Lessons from a Big Black Truck

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means 

caring for orphans and widows in their distress and 

refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27

I am pretty sure that there has never been a sermon or seminar on adoption that hasn't quoted James 1:27.  It's the "go-to" verse when considering the plight of orphans and widows.  It is a verse that has always been near and dear to my heart, but, honestly, I couldn't quite see how the last part of the verse about not letting the world corrupt you went with the orphans and widows part.  It always seemed kind of just stuck on the end.

But it was pretty simple in the mind of a child, my child, Gabriel.  I realized how much God was doing in his heart through this adoption, all because of a big black truck.

About two months ago, there was a big BEAUTIFUL black truck that was for sale on the side of the road near our house.  We would pass this truck at least twice a day, and Tollie would always tease the boys that Mommy was going to buy him that truck.  (They had NO idea how hilarious that thought actually was!)  And so, one day, the boys and I were in the car, and Gabriel made a comment about the truck as we passed by it once again.  So I said, "Well, you know, Gabriel, we could buy that truck, but we just wouldn't be able to adopt a baby sister."  His sweet, simple response brought tears to my eyes.  He said, "Yeah, but in a few years that truck would probably be broken, but a baby sister is forever."

And that's when I realized that he got it.  He got the meaning of James 1:27 perfectly.  This lesson that was so hard for me to understand was simple to him.  He got that fact that stuff tears up, but Meilí and Aaron Lí will be our babies forever.  

And now, it makes sense to me too - how perfectly this verse goes together.  Now when I read James 1:27, my brain translates it something like this:

"Don't let a big black truck stop you from following Me 

to care for orphans and widows."   

And, who knows, maybe one day God will give us a big black truck, but if He doesn't, I am totally fine with that.  We all are.  

So thankful for the lessons we learned from that big black truck. 

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, 

and he will give you everything you need."  

Matt 6:33

Introducing Our Son Aaron Lí

"I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy;  what god is great like our God?

You are the God who works wonders;

You have made known Your strength among the peoples."

Ps. 77:12-14

I don't even quite know how to begin telling this story.  And I am hesitant to even try.  It is so big that I can hardly get my mind around it and putting it into words seems impossible.  But this is the story of God's love for an orphan and how He has moved heaven and earth to "set him in the safety for which he longs" (Ps. 12:5).  This is the story of how God has brought us our son, Aaron Lí.

As many of you know, God matched us with our daughter Meilí just three weeks ago, on December 28th, 2012.  And it has been our great hope that God would give us a second baby before our three-week window of opportunity to be matched came to a close.

As time ticked away, I began to wonder whether God really was going to give us a second baby.  And, although I could not wait to adopt our precious daughter Meilí, there were still two babies in my heart.  

We prayed fervantly.  We asked others to join us in petitioning God for our second baby.  We did everything we knew to do, and yet God still had not moved.

He was waiting.

Then, four nights ago, after a day of fasting, I finally sensed Him moving.  It was during a precious hour at church while I was all alone, that He began to speak to me through His Word.

He prompted me to open His Word to Psalms.  I started in Psalms 55 and began to flip backwards, reading all the verses I had underlined at one time or another.  I got to Psalm 12:5, this is what I read: 

"'Because of the devastation of the afflicted, 

because of the groaning of the needy,

Now I will arise,' says the Lord; 

'I will set him in the safety for which he longs.'"

I cried out again to the Lord for my baby.  I pleaded with Him to arise, reveal our baby and set this baby in the safety of our family, even writing my prayer in the margin of my Bible.  

As I continued back through the Psalms, the very next underlined verses I came to were Psalm 10:17-18:

"O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;  

You will strengthen their heart,

You will incline Your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of earth will no longer cause terror."  

It was at that moment God gave me hope again, and by those verses I wrote,  "I believe You will answer our humble prayer for Baby #2."

And He did, the very next day.

On Thursday morning, God brought to my mind a little boy that Tollie and I had seen on our adoption agency's website a couple of weeks earlier. At the time, we did not request to look at his file because we were unfamiliar with his medical needs. But this morning, I felt urgency to look at his file.  After talking with Tollie again, I called my agency to request his file. 

At 3:00 that afternoon, I received his file and began wading through all his medical and developmental history.  After spending some time reviewing his information, I began to look at the pictures that I had received of him. 

My heart melted with each picture I opened, but there was one picture that made my heart completely stop.  I could not believe what I was seeing.  In that picture, I saw a precious face I knew I had seen before.  With trembling hands, I quickly pulled up the Hope Blanket Pictures that I had received seven months earlier in May, 2012.  

