Our "BACK" story...We have been married for over 8 years now, but have known each other practically all of our lives! We met a very long time ago in church and have been family friends ever since! It was about a year after we were married that we began to talk about starting a family. After a few months of trying with no success we decided to look into the matter further with our Doctor. After many tests, pokes and prods it was discovered that I had PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). What blow to us as all I (Marissa) had ever wanted was to be a Mom. But you know it is in those dark times that you really find out what you are made of and where your grounding/faith comes from. In those dark times the Lord truly spoke to my heart and gave me the story of Abraham and Sarah. After years of trying to have children they were getting up in age and actually out of the child-bearing stage of their lives. But the Lord knew their hearts and decided to send an Angel to them to tell them that because of their faithfulness he was going to bless them with a child. At first they actually laughed and said what are you thinking Lord (paraphrasing here), but the Lord asked them the very question He spoke to MY heart. He said, "Is there ANYTHING too difficult for Me"? After somewhat of a shock to them both, He blessed them with a son, whom they called Isaac! And so the Lord gave me the promise of having the two children that we have been praying for (he just didn't say WHEN or HOW). In the book of Psalms there is a favorite scripture of mine that says "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart". (Psalms 37:4). Let me tell you , (if you've never had to wait on God "PATIENTLY" for anything)...it's HARD! But God is SO faithful and He always gives you the strength and grace to make it!
Well, after many years of sorrow, tears and countless Doctor visits, surgery and infertility treatments we came to a standstill in our pursuit to have a family. In fact, for about a year we had really just given up hope to be honest. But yet, in our hearts we still held onto the promise that God had given us.
Enter..Africa Connection..
My parents (Marissa) have been traveling back and forth to Africa for a number of years (my Dad is a minister) and have went to share the gospel of Jesus with a few different Nations there. And although I have never been able to go with them I've always had a heart for the people of Africa. The only way I can describe it is a God given connection! It was in August of this year ('09) that the Lord opened our eyes to "His" plan for our lives. I (Marissa) had for a few weeks been feeling a burden/pull on my heart for Rwanda and the orphaned children there and wasn't quite sure what to do with that. You see I wasn't sure that Kevin and I would be on the same page but little did I know that the Lord was also preparing his heart as well! Isn't God SOOOO neat??!! So I had emailed my Mom and asked her to begin praying with us and explained our thoughts. Well, the interesting part is that just two short weeks after writing this email she and a few other ladies were headed to Rwanda! She of course agreed to pray. While they were on their trip half way across the world while riding in the car the topic of Rwandan adoption came up with their Driver, Morris. As they were riding in that car my Mom said she asked the Lord, "Wow, Lord, is this what you have planned for Kevin and Marissa? Here I am sitting in a car in Rwanda talking with this christian man about adoption! Little did Kevin and I know this was going on. Well, when she arrived home she begun telling me this and I just couldn't believe it. She said that He had promised to investigate how to go about adoption and send us information. To be honest I had my doubts that we would see any information but I kept praying. Well, wouldn't you know it, not even a week after her return we received word from Morris the information about adopting from Rwanda! WOW! I must say I was shaking as I read over the email and information over and over, soaking it in like it was my very life and breath! All the while thinking, Lord I never would have thought, but okay, we're willing to step into the water and trust you!!
Present Time...
Well, here we are with Thanksgiving just past and we have SO much to be thankful for. We have first of all a hope in a Savior named Jesus Christ. That He will come again one day for all of those that invite Him into their hearts. Secondly, that for the *first time* in a very long time that Kevin and I have a strong hope that we WILL be parents after all and that there is some little precious baby in Rwanda (who may even just be a twinkle in the eye of Jesus and not born yet) who has always been meant to be ours!
We have not been very open with this information to many folks yet as we were still sifting and sorting through the information and trying to process things for ourselves. But as we've felt the Lord confirming and moving us toward this direction we've felt more comfortable talking openly about it! As far as a timetable goes we're not sure. We have a few things that we're personally waiting on to fall into place, but we know that in God's *PERFECT* timing we'll know! The neat thing about Rwandan Adoptions is that Kevin and I can work on most of this process ourselves and not have to go via an adoption agency. We will of course have to work with a Certified Social Worker who has experience in International Adoption, but in the long run this will save us a TON of money and time. In fact, the people of Rwanda do prefer to work directly with the adoptive family directly.
So with that, this is how we've come to the conclusion that God has already ordained and laid all of this out for us in *HIS* plan for our lives! I was recently at a Women's conference and one of the speakers spoke to my heart when she said this.... (God says He will give us the desires of our heart, but we need to ask Him to line up our desires with His will and plan for our lives)! I LOVE IT! We have already had a lot of folks asking how they can help monetarily donate to our Rwandan Adoption so we have placed a link on this blog in the right hand column. You must have a PayPal account (which is SO easy and secure to set up) and may donate through that. But you are more than welcome to also donate directly to us if the Lord (and only if the Lord) leads you!
We are so HAPPY to share this part of our lives with all of you, our precious family and friends, and cannot wait to continue to update you!!
Blessings!
