“Cold Feet”

August 15, 2014 adopting again, heart defect, Jean, large families, older child adoption 6 Comments

After adopting 13 children you would think I have it all down to a science! But I don’t… Once again I have suffered from the feelings of “cold feet”…

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Am I sure that it will work out adding to this large crew that somehow seems to work well together? Was it just me that thought this child was adorable or is it God telling me she is our daughter? What about the vehicle situation–there’s no more room in our van? Really God, another bunk bed? And what about the love/hate thing I have for traveling to China? I love meeting our new child but I’m not the best mom when I am there because I am dealing with all of my feelings. I get claustrophobic in the plane and a constant nervous stomach. If hubby goes we are without him for two to three weeks. Are we too old for this? And what if…

The doubts the questions come into my mind one after another. It doesn’t matter if it was our first adoption or our last. It’s happened every single time we adopt.

It’s not God that is putting these questions and doubts in to my mind it is the opposition taking advantage of my wavering faith and my weaknesses. He is stealing the joy, and robbing me of an opportunity to put my TRUST IN GOD. The opposition would like nothing better than for us to back away in fear and to stop doing as God desires us to do. Whether it’s missionary work in the USA or overseas, whether it’s fostering, adopting, or service to our Lord, in anyway the opposition wants us to fail… and he will stop short of nothing to cause us to fail or turn around in fear. BUT our GOD is bigger than all of this. He is our armor, our strength and HE fights off the opposition. Prayer and faith are our weapons.

Thankfully my cold feet don’t last very long. Thankfully (each time) God steps in and puts me back together and sends me on the path that he has planned for us.

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When I feel this way I get rather quiet and prayerful. I put out an APB for the Lord and I don’t stop praying until I feel His presence, His comfort, HIS peace. Of course He never left me. He doesn’t ever leave us but somehow I had blocked HIM out and allowed the opposition to sneak in…

My cold feet were quickly a thing of the past and my heart overflowed with gratitude for Lord.

I wanted to share with you that questioning what you are doing is normal. Most likely others around you are not adopting so you are going in a different direction than maybe some of your friends. You are stepping out in faith for a child. You are stepping out to serve the Lord and to be His hands and feet. There are many unknowns but if you focus on what you do know you will find abundant blessings! You know that God will never leave you. You know that even though you fear you can’t do it, He can! You know that God’s hands are all over adoption- it is HIS desire that we care for the orphans and widows.

Even when our adoption journey has been hard the best still flow.

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What I have found in our adoption journeys is that GOD handles the details. The van will somehow work out or we will take 2 vehicles. The bunk bed will fit into the room–it will be crowded but that’s okay. Most likely we won’t even notice that we have an extra child at the table, it will instantly feel “normal” to us.

But to the child it will be life changing. A sparkle will come to our new daughter’s eyes. Her smile will radiate joy and her health will be restored. She will laugh and giggle as she plays with her many siblings. She will learn about Jesus and what a life with FAITH is like! And the icing on the cake is that she will run to her Mommy and her Daddy for a hug and kiss…

As we serve God we wonder how on earth could we be so blessed…

THANK YOU LORD!





6 responses to ““Cold Feet””

  1. Thank you!! We are wrestling with which of the children who are already in our home will travel with us to China this fall… the being apart part – yikes! Thank you for reassuring me that my doubts and concerns are normal and also encouraging me to turn to the Lord with them. i.can.not.wait.to.see.her.face

  2. Lacy says:

    Love this Jean! Love following your blog!

  3. Beth says:

    Thank you so much for this–your timing has divine fingerprints. I read this message the morning after a serious freakout/meltdown moment where I was convinced we needed to call our agency and rescind our letter of intent to adopt. We had gotten some new information about our child that scared me to death, and I had convinced myself that if my fears were confirmed, we would not be able to parent this child. I wrestled through the night with the decision, and then your message in the morning, along with my husband’s steady faith, confirmed for me that God chose to place this child with our family for a reason, and no matter the outcome, He would never leave us alone in our struggles. So thank you for the reminder to stay the course!

  4. amy says:

    Thank you for this. I soooo needed to hear that. The devil has worked a number on me with fear, im gonna fight the fight and stay in the promise.

  5. Renee Nooe says:

    I needed to read this today. Thank you thank you for writing it. Know it made an impact on at least one today. And for that one, me, it was life giving!!!!

  6. Kate says:

    I stumbled on this post as I am having cold feet and lots of stress about an adoption. Thank you for the inspiring words.

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