Learning...Part 2

SECOND THING I HAVE LEARNED....
Responding to God's call, however hard it is, is necessary to learn and grow and move forward in the adventure of the life God has set before us

I had a great conversation with a lady at church today about our adoption. She was unaware of our circumstance and had a lot of questions about our adoption, Ethiopia and adopting older children. She was genuinely interested and educated ( being an adoptive mother herself) and one question, I thought was particularly poignant. She asked" so are you adopting older children because it is faster or because you really want an older child?"
Between the lines, the question to me read " is it easier or is there something more?" We believe 100 percent that this adventure is a response to God's call in our lives. The desire to have more children is there ( but wasn't always), our kids are excited about it but there is an undercurrent that is more than just expanding our family. John Piper puts it this way " Adoption is God putting his grace on display most beautifully". It is tangible. It is missional living- i think i may write a post on just this at some point! It is learning more about who God is, through living life with another human being. it is a response.
So I have responded. And have put that response to action, along with my husband and kids. And as many of you now, I will take any chance I get to share my passion about adoption!!!
2012 brought with it many emotions that were unearthed as we responded to God's leading in many areas of our lives. In no particular order-
- finishing building our home that we knew we would not live in
- saying yes to a call to ministry in a new community- which took us away from a gret community
- responding to the diagnosis of a chronic condition with one of our children
- committing to adopting older child(ren)
- responding to my husband's leading and trusting Him as we spent the summer Camping ( it was a blast!)
- responding to God as he gently walking beside us as 4 house offers fell through, not knowing where we going to live 2 weeks before we moved, and then moving into a wonderful friends home for a couple of weeks (as she moved out) before we took possession of our new home.
The key learning point-respond and then trust.
All of this looks a little simpler when written down but life is messy. There are variable factors in everyday life that can either make things easier or harder. But I have learned more, grown more, trusted more and hopefully people have seen a little glimpse of Jesus through me.

Blessings,
Candra