What Did We Sign Up For? Part 2

Since it’s been so long since I first published THIS post, you might want to go back and read Part 1 of the story:

 

And now, here’s Part 2, the continuation of What Did We Sign Up For?:

What did we sign up for?  Well, basically, here’s the answer in a nutshell:

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Mark 8:34 "And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

 

Matthew 10:38 "And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."

 

Matthew 19:21 " Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."

 

Mark 10:21 "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, and take up the cross, and follow me."

 

Yep, that’s what we signed up for, total commitment to our Savior, regardless of risk, regardless of our abilities, regardless of our inadequacies, regardless of our future, regardless of our plans, regardless of our fears, regardless of our doubts, regardless of our ignorance, regardless of our excuses.  Regardless.  Jesus tells us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and follow Him.  Regardless.

 

And so, the continuation of our story looks radically different than what we thought, but that’s because it’s not OUR story, it’s HIS story.  When we felt we couldn’t possibly do this, He knew He could.

 

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

 

As much as I’d like to give you a warm fuzzy report, proclaiming that the continuation of this story is all peaches and cream, the reality is much more like the reality of Christ, which is just really not a “life’s all peaches and cream” kind of story.  Jesus’ life on earth wasn’t all peaches and cream, nor did He ever promise us a life solely of peaches and cream.  He did, however, promise to walk the path with us, to provide for us (Jehovah Jireh), and to love us unconditionally. 

 

Isaiah 41:10 "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

 

While this adoption was NOT what we thought we were signing up for , it IS what He was signing us up for.  And whatever He signs us up for is what we already committed to long ago, when we committed ourselves to Him 100%.   A long time ago, we committed to taking up our crosses daily and following Him, no matter where that might lead.   Nope, we wouldn’t be adopting two “easy” boys who wouldn’t require much change in our family and home, we would be adopting two boys whom God knew would require much change in our family and home, for His glory.  This adoption would include:

• Down syndrome
• bilateral club feet
• heart defect
• extreme malnutrition/failure to thrive
• severe institutionalized behavior
• non-verbal children who cannot speak or communicate verbally or with signs
• two 6.5 year-old boys who cannot walk
• two 6.5 year-old boys who are severely delayed physically, intellectually, and emotionally
• two 6.5 year-old boys who are not potty trained (which means the expenses of diapers, wipes, setting up changing stations upstairs and downstairs, plus the inconvenience of changing diapers)
• two 6.5 year-old boys who cannot chew food (because they were never given an opportunity to learn how)
• two 6.5 year-old boys who cannot feed themselves
• two 6.5 year-old boys who must be fed nutrition drinks as their main source of nutrition, 5 times/day
• two 6.5 year-old boys who have oral aversions and dislike being fed
• purchasing $600 worth of nutrition drinks each month
• hospitalizations
• countless therapies (physical, occupational, speech/feeding)
• countless doctor’s appointments: orthopedist, endocrinologist, cardiologist, ophthalmologist, specialized dental care
• countless blood draws
• countless diaper changes
• daily medications
• hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, anemia
• high chairs instead of regular chairs at the table
• baby equipment of all kinds (infant toys, exersaucers, cribs, car seats, strollers, diapers bags, high chairs)
• purchasing diapers and wipes, maybe for a lifetime
• two cribs instead of the full-size bed we already had
• new clothes and shoes (we’d already given away all of our little boy clothes)
• a new/different vehicle that would hold everyone and the extra gear that these boys require (mainly the extra gear is why we wanted to get a larger vehicle…no space for strollers in the van)
• constant supervision/babysitting, requiring everyone to pitch in to help care for these boys 24/7
• a lifetime commitment to having these little lovies live with us until God calls us Home

 

Psalm 121:2 " My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth."

 

Just because we said YES to God, said YES to taking up our crosses, said YES to Conner and Cooper, and said YES to a radically different life-long commitment, does not mean this path is all peaches and cream.  Nor does our yes make us some kind of hero.  We’re sinners, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, believers who signed up to carry our crosses and follow Him, humans who fail far too often.  This life takes hard work, sacrifice, and total reliance upon our Jehovah Jireh at all times, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.  That is what it means to take up our crosses and follow Him. 

 

People often say things like, “I don’t know how you do it.”  Let me tell you a little secret:  I DON’T DO IT.  I really and truly do not.  I fail.  Over and over and over again, but when I am weak, He is strong.  I seriously could not survive without my Jesus.  He is my strength.  He sustains me.  He is the One and Only who orchestrated the path for our family, who breathed our family into existence, who lifts our head above water when we feel we might drown.

 

Psalm 94:17,18 "Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. "

 

Our new normal is truly hard work, but that is what Jesus asks of us.  If you had asked me even six months ago if our family would be walking this path right now, I most likely would have said something like, “I’ve learned (the hard way) to never say never, and I always want to do God’s will, but I don’t see how we’d be able to add two more special needs kiddos to our brood.”  But God knew.  He knew all along that Conner and Cooper were meant to be ours, and the ONLY way to get us to obey and seek His will above our way was to send us to Ukraine with the belief that we would be adding two “perfect” boys to our family.  Seriously.  God knows us oh so well.  He knew what it would take to get us to where He has us today, and I’m oh-so-grateful that He always knows the way.

