And baby makes 7
On the morning of Christmas Eve 2008, we decided that it was time for our youngest child to be in a "big boy bed". As we were disassembling the family crib for the 4th and final time, I was overwhelmed with a strong sense that something was wrong, that we were NOT finished having children. My brain disputed my emotions saying "But we have officially agreed that we were DONE!" However that whole day I was unsettled. I casually said to Russ "Are we really done?" Without skipping a beat, he said with commanding confidence "Yep." I thought, "O.k. Maybe this is about me. Maybe I am having an identity crisis, not wanting to admit that I am so ancient that I am done with the 'baby years'. I may just be unable to admit that I am finally old enough to be 'moving on to the next stage!' This feeling might just be my ego." So I prayed fervently that if this was "ABOUT ME", that the Lord would take this feeling away from me and give me contentment with the four precious gifts He had blessed me with. But it didn't go away. The feelings I had on Christmas Eve just intensified with each day. I felt God's STRONG leading to adopt again (a blow that had my head spinning... "Really Lord... 5 kids?!?! But we only ever anticipated 4. That has always been our plan! You really have another for us?!") After a month of diligent and private prayer, I brought it up again to Russ and he said "REALLY? (sigh) Well, who am I to tell you that God is not speaking to you? I will not stand in His way because of my own personal understanding, I will seek him too. But we both have to be on the same page with this... and frankly, this is coming out of left field for me. Lets pray about it together for one month and see if He gives us any direction". We prayed about it for a full month with out telling the kids (or anyone else) and asked for confirmation one way or another. The strong sense that this was God's will didn't go away for me, but continued to grow. And as Russ asked for clarity, he too was overwhelmingly convinced.
We decided to ask the kids what THEY thought about another sibling. We agreed that if THEY are not on board, maybe God would give us clarity through their reactions. After all, if He can use a donkey to get through to Balaam, he can surely use our rug-rats to get through to us. However, they were all way more enthusiastic than we ever anticipated, jumping up and down, squealing & carrying on. With cautious excitement we told them that we would all continue to pray about it and start the ball rolling and wait to see if God chose to open doors or close them, and that either way, we would listen and obey. So every night we would pray about it with the kids and then they would ask "Are the doors still opening?" It ended up being our little catch phrase, when something progressed we'd share "another Open Door kids!" Open door after open door. It was clear. Through much prayer, we knew for sure that we had another son who God intended for our family somewhere on this globe.
We started the process through Holt and were instantly drawn to the Uganda pilot program. God again made His will abundantly clear, "THIS is where your son is!" Russ was convinced that we should name our son either Joshua or Caleb. He has always admired how much confidence they had in God's power even when the odds were stacked against them. He read their story (in Numbers 13) to the family said, "I want our son to have that same 'Of course He can! With God anything is possible, kinda attitude." Russ loved the symbolism of the names & he wanted to instill in our son the unbreakable conviction that our God can do anything!
2 months later, in mid April 2009, our church hosted the Watoto children's choir from Uganda and we were blessed to house several of them over the long weekend. Still unaware of who specifically God would bring into our family, but knowing he would be Ugandan, we asked our new friends a million questions about their culture and their land. On our last day together, we took them to the public library. I was sitting on a big couch surrounded by these beautiful children, reading them a book when my cell phone rang. I excused myself when I saw that it was our case worker calling. She said "Do you have a minute? I have a little boy I'd like to tell you about." I listened intently as she said "This little boys name is Joshua Asobola, (my heart stopped "did she just say Joshua?!" I thought). She went on "he was brought into care on Christmas Eve 2008 (I couldn't breathe. That day is forever etched in my heart) "He is at an orphanage in Kampala,called An Open Door". I was frozen in a state of disbelief. With tears streaming down my face, I choked out "That our son!" She calmly said "Well, talk to Russ about it, review his charts and..." I cut her off "No, Kris, you don't understand, THIS IS our son!" I got off the phone and my head was spinning. I was flooded with the same wonder and elation that I felt each time we tried to get pregnant and I finally saw those 2 beautiful pink lines. I was brought back to the euphoric gratitude I felt when Holt had told us 3 years prior, that the adoption committee had chosen our family for the little Korean infant who had stolen our hearts. I was a mommy... again! The good Lord had blessed us with another child. We had another son! Our precious Joshua. I was utterly overwhelmed with gratefulness. I fell madly in love the second I knew he existed. I stared for hours at the one picture we were given (above). I obsessively drank in the tiny photo of his pensive little face sitting on the dirt floor of the orphanage. I devoured every visible aspect of his undersized body, the tiny dimples at the end of each finger, the nose that needed to be tenderly wiped, the eyes that were full of confusion and strength. My son. My Joshua.
