"For this child I prayed"

In 1 Sam. 1:27, Hannah prayed these very words when God answered her prayer and blessed her with a son, Samuel. I can relate to Hannah and will share with you why.

Last summer, a close friend of mine was in China on a mission trip and was so kind to post her daily events and pictures for us back here in the States. She had adopted 2 precious little girls from China already at this point (in addition to the 5 she and her husband already have.) Thinking that she was done with adoptions but with her heart still in China, she decided to start taking trips annually to do mission work in the orphanages. (more of her story later).

I will never forget the first few pictures she posted, where I was sitting, and the conversation I had with my oldest daughter, Lauren. Have you ever had that REALLY weird feeling about something that you could never explain but could never forget? Well, I do not have them often, but I did this day. I saw picture after picture posted with lots of children in them but had my eye only on Lucy. It was like I KNEW her. Without even thinking, I called Lauren over to the computer and said, "Lauren, this girl could be your sister. Looks like a mix of you and Lily." (: Yes, I really did say that. I was even zooming in on her hands, fingers, fingernails, etc., seeing the resemblance.

Lauren immediately called her daddy at work, jumping up and down, begging to adopt Lucy. She didn't even say "Hello". By the time Tom returned from work, Anna Claire and Lauren were both begging (and maybe me). I think he was a little shocked that she looked to be around 10 years old. We had never talked about older adoption up to this point.

Well, I am married to a man that is completely opposite from me - not quite so spontaneous, but quite level-headed. He did not give us the "Yeah! Let's do it!" like we wanted. Instead he gave us the "let me pray about it" answer. Well, to make a very LONG story short, he finally said yes about two months ago - year and a bit later! I am pretty certain that I have never prayed for anything so diligently in all my life.

God's timing is perfect. I can look back now and see why now is the right time. I forgot to mention that we just built a new home and moved in this past summer. I wanted to do it all at the same time.(: Yes, it is good to have a level-headed one in the mix.

I can hardly wait to bring her home! Still lots of prayer is needed through this process. It is complicated and there is always a chance that it all might fall through. We are trusting that God will work it out in the end.