Worship in the Waiting

We've done all the things: applied and were accepted into our adoption program, filled out all the paperwork, answered all the questions, completed background checks and interviews, had our home evaluated... and now we wait.

We took this photo a few weeks ago at the location of our very first date nearly 7 years ago. It stirs my heart to think that we're on our way to bringing a little bee-bop to one of our most special places soon.

It’s been three weeks since we shared our special news with the world that we are on the road to adopting. Although we hadn’t shared any updates yet, I assure you that we’ve been busy making strides checking off our “to-dos” on our Adoption Checklist. In fact, in the last three weeks we passed our background checks, underwent individual and joint interviews with our adoption case worker, and had our pre-placement home evaluation. So, after all of that (and a mountain of paperwork) …we are so excited to be officially home study approved or, in other words, legally licensed to adopt! This is huge for us because it means that our family profile is live and online for expectant mothers considering adoption to find.

I took some time this afternoon to just sit in the presence of God and try to consider my feelings now that we are merely waiting to be chosen. It’s difficult to describe. We both have such feelings of relief and excitement now that we have done everything we are required to do before we could be certified to adopt. And at the same time, there is this nagging thought,

“Do we really just go back to regular life and wait for a call? Surely, we should be doing something.”

It’s funny, Tyler actually asked our adoption case worker what advice she gives to waiting adoptive couples. She told us get back to normal, to stay busy, or to consider going on vacation to take our minds off waiting. I love some good practical advice, and that was it. Short and sweet. But still this Tuesday morning, with nothing extremely pressing on my calendar to keep my mind busy, I was feeling stir-crazy. So, I sat down to work on piecing together our family adoption puzzle with some music playing in the background. A few of my favorite worship songs happened to play back-to-back which is what led me to set the puzzle aside and spend some time alone listening for and talking to God. I asked Him, “What am I supposed to do, Lord? I can’t just sit here.” And I waited.

The Lord brought to my mind the apostle Paul. First, He reminded me of the time Paul spent in prison in Acts 16. You might know the story. Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison after casting out an evil spirit from a young slave-girl. I can imagine being Paul, feeling confused, defeated, even angry for being punished for hearing and following God’s call. But that’s not how the story goes. Quite the opposite, about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. The next day, Paul and Silas were released (forgive me for skipping the literally earthquaking events that happened during the night). And then the Lord reminded me of the time Paul was under house arrest in Acts 28. Paul was again imprisoned for hearing and following God’s call. This imprisonment lasted longer than the first described. For about two years Paul was under house arrest in Rome. Only two verses in Acts 28 describe what Paul’s life looked like during that time. It says that he welcomed all who came to him, preached the kingdom of God, and taught concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered. We also know that it was during this time that Paul wrote his prison epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon).

You could say that both of these imprisonments, whether short or long, were periods of waiting for Paul. And he surely kept busy, worshipping and radiating Jesus. I think the point is that Paul was faithful. Paul was faithful to do as the Lord commanded Him in each of these circumstances, even during a period of waiting.

So what should we do while we wait?

So, that is Tyler and my prayer for our period of waiting. We are, of course, neither imprisoned nor under house arrest, but we do feel as though we are “on hold” of sorts. Yet, although our life is seemingly paused, we pray that we will not hesitate, waiver, or delay to spend each day worshipping, praying, preaching, and teaching the name of our sweet savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We humbly ask that you pray with us, that we would be faithful. And we praise the Father for Paul’s words to Timothy that, “when we are faithless, He remains faithful,” (2 Timothy 2:13).