Hope Makes You Not Ashamed
Romans 5:5, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Well it is 4:00 in the morning February 20, and it is my turn to have baby duty! Yes, I said baby duty! Some of you are saying to yourself, “What!!!” Trust me, I said the same thing and more over the last three days. But this story starts a few months back.
In December Kasie and I talked honestly about adopting another child after watching a Steven Curtis Chapman video about adoption. We both thought we were crazy for even talking about it. We prayed and decided that if God wanted us to adopt AGAIN we would but He would have to bring it to us. In other words we were not going to pursue this with our emotions. If this feeling was from God He would direct us. Oh, one more thing: my wife threw out there that she wanted a baby and it had to be a girl! We talked with our kids and they agreed that if God showed us we would do it.
Let’s fast forward to a couple weeks ago. I get an email from a co-worker saying there is a young lady (we will call her Sarah) who is looking for an African-American family to adopt her baby. Now remember, my beautiful wife is a few shades lighter than the rest of the familyJ
Kasie and I talked and we decided that maybe this is God, and we should follow through as long as He leaves the door open. So I called the adoption agency and got information about fees and what they were looking for. That conversation scared me half to death. However, we decided that if God opened a door we would walk through. So I sent pictures and a very short biography profile of our family to the agency and they shared it with Sarah (this was Monday, February 14). I was told on Wednesday that they had shared our profile along with two others to Sarah, and we made the first cut. We would have an answer by Friday. Both of us were afraid if it happened, and we were afraid it wouldn’t happen
Thursday, February 16 - Kasie is fighting with herself and God about this adoption. “We are getting old! I am going back to college. Our life just calmed down!” Then it happened! God told her to trust Him. Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” So at 10:45 pm she surrendered her heart to do whatever He said!
Friday, February 17- During my morning devotion I decided that no matter what I would praise God. If we were picked I would praise Him and if we were not picked I would praise Him! That afternoon I received an email from the agency saying call us ASAP she picked you and it is a baby girl! I almost passed out. I went to tell Kasie so we could call them together (she was shocked). When we called we found out that Sarah was in the hospital and would be there until the baby was born. She was due March 1, so I am thinking she is going to be in the hospital for a few weeks. Not so! She was in labor right NOW!!! I was in shock. The adoption case worker told me we would have a baby today! So a week and a half ago we are praying about the opportunity to adopt a baby and in less than twenty-four hours I would have a daughter.
Saturday February 18 – Hope Gabrielle Waters was born at 1:45 am, she weighed 7# 2oz, and was 19 and ¾ inches long. We met our new daughter and Sarah at 11:00 am. Wow!! Kasie asked Sarah why she waited so long to decide on adoption. Sarah said, she had one child and thought about keeping this one but a few months ago decided that she couldn’t give the baby the life she wanted for her and felt it was best if she picked out a suitable family for her baby. Do you see the time frame? That was around the same time God began to work on us about another child! God had orchestrated the whole thing and we stand amazed in His presence. This is not about the Waters this is about the Waters’ God!
The kids are excited and they have fallen in love with her. She has Cameron and Noah wrapped around her little finger. Nick keeps saying “Mommy, Daddy, I am so happy!” and Faith? well let’s just say she hasn’t stopped smiling or talking since Friday! Kasie, well she has the biggest smile I have seen in years. As for me, let’s just say she has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. Boy, am I in trouble!
