Together in Hope

Just today, one of my dear friends asked me how the adoption was going.  I gladly shared that our complete dossier (application) was submitted last Monday, April 4, 2016, to the Ministry and Orphan's Court in Latvia. Sunshine was asked by a caseworker if she wanted our family to adopt her and she said YES! So now we can only wait for Latvian officials to work out the details and send us an approval for travel. My friend said something like "You know, you sound way more hopeful about it now.  You’re just talking about it differently."  She was right.  

Some of you know that we had a failed adoption of two sisters from Ukraine several years ago. We had begun the process of adopting K and V from Crimea, and one of the teachers in the orphanage decided to take the younger sister into foster care.  In Ukraine, children in foster care are no longer available for international adoption, and without the younger sister, K was too old to be adopted alone (not to mention Russia’s annexation of Crimea shut down all adoptions shortly thereafter). So that was that. The door was slammed shut. We were completely crushed and wondered how God would have allowed everything to fall apart. What could possibly have been the purpose?

Paul wrote about the hardships and suffering he endured with Timothy in his the second letter to the Corinthian church:

"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.  On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.  Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many" (2 Cor. 1:8-11).

For the longest time we suffered and grieved the loss of our daughters. We prayed and asked God to make a way for the impossible in their adoption, but He did not. Much like Paul, "Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death." Sadness and despair pressed down on our hearts. In time, God gave us the ability to endure the loss, but then we were left asking what we were supposed to do next. What we didn't recognize at the time was that "this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." While I’m sure there were many divine purposes I know nothing about, the earthly, tangible result was the realization that we had to leave it in His hands. Our oldest son, Davis, who was 9 or 10 at the time had an unusual clarity about it and said to me, “Mom, we know God wants us to adopt some kids, so let’s go find someone else.”

My friend was so perceptive today. I have been guarded. I've been cautiously hoping for God to work it out. But who am I to add caution to my hope in Christ? Isn't hope itself fully expecting and trusting something to happen? Paul said, "On Him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers." Paul placed his hope upon Christ and left it there with no strings of cautiousness attached. It’s time for us to hope that way again.

So many of you have helped us by your prayers. So many of you have blessed us with donations. You're the body of Christ in action petitioning the Creator to rescue His daughter from an orphan's life. And so together we will hope.

As we wait to hear some official word from Latvia, please continue to pray with us. We estimate that we have about one more month (May 15, 2016) to raise the remaining legal fees and in-country costs (approximately $6,000 more), the majority of which will be wired to Latvia prior to our travel. We have a friend who will be donating Sky Miles to help us purchase plane tickets, but with three separate required trips to Latvia over the next 6-8 months we could use all of the Sky Miles and buddy passes we can get.

Will you please share our fundraiser page with your friends and family? I've been amazed at complete strangers and casual acquaintances who have been moved to help. Share as you feel lead and help us by your prayers, and just as God promised Paul, "…many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted to us in answer to the prayers of many" (2 Cor. 1:11).

Thank you,
Tiffany