The story really began to unfold one fateful afternoon in January. Sitting at the Port Authority Terminal in Jacksonville FL, I watched my family sail away on a Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas. The tears flowed freely from my eyes. I was supposed to be on board that ship, but instead, I was alone in the terminal and my family was sailing away.
It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.
Knight-in-Shining Armor had arranged his schedule to be gone for the week; we had driven eight hours to get there; it was a family gift...a Christmas present to our children. Being self-employed we didn't get away often and we were all looking forward to the vacation. The day before disembarking, we had received a phone call that we had been upgraded to the equivalent of a presidential suite complete with a loaded expense card. It was like we had won the lottery.
But, it just wasn't fair.
The birth certificate that awarded me boarding rights on a Carnival Cruise two years ago was no longer an approved boarding pass. The Dept of Homeland Security had changed their policy regarding birth certificates as valid for entry onto a ship just three months prior to our trip and we had no idea until that fateful afternoon in January that mine was not an approved form of ID. Come hail or high water the authorities were not allowing me to board the ship.
Not fair.
I had no idea where to go or what to do with myself. I was completely alone. Then, in a remarkable moment as all kinds of thoughts ran through my head (should I drive 5 hours to visit my dad?, should I check into a local hotel and wait for my families return?, should I go my in-laws? should I go home? Lord, hear my prayer, what should I do?), a thought unlike all the rest bombarded my mind..."go home and paint the bedrooms". What? Return to NC and paint the bedrooms?
YES!
In that moment there was peace. While my family cruised the high seas set for the Bahamas, I was going home to paint.
Though I set out to get a warm neutral tone for True Princesses walls and a soft neutral tone for Fair Maiden's, it was LIVELY GREEN and BUBBLE GUM PINK that caught my eye.
What?
I could not explain my color choices then, I just chose what I was drawn to. I had no idea what was in store for our family that fateful day in January as I stood stranded on the shore and watched my family sail off into the sunset...BUT God did and He sent me home to paint.
The following Monday, Gladney called and shared the news that they were now accredited to do adoptions from Honduras. They propositioned us to be a pioneer family for the pilot program. We accepted the offer and I smiled a BIG smile. I directed my eyes to the heavens and smiled an even BIGGER smile. Little did I know that in a moment of obedience on that fateful day in January, I would be preparing a place for our new children to sleep. All I knew then was that I was alone and I had been sent home to paint. That Monday, I realized I had been on a mission...a mission for God.
A week earlier, I couldn't explain my color choices...but today, I can tell you that True princess's room was painted LIVELY GREEN, and today, it has been transformed into the bedroom of Thunder and Lightning. It was a PERFECT color choice for my theme and for my two little boys.
Fair Maiden never wanted for a pink room, but returning home from the cruise that is what she had. However, that BUBBLE GUM PINK room now belongs to True Princess. Believe it or not, True Princess's heart's desire has always been to live in a pink palace. From the time she was knee-high to a grasshopper, she has dreamed of having pink walls and now she has them. Fair Maiden has always wanted a bedroom upstairs and now she will be moving to a palace of her own on the second floor.
God knows the big and little desires of your heart and He wants to fulfill them all. When we surrender our lives to Him and His will, He blesses us so richly. He desires for us to trust and obey; to seek Him for answers and wisdom. He is pleased when we run to Him for comfort. He loves it when something doesn't make sense or just isn't fair, but we heed the small still voice and obediently respond to It anyway.
From the beginning our agency warns prospective adoptive parents NOT to:
Some call us rebellious.
We call ourselves faithful. Faithful to His calling. Faithful to His voice. Faithful to the vision. For us, it is not a question of IF, but rather, WHEN our boys will be coming home. We will continue to call them by name and prepare a place for them in our home and in our hearts. With everything we have we will shout from the rooftops, "Lord, we believe!".
Without great leaps of faith we lose all the excitement of possibilities.
And God is a God of incredible possibilities, therefore, "We believe!"
It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.
