There are so many ways that God has shown Himself to be personal to us through the story of Linda, and I will attempt to share as much as I can. A year and a half ago my brother in law and niece traveled to China on a mission trip to care for precious children who resided in two different group foster homes. At the time we were in the beginning stages of our first adoption. Knowing the name of one of the foster homes, we looked up their website and witnessed the faces of the children who lived there. One little girl jumped off the page, there was just something about her. Her name was listed as "Linda". When our brother in law returned from the trip, he gushed about this little precious "doll" of a girl named Linda. We really didn't know much about the matching process at the time, yet we began the pursuit to adopt her. We came to find out that little Linda was named for a very special lady who works from the U.S. to advocate for the kiddos at this foster home. We were so excited! We prayed. We trusted. We were at peace. We left the results up to God. About a month later, we received word that Linda had been matched to another family through another agency's individual list. There was nothing more we could do. We were sad; we didn't completely understand. It just seemed so clear that this little one was meant for us. But we trusted and knew that God was in control and that nothing would thwart His plans. I continued to pray for that little girl. She was in my heart, and it was not easy to let her go.
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Well, about a month later we were so ready to say "yes"! We knew that there was a little girl somewhere out there meant just for us. Then we saw her face. Our sweet little Joy! She was one of the first children designated to our agency's individual list. We had time. We prayed, we researched, we hoped, we prayed some more. We said our "yes" to our precious Joy! Fast forward to a few months before we were getting ready to travel to go get our precious daughter. (I realize that I say "precious" a lot. It's just that all children truly are precious in His sight!)
Anyways, we received a phone call out of the blue to tell us that little Linda's adoption had fallen through. And the next sentence was, "Do you still want her?" Do we still want her? Yes, of course we still want her! This was just too incredible for words. Had God really planned for Linda to be our daughter? We had heard Him correctly, it's just that His timing is not ours. He was orchestrating a plan way better than we could have imagined. If we had been matched with Linda the first time, we would not have our Joy! God is so personal! He is so good and kind! He had double blessings in store for us. We don't always understand why He sometimes says "no", but he allowed us to see it so clearly! He in fact did not say "no", but "wait". And if I am truly honest, I just knew that our part in Linda's story was not yet over. What is impossible with God? Nothing!
It wasn't easy, and there were many details to work out. But God has done it. He is our Good Shepherd, and we are doing our best to follow Him where He leads. Two adoptions in less than a year would not have been our plan. But it's His, and He always knows best. We can hardly wait to bring our little Linda home. Her name means "beautiful", and her story truly is one of beauty. Our God is writing it, and we know that He has beautiful plans for her precious life. We are so thankful to be a part of it! Joy is especially happy about her new sister!
"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