And there he was, wrapped up in a pink and white Hope Blanket.  

IT WAS THE SAME. LITTLE. BOY.   

The next seven hours were a complete whirlwind of activity with Tollie and I trying to get our mind wrapped around what was happening.  The first thing I did was to call our family coordinator to confirm that this was in fact that little boy because she was the one who helped us get our blankets to China and  was also the one who sent me the Hope Blankets pictures that were taken in China.  Her words were, "Yes, Ashley.  I had not made the connection until just now, but yes, that is the same baby.  Wow, this is crazy." Um, yes, this was totally unbelievable!

God provided two amazing doctors that night, the exact doctors we needed to help us figure out his medical needs, and by 1 AM Friday morning, we knew he was ours.  By 9:00 AM on Friday morning, we had submitted our request to adopt him as our son.

There are so many more miracles to this story than I can even share at this moment, so many things God was doing behind the scenes to make this all happen, and I am completely humbled by the great love of our Father.

He is a Father who knows us by name, who saw this little boy that needed a family and saw a family that needed him, and who moved heaven and earth to bring us together.

We are in awe of this amazing God we serve, and we are unworthy but so very grateful that He has chosen to bless us with six precious, hand-picked children.

This amazing story is a testimony of God's mighty power and sovereignty, and we want to shout it from the rooftops for one reason, and one reason alone:

"That they may know that YOU alone, 

whose name is the Lord, 

are the Most High over all the earth." 

Ps 83:18

He is worthy of all glory and all honor, and we adore Him for all He has done to bring us our precious daughter Meilí and our son Aaron Lí.  

Praise His wonderful name!

Sharing Our Story on "Your Carolina"

Sweet Hands of Meilí

Tomorrow morning (Tuesday, January 15) we have been invited to share our adoption story on WSPA's "Your Carolina" television show at 10:00.  We are very thankful for this opportunity to spotlight adoption and adoption fundraising.  We hope to encourage others to consider adoption and God's call to care for orphans in James 1:27:

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

Although we want to take every opportunity to give glory to God's wonderful name and to promote adoption, I'll be honest in saying that I am very nervous.  I really don't know what to expect, and for a planner like me, that's hard!  But as I came before the Lord this morning, confessing my fear, and asking Him to fill me with peace, He gave me just the word I needed in Psalm 27:14: 

"Wait for the Lord;

Be strong and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the Lord."

He was reminding me that I don't have to have it all figured out.  I don't have to know exactly what I am going to say or how long I am going to have to say it.  I just need to wait on Him, knowing that He is faithful to complete the good work which He started.  

Thank you, Lord, for Your word and Your peace.  May I never miss any opportunity to bring honor and glory to Your holy name, and may Your name be high and lifted up tomorrow for all to see Your greatness.

"But as for me, the nearness of the Lord is my good;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

That I may tell of all Your works."

Psalm 73:28

Rest in Me

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High 

will rest the shadow of the Almighty.

Ps. 91:1

"Stop striving."  That is what God gently spoke to my heart last night.  "Trust Me," He whispered, because for the last few days, I haven't been trusting.  I haven't been resting.  I have been struggling and striving, taking things into my own hands, looking and searching and looking for Baby #2.  I have been  anxiously watching the clock as the time for us to be matched with another baby slips away. 

Let me explain how it works.  When adopting two babies from China at the same time, there is a very specific process and timeline.  It is a little bit complicated, but a simple explanation is that a family cannot be matched with Baby #2 until they are matched with Baby #1.  

In our case, the matching process of Baby #2 couldn't really begin until we were officially matched with Meilí on December 28, 2012.  We now have a very small window of time to find a second baby that would be a good fit for our family.  That window of time is from the day we submitted our request to China to adopted Meilí to the day China gives official approval to adopt her, which is about three weeks.  Our three weeks is up in eight days.  

Eight days to find a second baby, to review the file ourselves, to review the file with a pediatrician and with an international specialist, and then to submit a letter requesting to adopt this child.  A process that took two years with Meilí must be accomplished in eight days.

And to make matters more complicated, right now our agency isn't expecting to get any more files on babies available for adoption in the next few weeks, and, more than likely, China won't be adding new files of babies available for  adoption on their list until the end of the month.

So, basically, IT'S GOING TO TAKE A MIRACLE.  

But, praise God, He is in the miracle-making business!  And, I know, I KNOW, that if we are supposed to adopt two babies, He will do it, at JUST THE RIGHT TIME because NOTHING is too difficult for Him.

