We are just the shoreline...

Jonah 1:17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

I know it has been a while since we updated. The last two weeks have been full of Super Summer and Youth camp. Along the way we met and told so many people about adopting Jonah. We have been so blessed by their responses.

 In the middle of all of our travels, we decided to buy a new car.  The number one thing we were looking for is a car that would be good for Jonah. Yesterday we were driving and Cory turned the air vent toward the back seat and said “There you go Jonah” and we laughed. Our hearts yearn for our son. Every time we see a little boy we smile at him and watch him and wonder how old he is and it makes us think of our son. We want nothing more than to be holding him already, comforting him already, and protecting him already.

We got the rough draft of our home study yesterday. We edited it and sent it back to our social worker. She will send it to our case manager (tomorrow I think) so that she can make sure that it is up to all the Russian government standards.  After that, it should only be a few months until we receive our referral.  The process is moving quickly, and we are thankful for that.

About a year ago Cory was teaching the youth group from the book of Jonah. As we went through the book he said something that stuck out to me. He said that the fish swallowing Jonah was actually God’s way of saving Jonah. God appoints the fish to swallow Jonah. Growing up I had always perceived the fish as the punishment of God, but never as the grace of God.

Our son was born into a crazy situation. He was thrown overboard into turbulent waters. He was floundering in the sea. He can probably relate to the prayer: “The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains” Jonah 2:5.

But at just the right time God appointed a fish to swallow up our Jonah.  To some, the orphanage he is in might seem like a terrifying place to be at, but we understand that it is the vehicle that is carrying him from a turbulent sea to a calm shoreline where we are.  Some days time crawls by as he is in the fish but at just the right time “the Lord will speak to the fish, and it will vomit Jonah out upon the dry land! Salvation belongs to the Lord!” Jonah 2:9-10

At times we as Jonah’s parents may get confused and think that we are the fish. But we are just the shoreline. We are just the lucky ones who get to experience this, and get to have an opportunity to love a little boy, and increase our faith in our God as each payment gets met and he provides for our every need. We are just the shoreline, waiting for a fish, appointed by God to spit up our son.