 

Psalm 28:7 " The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song I will praise him."

 

So, as I said before, this is EXACTLY what we signed up for, we just didn’t exactly realize it.  Until now. Thank you, Jesus, for helping us to carry our crosses for You.

 

I’m so glad we didn’t miss moments like this:

Oh, and as for that list that this adoption would require, check out how Jehovah Jireh would provide:

• Down syndrome (extra hugs and kisses)
• bilateral club feet currently being repaired; orthopedist is from Eastern Europe!
• heart defect healed
• extreme malnutrition/failure to thrive Conner has gained 7 pounds in 2 months; Cooper has gained 11 pounds in 2 months—this weight gain is not because they love to eat (they do not…neither boy knows how to chew)—this weight gain is due to adequate love and nutrition (they get their nutrition through 40 ounces of nutrition drinks per day)
• severe institutionalized behavior this is already beginning to subside, after just two months home, slowly but surely
• non-verbal children who cannot speak or communicate verbally or with signs both boys are beginning to communicate, not with words, but with sounds and actions
• two 6.5 year-old boys who cannot walk Conner is learning to walk (he’s cruising furniture and will walk everywhere when holding our fingers); Cooper will most likely walk once his bilateral club feet are repaired
• two 6.5 year-old boys who are severely delayed physically, intellectually, and emotionally they’re on the road to catching up; the years the locusts stole will be redeemed by our King!
• two 6.5 year-old boys who are not potty trained (which means the expenses of diapers, wipes, setting up changing stations upstairs and downstairs, plus the inconvenience of changing diapers)  PROVIDED!  A family from a church in Austin, whom we’ve never met, emailed out of the blue to notify me that they would be providing diapers and wipes for the boys!!!
• two 6.5 year-old boys who cannot chew food (because they were never given an opportunity to learn how)  Cooper is learning to chew/swallow foods with more texture (still pureed); Conner still isn’t interested in foods, but  he’s still gaining weight via his nutrition drinks, so we’re praising God for restoring life to both boys.
• two 6.5 year-old boys who cannot feed themselves Cooper is learning to hold his cup to drink his own nutrition drink, plus we have lots of helping hands around here to assist with feedings
• two 6.5 year-old boys who must be fed nutrition drinks as their main source of nutrition, 5 times/day Praise God for both boys weight gain due to these nutrition drinks and the helping hands who make sure both boys get their 5 drinks in!
• two 6.5 year-old boys who have oral aversions and dislike being fed this is improving, too, thank God!
• purchasing $600 worth of nutrition drinks each month PROVIDED!  The same family who offered to provide diapers also offered to provide the nutrition drinks, but so far, our insurance is covering the drinks!
• hospitalizations yep, can’t scratch that one off, but can praise God for Dell Children’s Hospital and the awesome care they’ve provided both boys!
• countless therapies (physical, occupational, speech/feeding) can’t scratch these off either…we’re still searching for in-home therapies, but having a problem because no one will accept our insurance, but we do have an awesome facility 30 minutes from our home that will provide all therapies (and our insurance will cover it) if we go there
• countless doctor’s appointments: orthopedist, endocrinologist, cardiologist, ophthalmologist, specialized dental care can’t scratch these off either, but praising God for all the amazing specialists He’s provided to care for our boys in such a timely manner.  They’ve seen all of their specialists in less than two months of being home.  Praise Him!
• countless blood draws they’re not required to get more labs because both boys are flourishing!
• countless diaper changes can’t scratch this completely, but Cooper is using the toilet and is mostly accident-free, as long as we take him to the potty since he cannot tell us (yet!) when he needs to go
• daily medications praise God for these provisions!
• hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, anemia getting better with daily medications!
• high chairs instead of regular chairs at the table PROVIDED!  Donated by generous families whom we are so grateful for.
• baby equipment of all kinds (infant toys, exersaucers, cribs, car seats, strollers, diapers bags, high chairs)  PROVIDED! Donated by many families whom we are oh-so-grateful for!
• purchasing diapers and wipes, maybe for a lifetime PROVIDED! Donated by the awesome Austin family.
• two cribs instead of the full-size bed we already had PROVIDED! Donated by generous families whom we are so grateful for.  Plus the crib bedding was donated, too!
• new clothes and shoes (we’d already given away all of our little boy clothes) PROVIDED! Donated by generous families whom we are so grateful for.
• a new/different vehicle that would hold everyone and the extra gear that these boys require (mainly the extra gear is the reason why we wanted to get a larger vehicle…no space for strollers in the van)  Sold our van and we’re driving our motor home!
• constant supervision/babysitting, requiring everyone to pitch in to help care for these boys 24/7  Praise God for all of our amazing children who tend to “fight” over who gets to watch Conner and Cooper!
• a lifetime commitment to having these little lovies live with us until God calls us Home Praise God that we’ll have little lovies to give us hugs and kisses until the day we go Home!!!

 

 

Isn’t our God amazing?

 

Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

 

Praise Him!!!