"The Lord has done great things for us.........

.....and we are filled with JOY!! Psalm 126:3

I went to a Beth Moore conference the summer we were praying about pursing adoption and she taught from Psalm 126. Her main point was that He calls us to journey together. In this verse the Isrealites were seeing the first fruits of their restoration. It ends with "He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him".

Many of us refer to our adoption stories as journey's. Regardless of country or the situation leading up to the decision it is a long process and not for the faint of heart. It is full of fears, doubts, joys, testing, waiting, faith and tears..... I think most can say they come out on the other side not only with a very loved and wanted child but with a much deeper faith and greater character, I hope this is the case anyway.

Not only did I journey together with my family and dear friends but my "Waiting Child" group from our agency, America World. It was amazing how the Lord used this incredible group of people, all in different stages of their adoption journey to encourage and uplift me when times were the hardest and celebrate with me when all those milestones happened. Of course, eventually, after we had received our RA I became even more closely connected to what would eventually become my travel group and to this day they are still part of my closest allies in this on going journey. Then of course, those of you who are part of the blogging world. I have meet some of the most deeply committed people through our agency and blog and am so grateful that the Lord led me to them (you).

I was reminded of this verse this weekend and it fit perfectly into a conversation Mark and I had the other night. Of course, with our other kids gone we were on a walk with just Hudson. Many of you know how Mark was very uncertian about adoption for years,,,well, basically wouldn't discuss it until the summer of 05. He told me "Thank you so much for staying on me about adopting, I would never have done it and I am so grateful we did. I cannot inmagine what we would have missed out on".(filled with joy!!!) We went on to discuss how what was seen as "bad" for Hudson (his cleft which was, I am sure, the reason he was abandoned) was so very good for us. Had he not had this his parents probably would not have abandoned him and we would not have the priviledge we do of parenting him.

I also wanted to include an expert from a friends blog who is in China now and just adopted their son from Hudson's orphanage.

"..a mid-size town in a very rural area in which there is nothing more important within a family than the birth of a son for a host of practical and not so practical (traditional cultural) reasons, and the importance of family can be nearly all encompassing.

But the people here, whether muslim Hui or Han Chinese, believe strongly in a kind of kharma, that what goes around comes around. “Most rural people are very superstitious so that if their son is born with a face like a rabbit (clefted), or something is really wrong, they are scared and think that it is punishment for something bad they have done,” went one of several similar explanations. “So they want to get rid of this punishment and for them the child is bad luck.”

I read this AFTER Mark and I had the above conversation. I feel for these families that they live under the condemnation of being punished. We continually pray for Hudson's birth parents, that they would know the Lord one day and that they would know what unspeakable joy he brings to us, nothing about this kid is bad luck!!!!

For those of you still in the waiting stage, paperchasing, waiting for the referral call, pouring over medical files and trying to decide if this child is yours, waiting on RA or TA.....the Lord is at work also in the life of your child. You WILL understand this when you meet him or her and I pray you will say "The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with Joy!!