Knight-in-Shining Armor had arranged his schedule to be gone for the week; we had driven eight hours to get there; it was a family gift...a Christmas present to our children. Being self-employed we didn't get away often and we were all looking forward to the vacation. The day before disembarking, we had received a phone call that we had been upgraded to the equivalent of a presidential suite complete with a loaded expense card. It was like we had won the lottery.
But, it just wasn't fair.
The birth certificate that awarded me boarding rights on a Carnival Cruise two years ago was no longer an approved boarding pass. The Dept of Homeland Security had changed their policy regarding birth certificates as valid for entry onto a ship just three months prior to our trip and we had no idea until that fateful afternoon in January that mine was not an approved form of ID. Come hail or high water the authorities were not allowing me to board the ship.
Not fair.
I had no idea where to go or what to do with myself. I was completely alone. Then, in a remarkable moment as all kinds of thoughts ran through my head (should I drive 5 hours to visit my dad?, should I check into a local hotel and wait for my families return?, should I go my in-laws? should I go home? Lord, hear my prayer, what should I do?), a thought unlike all the rest bombarded my mind..."go home and paint the bedrooms". What? Return to NC and paint the bedrooms?
YES!
In that moment there was peace. While my family cruised the high seas set for the Bahamas, I was going home to paint.
Though I set out to get a warm neutral tone for True Princesses walls and a soft neutral tone for Fair Maiden's, it was LIVELY GREEN and BUBBLE GUM PINK that caught my eye.
What?
I could not explain my color choices then, I just chose what I was drawn to. I had no idea what was in store for our family that fateful day in January as I stood stranded on the shore and watched my family sail off into the sunset...BUT God did and He sent me home to paint.
The following Monday, Gladney called and shared the news that they were now accredited to do adoptions from Honduras. They propositioned us to be a pioneer family for the pilot program. We accepted the offer and I smiled a BIG smile. I directed my eyes to the heavens and smiled an even BIGGER smile. Little did I know that in a moment of obedience on that fateful day in January, I would be preparing a place for our new children to sleep. All I knew then was that I was alone and I had been sent home to paint. That Monday, I realized I had been on a mission...a mission for God.
A week earlier, I couldn't explain my color choices...but today, I can tell you that True princess's room was painted LIVELY GREEN, and today, it has been transformed into the bedroom of Thunder and Lightning. It was a PERFECT color choice for my theme and for my two little boys.
Fair Maiden never wanted for a pink room, but returning home from the cruise that is what she had. However, that BUBBLE GUM PINK room now belongs to True Princess. Believe it or not, True Princess's heart's desire has always been to live in a pink palace. From the time she was knee-high to a grasshopper, she has dreamed of having pink walls and now she has them. Fair Maiden has always wanted a bedroom upstairs and now she will be moving to a palace of her own on the second floor.
God knows the big and little desires of your heart and He wants to fulfill them all. When we surrender our lives to Him and His will, He blesses us so richly. He desires for us to trust and obey; to seek Him for answers and wisdom. He is pleased when we run to Him for comfort. He loves it when something doesn't make sense or just isn't fair, but we heed the small still voice and obediently respond to It anyway.
From the beginning our agency warns prospective adoptive parents NOT to:
- decorate a room until you have a referral...we did anyway.
- buy cute little baby things until you are ready to travel...we did anyway.
- get your hopes up or get too excited about anything...we did anyway.
People said, don't name the children until everything is finalized...we did anyway (Thunder and Lightning are just their pen names, by the way!).
Some call us rebellious.
We call ourselves faithful. Faithful to His calling. Faithful to His voice. Faithful to the vision. For us, it is not a question of IF, but rather, WHEN our boys will be coming home. We will continue to call them by name and prepare a place for them in our home and in our hearts. With everything we have we will shout from the rooftops, "Lord, we believe!".
Without great leaps of faith we lose all the excitement of possibilities.
And God is a God of incredible possibilities, therefore, "We believe!"
Kelli,
ReplyDeleteI have been following your blog since I found it on Gladney's FB page. We too are on the journey to bring a child home from Honduras. I wanted to know if you have ben told your number yet? The number your family is on the national wait list? Thanks for writing. Your blog has kept me inspired!
Jami