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Trust and Obey
A little over a year ago, the Lord began calling us to open our home and family to adopt.
Initially, both Joel and I were very hesitant and resistant to the calling God had for us. The
Lord began pouring out scriptures to us in our church services, our Bible study, and our
quiet times that let us know that HE truly was calling us to adopt. We met tons of adoptive
parents during this time, many songs we heard spoke adoption to us, yet we still came up
with many reasons (maybe excuses is the right word!) of why we should not adopt. For
several months we quietly and privately prayed over God’s calling for us. We had so much
doubt, fear and anxiety about this calling to adopt. Very often the Lord would quiet my
anxieties by placing that old familiar hymn “Trust and Obey” in my heart during my moments
of uncertainty. I’m so thankful that Lord was merciful with us during our hesitations and
obvious lack of faith and doubting.
Now during this time, the Lord was really working on changing our hearts but we were still
not convinced enough to take those first steps. We finally realized that we must trust and
obey God’s calling when we began studying Numbers chapters 13-14 in a Bible study
group. We were reading God’s Word about how the children of Israel did not trust and
obey God’s calling for them to enter the promised land of Canaan, but instead they
doubted God’s promises to them and they came up with many great reasons (excuses) of
why they could not trust and obey Him. We know that God punished them and they had to
wander in the desert for 40 years because of their disobedience! Wow— through that
scripture, God spoke “ADOPTION” to our hearts that night and we knew that we did not
want to “wander in the desert for 40 years” because we would not TRUST and OBEY God’s
promises for us! Joel and I made the phone call to Better Futures Adoption Agency the
very next day and less than 3 months later, an amazing amount of paperwork was
completed and our dossier was on it’s way to Ethiopia.
God told us that there were 2 children that were going to be added to our family and so
finally, in obedience, we were waiting for a referral of siblings. During the next 3 months,
we watched as 3 sets of siblings were referred to us but for various different reasons, all 6
children were eventually placed in other homes. This really started making us question
God’s plan for our family again. Maybe He was shutting the door to adopting these children
because it was not His will. We were praying. Our agency called one afternoon and
discussed the strange events that had happened and wanted us to consider adopting two
unrelated children, not siblings, or perhaps, even just a single child because they were
having a hard time locating siblings for us to adopt. We were also facing an Army move in
July so the timing was also very important. We went to our Bible Study group that night
and asked for prayer. They did pray over our adoption and asked God to show us the
children or the child He had planned for our family so that we would know what decision to
tell our agency. Well, the Lord had never given me a vision but that night, after that
earnest prayer, the Lord did show me the child He had planned for our family through a
vision.
The Vision…..
I woke to a light on in my hallway at 0236am. The light had been off when I went to bed but
when I looked up towards the door where the light was now streaming in, I was startled to
see that there was a little Ethiopian boy standing in my hallway. He was about 3 feet tall,
his arms were clasped together at his waist and he had beautiful dark olive skin. There
was a small, shy smile on his face and his eyes looked directly at me. I thought I was
dreaming. I sat up straight in the bed and patted my face to try to wake myself up. As I
stared at the little boy in my hallway, I thought, “Who is this little boy in my house?” “How did
he get in here?” “What should I do?” I touched Joel’s arm to wake him up but he didn’t stir
so I immediately turned and started getting out of bed to see if there really was a little boy
in my hallway. When my feet hit the floor and I turned back towards the door, the little boy
was gone. I thought maybe my eyes had been playing tricks on me and maybe one of my
kids had been up to go to the bathroom so I went to check on them. They were all cozy
and it was evident that no one had been out of their bed just moments before. As I sat
down on the couch, I began praying and realized that God had just shown me the child He
had for our family. I was in awe, at total peace, and finally, I knew that we were only
supposed to adopt ONE child right now….. and he was a little 3 foot tall Ethiopian boy!
The next day, I shared the vision with Joel and all the friends that had prayed for me. I also
made a phone call to our agency and told them that we would consider adopting a single
child. Just one hour later, they called me back and said they would like us to consider
adopting a 3 year old little BOY! I was amazed—I hadn’t told them about my vision of a little
boy! Within an hour, we had a referral photo of this little boy on our computer. As we
opened up the photo on our computer, I nearly fell off the chair when I saw him. The little
boy in that photo was the same little boy I had seen the previous night in my hallway! The
Lord had given me a vision, not just a vision of any little Ethiopian boy, but it was a vision of
Nahome!
We travelled to Ethiopia to pick up Nahome in July of 2009. The Lord worked out ALL the
details. Every last detail was orchestrated by the Lord…..the money issues down to the
dollar, all the paperwork issues, the travel arrangements, our time in Ethiopia. The Lord
has truly shown Himself to us over this journey and we have been so blessed. Nahome
has done amazingly well and has adjusted to having 4 siblings and loves being a part of
our family. He is a very sweet and happy little boy. He WAS an orphan but now he has a
family to call his own! We are very blessed to be his family! The Lord has taught us lots
through our adoption, not only about trusting Him and obeying His commands for us, but
also about the unconditional love He has for all of us because we are all adopted son’s and
daughter’s of God! We do believe that God has another special child for our family and we
know that when God’s timing is right and He lays it on our hearts and speaks adoption to us
again….we will choose to Trust and Obey, for there‘s no other way, to be happy in Jesus,
but to Trust and Obey!
