Friday, March 2, 2012

Sterling Mei: (18) Here's To You Mrs Robinson

At times a truth is powerful enough that it needs to be driven home with redundancy. This is how we move from simple learning to complex understanding. We take a concept and go deeper than comprehension, to a level of assimilation. Belief transcends acknowledgment and effervesces into the air we breath and finds its way into the very parts of who we are, and then is present in all that we do, and who we become.

Such a truth is manifest with us now.

Convergence. A deep truth with our family is simply understood… as I suppose all great truths are. It is this… God is working all things together for this family. To be who He would have us to be, where He would have us to go, and broken to a state that He can form us into what we should become.

We are all brought up to believe that brokenness is a lost place, but living requires a give and a take. While God can indeed create something out of nothing, for humans to build… we must first break.

Elements must be melted for iron to be forged, trees must be hewn down for lumber to be formed, even the earth must be broken for blocks to be formed and foundations to be laid. Likewise, our lives must yield up their stability in order to become more than we once were. Change always comes with a price.

We began this adoption process with an official file date of August 7, 2006. We will land in Dayton, Ohio with Sterling on March 7, 2012. A process that was estimated to take 3 years has covered the time of 5 years and 7 months. 67 months to the day.

Undeniably, Kellie and I are different people than we were 67 months ago. Caleb was 6 years old and Aleksandra was a mere 3. He was in first grade and she was barely out of diapers. We stood on the approach side of obstacles that we couldn't even see. 

The truth is… had we seen them, we would have given up.

And, when we started this process… Sterling was over 4 years away from existence.

And yet… God gave us a yearning. 

He gave us a vision. 

And He faithfully brought us to this point that we simply were incapable of reaching when we first set out on this journey. He had to shape us through our brokenness along the path. And, when the day arrived, He was faithful to have us prepared for the moment. 

The timing has been incredible with pieces falling into place from seemingly no-where. We have seen tangents of our desires, experiences, and abilities suddenly and powerfully slip into place like they have always meant to be.

Beautiful things… made out of dust.

And we received another reminder of this… just so we are sure to get it. This is a single example of convergence that I will share with you, and we have had many of these moments.

While visiting the Orphanage in Fushong, Sterling was able to be held one final time by her favorite nanny and caregivers. While we all stood in the playroom, our agent with Children's Hope International began to talk and laugh with the nanny. He turned to us and then told us the gist of the conversation,



"When the Nannies find out that a child is 
going to be adopted from a certain 
country, they make a game of giving 
the child a nickname that they think sounds 
like a name from that country. They gave 
your daughter the name, Robinson."



Simon then began to laugh, remarking that this was a funny name to give to a girl. As the group all joined in to the hilarity of the moment, all of us laughing together, both Chinese and Americans, Kellie leaned in and reminded me of a remarkable fact.

Robinson is a family name for us. Kellie's Grandma Sadie is a Robinson. Sadie has helped us from the time Caleb was first born, watching our kids and pouring love and goodness into their lives. She waits at home even now to see her newest grand-baby. She will be thrilled to learn that this baby has had her name, even before we knew her.

There is at times an order to things. 

There is a convergence of good that at times falls on those who are willing to open their lives to God and allow him to create something out of our brokenness. 

I have seen far too much these past days to dismiss away the significance of this moment. This is yet another reminder of a simple, deep truth that God speaks to us often... so that we not forget who we are.

When I walk where I am meant to walk, I know that when I am weak… and then He makes me strong. I have heard people say that God doesn't give us more than we can bear… but that is not true! 

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No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.


1 Corinthians 10:13
New King James Version (NKJV)
_____________________


What we have to remember is that God will always give us more than we can bear… and we are to find unstoppable strength through His love & our obedience.

I once heard my Great-Grandma Elsie, Mammaw Ruth, and my Mom sing,


Little is much, when God is in it.
Labor not, for wealth or fame.
There's a prize, and you can win it,
If you'll go in Jesus name.

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