Delayed Decisions

I tend to be one to take time with personal decisions.    It is funny in work I have to make fast decisions all day long but in personal life I tend to take time and think through things.

For example last May I started wanting a smoker since I love to grill and cook.   I started looking and the first day Robin was ready for me to buy it.    But we were in an adoption and about to head to China so I delayed the decision to save money.   I then picked back up looking late last year but did not find what I wanted.   Then in May I went to purchase a pellet grill as a retirement gift for one of  my employees, and the search was back on.  Again Robin was buy it now, well finally the other day I decided to do it and of course they are now out of stock so I had to order it and now we wait.  But in the waiting there is anticipation there is knowing this is what I wanted and I am sure I  did not rush into anything.

Robin on the other hand is more of see it and want it especially if it is for someone else.  She loves to buy for our family but often denies herself. 

We know this about each other but at times it drives us crazy.   I am sure Robin asked me 100 times when are you ordering your grill, get the bigger one, get all the options you want.   Because she loves me and wants me to have the best.

You know this same principle applies to our adopting, and it has every time, Robin was point, shoot, aim.  I wanted to understand all the facts and get comfortable with it.

Back in 1996 time frame, Robin and I both heard a story on the radio about the plight of orphans in China.   We were separate, she was in the car with our boys and I was at work.  That evening at dinner Robin was all about "We should adopt"  I was more of "lets give money to help others do it"   So that evening the debating and discussion started. 

In this case it took 6.5 years for my heart to open.  More appropriately it was that long before God opened my heart and gave me the burden to adopt but when he did I was 100% on board.    However during that 6.5 years there were times when we did not see eye to eye and when Robin lost hope that we would ever adopt.    I will never forget that night when God put it on my heart to adopt, when I looked at Robin and said "So I am ready to pray about this adoption thing"  Robin rolled her eyes and said "Yeh sure" with the most sarcasm she could muster, then she looked at my face and knew something happened. 

So in all of this delay that Robin experienced I see it as God lining us up to have the 6 adopted kids we have.  Had we started earlier we would not have been there for Laura, Shiyan, Maria, Shaun, Joshua and Hannah.    God's timing was perfect.

With each following adoption it took a bit for me to get on board.  With Shiyan we were both on board pretty quick.   With Maria it took a little more time.  At this point I was done, then we started praying about Shaun and finally I was in.   With Joshua I was not ready and we were leaving on a cruise for our 30th anniversary.  During that cruise we prayed about his file that we had locked for that week.  We had some God ordained appointments on that cruise and by the end of the trip I was ready.   Then there was Hannah, a very hard decision for me but Robin was ready to go and knew that God wanted us to be her family and a year ago today we met Hannah for the first time in China.

It is hard for me to imagine our life without these kids as part of our life.   They have opened our eyes to so much.   They bring so much life to our home and have made us better people. 

I am thankful for the delays along the way that allowed us to be the parents of these exact 6 kids.  And on a side note I am anxious to get my grill that was my fathers day gift, I am sure we will all enjoy it.