30 Days of Thankful: Day 25

If you’ve ever wanted to know whether God is in the details, you’ll be inspired by my friend Allie’s adoption story.  I hope her words encourage you to reflect–and  give thanks–for the times you’ve experienced God’s guidance in your own life.

GUEST BLOG: Allie Osman

Throughout our journey of adopting our two-year-old son Peter, God repeatedly reminded me that as we follow His will and allow Him to order our steps, He is in control. For that I am filled with thankfulness.

God was in control of every part of the process: the timing, communications with agency personnel and doctors, the administrative paperwork, all the details. He chose Peter, cared for him, and delivered him into our arms. On so many occasions during the time-sensitive process, I stressed over the administrative details, about whether certain meetings would take place on time, about whether I’d be able to communicate with certain people, about whether I’d be able to find out critical information. What God showed me over and over again was that He is with me and the adoption was in His hands. He always provided what we needed when we needed it.

Right before Thanksgiving 2014, we were officially matched with Peter by the adoption agency months sooner than expected. Then, in February 2015, we were issued our Letter of Approval (LOA) from the Chinese government authorizing us to adopt Peter. We were told the average time frame for a family to receive an LOA is two to four months after Log in Date (when the Chinese upload into their system a family’s Letter of Intent to adopt a specific child).

We had been praying that we would receive our LOA in two months. Not only did God provide, but He provided abundantly. We were issued our LOA five days before the two-month mark! Then, our agency said we would most likely receive the remainder of our documentation from the Chinese government in time to travel to China to bring Peter home in June. We prayed that we would travel in May, bringing Peter home as soon as possible. Yet again, God’s timing prevailed and we had Peter in our arms May 11, 2015. All evidence that God was driving this adoption.

In the five months since we brought Peter home, God has blessed us over and over again with Peter’s health and development. Each medical test has yielded perfect results. He is in excellent health and is developmentally delayed simply as a result of institutionalization, which he will overcome over time.

Peter’s rapid physical and motor progress reminds us daily of God’s blessings and His provisions. Although Peter is almost three years old and not yet speaking, he is demonstrating great progress with comprehension and some progress with making sounds. We have no doubt that he will learn to talk in God’s timing. Our hearts are filled with thankfulness and we praise the Lord for bringing this sweet, lovable little boy into our family.