(Joce)
***************************
In the beginning of Luke 5, Jesus uses
some fishermen in an unexpected way. He preaches from a fisherman’s
boat, then tells him to launch out into the deep to catch some fish.
The fisherman was no rookie; he was seasoned and knew fish.
Furthermore, he had just been fishing all night and knew there were
no fish in there. He began to argue with Jesus, but then made the
profound statement, Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.
Jesus blessed his obedience and filled his nets to bursting. I have
heard Jesus through this telling me that same thing: Launch out into
the deep. I have questioned His request. In fact, others have too.
“You’re adopting.” They say.
“Doesn’t that cost a lot of money?” Nevertheless, at Thy
Word, I will.
Says another, “We don’t think we
should give to just one child as a ministry.” Nevertheless,
at Thy Word, I will.
“What about the language barrier?”
Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.
“Aren’t you a little afraid to
bring someone that old into your home?” Nevertheless, at Thy
Word, I will.
“What if he brings a disease into
your home?” Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.
Many of these have been questions we
have had to answer. We have to be honest and admit we have had our
share of fears throughout this journey. But faith and obedience go
hand in hand. God said to launch out into the deep.
We ask, “How deep, Lord? Aren’t we
already giving and doing enough?”
He answers, “It’s not about you;
it’s about showing you what I can do.” We obey, fearful but
excited, scared of the unknown. He opens the windows of heaven and
showers down everything we need.
Last winter, I met Jocelyn at a
friend’s house. My husband and I had been discussing hosting.
Through conversation, I found out Jocelyn had hosted and adopted, so
I began asking questions. Winter and spring came and went, and the
topic of adoption was still on our hearts. We didn’t know where to
begin, so I decided to get ahold of Jocelyn and ask which home study
agency they used. Through our messages, she discovered our desire to
adopt and mentioned Zi.
Our idea of adoption was a young 2- to
3-year-old boy from the Philippines with minor special needs. I even
stated to a friend, “We don’t mind a special needs child, but not
one with something like cerebral palsy.”
Jocelyn asked if we’d like to meet
Zi; she told us he was eight years old, from China, and had mild
cerebral palsy. My immediate thought was, OK, Lord, this was not
what we had in mind. Being able to meet Zi was of the Lord,
especially for our ten-year-old son, who was very apprehensive.
After that day, my husband said, “Let’s take the next step.”
We contacted CCAI and started launching
into the deep. We found out another family had pulled his file; I
was fearful. We waited all day to hear from the agency to see if
they were interested in Zi; meanwhile, I prayed. I poured my fears
to him, and when I was done, I submitted and said, Nevertheless,
at Thy Word, I will. I have never looked back. Just as the
fisherman said those words in Luke 5:5 he let down his nets and,
“they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net break.”
The Lord has provided every payment, has allowed every document to be
on time, provided us with the right home study agency, and the
material things that we needed for when Zi gets here all for free.
We have been shown over and over what HE can do when you have faith
and obey. Has it been a sacrifice? Yes! Have we experienced
resistance from unexpected places? Yes! Have we and our children
had to give concessions so that we could move forward with the
adoption? Yes! But eclipsing all the doubts, fears, obstacles and
resistance is the attitude that the Lord impressed on us:
Nevertheless, at Thy Word, I will.****************************
I, Jocelyn, like to add a fundraising link for each of these families who are still in fundraising stages...these families have not requested that I do this, I go find the information on my own and add it in here...I do it in case any of you readers are so moved by these stories that you want to participate.
You know- Give This Christmas Away! :)
Fund the Burkhardt Family adoption of Hudson
XO
Joce
To read more Increase Our Faith stories, please go here.
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