God Changed the Mind of Pharaoh

So there are two reasons why I haven't blogged in nearly a month...

One reason is probably pretty obvious...

Keeping up with these 3 little treasures has taken up every second of every day!

The other reason isn't as cute... 

The day after my last post we received a terrifying phone call from our social worker.

Just a couple weeks after finally coming home with our Ruthie,

one day after our baby turned one month old 

and just days before her baptism 

we heard this news:

"Your adoption is being contested."

The beautiful dream we were just beginning to taste was suddenly yanked away... and we felt broken and helpless.

This helplessness eventually turned into a paralysis for me when it came to things like blogging, planning, even day-dreaming of the years to come.  

I was weak and afraid- just trying to put one foot in front of the other.

But God..

He didn't just leave me in this broken place.  Slowly he began to show me what he promised the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"

He consistently gave me the grace I needed to make it through the day, one day at a time.   His mercies were new every morning and slowly he began to show me contentment in today-surrendering my tomorrows to Him...

(There's a lot more to share here- in time.)

God also provided us with great counsel and prayer warriors to support us.  One of these great conselors was our home study social worker, Hollie.  

 I will never forget her response on a day that I called her in despair- she said "The same God that changed the heart of Pharaoh and parted the Red Sea is in control today"... 

That soon became my consistent prayer ...

Father, just as you changed the heart of Pharaoh, please change the heart of the man contesting our adoption but unlike Pharaoh let him come to know you as Savior...

As I said above there is a LOT more to share about the last month...

...the grace God gave us each day

...the encouragements we received seemingly out of nowhere

...the most specific prayer requests that God answered

...the heroic actions of our birthmother (who was NOT the reason for the contest)...

But today I just want you to share in our joy 

so I will skip to the end of this chapter of our story.

Today just before lunch I received a call again from our social worker- or so I thought.

Caller ID said:

Suzanne- Bond of Love agency

I answered- "Hi this is Maria!"

and I heard

"Hi Maria! It's "B" (our birthmom)

then she said

"are you sitting down? I have good news for you again"

So I obediently sat down and she said

"I got him to sign all the papers.  Ruthie is officially yours"

It. Is. Over.

To God be all the glory and honor- the contest is over and we can now FINALLY move to finalize our  adoption!  In a matter of months, the baby girl that was born of our hearts on May 8th will officially become a Ferguson.

We are floored by His great love for our little family.

Instead of immediately calling Niles at work after hearing from "B" today, I decided to WAIT to surprise him with our incredible news when he got home.

So the boys and I made signs and got balloons...

When Daddy arrived boys met him outside and made him close his eyes and walk in while Mommy stood shaking like a leaf trying to capture the moment...

 

Surprise!
Please forgive the quality of the photographs (as I said, I was SHAKING like crazy!).

I think you get the idea :) Daddy was thrilled!

Today our family will raise an Ebeneezer to remind us what God has done.  May He receive all glory, honor and praise.

Sorpresa!

The most efficient way to begin this post is to show you this picture…

Yep!  You read correctly!  After yesterday’s day of appointments and ultra sound we received the surprise of surprises to learn that the baby we had been chosen to parent was a healthy, active baby BOY!

Talk about an unexpected twist!

I’m going to assume that all of you reading this for the first time have about 1,000,000 questions- as I did when I first heard the news! 

Here are a few things we know for sure

·         God is GOOD and he can be trusted (Psalm 37:5).

·         God has always know exactly what baby he would bring into our family and what it would take to bring us together.  (Jeremiah 29:11)

·         God has promised to give us everything we need to love and care for the baby he has chosen for us. (Philippians 4:19)

·        God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet that illuminates our path- just one step at a time.  The Lord asks us all to move in obedience, one step at a time, sometimes without carrying the full burden of knowledge of what is down the path.

·         God has gone to GREAT lengths to bring this baby boy into our family (including a MISREAD initial ultra sound that afforded L an opportunity to choose us, a waiting for Girl family!)

·         This baby BOY will be our 3^rd SON!

·         We are EXCITED beyond words to welcome J.E. into the Ferguson family!  (side note:  we’ve decided not to post his name here on the public blog as a safety precaution- but we are eager to share it elsewhere!  Here on this blog we will refer to him as JE going forward J)

Believe me, I KNOW this is a lot to process, especially for those of you that have been praying alongside us for a “Ruth”!  I will leave you to your thoughts and welcome your questions- any time!  Feel free to email Niles and me at FergusonAdoption@gmail.com.

Here are a few more pictures of my 3^rd little man!