And so, once again, the Lord takes me back to the story of Peter on the water. He reminds me that when Peter had his eyes on Jesus, he did the impossible.  But as soon as he focused on his circumstances, he sank like a rock.  

For the last few days, I having been sinking, focused on my circumstances and not on Him.  I have forgotten that my circumstances are under HIS control.  But through the prayers of so many dear friends, I am remind that He is all I need.  That He has to be my focus.  That only when I dwell in Him will I have rest.  

So, for these next eight days, we wait.  Wait for God to move.  Wait for His miracle.  And when I reflect over our journey so far, all the miracles He has already done to bring us to this place, (in the words of a dear friend), "What's one more miracle, right??"  Yes, Josh, you are right, what's one more miracle for a God who is

El Elyon, the Most High God, sovereign over everything,

Jehovah-jireh, our Provider,

El Roi, the God who sees,

Jehovah-raah, our Shepherd,

El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One.

So I will rest in Him.  I will focus on Him.  I will wait on Him.  I will remember what He is has already done and will claim His faithful promises for the future.  I am His, and He is mine, and He promises to worked it all out for our good.  Hallelujah, what a Savior.

"I will dwell in the shelter of the Most High God.

I will rest in the beauty of Your presence.

Your faithful is a shield and my great reward.

I will not be afraid.  I will trust in the Lord."

from Dwell by Aaron Keyes

Click here the listen to the song.

Introducing Our Daughter Meilí

Meilí

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;  The Lord gives grace and glory;

No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of Hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!

Ps. 84:11-12

Monday, December 17 started out like an ordinary, insanely busy, crazy day.  We survived breakfast, school drop off, frantic Christmas candy making, school pickup, snack, homework, a panicked search for everyone's karate gee, and the scurrying rush of boys racing to the car to head to karate with Daddy.

Ah, quiet at last.  Just me, Granny Lou, and a mountain of laundry.

Then my cell phone rang, but I didn't make a rush to answer, afraid it might be another Christmas Candy Creations order!  After a few minutes, I found my phone, saw I had a voice mail, and called to check it.  

What I heard made my heart stop and my palms sweat.
It was the call we thought would never come.

It was our adoption family coordinator calling to say she had a potential referral for us and requesting that I call as soon as possible. With trembling hands, I returned her call. She began telling me a little more about a little girl that they thought would be a good match for our family.  I could hardly breathe.  When she had given me more details, she asked if I would like to review the file.  "Yes, yes, yes!" I said.  "Okay," she said, "I am sending the file right now."   I hit the refresh button a thousand times before the e-mail came through.

And then...there she was.  This beautiful, tiny precious baby.

My heart was captured.   I knew there was still so many steps we had to take, combing through her file, requesting medical updates from China, reviewing her file with a doctor, but I was in love with her.  I could hardly wait for Tollie to get home!

We immediately requested updates from China on Tuesday morning but were skeptical that we would hear anything before Christmas.  But God is merciful, and, Thursday morning, December 20th, I woke up to updated pictures of the most beautiful baby I could imagine. I could not hold back the tears.  There was still no medical update yet, and I knew we couldn't make anything official until we received that, but she was ours.  I couldn't quit staring at her picture.  Thank the Lord it was Pajama Day at school because I doubt I would have had sense enough to find clothes for the boys!   

We finally received her updated medical report yesterday, and so, today, we officially accepted the referral for our daughter Meilí   Her name means beautiful, and it fits her perfectly.  She is 13 months old, and her orphanage is located in central China.  We hope to travel in April or May to get her. 

Now that we have accepted her referral, our adoption agency has about three weeks to find a second referral for us.  Please pray that the Lord works out every detail, and that if it is His will, we are matched quickly and will be able to add two babies to our family.

Thank you for celebrating with our family at this wonderful thing that God has done. He does truly accomplish more than we can ask or imagine.  Praise His wonderful name!

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.  

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."

Ps. 37:4-5,7

Day of Miracles

‎"Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name;

make known His deeds among the peoples!"

1 Chronicles 16:8 

On Saturday, October 27, 2012, we saw God shine.  We saw His hand so clearly as He orchestrated every detail of our Both Hands Project.  From ALL the supplies donated to ALL the food donated to ALL the volunteers to PERFECT weather, God took care of it ALL.










The work that was accomplished was FAR MORE than we could have imagined.  And the JOY we all felt at seeing the results of our hard work made all the blisters and sore muscles completely worth it.










