ADOPTION DAY

Two years ago today, we brought Jimso home from Haiti!!! And it was one of the best and most important days of my life!!


We have some dear friends currently navigating their way through Haitian adoption. And we are currently navigating our way through some pretty rough waters as we prepare to move to Haiti. But being reminded of God's impeccable record for being faithful to fulfill that which He has called us and promised us is the most reassuring place to be. This morning I was reading some thoughts I had wrote on the day we brought Jimso home and was brought to tears just thinking about God's faithfulness to move mountains throughout our adoption journey. Just thought I would share those thoughts with you.....


“It Is Done~ Welcome Jimso Taylor Lenhart ”


I woke up this morning before it was light out and as I lay in bed trying to decide if I should get up or go back to sleep, all I could think was “I can’t believe this day is finally really here.” I have prayed for this day for 2 ½ years. I have dreamed about what it will be like to bring Jimso home since the moment God placed this burden and calling on my heart. As a mom, I have cried many tears on his behalf and felt my heart literally ache for a child who grew not under my heart but in it. This journey to bring Jimso home has not been easy but I would not change one moment of it. God has spoken so much truth over my life during this process. I know that each tear that fell and each obstacle that we had to overcome was wrapped with divine purposes.


One day years from now, we will be able to tell Jimso about this adoption process. I pray that through the hard times and seeing all that we had to overcome, he will grasp the depth of our love for him. As one day he seeks to understand why he was abandoned by his biological mother, I pray that he will choose to focus not on the hurt and sting of that abandonment but instead focus on how much he was wanted, how many people prayed for him and loved him before they even met him.


If this journey had been smooth, I would not be so incredibly grateful and full of praise. Nor would I be able to attest to the power of faith, hope and love. If I have learned anything on this journey, it’s that He who promised is faithful!!!


Last week I made a list of things that God had to “work out” in order for this day to come to pass. Just some of those mountains included:


1. According to Haitian law, adoptive parents must be 35 or older (which we are not)


2. Also according to Haitian law, both biological parents must be decreased, even in cases of abandonment (Jimso biological mother is living)


3. GVCM is not an adoption agency; though they establish and run the orphanage, there have been no adoptions to date therefore we had no one with the legal knowledge to navigate us through this confusing process. Many couples who attempt independent adoptions (with no agency) are unsuccessful. That compounded with the language barrier we faced as we tried to get information was overwhelming.


4. The financial burden of an international adoption is very costly and beyond the salary of a family in full time ministry.


Yet God knew all this when he called us to the God sized task of this adoption. He alone could move the mountains in our way and that is exactly what he did!!


A famous missionary named J. Hudson Taylor (Jimso’s middle name) once said, “I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done!” Throughout this journey, it has been impossible and difficult but today it is done!!