Humbled

Again, while this blog sat quiet, we have not been idle in the least! 

In October, after sending in an extensive application and then being interviewed by a small panel, we learned that we are receiving the Micah Fund Grant!  This is a grant where they match $2,000 of the donations we received from family and friends. Please check out more about the Micah Fund HERE and head to our personal fundraising site HERE for more information and details both about our story and this process as a whole.  We have been greatly blessed by those who have donated thus far!

We would be lying to say this last year has been easy. Don’t get me wrong; we are INCREDIBLY blessed and grateful. But, as I have learned while talking with others who have adopted- life seems to become full of trials, (both related and unrelated to the adoption) when in this journey.  In all of it, we can feel Him shaping us, leading us and loving us.  Anyone who knows me well knows I love the following John Piper Quote: “He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”  What I am learning (again) is that I often have to be emptied of myself and what I held too tightly to in order to hold most tightly to Him and therefore, find that HE is most satisfying. No amount of success, friendships, church involvement, or anything else can fulfill what our hearts were made for: something eternal. That something eternal happens to be a wonderful God- the author of joy, peace and love, of grace and truth, and of transformation. He transforms lives and we think He is doing just that as we walk the path of adoption.  While this child’s life will be changed, OURS are being changed now and will continue to be. We are growing, our worldview is expanding, and our perspective for what is important is shifting.  All of this is great, but most great things require work, sacrifice and, I believe, surrender.  Between significant health challenges, expensive car repairs and a few other challenging circumstances, we are emptied. Thankfully, that is when we most greatly cling to grace and find a peace that was allusive to us in our own strength.

The definition of humbled is: reflecting, expressing or offered in a spirit of deference or submission.  I find that we are in this place. It really isn’t something you can create or force- but through a series of trials, and when you’re in a place where you can’t move forward alone, you’re humbled.  Asking for family and friends to partner alongside us in humbling.  It is not natural to our human nature to want to share a need, or to be unable to accomplish what we feel called to in and of ourselves.  And yet, I am learning, that is the point exactly. God gets so much more glory by moving mountains. That is why so many that adopt cannot afford it themselves.  And yet, if we took that as a definitive ‘no’ to adoption, if all those before us did, how many MORE orphans would there be?  This convicted us.  We cannot let our pride, our limitations; stop us from advocating for, and pursuing the orphans.   Inconvenience, and dare I say it, hardship, is so worth it because these children who need families and homes are so worth it. 

So our lives are a poured out offering.  We can only seek to honor Him day by day, and trust that He will bring to pass what He has so clearly called of us. 

Thankful, above all, for Him,

Kate