"For I know the plans I have for you..."

Marc and I prepared this testimony for church this morning...

Just over two years ago, Renée and I heard the voice of God, calling us to adopt. It was a very clear, very surprising call, to both of us. We had talked about adoption before, but not until then did it seem obvious; for our third child, we were to adopt.

It took some time to sink in. We did a lot of praying and a lot of researching. We took our time with the decision, were overwhelmed often and took breaks. It took two months to get the courage to call Children’s Aid for a three minute phone call about adoption, and then took another two months to recover from it. Then we started looking into international adoption which was also overwhelming. What country? What agency? Where do we even start?

And so, we started checking it out. And the more we searched, the more we realized that South Africa was where we were to go. And the country of South Africa has become very important to us, and to our extended family in surprising ways.

Early on in our adoption journey, we began praying for our baby and for his birth parents. We created a painting, a portrait of an African woman pregnant with a baby. And we chose a verse for our son. From Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

We chose this passage with the faith that God holds our baby in his hands; that although we don’t know who he is or where he is, God knows and God has plans for him. God has plans to give him hope and a future. We also chose it for his birth parents. They are in the dreadful position of having to decide to relinquish their child. They are also in God’s hand and he has a plan for them too. We pray that God will be very present in their lives, a source of strength, and comfort for them.

We didn’t choose this passage for us. It never even really crossed our minds really. But it seems that God also has plans for us and it has become so evident to us in the last few weeks.

When we were deciding to adopt, there was one major hurdle that stood in our way; one problem that we could not see a way through. This problem was money. If you’re not aware, adopting internationally costs a lot of money. Not only are there travel costs, there is the cost of lawyer’s fees (in both countries), social workers fees (in both countries), agency fees, court fees and home study fees… and it all adds up! We were once again overwhelmed. How in the world would we manage the costs? We looked into taking the money out of our mortgage and began looking into bank loans. We recognized that if this was God’s calling, he would provide, but (to borrow the words of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), even if he didn’t, we would be willing to take the financial hit, and follow through with God’s call.

So we started. And each financial deadline we have met. With support from family and friends, with a few months of a crazy two-income family lifestyle, with EI, and with the blessing of God, we have so far managed. We are now waiting for the phone call from our social worker with a proposal of our child. We are waiting. And waiting. And it has been amazing to see how, with a bit of extra work and the care and support of our family and friends, we have seen God’s hand of blessing in this adoption. Until recently.

We’ve started to look at travel and hotel costs. It turns out that what we were originally told will be a three week stay will now likely be four (perhaps more), and it seems that hotels are starting to inflate their prices in anticipation of the Soccer World Cup games. What we had originally budgeted for our trip is now looking to be double. After all this, how are we going to get past this one? We had a few hours of panic. Crazy panic.

And that’s when God did far more than just show his hand of blessing. God directly intervened, and showed us that this is his plan, and he is taking care of it. We received a call, just a few hours after doing the number crunching, that we had received a $10,000 grant. $10,000! We won a draw held by a charitable organization that assists families who are adopting internationally!

While we were panicking, God was making our name get pulled from the hat. For $10,000 towards our adoption fees. It’s like God said, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this one.”

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”.

Can you ask for better affirmation to a call than your one hurdle being removed, and in such a dramatic way.

We’ve been frustrated that the wait has been so long. We were expecting to have our baby right now. Here’s the thing. If we had our baby already, we would not have qualified for the grant. They won’t award it retroactively. Had we actually received a proposed child earlier, we would have lost the opportunity for the grant. It’s like God said, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this one. Remember though that things work on my clock, not yours.” “for I know the plans I have for you…”

We are overflowing with rejoicing in God’s providence, and God’s guidance, and even in God’s timeline. And we are incredibly grateful to all of you, our church community for your support and prayers so far. We covet them as we continue to wait for our son and then travel to South Africa to meet him. And we ask you to pray us all the way through, our return, the first few days at home, the first few weeks, and then months. We believe in the power of prayer.

We give God all the praise and glory for taking us through this journey so far. In many ways, it already feels like it’s been a huge journey, but we know that it’s barely started. Most importantly, we are again aware that we rest in God and we wait on him and in his plan.