Jehovah-Jireh (the LORD provides)--Davenport

Thank you so very much for all of your prayers regarding the many doors needing to be opened for our adoption to happen! 

A quick update on how God is making straight paths as we follow His lead down the road toward adoption.  It’s so exciting to watch Him work! 

The initial application required $200.  Brinson and Aiden immediately volunteered to give their allowance for the next year, plus money that they have saved in the bank to cover the expense.  Such precious hearts!  We’re so proud of them.  We love hearing their prayers asking for their brother(s) or sister(s) who is (are) somewhere out there to come home soon.  We know that God hears the powerful prayers of His children.

Being approved financially (our income is in yuan and doesn’t convert into a very large American number) was something we weren’t quite sure about.  However, we discovered that the housing, utilities, and health insurance we are provided with are also included in the bottom line. So after getting a letter from our university we have been approved financially and are now awaiting the official acceptance!   

The next step involves paying just under $5,000 (the first of a series of payments).  We’ve continued steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it, knowing that God would provide and that there would be reason for thanksgiving soon.  We didn’t know where God was going to come up with the money but we were at peace knowing that He had it all worked out.  Late last night we received word that someone dear to us received an unexpected $5,000 bonus and that the Spirit strongly urged them to put it towards our adoption. Wow!  The only stipulation was for it to remain anonymous so that Jehovah-Jireh (the LORD who provides) would receive all the honor. 

Please continue to pray for the cutting of red tape and for the protection of our little one(s).  We continue to follow your lead Father…..

A Beautiful Snowy Day!

These are portraits on the wall at the orphanage in Beijing.  They are copies of famous paintings.  I thought they were beautiful!

Adoption - Pritchard's

When we came to China 5 months ago, we went to visit an orphanage here in Shiyan to hold and love on the children.  From that very first day Hannah was hooked.   It was big for her and became a regular part of her prayer life.  She would talk to us about adoption from time to time but we remember always feeling certain that 'it wasn't for us'.  Even when she would sincerely ask about us adopting, we told her that perhaps this was something that God had called her to do when she was older but not necessarily our family now.  We also told her that we didn't feel like He had called us to it.  However, this desire continued in her and only grew stronger with time even though we were no longer being allowed to visit the orphans due to regulations at the orphanage.  One day she came to us with a letter that she had written which she felt led by God to share with us.   It was a sincere, urgent plea to adopt one of the children there who had a heart condition.  She said that if she had to wait until she was old enough to adopt him he would likely be dead.  She offered to help in any and every way she could and she delivered the note to us in tears.  Realizing how deeply this had been put on her heart, we told her that we would begin seriously praying about it and be open to God's leading.  Realizing that we were now seriously praying about it, Ayden began to get a bit scared and sad.  He just wasn't sure what he thought about it and honestly, we weren't sure either.  Although it was with more feeling than thought, we had always felt certain that adoption was not a calling we had but we were now beginning to wonder if that was the case or if it was just something we didn't want to do.  After all, we had sort of "planned" out how things would go in life and this just wasn't in the plan.  But we did talk about it.  We knew that a once a year visit to an orphanage wasn't what God meant when He said  "care for the widows and the orphans", but we also knew that there were different ways of caring for someone other than adoption.  We needed clarity and we knew that we could trust God's leading and so we began praying even more earnestly.  Deryk's specific prayer (as it often is) was that God would give us all the same heart - the same desire.  Whether His answer was yes or no we wanted to all desire and have peace about the same thing.  Many things began to pop up here and there that made us think, but our feelings seemed to remain the same - however, we continued to pray.  We spent part of our Winter Break at an orphanage in Beijing, and we thought this would help fulfill Hannah's longings, but instead it simply confirmed them and now Ayden was on board!  They came to us together, and Ayden explained that God had changed his feelings; now he too felt a strong desire and excitement about adopting.  With both children now firmly convinced we knew that we needed to step up the prayers because we know that God works powerfully in the tender hearts of children.  We focused our get-togethers with Eric and Wendy on this matter, and we prayed earnestly to God.  He was starting to create a willingness and a desire for adopting within us, too, but we still had so many "what ifs" that created fear and gave us pause - like Deryk's medical history.  On Hannah's birthday as we were busy in the kitchen cooking, we decided to listen to a sermon by Francis Chan, instead of music.  Out of the 100's of sermons Francis has preached, Deryk picked one he had downloaded months ago but never listened to.  We hit play and began to work, but slowly found ourselves both making our way to the den just standing there with our mouths wide open as he addressed all the "what ifs" in life.  He was talking about being fearless and it was no coincidence that we were hearing this message - God was answering our prayers for direction!  We shared this with Eric and Wendy, who promptly listened to the sermon themselves, and then we all got together to talk and pray some more.  We felt certain that this was from Him, but I am sad to say we still felt like we needed/wanted even more confirmation (like Gideon) - I mean this was a big decision.  So we humbly asked God if He would give us a little more confirmation - I believe Wendy's prayer was "please make it as clear as the nose on the end of our face"!  Somewhere in all of this, the Davenport's found a Part 2 to the convicting sermon we had heard a few days earlier.  God's timing is so good - had we know about it all along and listened to both sermons at the same time I do not know that we would have been ready for it.    However, as we sat together and listened to Part 2 a few days later, we laughed and cried at how clearly the Lord was speaking directly to us - just like the noses on the end of our faces!  Francis Chan began talking specifically about adoption and gave an example of a family who's 11 year old daughter had come to them with a heart and calling from God to adopt.  The parents did not feel it was for them but the little girl persisted.  Some time later she came to them with a note describing the seriousness of the matter.  We couldn't believe our ears!  It was an exact reproduction of what Hannah had done.  (So exact, in fact, that Deryk asked her if she had read that story online somewhere, but she hadn't and she pointed out that, "I showed you a video, too!")  As if that were not enough, the sermon went on with many other beautiful messages, just an overflowing gift from the Lord!  He didn't have to go the extra mile - He had already answered, but He is good and He gives us more than we need because He is patient and kind and He loves us!  It was a total confirmation, a sealed deal - we are moving forward in fearlessness with the Lord and will begin the process of adoption.  We don't know what is next.  There are many doors (like laws and finances, among others) that have to be opened in order for this to happen, but we know that He is able!  If He wants the doors to continue opening, they will, and we will follow.  The first and the biggest door was the door to our hearts, and He took care of that like nothing we have ever seen - and we feel like we have seen a lot!
He is so good!
Deryk and Tiffany