A little over a year ago, the Lord began calling us to open our home and family to adopt.
Initially, both Joel and I were very hesitant and resistant to the calling God had for us. The
Lord began pouring out scriptures to us in our church services, our Bible study, and our
quiet times that let us know that HE truly was calling us to adopt. We met tons of adoptive
parents during this time, many songs we heard spoke adoption to us, yet we still came up
with many reasons (maybe excuses is the right word!) of why we should not adopt. For
several months we quietly and privately prayed over God’s calling for us. We had so much
doubt, fear and anxiety about this calling to adopt. Very often the Lord would quiet my
anxieties by placing that old familiar hymn “Trust and Obey” in my heart during my moments
of uncertainty. I’m so thankful that Lord was merciful with us during our hesitations and
obvious lack of faith and doubting.
Now during this time, the Lord was really working on changing our hearts but we were still
not convinced enough to take those first steps. We finally realized that we must trust and
obey God’s calling when we began studying Numbers chapters 13-14 in a Bible study
group. We were reading God’s Word about how the children of Israel did not trust and
obey God’s calling for them to enter the promised land of Canaan, but instead they
doubted God’s promises to them and they came up with many great reasons (excuses) of
why they could not trust and obey Him. We know that God punished them and they had to
wander in the desert for 40 years because of their disobedience! Wow— through that
scripture, God spoke “ADOPTION” to our hearts that night and we knew that we did not
want to “wander in the desert for 40 years” because we would not TRUST and OBEY God’s
promises for us! Joel and I made the phone call to Better Futures Adoption Agency the
very next day and less than 3 months later, an amazing amount of paperwork was
completed and our dossier was on it’s way to Ethiopia.
God told us that there were 2 children that were going to be added to our family and so
finally, in obedience, we were waiting for a referral of siblings. During the next 3 months,
we watched as 3 sets of siblings were referred to us but for various different reasons, all 6
children were eventually placed in other homes. This really started making us question
God’s plan for our family again. Maybe He was shutting the door to adopting these children
because it was not His will. We were praying. Our agency called one afternoon and
discussed the strange events that had happened and wanted us to consider adopting two
unrelated children, not siblings, or perhaps, even just a single child because they were
having a hard time locating siblings for us to adopt. We were also facing an Army move in
July so the timing was also very important. We went to our Bible Study group that night
and asked for prayer. They did pray over our adoption and asked God to show us the
children or the child He had planned for our family so that we would know what decision to
tell our agency. Well, the Lord had never given me a vision but that night, after that
earnest prayer, the Lord did show me the child He had planned for our family through a
vision.
The Vision…..
I woke to a light on in my hallway at 0236am. The light had been off when I went to bed but
when I looked up towards the door where the light was now streaming in, I was startled to
see that there was a little Ethiopian boy standing in my hallway. He was about 3 feet tall,
his arms were clasped together at his waist and he had beautiful dark olive skin. There
was a small, shy smile on his face and his eyes looked directly at me. I thought I was
dreaming. I sat up straight in the bed and patted my face to try to wake myself up. As I
stared at the little boy in my hallway, I thought, “Who is this little boy in my house?” “How did
he get in here?” “What should I do?” I touched Joel’s arm to wake him up but he didn’t stir
so I immediately turned and started getting out of bed to see if there really was a little boy
in my hallway. When my feet hit the floor and I turned back towards the door, the little boy
was gone. I thought maybe my eyes had been playing tricks on me and maybe one of my
kids had been up to go to the bathroom so I went to check on them. They were all cozy
and it was evident that no one had been out of their bed just moments before. As I sat
down on the couch, I began praying and realized that God had just shown me the child He
had for our family. I was in awe, at total peace, and finally, I knew that we were only
supposed to adopt ONE child right now….. and he was a little 3 foot tall Ethiopian boy!
The next day, I shared the vision with Joel and all the friends that had prayed for me. I also
made a phone call to our agency and told them that we would consider adopting a single
child. Just one hour later, they called me back and said they would like us to consider
adopting a 3 year old little BOY! I was amazed—I hadn’t told them about my vision of a little
boy! Within an hour, we had a referral photo of this little boy on our computer. As we
opened up the photo on our computer, I nearly fell off the chair when I saw him. The little
boy in that photo was the same little boy I had seen the previous night in my hallway! The
Lord had given me a vision, not just a vision of any little Ethiopian boy, but it was a vision of
Nahome!
We travelled to Ethiopia to pick up Nahome in July of 2009. The Lord worked out ALL the
details. Every last detail was orchestrated by the Lord…..the money issues down to the
dollar, all the paperwork issues, the travel arrangements, our time in Ethiopia. The Lord
has truly shown Himself to us over this journey and we have been so blessed. Nahome
has done amazingly well and has adjusted to having 4 siblings and loves being a part of
our family. He is a very sweet and happy little boy. He WAS an orphan but now he has a
family to call his own! We are very blessed to be his family! The Lord has taught us lots
through our adoption, not only about trusting Him and obeying His commands for us, but
also about the unconditional love He has for all of us because we are all adopted son’s and
daughter’s of God! We do believe that God has another special child for our family and we
know that when God’s timing is right and He lays it on our hearts and speaks adoption to us
again….we will choose to Trust and Obey, for there‘s no other way, to be happy in Jesus,
but to Trust and Obey!
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