Forever Changed

We arrived yesterday morning in Brazil...and today, our lives were changed forever. After three years of being the "parents" of 30+ children, the Lord has laid on our hearts to adopt three of them for our own! Several months ago, our judge asked Lucilene, Janete, and Elielton if they would be willing to be separated to have one more chance of being adopted. After asking us to pray for them, the three siblings came to our house one night and told us they had made a decision. The girls shared that although their desire was to be adopted as a family, they had decided that if there was even a chance for Elielton to be adopted, they were going to tell the judge they would separate. Our hearts broke at the sacrifice they were willing to make for their little brother...and as we prayed together, God confirmed in our hearts that they would not have to make that sacrifice. That night, we began the journey of inviting these three into our hearts and home.

As we pursued the adoption process, we discovered that we were disqualified from adopting as Americans because of the new Hague Convention laws. However, since we knew that God had laid this on our hearts, we knew that He would make a way. We researched more and were told that if we had our permanent visa, we would be treated as Brazilians and adopting would be easy. The problem was we had applied for our permanent visa in March of 2009 and had not heard anything from the embassy. We asked all of you to pray specifically for this final piece...and about ten days ago, we received word that if we submitted Mike's seminary diploma (for the third time!), we would receive our permanent visa!

Yesterday, we planned with our director how we would share the news with the kids. She invited them to breakfast at a local restaurant and we were to meet them there. I had made a photo album of their new extended family, each labeled as other families have done when they have come to adopt. After we ate, our director reminded them of the night they prayed with us, and told them that God did not want them to be separated...He had chosen a forever family for them. There was a moment of shock, as tears filled Elielton's eyes and the girls buried their faces in their hands. Then, they quickly grabbed the album and began flipping past my dad, Mike's parents, our sisters and brother, nieces and nephews...until they arrived at the picture of their new parents. Tears began to flow with smiles that didn't seem to have an end. (I saw at that moment that Elielton definitely takes after me....he had wet spots on his jeans from so many tears!) It was just an amazing moment that I don't know if I could ever put into words.

Then, to take the next step in this journey, and return to CLM to share with the rest of our kids. I had been so anxious about this moment, fearing the worst that the rest of the kids would be so upset and angry because they were not "chosen." After our director announced the news, there was a moment of shock as the news sunk in, before Elielton and I began crying again! The girls had smiles from ear to ear as we stood together and shared the new names we had chosen for each of them: Lindsay Marie, Jenna Ann, and Benjamin Michael. Then, something amazing happened...someone started to clap and the whole dining room was filled with thunderous applause as everyone rejoiced with us. It was a wonderful example of how God loves to do more than we can ever hope or imagine. The next few hours were spent hugging and re-affirming our love for all of our children, and moving our three into their new home.

We are blessed to share this story of hope and answered prayer. Please continue to pray for us as we make the adoption official and begin establishing our new family. We love you and are so thankful for your prayers, encouragement, and support. Start watching for more frequent updates and prayer needs, as well as LOTS of photos!