. We love being parents. We love adoption! We love it because we have been adopted, ransomed, rescued by our Father. We believe that to adopt an orphan and change his life is the gospel at work. We believe that we are commanded to be involved in the lives of orphans, that God loves the orphan and that we are to be involved and the very best way to be involved is to make a child an orphan no more.
As I look over the pictures of our son and as I contemplate the future. As I hear the voices, yay and nay echoing in my head. I can't help but believe that any orphan would rather be in a home and that if they could they would say "yes please rescue me!". I believe that those little children would want the naysayers of adopting because we love children, and because we believe it is a mandate from God for those of us able to adopt, to walk a day in their shoes, or lack there of, and then criticize the parents that love them enough to beg God to ransom them.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)