Praying for Adoptions in Liberia
Through this adoption process we have been connected with many wonderful people who are in the same boat as we are in. They have been led by God to adopt a child from Liberia. They have filled out the paperwork. They have received a referral. They have anxiously waited as the adoption process has been completed in Liberia.
Then something goes wrong.
We've had snags in our adoption process. But our snags have mostly been self imposed goofs (such as getting the wrong fingerprints on a card). Right now I can think of several families that are facing obstacles to their adoption that must feel like a blow to the stomach from Mike Tyson.
Imagine seeing pictures of a child, knowing their name, writing cards and letters to them, and preparing for the joy of bringing them home, only to find out, moments before you are to travel, that the adoption may not take place. As I read their stories I get an empty feeling in my own stomach because I realize that we could face that very same situation. For Lacey and me, it's almost this unspoken fear...like a nightmare that you don't even want to talk about because speaking about it causes you to relive the imagined horror all over again. When I read about families such as the Alonso's or the Borchert's, I want to reach out to them, but words literally escape me.
I am convinced that God wants us to adopt from Liberia. And I believe that he put Lovette and Yekekou on our hearts and in our lives for a reason. And in our minds they are our daughters. But we don't know exactly what God has in store for us, or for Lovette and Yekekou. It may be that He brings them to us without incident and in record time. That would be wonderful. However, there may be bumps in the road, and it may even be that He has plans for them that do not include us bringing them to the United States. That's a hard pill for us to swallow right now, but I know that if indeed that is His plan, He will provide us with the grace necessary to go through it.
I know this seems like a dark post. I don't intend for it to be. But I can't help but think about these things as I see others going through these trials. And the good thing about trials is that they remind us, perhaps even more than blessings do, of our complete and total reliance on God for everything that we have and do.
For those of you that are praying for us, thank you for your prayers. And while you are praying, please pray for the Alonso, Borchert, Holtz and Redman families as well.
Then something goes wrong.
We've had snags in our adoption process. But our snags have mostly been self imposed goofs (such as getting the wrong fingerprints on a card). Right now I can think of several families that are facing obstacles to their adoption that must feel like a blow to the stomach from Mike Tyson.
Imagine seeing pictures of a child, knowing their name, writing cards and letters to them, and preparing for the joy of bringing them home, only to find out, moments before you are to travel, that the adoption may not take place. As I read their stories I get an empty feeling in my own stomach because I realize that we could face that very same situation. For Lacey and me, it's almost this unspoken fear...like a nightmare that you don't even want to talk about because speaking about it causes you to relive the imagined horror all over again. When I read about families such as the Alonso's or the Borchert's, I want to reach out to them, but words literally escape me.
I am convinced that God wants us to adopt from Liberia. And I believe that he put Lovette and Yekekou on our hearts and in our lives for a reason. And in our minds they are our daughters. But we don't know exactly what God has in store for us, or for Lovette and Yekekou. It may be that He brings them to us without incident and in record time. That would be wonderful. However, there may be bumps in the road, and it may even be that He has plans for them that do not include us bringing them to the United States. That's a hard pill for us to swallow right now, but I know that if indeed that is His plan, He will provide us with the grace necessary to go through it.
I know this seems like a dark post. I don't intend for it to be. But I can't help but think about these things as I see others going through these trials. And the good thing about trials is that they remind us, perhaps even more than blessings do, of our complete and total reliance on God for everything that we have and do.
For those of you that are praying for us, thank you for your prayers. And while you are praying, please pray for the Alonso, Borchert, Holtz and Redman families as well.
posted by Patrick Berryman at 7:22 AM
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