God's Providence

Providence
(The act of providing or preparing for future use or application.
Noah Webster 1828)


I will never forget the evening four years ago when David and I told Riley, Luke, and Aubrey that God was calling us to adopt. We talked quite a bit about it that night during dinner and when we finished eating all three kids said they were ready to go get our baby. We laughed and explained it just wasn’t that easy to adopt; it wasn’t like going to the store and choosing a kitten. We were so happy though that our children were excited about us adopting. We were especially touched that they felt this way even after we told them it would mean we would be giving up a planned trip to Disney World. They understood even then that the trip, as great as it might have been, was a one-time thing but that having a new brother or sister to love was something that would last forever.

That night we began a journey that forever changed each one of us. God brought a couple of young mothers into our lives that were considering us as adoptive parents of their unborn child, but then chose someone else. God brought a young woman named Zipporah into our life who did choose us. The week of Christmas 2005 she delivered a still-born baby boy that had died four weeks earlier at about 20 weeks in-utero. I was there for the delivery and soon after knew that God brought Zipporah into our life not for the baby but for her. I was her mother that night and the next morning; God enabled me to comfort her even when my heart was breaking.

One day after we had been in the process of bringing home Maria and Suzanna home for several months, Aubrey came to me in the school room where I was completing still more paperwork for the adoption and asked me, “Mom, why can’t getting Maria and Suzanna home be like it is in the movie Stuart Little or Annie?” I told her that was a very good question and that I would also love to know the answer. God in His great faithfulness and grace began showing me the answer to that question even as our adoption of the girls got more and more difficult and heart breaking. He was preparing our family to be the family that He chose for Maria and Suzanna even before He created any of us.

Now that the girls have been home for five months we see this with such beauty and clarity. Just a couple of weeks ago a wonderful friend was asking how Riley, Luke, and Aubrey were doing, and in particular how Aubrey was doing now that she was having to share Mommy and Daddy with two new sisters. This is what I want to share with all of you reading this so you can see the providence of God.

Aubrey has had absolutely no issues with sharing anything with her new sisters, even her parents. I have watched her take all of her most special doll clothes and lay them out on the floor and tell Maria and Suzanna that the three of them are going to take turns choosing clothing for their dolls. Everything that Aubrey has is not just Aubrey’s anymore; it is theirs. She is so nurturing, always taking care of both of her sisters. A couple of weeks ago Suzanna had fillings put in two of her teeth. Aubrey kept telling Suzanna to wake her up in the middle of the night if her teeth started to hurt so she could get me to get the Tylenol. She is teaching Maria how to play the piano and teaching both girls how to cross-stitch, make cards, and crochet.

Now this isn’t to say Aubrey is perfect and hasn’t struggled. She has had a couple of meltdowns from taking on too much responsibility with the girls and from not having things exactly as she dreamed they might be with two new sisters. She gets frustrated and hurt as we all do in facing the daily challenges of having Maria and Suzanna home. But as we look back at all the times Aubrey was so distressed about whether or not her sisters were getting enough to eat or whether they were ever going to get home we see how God was refining our precious daughter and preparing her to be the sister He wanted her to be.

We see this in both boys as well. For those of you who read my post on our lice problem you will remember how helpful they were to me. Riley has been so sweet and helpful. He often asks how he can help me especially when he sees me getting stressed about something. He helps the girls with their schoolwork. Riley is so loving with the girls. He is growing up to be a fine gentleman.

Luke is equally great. He is very helpful to both the girls and me. He makes a point of coming to me every Sunday during our fellowship meal and letting me know he is taking the girls outside to play so I can help with clean-up or just visit with my friends. Luke is even training all three girls to be Marines!!! I love looking out in the backyard and watching him leading them in a march holding flags or rifles. One day after winning a battle they all stood at attention and sang The Star Spangled Banner!

I know I’ve written this before but it bears repeating—the reason that adoption or anything else that God calls us to do is so difficult is so that we cannot go around saying, “Look at what we did!” God called us to adopt these precious little girls for His glory, so that they could come to know Him as their Heavenly Father, and for many more reasons. In His amazing faithfulness He never left us throughout the entire process and continues to be with us as we do the hardest thing we have ever done in our lives. Daily He provides each one of us the grace and strength to take care of what each new day requires of us. His blessings are absolutely wonderful! We have received two beautiful new daughters to bring up in the admonition of our Lord. The most amazing blessing of all is that He is using these challenges and heartaches to refine and grow us to be like more Christ-like.