Adoption Books

I will start with an update on where we are in our adoption.  We have the application and fee ready to send.  We have been putting this off because our first priority was paying off our credit card.  That should be done in January or February, and then I can shout that we are debt free!!

Another reason for the delay I can only explain as God.  Even though I'm anxious to have a little baby in our home, I feel like God wants us to move slow, be patient, and enjoy the process.  So although it is on my mind a lot, I also have peace about where we are in the process.

As soon as our credit card is paid off, we will send off our application and await our first interview of our home study.  During that process, I will post lots of details for those of you interested in adopting some day.

During this time, I have started reading adoption books.  I wanted to share with you the first one I have finished.  The first books is called The Strength of Mercy by Jan Beazely.

                   

I loved this book so much that I read it in 2 days.  All Christians should read this book, even if you don't plan to adopt.  As Jesus has called us in James, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:27) And this book about more than adoption, it is about trusting in God.

The author of this book is both an adoptive mother and the founder of an adoption agency and Christian relief ministry.  She takes you through her own journey to adopt.  Jan Beazely started out as a mother or 4 biological children.  Thinking she was finished having children, God spoke to her to tell her to make room for one more. Months turned into years, as she dealt with her own children growing up and her family falling farther from God.  Her oldest daughter was troubled, and all she knew was to run back to God.  As Jan and her husband leaned more on God, they realized that boot camp was what their daughter needed. God used this boot camp to great a great soldier for him.  Their daughter ended up leaving high school, moving to Europe to attend a Bible school, and then became a missionary in Eastern Europe.  Through their daughters work, although very scary at times, they found the child that God had planned for them so long ago.  The story ends happy, but Jan and her family went through many trials.  The most important focus of this book is that God's plans are not always our plans, but they are the best plans!