In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. ~Proverbs 16:9

Our adoption journey may have officially begun in June of 2005 when we completed our initial application, but God began the process in our hearts long before that. For the last two and half years we have completed paperwork and filled out the necessary forms to make our Adoption Story a reality, but God had been sowing the seeds for this blessing long before that. As we look back over our 19 years of marriage we realize that God has shown us the Miracle of Adoption from the very start.

Two months after our marriage our immediate family experienced this miracle with the adoption of our niece. God gave us a visual picture of his future plans for our family from the very start. Like most married couples we had a plan, “our plan” for our future family and when everything would take place. God, however, knew that our plans were not complete and our timing was not his. After five years of struggling through the despair of infertility we saw little hope of “our” plan ever taking place.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ~James 1:2-4

The most difficult time in our marriage ended when we simply told God that he was in charge. We wanted children and it no longer mattered whether they were biological or adopted. The blessing of our two boys, soon followed beginning with Gehrig in 1998 and Graham in 2001. God had blessed us beyond measure and made our family complete! (Doing our own thinking again) Over the next four years our boys were both the greatest blessing and the biggest job we have ever had. We were still confident that our family was finished until March of 2005 when God placed one verse on our hearts, James 1:27.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27

The day I first told Debbie about the verse was on March 21, 2005. Two weeks later at a Stephen Curtis Chapman concert, he spoke from the heart about adoption and put the same verse on the screen for us to ponder. We both felt the tug of God leading us down the path towards adoption. God reinforced his desires many times over the next few months until we began our paper chase stage three months later.

We have experienced many days of fear and anxiety since we officially began the adoption process, but God has brought us through every struggle. Our boys now share a room, but have never complained and also look forward to the day God makes Sophia part of our forever family.

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; But ye have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. ~Romans 8:15

In May of this year Debbie’s Dad passed away after a difficult battle with cancer. Although this was a challenging time God again provided at every turn for all of our needs. As Debbie’s Dad birthday approached on November 5th we again saw the amazing hand of God work again with a call telling us that we had a referral for our daughter on that exact day. Although it would be the following day before we found out the details and saw her beautiful face, God had again covered our hurt as only he can. Sophia’s birthday turned out to be on January 20th. This too has always been a difficult time due to Debbie’s Moms death in late January several years ago. God had covered another difficult time with a Wonderful Blessing and what a blessing it will be.

Sophia will also be blessed with two wonderful big brothers who are both looking forward to the trip to pick her up. Gehrig, a nine year old of few words expressed his thoughts by saying he was both happy and curious about what was about to take place. While Graham said that he loved her even though he had never got to touch her.

We have been on a spiritual journey like never before these last few years thanks to the “Miracle of Adoption.” Along the way God has used both verses and songs to show us his divine plan for our lives. This Christmas we can sing the final verse of the Third Day song “Merry Christmas” with meaning when it says: