Day 57

Still waiting...come on LOA!

Laughing Boy

Our 4th ofJuly beach weekend was upended by Hurricane Arthur, but our spirits were high as we received a wonderful update on Zachary from the medical team who just visited his orphanage last week.

He is happy.  

He is able to take steps while holding someone's hands. 

He loves toys that light up and make music.

He likes to eat sweet things.
He'll fit in just fine :)

Next Fourth of July, Zachary will be able to experience the beach for the first time as an American citizen.  What a change he will experience in his short little life.  We can't wait to see what God has in store for him.

Come On Zachary!

Here is a hot summer week in the life of the Browns as we wait for Zachary...we're ready for you buddy, and we are coming soon!

We go to the pool and splash around. Asher has a turtle floaty, Laurel has a zebra...what animal floaty would you like?

Your meimei Laurel does some work installing a new swing for you on our swing set with Daddy.

We sit on planes and pretend to fly to China...Daddy pulls us across the "ocean".

Your gege Asher keeps things running smoothly as a cowboy air traffic controller.

Gege and meimei help do the dishes, and spill lots of water which is half the fun!

We practice our letters and numbers.

Asher and Laurel get ready for bed and wonder aloud, "we'll need to squeeze in Zachy too...maybe by our feet."

We do a little karaoke/praise and worship.

Asher beats me at Candyland 5 times in a row- don't worry, you'll have your chance soon. 

And we think of you and pray for you nearly every minute.  We've got lots of love waiting right here for you!  Mama and Baba can't wait to meet you.

Our Hero God

I read this quote the other day:

"God uses screwed up people.  I'm not a hero, God is a hero."

Amen!

Sometimes people seem to think that our family is extraordinary or there must be something especially heroic about us.  (Our friends and family are free to laugh at that thought, lol!). They tell us that we are amazing or that it takes a special person to do this.   I know adopting a child with special needs is not on everyone's radar, but honestly there is nothing special or particularly heroic about us.  People have to deal with hard things all the time, that is just part of life.  Perhaps it is because we are in a sense "choosing" this hard thing that makes it seem somewhat strange to others.  

Just like the quote above said, we are normal, messed up people who have a heroic God.  It is only because of him that we have strength and joy and hope throughout this process.  This is our crazy normal :)

God is the one who rescues.  He is the hero in this.  We are completely useless without him, praise God that he still chooses to use us!  Zachary has a hope and future because of Jesus, not us.  We are the ones He is changing through this process.  I hope our journey to and with Zachary points people not to us, but to Christ.

We are not heros.  We are so very limited in our own strength.  We are all too easily overcome by fear and worry as we wait to bring Zachary home.  But we serve a God whose grace is made perfect in our weaknesses.  Thank goodness, because we sure have plenty!  I'm just thankful we were still enough to listen when he asked us to move.  

I think of all the people God used in the Bible who were not super special.  Ordinary people, with hurts, hang ups, and problems.  But it is amazing what God can do with faith even the size of a mustard seed.  Isn't it fantastic that God measures us by his grace, and not what we bring to the table?  He is the extraordinary that shines in the ordinary.

Ps.  Day 43

See

Saw this video (click the words) today through another adoptive parent.  It broke my heart on so many levels- for the children being orphaned, the parents who desperately feel this is their only choice, for a country so broken. 

This world needs Jesus.

There are so many hurting people.  Adoption, orphan care, and China are things that God has put on our family's heart at this time.  Children desperately need families for so many reasons.  But there are broken people everywhere who have never heard the name of Jesus.  

Does this burden us?  Does it bother us that halfway around the world people are abandoning babies on the side of the road because they have no way to support or care for them?  Does it bother us that crime rates in most cities in America are sky rocketing, in large part to the absence of parents, specifically father figures, to lead families?  Does it bother us that right now in the Middle East Christians are dying gruesome deaths at the hands of extremists?  Does it bother us that NC is one of the top 8 states for human trafficking? Or that our neighbor/coworker has never once been invited to church?  Not just make us uncomfortable or thankful it's not us, but does it burden us to move and be the hands and feet of Christ to these people?

If it doesn't, it should.

Because it bothers our God.

I'll be the first to admit that I have walked around as a Christian, completely blinded to the needs of those around me.  I felt no burden, and on some level believed the Christian life was about being as comfortable and happy as possible.  Get a great job, find the right spouse, have kids and keep climbing up that ladder towards the American Dream.  All my prayers seemed to focus on me- on health, wealth, and success for me and my friends/family.

But one day the Holy Spirit dropped the scales from my eyes.  And gave me a desire to love what God loves and to be broken for the things that break God's heart.  Instead of prayers for safety I prayed to be burdened. Like the Hillsong lyrics:

"Break my heart for what breaks yours.  Everything I am for your Kingdom's cause." 

And suddenly it was as if I could finally see.  And I began to understand what Jesus meant when he said his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  Because we should be bothered by a world that is broken, that doesn't know Jesus.  That is heavy.  But we don't have to carry it alone...he puts his love in us and carries our broken bodies every step of the way.  We fail, but he doesn't.  He gives all we ever need to take each step of obedience and share the Gospel with a hurting world.  He makes joy out of the suffering, for His glory. 

Lord, open our eyes!

I want those people dropping off babies in China to know a God who offers mercy, forgiveness and grace.

I long for those abandoned babies to know they are fearfully and wonderfully made. That the God who loves and created them has a plan to redeem their lives.

I want a broken world to know Jesus.  The news is too good to keep to ourselves.

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see."  

Puzzle Done!

Thank you to everyone who has helped.  With the generous donations from the yard sale and our matching grant we were able to complete all the pieces.  Now Asher is asking if we can add rockets, planets and spaceships to his room in addition to his world travel/transportation decor so it will have "new stuff" for Zachary :) More pictures of the finished puzzle to come when we hang it in their room!

~Putting in the last piece of Zachary's puzzle~

Day 33

Day 33 of our LOA wait.  Eight months since we started this journey but something about this wait to hear from China feels the longest. It's kind of like there is a hole in our family that feels empty without Zachary.  We think about him all the time and wonder what he is doing.  This morning was one of those times when I just had an overwhelming desire to have him home.

 Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be strong and enduring. -Psalm 27:14