I sent out an email to my family letting them know about the news that came yesterday. I have spoken to my sister and mom now and have gotten a tentative support from each of them - yay! My mom is a bit freaked out which is completely understandable. I was freaked out to begin with too! I haven't shared how this all came about, so figured I would and then share the exciting offer that I got today.
I was sent Xinyu's file Wednesday night while I was at church (Eman was working). I saw the alert come up on my phone along with the subject and sender of the email. I immediately got butterflies and sat there wondering what I should do. After a few minutes of anxiety, I got up and left the sanctuary to open the email. The email said that the file had already been locked for us which freaked me out even more - could they do that without my permission?! In my confusion and excitement, I couldn't remember if I would be able to open the attachments so called my friend to ask her what I should do and if I could send her the email to open for me. She laughed and while she really wanted to see the file, didn't want to see the child before I had a chance to (smart gal). After I hung up, my brain started to work and reminded me that I CAN open those files on my phone. It is a mini computer, after all. So, I opened it up and gazed in wonder at this beautiful little girl. I was able to open all of the documents EXCEPT for the English translation file. I called my friend back and told her what I knew, which was nothing, except that it was a file for a little girl named Yu Xinyu. I gathered up the boys and we headed home. Once there, I was able to open the word doc and see what exactly was going on with this child. I did some research on hydrocephalus and started to panic - it seemed really scary! I finally headed to bed about 11:30. After doing what I needed to in the bathroom, I went into my closet and dropped to my knees (I don't usually pray here, in case you are wondering). How on earth am I supposed to care for a little girl like this?! Lord, if we are really supposed to move to Africa, this child would end up dying - Uganda does NOT have the capabilities to care for a child like this! There is just no way, Lord!
Eman came home about 7:30 Thursday morning (he had been working night shift). I showed him the pictures of Xinyu and shared with him all of the information that I had found the night before. I also told him that we needed to give our agency an answer by Friday evening - that gave us 48 hours! (Normally we would have 72 hours, but since it was the weekend and China was just getting ready to go on an extended gov't holiday, our time was shortened just to be safe.) Eman didn't say much since he was completely drained from a very stressful shift.
Later, after I had breakfast, I read Psalm 27 (I posted it several back). I was super convicted about my freak out the night before and decided that I would fast that day and the next until the Lord gave us our answer. I asked the Lord to give both Eman and me a peace that passes all understanding if we were supposed to say yes. If it was no, that He would give us a heavy spirit.
All day long, I did my best to seek out as many opinions and as much information as I could. I tried to get a hold of local neuro Drs as well as some in Seattle but got the run around there. I also was trying to get in touch with a mom here locally that has two adopted children with hydro. I was beginning to feel like we were going to have to make a blind decision and just TRUST that the Lord knew who this girl was and whether she would fit into our family. We were going to need to TRUST that He really would give us our answer when we needed it.
Again, when Eman woke up, I shared with him what I had found out and what I felt like the Lord was showing me - not much and TRUST!
Friday, I spoke with a mom on the other side of the country with a bio kid with hydro. She shared some encouraging information as well as what daily life looked like for her family. She also shared with me that she had started a foundation with her sister to help pay for shunt surgeries in Africa. They were donating their funds to a non profit hospital that performed the surgeries. After I got off the phone with her, I looked up the organization. There is a hospital in Uganda. Guess what their specialty is?! Neurosurgery!!! My mouth pretty much dropped to the counter. I could not believe it. I was also able to talk to a Dr in Spokane but couldn't get too much information since I only had a little bit to share. Again, I felt like we needed to make a blind decision and just TRUST that the Lord would let us know HIS plan for us.
Eman and I finally got to talk and pray about what we were supposed to do Friday afternoon. He and I both felt complete peace about this little girl, so agreed that we would say yes. I was immediately giddy! We agreed that we would not say anything until we had received our PA. We then went out to meet some friends for dinner. Eman was the first to spill the beans - usually it is me. ;) That night, we got our care letter sent to China and a week later, we had PA! I just have to say that while I had excitement and anticipation with Jie, I have complete JOY with Xinyu. I cannot believe that I am going to have a little girl running around here! I am the mom that was completely content with boys and didn't feel like I needed a daughter to complete my family. Ha!
All of this, leads me to today. I spoke with my mom this morning for a bit and she told me that she would like to have me come over and help her sort through all of their stuff (there is a LOT, too). She wants to give me all of the stuff to have a yard sale with in order to help support our adoption! She said that she wanted to money to go to something worthwhile and she knew we could use it! I am so absolutely blown away by her offer! I did not expect any financial support from my family, at all! She is willing to host the yard sale, or we can load everything up into my dad's trailer and bring it back here. There is a community yard sale in April in her town that we could participate in, if we wanted to wait. At first, I was thinking that we bring it all back here, but after praying and thinking about it more, I think it may be really cool to do the sale there. What an opportunity for the Lord to show his power and ability to take care of us! I pray that my parents see the glory of the Lord through this as well as being blessed themselves for being willing. Having the sale at their house would bring people to see the farm and maybe bring business there as well.
So, so cool. I love how things come together when we get our fingers our of the pot and let the Lord rule in our lives.
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