Coach Mom Newsletter - Nov 2012
A Call for the Orphans
Oh no, the prophet speaketh!
Many-a-time in our family’s life our son
Micah has shared hard-to-hear words — the
kind that pierce you to the heart. The ones
that you know are true…and you must do
something about.
But never had I heard words from him that
required this much change! “We need
to adopt an orphan,” said ten-year-old
Micah. We had just walked out of the “Orphan
Sunday” church service, focused on the
plight of orphans and the Christians’ call
to care for them.
I assured Micah if God showed us adoption
is the way he wanted us to care for
orphans, we most definitely would. (I was
pretty sure God knew we already had our
hands full with five children. Surely
sending financial support would be enough.)
That day we accepted
the
challenge to pray every day for thirty days
about what God would have us do about the
orphan crisis.
It seemed adoption starting coming up
everywhere we turned. But even as we prayed,
I continued to list why adoption might not
be for our family. (Being more honest, I
might say I was listing reasons adoption
might not be doable for
me.) One day I heard God whisper to my heart, Brenna, it’s not
about you; it’s about rescuing
orphans.
Chris attended a ministry conference and
came home saying he felt God was calling us
to adopt a boy and a girl.
What??? We went from “Does God want us to
adopt?” to “Let’s adopt TWO children”?
About a month later I had my pivotal moment.
As Micah’s elementary school choir filed in
to sing, they were a variety of races and
socioeconomic levels. With every word the
choir sang, I heard an orphan singing
directly to me these words:
I know you see and hear my cries.
Will you stay at my bedside until I fall
asleep?
Will you care for me forever and comfort me
when I weep?
Will you light my dark world with love so
that I might live a life of hope, faith and
joy?
Tears came like a flood as my heart filled
with God’s compassion and love for his poor
and needy orphans. The song haunted me all
afternoon.
That day Micah came in from school and I
said, “Now I know. God is calling us to
adopt.”
It wasn’t until a month later that I noticed
the name of the song — “For Now, I Know.”
 That was more than a year ago. After
completing every form known to man and
gathering information on everything from any
connection we’ve ever had with any business
or organization in the last twenty years to
my siblings’ height and weight (really?) we
have finally completed all necessary
adoption steps stateside. It is hard to
describe the happiness I felt when I walked
out of the FedEx office, knowing all the
notarized documents were on their way to
U.S. Immigration Services – months of work
done.
Just a few weeks ago I had the joy of going
to Sierra Leone and meeting the
seven-year-old girl and nine-year-old boy we
are pursuing for adoption. They live in the
same orphanage and, though not siblings,
they are two peas in a pod. (Chris and our
fourteen-year-old son Caleb met them while
on a mission trip to Africa in June.) Since
we cannot tell the children about the
adoption until all legal approvals are made,
to them I was just another person there on a
mission trip.
As I led the orphans through drawing classes
on the first day, I tried my best to not
show any favoritism toward John and Mariama.
But even seeing them round the corner in
their school uniforms took my breath away.
These
are the children for whom we have daily
prayed for the past three months
Early that evening as the orphans walked us
back to where we were staying, I felt hands
slip into mine. I looked down to see John on
one side and Mariama on the other.
Oh,
Lord! How can I contain myself? As we
walked down the dirt road with the group of
excited children I thought my heart might
burst with love and joy.
I realized that as the Lord is enlarging my
tent He is also enlarging my heart. (Yes, my
selfish “me, me, me” heart.) What I viewed
as a sacrifice for the cause of Christ is
actually going to come back to bless
me.
Though adopting from this country is known
to be a difficult process, I know that “He
who began a good work in us will be faithful
to complete it.” I now pray for patience and
perseverance, that God’s will would prevail
in every detail of this adoption.
Micah and I have
a question for you.
Would
you
be willing to consider praying for 30
consecutive days what God would have
you
do about the orphan crisis? I dare you.
"Enlarge
the place of your tent, stretch your tent
curtains wide,
do not hold
back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your
stakes.” Isaiah 54:2(NIV)
(and in another
version…)
"Enlarge your
house; build an addition. Spread out your
home, and spare no expense!” Isaiah
54:2(NLT)
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Comment on one of
Brenna’s blog posts at
www.brennastull.com/blog
for the chance to win a like-new Oster
breadmaker (Local Pick Up Only). Your family
could enjoy this delicious bread, one of the
Stull favorites:
http://www.brennastull.com/blog/easy-cinnamon-raisin-bread/
Comment soon! The drawing will be held
Friday, November 9.
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Two opportunities to see/read about
Brenna's trip to Sierra Leone:
Sierra Leone, Brenna, and braids…Read More
Brenna’s Sierra Leone trip summed up in 13
photos
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