Again, God's At It Again
A story of God's lavish grace in our adoption journey.
Some very exciting news.
Colette and I have a son. Asia and Rex have a brother. His name is Asher, he's three, and he's from the Philippines. Probably in June we'll go get him, when the process runs its course.
"Ten thousand thousand precious Gifts
My Daily Thanks employ,
Nor is the least a cheerful Heart,
That tastes those Gifts with Joy." (Joseph Addison, 1712)
You could say it's been a bit busy in our home. I was in Asia for two weeks, then a few days upon returning, flew to Las Vegas for a business awards show. It was in Las Vegas that Colette and I heard about Asher. A few hours later I was on stage accepting Gold and Silver awards for EnergyCAP, Inc.
In the midst of this, I was finishing last minute edits for "Made to Pray," working on a redesign for the website, and about to begin adoption paperwork.
So now we're planning a website relaunch in March, a book launch in May, and a trip to the Philippines in June. The best of all, we'll bring Asher home.
Through ev'ry Period of my Life
Thy Goodness I'll pursue,
And after Death in distant Worlds
The glorious Theme renew. (Ibid)
But that's not all the news. In May 2011, I wrote:
Colette and I are adopting from the Philippines again. It’ll probably go through in 2013. Some of you know that we adopted Rex from there.
In the course of an adoption, there are certain milestones. Approval of the home study is one of them. The home study is the basis to adopt, and the United States Customs and Immigration Service has to approve it. Our home study was approved on October 20.
Another milestone is the Approval to Adopt by the court in the Philippines. This makes the child adoptable. Our Approval to Adopt was signed on the same day a year later—October 20.
October 20 is my birthday. And there were other milestones that happened on Colette’s birthday and Asia’s birthday. Do you see what God was doing? He was telling the story that Rex belongs in our family. He supernaturally grafted him into our family on our birthdays.
And God’s at it again. Our social worker had a meeting with the adoption board in the Philippines to discuss our new adoption. What was the date? April 18, the birthday of my mom.
One day we’ll lay out the documents on the bed and we’ll show our children the story God’s telling. We’ll point to the dates on the papers and the matching birthdays, and laugh deeply at deep belonging, where no one’s left out. We’ll have a good hug and a good cry.
Then we’ll climb on the bed and jump up and down, all of us together at once.
And Again, God's At It Again.
Guess when Asher's birthday is? August 17. That's Colette's mom's birthday.
"Through all Eternity, to thee
A grateful Song I'll raise;
But O Eternity's too short
To utter all they Praise!" (Ibid)
You can't make this stuff up. God is so good!