Precious Friends, The Crissinger Family

Niles and I have so many reasons to be thankful to our Heavenly Father- and one of those reasons (high up on our list!) is the friendship he has given us in Andy and Michelle.  They have been dear friends that Niles has know since college and I have known since they came to Eternal many, many years ago.  They have walked this crazy life with us, praying for and descipling us along the way.  Michelle was one of the first people I went to to share the Lord's call on our family to adopt- and she has been my resource and prayer partner in the journey since that day! 

The Crissingers have an INCREDIBLE story to share that I unfortunately cannot do justice to here in this post... so instead I will encourage you to read Michelle and Andy's story which begins here, Infertility and Adoption, and continues here, Psalm 113.  I PROMISE you the miracles throughout their story will grow your faith as it has mine.

Ok- so onto our shoot!  I've been wanting to photograph these sweet friends since Michelle was pregnant with Beulah- 3 years ago!   Things never lined up though until NOW!  Unfortunately, the sunshine we were hoping for did not decide to show up... so we improvised.  We created a "studio" in my livingroom using the light from the windows to shoot.  Shooting indoors is NO JOKE people!  For those of you that do this often- mad props to you.  The lighting is SO difficult to capture.  But since these are such beautiful people we were able to get a bunch of great shots :).  So without futher delay, I introduce to you The Crissingers

Love! 
Beulah is almost 3 and Chayah is 6mts

 

Ahh!! Love this little lady!

 

 

 

Almost can't handle the cuteness in this one!

 

 

Saw this on Pintrest and thought I'd give it a shot :)

Now you see why their babies are so cute!

Oh Beulah, you are hilarious.

See!  Hilarious that one! 

Sisters

I can't wait to have little bows in my house! :)

Oh dear, dear me.  Adorable isn't a "cute" enough word for this one.

Michelle wanted to capture her "rolls"= success!

To close I will leave you with a collage of each of these miracle babies

 

 

Thank you, Andy and Michelle, for your love and friendship! 
Praying the Lord continues to make your quiver overflow!

Until they all have a home- a friend's story

I mentioned in my previous post that my parents met a family in HHI that had adopted a little girl from China.  I am blessed to now call them friends and prayer partners :)!  God is so good to me!  There story is beautiful and faith filled and I hope you are blessed by reading about it:


Our story really begins when my husband and I were children, not knowing one another but being connected to the same children's home in our home town of Knoxville, Tennessee.  I attended school with these children and his family would bring children home with them on the weekends.  After marrying in 1988, we had "plans" for how our lives would work.  Wanting to work & finish school for the first 5 yrs. & starting a family after that - needless to say that God had different plans.  Ten years & five months after we were married our first son was born & 2 1/2 years later our second son was born. 

Prior to our 1st child's birth in 1998, we went to doctors as many do, but it was not until we gave everything to God that I conceived.  I remember praying that whatever God wanted was ok - if we were to have biological children - that was ok, if He wanted us to adopt - that was ok or if we were not meant to have children - please show us & remove our desire for them (this was of course the hardest part).  After that , I felt such peace and lightness of trying to carry this burden & was wondering why I had not done this sooner, as I am sure God was - He is soooo patient with me.

In 2005, God started working in both my husband's as well as my heart.  At first I was reluctant, after all, I would be 40 shortly & as you know with 2 two children you are very busy.  Needless to say we submitted our application in June of 2005 & I became a mom on a mission ccompleting our paperwork as fast as possible.  In Nov. 2007, we received our referral for our precious daughter & spent Christmas 2007 in China - our most wonderful & blessed Christmas as a family.

During the paper chase & waiting period, God made it clear to both of us that we were not only to adopt but promote adoption and the plight of the orphan.  Encouraging adoption not only to start a family but to complete one as well - sharing that there is not one ounce of difference between our biological children and our daughter.  As a matter of fact, adoption is more intense in one way because you are not having to deal with the physical element - you get to fully experience the miracle of adoption without this distraction.

We used America World Adoption Association for our adoption and were very pleased.  They are Christian based and you are required to sign a profession of faith during the paperwork process.  We adopted from China and America World does only foreign adoptions.  Their website is awaa.org. 

Foreign, domestic or foster to adopt - God will lead.  I love when people ask why we choose China or foreign vs. domestic adoption & I tell them that out of the 145 to 150 million orphans world wide, less than 1/10 of 1% are located in the US.  Talk about taking the Great Commission to a new level - if only 7% of Christians worldwide would adopt there would be no orphans.

Father, I thank you for the Elkins family.  I thank you for their friendship and encouragement.  I thank you for steadfast obedience and for their desire to share what YOU have done in their hearts and lives.  Bless them and keep them always close to your side.  I pray in the name of your precious son, Amen.