When they took this picture, he didn't know why he was in this odd place with so many strangers or why he was no longer with the only family he had ever known. Too young to know he was "an orphan", he cautiously eased into his new surroundings. And he also didn't know that the King of kings had a plan for him. He didn't know he was already utterly adored & desperately missed by his family on the other side of the world. He didn't know he was ours and we were his. Although Joshua may not know it yet, I believe that our Heavenly father created Joshua Asobola for an amazing purpose, with a strong spirit that will persevere, grow, thrive and shine to the glory of our King.
Before our Watoto guests left, I asked a chaperone what Asobola meant in Lugandan and she said "How would you say, in English???... it means "Of course He Can!" We were overwhelmed and humbled again at the knowledge that the God of all the universe, cares so much about the littlest details, and how He delights in knitting together his perfect plan.
We decided to ask the kids what THEY thought about another sibling. We agreed that if THEY are not on board, maybe God would give us clarity through their reactions. After all, if He can use a donkey to get through to Balaam, he can surely use our rug-rats to get through to us. However, they were all way more enthusiastic than we ever anticipated, jumping up and down, squealing & carrying on. With cautious excitement we told them that we would all continue to pray about it and start the ball rolling and wait to see if God chose to open doors or close them, and that either way, we would listen and obey. So every night we would pray about it with the kids and then they would ask "Are the doors still opening?" It ended up being our little catch phrase, when something progressed we'd share "another Open Door kids!" Open door after open door. It was clear. Through much prayer, we knew for sure that we had another son who God intended for our family somewhere on this globe.
We started the process through Holt and were instantly drawn to the Uganda pilot program. God again made His will abundantly clear, "THIS is where your son is!" Russ was convinced that we should name our son either Joshua or Caleb. He has always admired how much confidence they had in God's power even when the odds were stacked against them. He read their story (in Numbers 13) to the family said, "I want our son to have that same 'Of course He can! With God anything is possible, kinda attitude." Russ loved the symbolism of the names & he wanted to instill in our son the unbreakable conviction that our God can do anything!
2 months later, in mid April 2009, our church hosted the Watoto children's choir from Uganda and we were blessed to house several of them over the long weekend. Still unaware of who specifically God would bring into our family, but knowing he would be Ugandan, we asked our new friends a million questions about their culture and their land. On our last day together, we took them to the public library. I was sitting on a big couch surrounded by these beautiful children, reading them a book when my cell phone rang. I excused myself when I saw that it was our case worker calling. She said "Do you have a minute? I have a little boy I'd like to tell you about." I listened intently as she said "This little boys name is Joshua Asobola, (my heart stopped "did she just say Joshua?!" I thought). She went on "he was brought into care on Christmas Eve 2008 (I couldn't breathe. That day is forever etched in my heart) "He is at an orphanage in Kampala,called An Open Door". I was frozen in a state of disbelief. With tears streaming down my face, I choked out "That our son!" She calmly said "Well, talk to Russ about it, review his charts and..." I cut her off "No, Kris, you don't understand, THIS IS our son!" I got off the phone and my head was spinning. I was flooded with the same wonder and elation that I felt each time we tried to get pregnant and I finally saw those 2 beautiful pink lines. I was brought back to the euphoric gratitude I felt when Holt had told us 3 years prior, that the adoption committee had chosen our family for the little Korean infant who had stolen our hearts. I was a mommy... again! The good Lord had blessed us with another child. We had another son! Our precious Joshua. I was utterly overwhelmed with gratefulness. I fell madly in love the second I knew he existed. I stared for hours at the one picture we were given (above). I obsessively drank in the tiny photo of his pensive little face sitting on the dirt floor of the orphanage. I devoured every visible aspect of his undersized body, the tiny dimples at the end of each finger, the nose that needed to be tenderly wiped, the eyes that were full of confusion and strength. My son. My Joshua.
When they took this picture, he didn't know why he was in this odd place with so many strangers or why he was no longer with the only family he had ever known. Too young to know he was "an orphan", he cautiously eased into his new surroundings. And he also didn't know that the King of kings had a plan for him. He didn't know he was already utterly adored & desperately missed by his family on the other side of the world. He didn't know he was ours and we were his. Although Joshua may not know it yet, I believe that our Heavenly father created Joshua Asobola for an amazing purpose, with a strong spirit that will persevere, grow, thrive and shine to the glory of our King.
Before our Watoto guests left, I asked a chaperone what Asobola meant in Lugandan and she said "How would you say, in English???... it means "Of course He Can!" We were overwhelmed and humbled again at the knowledge that the God of all the universe, cares so much about the littlest details, and how He delights in knitting together his perfect plan.
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