Working on our widow's house was a blessing for us and for her.  She is thrilled with her "new" house and just keeps saying what a miracle it was that we were willing to help her!










And we are so excited to have an AMAZING video that captures this miracle...a miracle for a widow and and a miracle for orphans because it is helping us raise funds to bring our babies home from China.  To see our video, click the link Both Hands Project Video and use the password Gosnell (if you need it).  










The goal for our Both Hands Fundraiser was to raise $20,000 for our adoption through this project, which seemed impossible at first.  BUT, just ONE week after the project, we have already raised over $9,000!!!  We are almost halfway there!










If you would like to help us bring our babies home, you can give a tax-deductible donation on our Adoption Fundraising Page.  Every gift, no matter the size, helps us get closer to our babies!  Thank you for being a blessing to us, to a widow and to orphans!

Serving with Both Hands.  One for the Widow, One for the Orphan.

"But I have trusted in Your loving-kindness;   

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord, 

Because He has dealt bountifully with me."  

Psalm 13: 5-6

Both Hands Project

 

Now all glory to God, who is able,

through his mighty power at work within us,

to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 

Ephesians 3:20

Just as runners wait, with muscles straining, anticipating the crack of gun shot to begin their sprint, we have also been waiting anxiously, desperate to move forward in our adoption.  And, finally, FINALLY, it seems we have heard that gun shot, and we are moving!

Thelma Lou Carter

As many of you know, we feel God calling us to consider adopting two babies from China!  And while we are absolutely thrilled at the prospect of adding two more children to our family, adopting two babies from China costs between $50,000-$60,000! Therefore, this weekend we are gearing up for our Both Hands Project to bless a widow, Thelma Lou Carter, and to raise money for our adoption at the same time!  Our goal is to raise $20,000. 
Here is how it works:
 

Each project starts with an adoptive family. The family recruits a team of friends to work on a widow’s house. In advance of doing light repairs, painting, de-cluttering, cleaning, and landscaping, team members ask family members and friends to sponsor them for the day while they work on the house. Volunteers will be sponsored for a day of labor much in the same way that a 5k marathon runner or golfer earns funds for a local charity. All sponsorship funds raised goes to help offset the high cost of adoption. To date, Both Hands has raised over $2,100,000, helped 218 widows, affected 236 orphans, enabled over 6500 people to serve a widow in need in their community, and completed over 202 projects just like this one.

 

God has opened the windows of Heaven and poured out blessings on our project.  We have an incredible team of 45 volunteers signed up to help us this Saturday, Oct. 27, with painting, planting, mulching and pressure washing!  So many businesses have offered to help in some way:  mulch from Home Depot, paint supplies from Johnson's Ace Hardware, bottled water and granola bars from Costco, paint from Sherwin-Williams with the help of Rita Allison and Steve Parker, and lunch for our entire team catered by Little Pigs Barbeque!!

 

We are also thrilled to be invited to share about our adoption and our Both Hands project on News Channel 7's "Your Carolina" show on January 15th, 2013!  God is opening up so many doors for us to share His love for orphans and widows and to encourage others to obey Him by caring for them!

 

And the good news continues...just last week we were told that we would be one of the next families to be matched with our babies, which means that hopefully soon, we will finally see those faces that we have been dreaming of for so long!  And because of the fact that we are actually getting close to bringing our babies home, there is such an urgency in our hearts to have all of our adoption funds in place so that when our agency says "GO," we can GO!  

 

There is a way that you can be a part of us bringing our babies home.  The Both Hands Foundation has set up a donation page for our family.  The link below will give you all the information on how you can make a tax-deductible donation that will go straight to our adoption.  Here is the link:

 

The Gosnell's Both Hands Adoption Donation Page

 

Our adoption fund has been set up through an organization called Lifesong for Orphans who partners with the Both Hands Foundation and allows others to give to make adoption possible for families like us.

 

We know that money is tight for so many families right now, but we also know that God blesses those who care for orphans!  Every donation, big or small, helps get us closer to our babies!  If you can help, it would be a blessing to us!

 

We are overwhelmed at God's goodness and grace as we follow Him.  Please pray for our babies, that God would bring them soon, and that He would continue to watch over them in our absence.  We are asking for His wisdom and guidance as we go through the next steps of our adoption process, knowing that He has a perfect plan for our family.  We feel His presence and are so thankful that He has chosen to bless our family with two more precious treasures.  His plans are abundantly more than we can think or imagine. Praise His Name!

 

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means

caring for orphans and widows in their distress and

refusing to let the world corrupt you. 

James 1:27