Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

May our love look like this.

I could cry about how big God's love is and how beautifully he has orchestrated the events leading CJ and I to Emmanuel. I have cried about it. And I will probably cry about it again. You get the idea.

So, without further ado, here is the story of how we went from being 8th on the waiting list for adopting from St Vincent to being matched with a beautiful little boy in Ghana:

You may have noticed that our progress with St Vincent slowed as of late. Over the last year or so, we have only moved 6 spots on the list, and this movement has slowed down even more in the last couple of months. This was frustrating to us. We felt "ready" to bring another child into our family, and we knew there was a need, so we weren't sure what God was doing through this delay.

Because I'm me and a bit of a planner, I began to look at profiles of waiting children online. This wasn't serious at first, but as we continued to make little to no progress each month, I began to look at those profiles more seriously. CJ and I considered a couple of different profiles of children in South Korea and Sierra Leone, but these didn't work out for one reason or another. Then, we saw the profiles of 2 little boys in Ghana, one 2 year old and one little baby just about to have his first birthday. The online profiles seemed promising, so I called and spoke with the adoption agency. After hearing about their program and the requirements/timelines, I was very excited. This seemed like a perfect fit!

Those of you who know me know that when I have a plan, I am all in. Annoyingly so. So when I presented the information about the boys to CJ, I had already moved forward in my mind. He, understandably, needed more time to process and pray. He did know that he felt more compelled by the older boy's story and picture. But this was not our original plan. This seemed sudden and scary and he prayed fervently for God to give us a sign so that we would know whether or not to move forward. No sign came. Then, Felista unexpectedly ended up in the hospital. Our adoption decision would have to wait.

Throughout this time, I was extremely patient and understanding and only asked CJ about how his decision was coming once per day ;). The day that we found out about Felista's diagnosis (acute viral myositis, something that was intense for a time but would pass quickly), we found out that the little boy's name was Emmanuel, which means "God with us". This felt significant, but not incredibly so. We also found out that the younger boy from Ghana had a family pursuing his adoption, which was a source of great peace for both of us.

I kept in contact with the adoption agency and they gave me the number of a woman who had adopted 5 year old twins from Ghana this year and was willing to share her experience with us. We called, and while I felt a lot of peace after the conversation, CJ felt even more anxiety. Her experience had been one fraught with "signs" and CJ wondered why we didn't have the same type of story.

We prayed and talked and prayed some more. Then, on the way to see CJ's mom and stepdad in Arkansas, we talked through the decision step by step. Did this program fit the requirements we had said we needed of an international adoption program? Yes. Did Emmanuel seem like a good fit for our family? Yes. Was this scary and big? Yes. But God is bigger. We knew that God's heart was and will always be with the orphan. That He desires to see the fatherless in families and that He would be with us through this beautiful, tragic, hope-filled thing called adoption. So, we did a brave thing scared, we said "yes". I sent an official acceptance email to the agency right there in the car. It would have been physically impossible for me to wait any longer.

30 minutes after I sent the email, I got a text from a woman I met while Felista was playing soccer last winter. We hadn't spoken or seen each other in over 5 months. Her text simply read "Hello Alex, how are you all doing? I hope your week has been blessed so far. This is ____ (soccer mom)". I replied telling her that we were doing very well indeed, in fact we had just decided to pursue our second adoption! She expressed excitement and asked me more about Emmanuel. When I told her he was Ghanaian, she responded "Whaaaaaat? Do you know that we are Ghanaians too?". I was absolutely, completely floored. She continued to say that they still had a lot of family in Ghana, that her brother owned a hotel there, and that we would be family when we went there. She said we had to stay at his hotel and be cared for by them and that they want to help us understand Ghanaian culture and they want to know Emmanuel and support us however they can. ...Cj and I were shocked, look what our God had done!

We stepped out in faith, knowing the situation and knowing God's heart for Emmanuel, and then He provided us with our sign. CJ and I died laughing. Here we had been waiting for Him to speak to us somehow, and He was just waiting for us to be faithful with what we had been given. We thought over many of the major decisions in our lives together and realized that this was a bit of a pattern. Whenever we step out in faith, seeking to glorify Him given what we understand of His character and love, He provides (albeit maybe not in a way we expect).

Dear friends, don't be afraid to say the wild, scary "yes" when God has put something on your heart. He is with you, even when you do not seem to see him or hear him. He is near and He is working and He will provide. This looks different for different people and situations, and that is perhaps the most beautiful part of all.

So, we are bringing home our son, Emmanuel, from Ghana at some point this year. We do not know how we will pay for this, we do not know how living in an orphanage for the majority of his life will have affected him, we do not know how Felista will transition to being a big sister, we do not know how we will transition to being a family of four, we do not know where we will be living when our son comes home. But we do know the most important things: We know our God is good, and big, and loving, and powerful, and we know that our God is in this with us. Every step of the way. So here's to this wild, crazy, unpredictable adventure we call life, we're glad you're along for the ride.

Much Love,
Alex