Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thankfulness-A Chance to Share With Our Church Family

Our church had a Thanksgiving service and pie social tonight. We were honored to be one of 3 families asked to share what God had done in our lives this year and what we were thankful for.

My brain ACHED as I tried to figure out how to fit everything I could think about from the last year (particularly the last 7 months).

In the end, this is what I shared:

2009 has been a year of big changes for our family, as Rosie became the 5th Moffatt. From my earliest days, I can remember desiring to adopt at least part of my children, and this year saw that dream come true.

In May of 2007, Gareth and I both became convinced that God was leading us to adopt a child and we began the adoption process. The next year and a half were full of paperwork, home studies, psychological profiles, medical exams, and waiting.

In October of 2008, our savings and fundraising efforts were exhausted and we found ourselves $11,000 short. Over the next three months, we watched in awe as God provided all of the money we needed through friends and family around the globe.

On January 6 of this year, we received a phone call that said, “Congratulations! Today is the day”, and we saw Rosie’s picture for the first time.

On April 13, I met Rosie and on April 18 after a 28 hour trip, Rosie and I stepped off of the plane and she came home to her forever family.

Tonight, Rosie has been home for 7 months and I would not be truthful if I stood here and told you that adoption is easy and painless. It isn’t always. There have been days of discouragement and times when I doubt that I am truly equipped for this adventure.

But, as I look back over the last year, I can see time and again God’s faithfulness.

Our list of stories could go on for a couple of hours, but to hold it to my 3-minute time limit, I’ll hit only a few highlights:

Our family is thankful for God’s faithfulness to provide the funds needed to bring Rosie home. For the last 10 weeks of last year, we had at least 1 check arrive in our mailbox each week from someone who said God had prompted them to be a part. Our boys had seen me crying as we became aware of the lack of funds, and it was an amazing and humbling experience to be able to see them pray that God would provide the money to bring their sister home and then to watch their joy as they saw God provide all of the money needed. We are especially grateful to those of you here who supported our family with your prayers, friendship, and finances through our adoption journey.


We are thankful that when we asked God to send us the child who we would be the perfect family for and who would be the perfect fit for our family that he sent us Rosie. Seeing her walk off of the airplane and straight into the arms of her Daddy and brothers like she had always belonged there is a testament to the work that God had done to prepare her heart and ours for that day.

We are thankful for amazing memories: first hugs, first kisses, first “I love you’s”, first ice creams, first times to hear her call us Mommy and Daddy, hearing her first prayers, and the excitement and wonder that she brings to life as we see her experience so many firsts.

We are thankful for the strength and wisdom that He provides on the days when we wonder what to do and what to say and how to deal with the challenges of raising a little one who did not have the advantages of early training, discipline, and stability.

James 1:27 says : Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

We are thankful that in God’s wisdom and plan, He has given Christians the responsibility to care for those who have no family and are especially grateful that He has allowed us to be a part of His plan for Rosie’s life.

We believe that adoption is evangelism in its’ most personal and intimate form, and we are grateful to be a part of sharing the love of an earthly father with Rosie in anticipation of the day when she will come to a personal saving relationship with her Heavenly Father.

Now more than ever, I realize how much my Heavenly Father loves me and I am grateful that He has given me the opportunity to understand that love a little better. And, I am even more grateful that he has given us the opportunity to show Rosie how wide and long and high and deep His love really is.

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