Waiting and trusting the Lord is not an easy thing. My faith has been challenged like never before. Steve has been rock solid. If the Lord has spoken, He has spoken and He cannot lie.
One month ago the adoption agency called us and let us know that the Italian family was in full swing of adopting our children from Colombia. They asked us what we wanted to do about the money we had already sent them. Steve said, "I'm not trying to be difficult. I'm not trying to make a point. I know this sounds crazy to you but I'm not changing my position. Those children in Colombia are ours. God hasn't spoken otherwise. We're still standing and waiting for something to happen that will bring them back to us." They said okay and then that was that.
That news was the final nail in the coffin. Our hearts knew that it was officially impossible. However, in the midst of it, Steve declared that this final blow to the reality of our adopting the sibling pair was going to make our miracle more incredible!
A week ago last Sunday, Eric, our pastor, spoke on the lineage of Christ. It was incredible to see how in the face of impossibility God managed to come through every time and preserve the seed that would become the Savior. Even our children's faith surged as we listened to God's faithfulness to His promises. There was one part in the geneology where there seemed to be no hope. The kingly line was being cut off. Then the deliverer came in the form of a woman who spared the life of the one who would be king....her name meant "the Lord hath sworn". Blown away by God's covenant keeping mercy to mankind, I began to cry as I thought of how His promises haven't changed. He is still keeping His word!
The next day, Monday, the children had a badminton tournament and in the middle of it Steve got a text message to call Trevor. He returned the call and the conversation went something like this:
Steve: Hey Trevor.
Trevor: Hey Steve. Has Florida called you?
Steve: No, should they?
Trevor: Yes. (Sarcastically) Coincidently, the Italian couple has dropped out of the adoption process. Something came up in their paperwork and they cannot continue pursuing the adoption. The orphanage called and wanted to know if you and your family still wanted to adopt J&J. Are you still interested?
Steve: Trevor, our stance is the same. It's never changed. Those are our children. We've been waiting for this to happen.
The next few moments are a blur to me. I laughed so hard I started to lose my voice. I smiled so much my face hurt. I cried tears of joy. We pulled our children aside and told them the news. Anna burst into tears. Kate shouted with joy. Stephen hugged me so tight I could barely breathe. Nathan ran back and forth with his hands in the air screaming "Yeah"!
As we were rejoicing with our children, Steve said to Stephen, "Son, don't ever let circumstances, what people say, others doubt and unbelief change your position of faith. Let this be a memorial for you. When God speaks, only the word of the Lord matters. Nothing else. God keeps His word!" Stephen looked straight into his father's eyes and said with confidence, "For the Lord hath sworn".
Tuesday, we spoke to the agency and they added to the excitement. "Colombia wants to expedite the adoption because of everything that has gone on. We need your dossier in a month!" What? A month! Is it possible? With God all things are possible! :)
As we continued the conversation with them we asked about having biological children since that was why they refused us and gave our little ones to the Italian family. The response healed a place in my heart that I didn't even realize was wounded. Basically, this particular orphanage had specific reasons for not adopting their children out to families with biological children but God changed their hearts concerning us and they have made an exception for our family. We know that God has prevailed!
This testimony is because of Him and Him alone. There was no hope in sight. Lazarus was dead....but we serve a God who is the Resurrection! He has the power to bring the dead to life!
We are on a fast track to Colombia....however, we are still in need of miracles! Supposedly having your fingerprints done, sent to the FBI and given the go ahead from the background check takes about 5 months. We need it before then! Please help us pray that we will have favor and our paperwork will fly through the system.
We need prayers for us, our biological children and our Colombian children!
Steve and I need so much wisdom in how to parent our four at home while we spend every waking moment pursuing this adoption. One of the things that can easily happen is for everyone else to get overlooked while we are working to bring J&J home. Our desire is to remain attentive to their needs, find time for long walks, long talks and some extracurricular activities in order to continue to communicate with them their preciousness and value to us. We need prayer that our final months together with our biological children will be rich with an extra measure of love and grace as we prepare our hearts and our home for the arrival of two more!
It's so wonderful to see Kate, Anna, Stephen and Nathan embrace these children. They are so full of love towards our Colombians children that it is astounding at times. Steve and I are not ignorant concerning the great change that is coming to our hearts and our home. Even though we probably can't fully imagine the scope of it, we are still confident that God will enable us and our biological children to thrive in the midst of it. Please help us pray that we will be so fortified as a family that the enemy will not be able to prevail in an attack against any one of us. Our desire is to be made stronger through this process ... to love more completely!
We are praying for J&J that God has already begun their healing process. We don't know their story yet but if they are in an orphanage, there has to be pain on some level if not many. Our heart is to see them fully healed and integrated into our family without too much suffering in the transition period. It's going to be a huge deal for them to leave their home, which according to our sources, is a wonderful place. Also, they will be leaving their country and culture. As diversified as America is, it still isn't Latin America. They will be living together as brother and sister for the first time in quite a while (how long we're not sure) ... so there will be adjustments there, not to mention gaining 4 more siblings! So much for their little minds and hearts to absorb. We really need the Lord to overwhelm the situation and do what He does best.
And finally, we need to raise $37,000.00 for this adoption! That in itself is a miracle! Usually you pay the same amount per child regardless of the amount of children adopted. Colombia doesn't charge a full fee for a sibling. They only charge administrative fees (approx. $5,000). Then we need another $5,000 for our biological children to come with us to Colombia for 6 weeks while we spend time there getting to know J&J (required by orphanage). All in all $37,000 is wonderful! I had a friend who adopted two brothers from Russia....$50,000. So, we're thankful for our fee! We will be applying for grants for some of this but the rest will come through donations and fundraising! Pray we get really creative!
Please join us in prayer! We need God to continue to move on our behalf...on J&J's behalf! If you want to send an encouraging word, please do. If you want to support us financially, there is a link to the Rosen Family Adoption Fund through PayPal at the top of the blog on the right or at the bottom of the blog! :) However, if you just want to pray, we will most assuredly benefit from those prayers and we'll trust God to do the rest!
Thank you to all of you who have stood with us and believed in the impossible! Our God is able, He is faithful and He is good! We've been warned that there is still a risk until they are in our home but it's one that we will continue to take!
All glory, honor and praise to our God! The Lord hath sworn!
