Adoption – Ordained by God

I ran to the bathroom as fast as I could before the tears started pouring down my cheeks. Once inside the bathroom, I sat down and wept. A few moments earlier, some words had been spoken that had cut into my heart like a knife. Someone had been explaining what an orphanage was to some children and said some extremely hurtful and insensitive things concerning adoption. Not only did the words sting my heart, there were also a few other adopted children within earshot of the discussion.

As I cried in the bathroom, it hit me like a ton of bricks….

Not everyone

….views adoption in the same way that I do!

….views it as precious or mandated by God!

….views adopted children as equal to biological children

….views orphans as people deserving our love

To me, being adopted is the greatest gift I could ever imagine receiving apart from my salvation. Being adopted is a part of my identity, because not only have I been adopted physically, I have also been adopted spiritually by my Heavenly Father! Because I am adopted, I feel as if I can understand the Lord’s adoption in a more unique way than most people!

While I was trying to compose myself in the bathroom this afternoon, my heart filled with anger,

Familiar feelings flooded my heart…

– I am unwanted

– I am worthless

– I am a mistake

– Even though I’m adopted, I’m still different than everyone else

I wanted so much to march out and let the lady know how inappropriate her comments were and to set her straight! Instead, I quickly prayed that the Lord would calm my heart down until I could spend some time laying my emotions before Him.

Later this afternoon, I was able to get some time alone and sort out my feelings before the throne. I told the Lord how much that woman’s words affected me, and the lies that Satan told me. My heart had foolishly allowed a few careless words to cut me to the core and hurt me. The Lord sweetly began to remind me of truth!

This is what the Lord says, and this is what I choose to believe…

– I am chosen!

– My life has purpose!

– The circumstances surrounding my birth do not define me!

– I am who the Lord says I am!

– The Lord chose to use adoption to display His glory!

Dear reader, I encourage you to promote adoption and to talk about it in light of the Gospel. One of my favorite quotes about adoption is

“The Gospel is not a picture of adoption, adoption is a picture of the Gospel.” – John Piper

Each life matters. Each orphan matters. Each adoption matters.

It all matters, because God values each life, each orphan, each adoption.

Love knows no borders. Love knows no colors.

I’ll be honest, my heart is still stinging a little bit tonight. But I am making the conscious decision to trust in the Lord. I am trusting that what He says about me is truth.

Watch this video on adoption, it is one of my all-time favorites!

I Like Adoption

Just to smile!

This post isn’t anything too serious, it’s just to make you smile! I figured I would share some things that are putting a smile on my face, and hopefully it’ll do the same for you too!!

This girl….

My new Ukrainian cousin!!

These beauties I received from my Mom last week….

Coffee…it always makes me smile!!

Just for kicks and giggles…

This song by The Piano Guys…

It will seriously make your day so much brighter!!

Enjoy your day!!!!

Choose life – my birth mom did!

My heart was broken this week as I watched the Democratic National Convention, and saw the crowds cheer for “women being allowed to make their own choice over their bodies.” Over 25 speakers indirectly referenced abortion and their outright support for abortion. As I watched the crowds cheer in support of the murder of innocent lives, I wanted to vomit. The topic of the sanctity of human life is extremely near to my heart.

I was born in Bucharest, Romania to a young girl during a time of poverty in the country. Romania had been under communist rule for 44 years, and at the time I was born, they only had their freedom from Nicolae Ceaușescu (the dictator) for a little over a year.

Hardly a day goes by that I am not acutely aware of the Lord’s hand on the events surrounding my birth.

My birth mom chose life for me!

I do not know what she was going through before and during her pregnancy with me, but I do know that she chose to give me life! I do not know my birth mom, but I thank the Lord every day that she did not chose to end my life. Today, I have the two most incredible people on the planet as my parents, and I have more gratitude in my heart that I can ever begin to express.

I am grateful for….

* Being born
* My adoption
* My parents
* My family
* Life

Beloved, life is precious…anyone who tells you otherwise is liar! One of my favorite quotes on this subject is by Ronald Reagan…

“I’ve noticed that everyone that is for abortion has already been born!”

As Christians, we should have a firm stance on life and protecting the unborn. We should go about it with love and our ultimate goal should be to lead others to Christ’s redeeming love in the process. I urge you to take a stand for the sanctity of human life, but to do it in a manner that honors the Lord.

I have been blessed beyond measure. Not only was I given the gift of life, I was given the gift of adoption. My parents also adopted 5 other children from Europe. Other than my Jesus, they are the most dear and precious things in my life…

Adoption, Ukraine, and a little girl!

