Patience

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

I have been holding tight to this verse this past month. We did get a little update recently. Baby boy is doing well. He is healthy and out of the hospital. That was great news. Still waiting on some other things to get worked out. I would say at this point it is 50/50 on whether not we will get to adopt him or not. We understand it is a tough situation but whatever the outcome we know it will be ok. Either way that baby will grow up in a loving home.

We also want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers and those of you that have checked in on us here and there. Nick and I have both felt at peace about the situation and that is nothing short of all the prayers from y ‘all asking the good Lord to give us peace only he can give us.  We can feel results of those prayers. Keep them coming.

So while we are being patient, we are getting paperwork and things done for our agency we are using. We also found a super training weekend in Dallas coming up soon. Which means we are going to get all of our training classes done in one weekend. That will help our stress levels tremendously as we will not have to worry about rearranging our work schedules. Our application is being processed. Get to go get fingerprinted this week so it is good to know our stuff isn’t just sitting there.

A little inside scoop into the paperwork. For starters a thirteen page application. Followed by a ten page questionnaire, a.k.a Our autobiographies that we both have to do. Then a bunch of other paperwork from digging into your run ins with the law, to do we have a pool or trampoline and anything in between.  As we have been doing this paperwork and working on my autobiography, you realize how much they want and are going to know about you. Really makes you think about your past and are you forgetting something stupid you did when you were 16. Thankfully the answer is no.

But in this world we are judged and defined so much by our past. Whether buying a car, house, trying to get a job, wanting to adopt. You don’t think too far in the future when you are young. You don’t think about not being able to have kids or whatever the case may be but what if something in my past would keep me from adopting? Whew that would be tough. But our past doesn’t have to define us. I am so thankful I believe in a God who doesn’t judge me based on my past. A God that loves me despite my mess ups and failures. A God that forgives.  A God that says despite your past, if you accept me as your Lord and savior you will spend eternity with me in heaven.

Thinking about that just makes me anxious to hurry up and get approved to adopt. I can’t imagine these kids who feel like their past defines them. That some of them feel unwanted, unloved and unworthy of a family. I pray we can not only show a kid how wanted, worthy and loved they are but more importantly show them how much Christ loves them!

It makes me think of a recent song that I really enjoy. It is called Fully Known by Tauren Wells. If you haven’t heard it check it out. But here a some of the lyrics.

“It’s so unusual its frightening. You see right through the mess inside me.                               You call me out to pull me in, you tell me I can start again and I don’t need to keep on hiding.                                                                                                                                                      I’m fully known and loved by you. You won’t let go no matter what I do.                         And it’s not one or the other. It’s hard truth and ridiculous grace to be known,             fully known and loved by you. I’m fully known and loved by you.”

We can’t even fully know our spouse, sibling, best friend, etc. If we could, what would we think? How awesome and somewhat unfathomable that we are fully known by God and he still wants us, still loves us, still wants a relationship with us, still wants us to hang out with him forever in heaven.

In the end I am not defined by whether or not I can be a mom. We aren’t defined by our occupation, popularity, how much money we have, how many awards we win or letters behind our name. None of those will matter.  What will matter is if your identity is in Christ and are you going to spend eternity in heaven. My prayer is that if you are reading this and don’t know the Lord. If you can’t say your identity is in Christ that you would come to know him as you Lord and Savior.

Matthew 6:19-21 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Prayer request

1. Continued peace and patience for Nick and I. That we would continue to grow closer to Christ and each other through this process.
2. Pray for the family and decisions they have to make. They need wisdom and peace as well in those decisions.
3. Continue to pray things continue to go smoothly with paperwork and classes we have to get done with no or minimal hiccups.
4. I also ask you take the time to pray for adoptive and foster families today and their children. It isn’t all rainbows and butterflies.

Thank you so much again for the love, support and prayers. We continued to be overwhelmed by you all 🙂

Brittany and Nick