Thursday, February 27, 2014

Love Always Wins

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9) 

About a year ago is when Brian and I both felt the tug on our hearts to adopt again. 
As both of us separately began praying about this adoption, 
the Lord showed up.
He spoke the same word to us both over this next adoption process: 
Love Always Wins 

It was crazy the day we both sat down and looked in each others eyes and said,
 "the Lord has spoken to me about this adoption...
I believe our word over this adoption is love always wins." 
Surprisingly, we were not totally flabbergasted by having heard the same word. 
We both kind of nodded in agreement and went on our way. 
The further we moved on in the process, the more confirmed we felt about this word. 
Love always wins. 

About halfway through our (long) paperwork process, 
we decided on a scripture over this adoption...
" In Love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves" (Ephesians 1:5-6).

I tell you all of this to set the scene for a story that unfolded recently in our lives. 
It's one I long to tell in full detail, but it's not just my story to tell.
Some of the details will be muddy, as I need to protect all those involved. 
But here goes nothing...

The heart of adoption is deep...it runs deep, and it does crazy things for love. 
Our story starts on a Friday:
Friday morning we receive a call...
Long story short: there is a sweet woman who is considering adoption for her newly born baby. 
We were asked if there is any way we can help....
Rubber meets the road. 
The day continued on with lots of phone calls:
 to agencies, lawyers, crisis pregnancy centers, hospitals...
lots of phone calls. 
We also offered up our information as a potential while she considered all of her options. 

Friday evening rolls around, and we receive a phone call. 
This lovely woman would like to meet us and get to know us....
we make the drive and spend the full day getting to know this incredible woman. 
Sometimes life is hard. 
Through some poor choices and a lot of brokenness in the world, 
we can find ourselves in a crisis situation.
This is where this woman was. 
A place of crisis. 

We went in to all of this with open hands.... 
In fact, throughout the next 48 hours,
 my husband and I would make eye contact 
and with no words  would simply open up our hands to heaven.
We did this to simply remember that we have open hands with the Lord. 
This sweet baby was His, 
and we had full confidence that He had the answers this mom needed. 

We spent Saturday and Sunday loving on this beautiful woman. 
The more we learned about her the more we fell in love with her. 
She is an amazing woman of incredible courage and strength, 
who has endured more in her short life than any person should have to in a lifetime. 
24 of those hours, we had the privilege of caring for this sweet baby. 
I cared for the baby through the night and made a decision to love fully, 
not allowing any gap of love in her first days as her mom had to return to work. 
I cherish that time I was given to love, kiss on, and pray for this sweet little gift. 
We literally spent hours snuggling and gazing into each others eyes...
and I interceded for her, prayed over her, made sure she knew how loved she is. 

Sunday, both Brian and I felt that the Holy Spirit was leading us
to leave and give her some space to reprocess.
This courageous woman wanted to do the very best for her child,
and at this point in the game, she felt like adoption was her only hope for the best.  
We felt the Lord nudging us to open the door for his love to pour out. 
We left letting her know that whichever decision she made we were for her. 
We would walk the distance with her and love her through life. 
We adopted her as family. 

We promised to return,
 and we fully trusted the Lord to reveal himself to her in a way she had never experienced before. 
I left with her my bible as a sealed guarantee that we weren't going anywhere 
and that we supported whatever decision she made. 

Monday morning, after a tumultuous night,
 she was very confused and unsure of the right decision. 
I am not going to lie. It was a hard day. 
We simply waited... 
waited for the Lord to show up. 
Open Hands. 
LOVE ALWAYS WINS 
We knew, no matter which decision she made...
love always wins. 
There was no loss in this story. 

Then, our faithful God showed up. 
He revealed himself to her in a dream and gave her a very clear picture of where he was taking her. 
Monday late afternoon she text us and told us of her final decision. 
This incredible, courageous mother decided to parent...
because God showed up in her dream. 

We were so thankful to have an answer...
Our hearts ached because when you love without abandon, 
sometimes love in painful. 
The story does not end here though. 

She asked to meet with us Tuesday morning before being discharged. 
Tuesday morning we drove to the hospital 
and spent some of the holiest moments I have ever experienced. 

That morning as we shared the gospel, 
she gave her life to Jesus for the first time. 
She received grace, mercy, and love in her time of need, 
and she knew God had found her. 
A God whose grace is enough...
A God who sees our sin no more...
A God of new beginnings. 

After giving her heart to Jesus, 
we had the opportunity to bring a close or I should say beginning to this epic story. 
We told her the story of the prodigal son: Luke 15:11-32
God receives us with open arms, 
and He clothes us in his best for a new beginning. 

As we wrapped up the story of the prodigal son, 
we walked out and grabbed the goods. 
The night before my amazing family went out and bought everything she needed to get started; 
a car seat, diaper bag, baby bed, clothing, diaper, wipes, etc. 
Tears streamed down her face as she saw the full force of God's love 
walking into her hospital room.
A new story began...

You see in our worst moments.
God is faithful. 
He meets us, 
and he Loves.

What does love look like?
It looks like something...
Love looks like you.
Love looks like me.

Love says yes. 
Love without abandon is bittersweet. 
Adoption is love. 
We choose love
because
Love Always Wins. 

1 Corinthians 13: 8 "Love never fails" 

P.s. We have had the honor of keeping contact with this incredible woman, and we even got to visit her this past weekend. We consider it a great honor to walk out life with her from here on out. 

2 comments:

  1. "That morning as we shared the gospel, she gave her life to Jesus for the first time."
    #CueTheTears
    What an amazing blessing of love and life you gave that day! I saw your IG post shortly after and I have been in awe of you and your family every since but now. to read it all as it played out...Wow....just wow!! So happy to 'know' you and follow your journey! So fortunate to call you a friend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is amazing. Truly the gospel at work...

    ReplyDelete