The Goodness of God
Three weeks ago today we sent the email to Reece's Rainbow committing to adopt Toby. There had been many other serious inquiries, we were told.
We held our breath. We prayed. We trusted that the Lord would know exactly which family Toby needed to be in. I did not sleep much that night...waiting....
Monday morning, July 6th at 8:39am we got the email stating that no one else had committed and we were welcome to pursue Toby's adoption. "Congratulations!"
The emotions of those first few days of running completely on adrenaline and tears and prayers still move me deeply. It was only the very beginning of this journey...the beginning of waiting and praying and aching. But it was also the beginning of something new in our own faith journey.
God is revealing Himself to us in new ways DAILY. Three weeks ago we did not have any inkling of what was coming. Three weeks ago when we read of God's adoption of us as sons and daughters in His word, we were not moved to tears like we are now. We should have been, but we didn't know that part of God's heart so intimately.
Now, we know the beginning of the ache of being an adoptive parent. Our theme verse from the beginning has been Matthew 13:44 - and like the man in the parable, we have come to a place of such joy at finding God's treasure for us, we are literally ready to sell anything we can possibly live without in order to bring Toby home.
God did give the most priceless and precious thing He could have offered in order to bring us home to Him. He gave us His own Son.
This week was not easy for us as a family. Spiritual warfare was being employed all around us and within our family. There has been a lot of hurt and accusations and criticism. Though it is coming from human mouths, we know our fight is not against flesh and blood. The Enemy of God does NOT want Toby in our home - a home that is committed to shining Christ's light brightly. He wants Toby stuck in a dark, hopeless place. If he can't do that, he will try to drag our own family members into that darkness.
Christ has the victory and we stand on His promises for our family and for Toby.
Though "Toby" is the name that was chosen for him to protect his identity, we have decided that Toby will be his real, new name. Tobias.
And do you know what Tobias means?
It means "The Goodness of God".
Ah, yes. The goodness of our God....something we will see again and again in this journey. And something we will remind Toby of over and over and over again.
After the hardest day last week, the Lord greatly encouraged our hearts with His word, through sweet messages of encouragement from others, and through music. We were overwhelmed by the love and support we received from many people we have not even met - who are only connected to us through Facebook because they themselves have traveled the road of adoption to Eastern Europe. We saw the goodness of God poured out through the love and encouragement of others.
The thing that God used the most to uplift our hearts was shared with us by another adoptive parent of a child from the orphanage Toby is in. (Thank you, Jason!) I'm including the video here. The song "Oceans" by Hillsong has been really popular recently. But hearing it sung in Russian by faithful believers in Toby's country was one of the most beautiful things we have experienced. It brought tears to all of our eyes and we've been singing along and learning the words to give God the glory for His goodness and faithfulness to us in the midst of the discouraging moments.
We had originally chosen to set our adoption blog to private with access only to those we personally invite. (Thank you to all of you who sent the requests and emails to be invited!) But we realize that the story of what God is doing in our own hearts and in the life of Toby is too great to be hidden away. We want the world to hear the message of God's goodness. Of His great love for us and His beautiful plan to adopt us into His own family. It is too good not to share.
So we open it back up and pray that our story will move other hearts toward their Heavenly Father and that it would bring glory to Him.
We held our breath. We prayed. We trusted that the Lord would know exactly which family Toby needed to be in. I did not sleep much that night...waiting....
Monday morning, July 6th at 8:39am we got the email stating that no one else had committed and we were welcome to pursue Toby's adoption. "Congratulations!"
God is revealing Himself to us in new ways DAILY. Three weeks ago we did not have any inkling of what was coming. Three weeks ago when we read of God's adoption of us as sons and daughters in His word, we were not moved to tears like we are now. We should have been, but we didn't know that part of God's heart so intimately.
Now, we know the beginning of the ache of being an adoptive parent. Our theme verse from the beginning has been Matthew 13:44 - and like the man in the parable, we have come to a place of such joy at finding God's treasure for us, we are literally ready to sell anything we can possibly live without in order to bring Toby home.
God did give the most priceless and precious thing He could have offered in order to bring us home to Him. He gave us His own Son.
This week was not easy for us as a family. Spiritual warfare was being employed all around us and within our family. There has been a lot of hurt and accusations and criticism. Though it is coming from human mouths, we know our fight is not against flesh and blood. The Enemy of God does NOT want Toby in our home - a home that is committed to shining Christ's light brightly. He wants Toby stuck in a dark, hopeless place. If he can't do that, he will try to drag our own family members into that darkness.
Christ has the victory and we stand on His promises for our family and for Toby.
Though "Toby" is the name that was chosen for him to protect his identity, we have decided that Toby will be his real, new name. Tobias.
And do you know what Tobias means?
It means "The Goodness of God".
Ah, yes. The goodness of our God....something we will see again and again in this journey. And something we will remind Toby of over and over and over again.
After the hardest day last week, the Lord greatly encouraged our hearts with His word, through sweet messages of encouragement from others, and through music. We were overwhelmed by the love and support we received from many people we have not even met - who are only connected to us through Facebook because they themselves have traveled the road of adoption to Eastern Europe. We saw the goodness of God poured out through the love and encouragement of others.
The thing that God used the most to uplift our hearts was shared with us by another adoptive parent of a child from the orphanage Toby is in. (Thank you, Jason!) I'm including the video here. The song "Oceans" by Hillsong has been really popular recently. But hearing it sung in Russian by faithful believers in Toby's country was one of the most beautiful things we have experienced. It brought tears to all of our eyes and we've been singing along and learning the words to give God the glory for His goodness and faithfulness to us in the midst of the discouraging moments.
We had originally chosen to set our adoption blog to private with access only to those we personally invite. (Thank you to all of you who sent the requests and emails to be invited!) But we realize that the story of what God is doing in our own hearts and in the life of Toby is too great to be hidden away. We want the world to hear the message of God's goodness. Of His great love for us and His beautiful plan to adopt us into His own family. It is too good not to share.
So we open it back up and pray that our story will move other hearts toward their Heavenly Father and that it would bring glory to Him.
I'm so thrilled for you all. I first saw Toby on an adoption blog and fell completely in love with him. We have been praying for him and for his "forever family" and it's you! I'll never understand the negativity that can come from people when you are trying to adopt. I do know that God worked in your hearts and he will work in theirs as well. I wish you all the best.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Your encouraging words and your prayers for Toby mean so much to us! We are so humbled and blessed to have been chosen as Toby's family and we are working hard to bring him home quickly! Please keep surrounding our sweet boy with prayers! Thank you, again!
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