A God Story

So, we have a new story to tell…it’s a long one, but I promise it is worth the read!

 When I told the story you are about to read to a man whom I had just met at an orphan care conference his response was,

 “That’s a God story!”

That made me smile and reflect on how great it is to know that God has the steering wheel of my life. If it was up to me, I’m sure my life would be a total mess. I see only one small step in front of where I have already trod, yet God sees the whole mile,

and the next mile after that,

and the next mile after that…

I will trust his plan for my life because it is ALWAYS going to be better than mine! 

Alright, now back to our “God story”…

It was probably about a month ago that God started speaking in small whispers to my heart that we might need to get ready to parent not one but TWO children from Eastern Europe. At first my heart said, “Are you sure God?” Of course I had my whole list of reasons as to why I might not be ready for this challenge, but I kept feeling these small nudges in that direction. 

My prayer to God was this, “Okay God, if this is what you are saying to me, then I have two requests:  we don’t want to be away from our kids here at home any longer than we have to be, so could this child please be from Micah’s orphanage? Also God, this is such a big decision so could you please make it VERY obvious if we are supposed to do this?” 

Have you ever been in that place? The place where you just really just need a “sign” from God to show you that it is HIM driving the car? 

I knew that if we committed to a child in Micah’s country who happened to be from a different orphanage than Micah, that we would have to be in Europe for much longer than the week we are expecting. So, I began to keep an eye on the children being added to Reece’s Rainbow’s website and I asked my social worker to let me know if any children came along from Micah’s orphanage, but we did not actively pursue anything. I decided to leave it in God’s hands and see what he would do. At about that time Olivia happened to say on a whim one day, “Mom, when we adopt again, could it be a girl?” (Gotta keep things even here at the Forbes house)! 

Several weeks went by and there were no children from Micah’s orphanage added to the website. We didn’t really want to push anything because we figured that God would open the door if he wanted it to happen. 

Now here’s where the story gets fun…

When we first committed to Micah a woman named Nancy had messaged me to say that she too had adopted from Micah’s orphanage only a few months prior and she was willing to talk to me about her experience adopting her daughter. I was so excited to talk to her. I knew I could find out things about Micah’s country, his orphanage, and what Nancy had experienced when they adopted their daughter. I knew this would be valuable information, plus I looked forward to making a new friend! By the way, I have found it to be quite amazing how easily people “connect” over a common cause!

The problem was that Nancy and I had played phone tag several times, and in the busyness of life we were just having a hard time connecting. Finally, after several weeks of this, I messaged her to ask if we could talk some time that next week. She said, “Sure, call me Monday morning.” Monday morning came and I decided to get the kids settled after our morning lessons and give her a call. 

We had a great conversation and I was so blessed to hear all that she had to share. It gave me great insight into all that we would be experiencing soon in our own adoption journey. Near the end of our conversation she asked me if I had any other questions for her. At first I said no, but then I thought that maybe I would ask her about the “second child thing” to see what her opinion was. She had expressed during our conversation that possibly there weren’t that many children who were regularly adopted out of Micah’s orphanage, so I thought I would ask her what the likelihood was of it happening. I figured, that way, I could stop thinking about it if she told me that the chances were slim!

I told her that we had been watching for a child from Micah’s orphanage because we felt the Lord prompting us in that direction, and that I had already talked to our social worker about keeping an eye out for us but that so far there were no children listed. About two minutes later I heard Nancy say, “You aren’t going to believe this!”

“Believe what?”

“A child from Micah’s orphanage was JUST added to the website!”

“WHAT?”

“Yes, a little girl was just added as we were talking and I’m sure she is from Micah’s orphanage. Jump on and look!” 

And there she was. My heart leaped! What are the chances, outside of God’s divine plan, that this little GIRL, from MICAH’S ORPHANAGE, would be added to the website AFTER MANY MONTHS OF NO CHILDREN FROM THERE, at the EXACT TIME when I was on the phone asking about it with a woman with whom I had played phone tag for weeks? Only God! 

To make it even more interesting, our social worker (who was also Nancy’s social worker when she adopted) messaged Nancy at just that moment and Nancy was able to say, “I happen to be on the phone with Erin, who is interested in the child who was just posted.”

But wait, the story gets even better! 

We found out that the file for this little girl (“Ivy” on Reece’s Rainbow) was with a different agency in Micah’s country than his was. This was a bit of a problem. Ironically, there was another family who was interested in a child who was with Micah’s agency and they too had already committed to one child. Our social worker said that possibly the two files could be switched so that it would work out for both families. Again, what are the chances of this being the case? ONLY GOD!

The file transfer would require the permission of some of the higher-ups in Micah’s country and we would have to wait to see what happened. So, we prayed again that if it was God’s will for us to parent “Ivy” that he would work out all these details, and if it was not, that he would close the doors. We prayed and we waited and as you have probably guessed, “Ivy’s” file was released to Micah’s agency and the rest is history. 

So….without further ado, introducing “Ivy” who will be named Aubrey Joy!

She is also three years old (about eight months older than Micah) and is waiting for us to bring her home!

Can I tell you another secret (and this is just the icing on an already delicious cake)…

You may be thinking, “But doesn’t this double the cost of what you will need to pay to ransom these two treasures?” But let me tell you, our God has this all worked out! 

No, it doesn’t double the cost. Actually, it DOESN’T EVEN COME CLOSE to doubling the cost (although even if it did, knowing that God has called us to do this, we would have needed to trust him to provide double the money that we thought we needed). 

So, are you ready? 

Because she is from the same orphanage as Micah, the cost to bring Aubrey home to us is only going to add less than $1,000 to the cost of Micah’s adoption plus the cost of her airfare home! 

Less than $1,000! 

How could we say no? God had put this beautiful little girl into our hearts before she was even added to the website, and her ransom is so small! How could she be destined for an adult mental institution within the next year or two when a family who will love her to pieces is just across the ocean waiting to welcome her? The decision was made plain before our eyes, and we will walk forward in faith that Aubrey Joy is to be our daughter. 

Micah will have a sister to share this journey with, Olivia will gain the sister she asked for, and God led us to Aubrey in such a way that it would be difficult to deny his hand upon the situation.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” That does not mean that only good things happen to us when we love God, but it does mean that God will work in EVERY situation to bring about good when we trust in him.

Welcome to our family Aubrey! We love you already and can’t wait to have you and Micah in our arms!