Here is a link to the sermons we mentioned if you are interested in listening to them.
"Fearless, Part 1", http://vimeo.com/14354907
"Fearless, Part 2", http://vimeo.com/14535163

Adoption....Davenports

Well I guess everyone who adopts has an adoption story.  Our story is basically about Him.  How our Adoptive Father changed our hearts.  We are thankful for His patience.

 

Our family has been convicted of the need for followers of Jesus to take an active and intentional role in caring for the fatherless and motherless since 2009.  That’s when a three week trip to the Namwianga Mission in Zambia opened our eyes and hearts to the tremendous and numerous needs of these precious little ones who have been swept aside by the torrent of brokenness so engulfing our world.  We know that Jesus and His Kingdom is the answer, and we know that He urges His people to fill the numerous roles needing to be filled in order to show the Father’s love to the fatherless. 

 

Since 2009 we’ve assumed that our role was simply to be a foster family; to offer temporary love, nurturing, and safety to infants and toddlers as they await their forever home.  We had many reasons and rationale for limiting our role to fostering and therefore declined to adopt some of the children we had fostered, although it was quite difficult.  We felt at peace that we just “weren’t called to adopt” although the boys have always had an openness to it.    

 

Something began to change within Wendy last September when we visited an orphanage here in Shiyan, China.  God used a little two year-old boy to do something deep within her.  Wendy named him Pierce “because he pierced my heart when I first saw him.”  He was the first of many of the little ones to grab my (Eric’s) legs and say “ba ba” (daddy) when we first walked in.  We spent about 30 minutes in the room where he and a dozen other little ones lived and that was enough to stir Wendy’s heart.  She came home and wept.  Over the next many months she couldn’t get him out of her mind.  You must understand that the way this quiet, unassuming little one instantly stole her heart was different.  For some reason different.  Different from all the times that other children who weren’t our own- whether in Zambia or even in our home- have called us mommy and daddy and captured our hearts.  Different.  Supernaturally different.  Yes, we loved the other babies as our own but this two year-old Chinese boy with special needs instantaneously took up residence in a spot of Wendy’s heart that we hadn’t known existed.  The boys also felt an instant connection to him.      

 

For the first time, she began to think, pray, and talk about adoption.  It wasn’t a strong and decisive “we should adopt!” but rather a hesitant and quiet questioning.  At times she would try to explain that it wasn’t a desire to adopt as much as an urgent need and relentless disturbance to adopt him.  She had never had these feelings before.  I wasn’t so sure.  Actually I was quite sure: quite sure that we “weren’t called to adopt.” I had a well-rehearsed mental tape of the logical and rational reasons for not adopting.  For instance, “We’ll be empty-nesters at 44 and be free to go and do whatever He calls us to without thinking about the effects it’ll have on the kids.” (We’re planning on being back in the States in a couple of years so that the boys can be in public high schools.) “Starting over with a little one will delay that.”  I had quite a few rational arguments against adopting. And of course I had my fair share of selfish reasons for not adopting.  I knew they were selfish but they were still there.