As I type this, there is a precious little girl on an airplane headed back to the Ukraine and another girl sitting in her backyard feeling like her heart is going to break! Over Christmas, my family had the incredible privilege of hosting 2 Ukrainian orphans at our home for a few weeks. (You can read more about that here and here) The girls came back in mid-June, but this time a family friend kept one of them, and my aunt and uncle kept the other one. My aunt and uncle are looking to adopt Yulia, and wanted to form a relationship with her. The past few weeks have been filled with swimming adventures, birthday parties, cook outs, and lots of giggles and family time. My aunt came several times a week so that we could all spend time with Yulia.

 

“I love you, I love you, I love you”

-The words Yulia whispered to me as I hugged her good-bye

After I said good-bye to Yulia, I went inside and wept. It’s incredible how quickly the heart can become attached to a person. I can’t wait to see Yulia again and see how the Lord works His beauty through her adoption. My aunt and uncle are in the middle of the long process of bringing her home…permanently!

  I see God through adoption; oh what a glorious thing it is – to take someone who has absolutely nothing and to choose to call them your own child. Christ is in every aspect of the beauty of adoption. I want so badly to help others adopt. My heart yearns to take care of children who can’t take care of themselves. I want to show them what Jesus looks like, and teach them about who He is. After experiencing first hand how impactful adoption is, I can tell you one thing, things that were once important are no longer important. My heart doesn’t care as much for worldly pleasures when I can pour out my life helping the gospel reach those desperately  in need of Jesus.

May I ask you to please pray for Yulia as she travels back to the Ukraine and for my aunt and uncle as the seek to adopt her? May the Lord receive maximum glory through this situation!!

I’m in love

I’m in love…

with two little girls from the Ukraine.

They stole my heart from the moment I laid eyes on them. Words cannot express the sheer joy that I’ve experienced since they have come to stay with us. When they arrived at our house around 9:00 pm around two weeks ago, I never expected that I would love them so much. It may sound silly, but I just expected that our family would take care of them, but I didn’t expect my heart to care for them the way it does.

The first night when the girls arrived, they walked into the house and one of them headed straight for me with her arms open and just hugged me. We chatted with them, through a translator for a few minutes before the translator and the orphanage director headed out to their host family’s house. They reached into their bags and brought out gifts that they had made for the family. My mom had sent them a letter and told them that she had 6 children. So they prepared gifts for us. That brought tears to my eyes. The fact that these girls, who live in an orphanage and have next to nothing would bring us gifts was so extremely humbling.

My dad put a translator app on his iPad, so we have been able to communicate with them through that. They have also learned a few English words/phrases. The phrase they use quite often is, “I love you.”

I’ll tell you one thing…I love them so much and they have done absolutely nothing to earn my love. I simply love them. When I wake up in the morning, and the first thing they do is greet me with hugs and kisses and giggles, my heart feels like it’s going to burst because there is so much love for them. If I could keep them and adopt them myself, I would do it without hesitation. I’m glad I still have a little over a week with them.

I would like to ask for your continued prayers for them. They are incredible and I know that they Lord is going to do great things in their lives.

Orphans from the Ukraine!!!

I’m sitting on my bed…and I feel like I’m a little kid and it’s already Christmas morning!! My heart is pounding, my palms are sweaty, and I’m so jittery I can hardly sit still. What is my excitement/nervousness from??

My family is keeping two little girls from the Ukraine…

and they are arriving in an HOUR!!!!!!!!!

Allow me to explain in a little more detail. When I was home for Thanksgiving break a few weeks ago, my family informed me that we were going to be keeping 2 young girls from the Ukraine. I believe they are both 11 years old. They are coming with a group from an orphanage in the Ukraine, and all of the orphans are going to be staying with host families. The girls that are staying with us originally had a different host family, but they backed out at the last moment. So my family decided to step in and offered to house them. The purpose of them coming to the States is to expose them to families that might want to adopt them.

I am so extremely excited for them to get here!!! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is a work of God that they are here. I will share some more stories in the future, but trust me when I say that the Lord has a very special purpose for them. May I please request your prayers while they are here.

First of all, for them (I am choosing not to share their names), but please pray for their salvation. I have no idea where they stand with the Lord, but there will be a translator in town with the group, and they will have an opportunity to hear the Gospel be presented to them in Russian.

Second, please pray for my family. There will be 10 people in my household!! Talk about craziness!!! I’m so excited, even though it’s going to be difficult, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Third, please pray that people’s hearts will be opened, and they will be adopted. Orphans and adoption weighs very heavily on my heart, and I firmly believe that the Lord has great things in the future of these precious girls!!!

I will definitely keep you all updated!! Thank you for your prayers!!