Our family of five.....

These past four weeks have been big faith builders. Last month when we found out our adoption agency filed for bankruptcy and we were now without an agency to complete our adoption, it looked like there was another agency right off the bat to fill in and pick up our case.

But as the days went on we discovered as well as the agency that they were not qualified to work in Burkina Faso as they lacked the necessary paperwork to conduct adoptions in this country.

However, when that agency fell through, another agency miraculously came out of the woodwork that appeared to have completed the necessary "protocol" to work in Burkina to conduct adoptions for the United States.

But many factors were unknown, such as (and the biggest!)...if they would even agree to represent us! Also, how much additional costs would be involved, how much longer this process would take, would we have to start over from scratch with them or be allowed to pick up where we left off in our process with our old agency....and so on. Lots of unknowns.

Ruth has been back in the States for a few weeks and mentioned that she had meetings scheduled with this potential new agency for Thursday and Friday of last week to discuss our cases. Those days seemed to drag on and on and on...just waiting to hear and know where we stood. But in the middle of waiting for those days to come, we were also told that Social Action was preparing to allow our little man to be released from the orphanage to come and live in our home. Despite losing our agency and being in total limbo, they still were willing to move forward with us to take custody of our boy.

So now we were waiting to hear about two things!

But as the days turned into weeks and his placement with us loomed I began to wonder (and fear and doubt) if it was wise to bring our boy into our home with our adoption at a complete standstill. I wanted to make sure that if he came to live with us, we were not taking a risk to have him taken back if things fell through.

It felt like such a big risk.

What if this whole thing falls through? What if we have no way to complete our adoption? What if he comes to live with us....and? and? and? What if?.......

I'd pray to push back the fear and doubts, but they relentlessly plagued my thoughts. I sought wise council and advise from very trusted friends who work in this process and was told not to worry, that things would work out. And that helped to put my mind at ease, but still, the fear was never far behind.

And then one morning just a few mornings ago I woke up and decided....I have no reason not to trust God. Not one. Not one single reason do I have to doubt His goodness or not trust His judgement. He's never given me a reason to doubt Him. He's always proven himself trustworthy....so why am I afraid now?

So I decided to trust Him in this area.

This trusting and having faith business....it's not a one time thing. It's something that we have to commit to doing over and over and over again. No matter how long we've walked with Jesus. Our trust in His provision and faith in His sovereignty and goodness is something we are always having to work out and work through.

And I decided that despite the many unknowns and risks involved....I was going to step out in faith, and trust that God would provide for us. Trust, that we would bring this adoption to completion.

I wait in hope for the Lord. I don't just wait....I wait in hope. Because He alone saves.....

So, as the days moved onward and last Thursday finally dawned, I stood in my kitchen praying for the meeting that was finally taking place with Ruth and this new agency. I prayed that the meeting would go well and God's favor and blessing would be with us. And that our boy would be placed in our home at just the right time according to God's perfect plan and timing. And just surrendered. Surrendered it all.

The next day, exactly four weeks from the day that we received our referral to officially be his family...I received a call late that Friday afternoon informing me....

that the authority here determined we could bring our boy home on Tuesday.

Then minutes after I got off the phone with Mike, our dear friend and orphanage director, I saw that Ruth had also contacted us and I had a message from her saying that the meetings went wonderful and the agency would be in contact with us soon to begin the process of taking over our case!

Two answers to pray within minutes of each other.

Why do I ever doubt?

He has never given me a reason not to trust Him....not once. Not once.....

So that weekend was spent in a frazzled state of activity getting things ready to bring our boy home! We put the finishing touches on his bedroom, made a couple of freezer meals, washed all his clothes (what we have for him anyways!), cleaned out the refrigerator (because that seemed important), and organized a bunch of stuff from around the house.

And then Monday morning we set off for Yako to stay the night with him before we brought him home.

He was ready. I had been praying along with a lot of other people that his heart would be ready to receive us....and he was. There was no separating him from us once we arrived. The tantes did a good job of preparing him for what was changing, and apparently by Monday afternoon he would even talk to them anymore! He. was. ready. And so were we.

So, without further ado, meet the newest member of our family.....

Finley Steven Kaboré Brooks (who we lovingly call 'little Stevie').

Our first picture as a family of five. 

"You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life." Lam. 3:58