 

In a way, Wendy wanted to stop thinking about Pierce.  It was heartbreaking to picture him in the cold, but more so it was heartbreaking for her to picture his future without a loving family or knowing of His loving Father.  In another way, I too wanted Wendy to stop thinking about Pierce.  But all of our hearts continued to hurt for the children at the orphanage.  After just a handful of visits, we were told that as foreigners we would no longer be able to visit the orphanage.  This was heartbreaking for all of us.  We wanted so badly to visit weekly in order to play with, pray over, and love on the children. 

 

In November, after much prayer and discussion Wendy convinced me that we should at least ask a few questions and see if Pierce was adoptable and what the requirements would be. This was after only seeing Pierce for a combined 90 minutes or so over our handful of visits to the orphanage.  We discovered that we aren’t anywhere near the income levels required for adoption and that all the children at this specific orphanage around Pierce’s age had been promised to a specific organization.  Dead-end.  Confirmation that “we aren’t called to adopt,” I thought.

 

In January we spent 4 days at an orphanage near Beijing.  While there the director told us that with each of their adoptive children they didn’t meet one or more of the requirements.  He simply said, “If God wants you to adopt, you’ll adopt. Don’t worry about the requirements.”  Something re-stirred in Wendy’s heart.

 

Each night that we were at the orphanage we and the Pritchards ended the day with a devo.  We spent time praying for the children we had spent the day playing with; praying that they would come to know what love truly was; praying that they would be adopted by a loving, Christian family.  We began to feel more and more uncomfortable praying those words.  Oh, we meant the words!  We knew that they needed to know and feel love.  We knew they needed to know from where they came and who it was that loved them more than they could imagine.  But we also became aware of the unspoken words of the prayer.  What we were really praying was, “God, may these children be adopted by a loving, Christian family….just not ours.”  We saw our hypocrisy in our prayers and weren’t comfortable with it.  “We aren’t called to adopt” began to lose some power. 

 

When we returned home all eight of us (4 Davenports and 4 Pritchards) had adoption on our radar to varying degrees and varying levels of enthusiasm.  Brinson and Aiden were all in and fully convinced.  Wendy was fully convinced but not all in. She had discovered her own list of selfish reasons not to adopt now that Pierce seemed to be out of the question.  I was doing my absolute best to cover my ears, close my eyes, and rehearse my logical and rational reasons not to proceed. 

 

On Monday, January 28^th, Deryk, Tiffany, Wendy, and I spent a bunch of time together praying about adoption.  We then had a “what if” and “yeah but” pow-wow…discussing all the reasons why adoption might not be best for our families.  Obviously, we all had our selfish list but we knew those were selfish and shouldn’t be considered in the discussion.  There were many reasons each of us had that seemed legit, real concerns and real hesitations.  We ended our time together by praying that God would make it clear what we should do with all the “what ifs”; are they from you or are they from our flesh?

 

A few days later God dropped a Francis Chan sermon into our lap. It’s called “Fearless” and dealt directly with all the “what ifs” that keep us from following and trusting our Shepherd. Wow! God used a sermon preached 2 years ago to speak directly to us and answer our prayer!

 

The four of us got back together on Friday, February 1^st.  We all felt as though God had answered many of the questions we had asked him and all of our hearts were being changed to desire adoption.  Yet we still wanted confirmation.  The sentiment of the evening was, “if God wants us to do this then we will run in that direction.  We just want to know for sure that God is saying yes.”  Smile. J God is patient.  And so, we put the fleece out for one more night and prayed for God to “make it as clear as the nose on our faces.” (those were Wendy’s words ).   

 

Sunday, February 3^rd, we happened to notice that Chan’s sermon was Part 1 of a two-part series. That evening our families got together to watch part 2.  We had no idea that the first several minutes of the sermon would be about adoption and that Francis would reveal that he and his family had decided to begin the paperwork to adopt a 2 year-old special needs boy from China!!  We sat with our jaws dropped and tears flowing… that this old sermon was God speaking directly into our hearts.  The whole sermon spoke powerfully to each and every “what if”, “yeah but”, and hesitation we had voiced not 48 hours prior to viewing it.  God had answered beyond our wildest dreams!  But the biggest answer was in relation to our hearts.  He had done a major transformation in each of us.  Our hearts had been broken, our eyes had been opened, and we desperately want to rescue, love, and raise a little one in the name of the One who rescued, loves, and raises us. 

 

We are charging ahead at full speed into the adoption process, fully convinced that God is leading us, and with the strongest desires to do so.  The “what ifs” are still there because they are real.  But they don’t matter to us anymore simply because we know He will provide and He will give us whatever we need.  The name Pierce now brings tears to all 4 of our eyes.  We don’t know for sure that he is the one we will welcome into our family (the red-tape says he isn’t) but it sure seems as though he is.  Please join us in prayer.  Meanwhile, we eagerly await the day we will hold our little one in our arms and whisper the sweet name of Jesus in his ear.  Tell him of his Maker.  His Savior.  And…that we chose him (or her) just as Christ chose us.  Like so much else, we will patiently watch our Shepherd work. We’re following your lead Father……