Ruthless Trust... Relentless Pursuit!

We received bad news yesterday from Ethiopia concerning our mission to adopt twin 6 year olds. It was yet another setback in our journey of hope. And while disappointment sets in each time we face a setback, don’t feel sorry for us… we are learning and growing. As painful and as unwelcome as these experiences are, they give us the opportunity to ruthlessly trust God. He is definitely refining our minds and our hearts through this process.

Soon after we received the news of the latest setback, I was overwhelmed with the thought of how personal this process is for me and how that impacts my every thought and action concerning these kids. Many of you reading this blog care for orphans in the sense that you care for the plight of the 143 million orphans worldwide. And at times you take action because you care – you donate your money and time to serve orphans in general. I get that and it is vital for people to act in this way. But those are not my thoughts when it comes to adopting Tizita and Geremo. You see Tizita and Geremo are two individual orphans. They are included in the 143 million, and yet they are not a number. One of the problems we are dealing with in this process is that we are the only ones in this process who don’t see Tizita and Geremo as part of a number. To everyone else dealing with orphans, they are just 2 of the millions that need help. So somebody who sees them this way, looks at their case and how difficult the steps are in this process and just concludes, “it’s too hard and I can be helping 20 other orphans who have easier cases in the same time it would take to help these two.” It is at this point that the numbers begin to work against our two kids. What Tizita and Geremo need isn’t people who care about the 143 million orphans worldwide, they need a mom and dad who will fight for them… just them!

The spiritual lesson that God is teaching me in this process is this. He has whispered to my heart, “David, I did love the whole world so much that I gave my Son for every person who has ever lived, BUT I am also your Father and I come to you personally and I love you individually. I sent my son because I was fighting for you personally.” I have felt that kind of love from God recently. The love that is specific to my situation, my emotions, my thoughts, my feelings. I have sensed the presence of God in ways that are personal.

This leads me to the second big thing I am learning through these adoption struggles which is this. Because I am their dad, I am the only one acting like it. I know no one else in this process cares like Mendy and I care. We see these kids as “our kids” and it produces a relentless pursuit to care for them. We will come up with new idea after new idea after new idea… We will raise dollar after dollar after dollar… We will go and go and go … until they have a mom and a dad. We have been and will continue to be relentless in our pursuit. It won’t stop. So each new setback only serves to remind me of what these kids need and this only strengthens my resolve to relentlessly pursue these two kids as my own.

And in that moment when my resolve strengthens, God whispers again, “This is how I pursued you. I came after you not as a group of people but as a boy who I wanted to adopt into my family… a boy who I relentlessly pursued until he found a heavenly Father. I boy who I continue to pursue relentlessly.” God is so good to me and yet that is how he pursues you as well. Individually… relentlessly.

One more thought. We have a common enemy. The bible indicates that the Evil One devises “schemes” (Ephesians 6:11) for our destruction. The meaning of this word indicates that our common enemy doesn’t just seek to destroy us as a group, but that he devises individual schemes that are personal to our own weaknesses so that he can completely destroy us one by one. This is the wickedness of our common enemy. He has devised a scheme to steal, kill and destroy Tizita and Genermo as individuals. A scheme that includes isolating them, lying to them and leaving them vulnerable. It is going to take someone who will treat them as individuals to combat the enemy’s work against them.

I am ready… this war is on… it is raging… ruthless trust… relentless pursuit.