A story of HOPE...Esperanza's Story

Esperanza

I am kind of stealing this story from my friend and blogger buddy Angel.

http://thevoiceofadventure.blogspot.com/

This is one of the most amazing stories I have ever read and it shows how God has a plan for all for us in his timing. I REALLY love Angels BLOG and I want to share it with those of you who don't read it yet. I know I have many friends and family members that I have addicted to the Guatemala Adoption BLOG world but I have some that would miss this story if I did not post it here. I also want this story in my BLOG book. That is what I am getting for Mothers Day..Kya's BLOG printed and bound in a book...from the beginning. Just a warning get a box of Kleenex...I need one and I have read this story quite a few times now...Angel thanks so much for letting me share this story on my BLOG. This is a TRUE story.

Once there was a precious little Guatemalan princess named Esperanza. (yes the one I have told you about before) Her birth mommy could not feed her enough and her life was so hard. Her birth mommy had already made a heart breaking decision more than a year before to find an adoptive family for her two little brothers. Now she decided she must find a family for Esperanza too. Esperanza went to live with a foster family who was very kind to her. She had two best friends who were also waiting for families. She saw one of her friends find a family... Then the other friend found a family. She wondered sometimes why she didn't have a family when the other girls did. All she could do was pray and wait.

WAIT... Before I can finish this story there is another story I have to tell. This one is true too.Once there was a sweet couple. This couple bought a house that was too big for two because they dreamed of filling the rooms with children. Their children did not come to them as quickly as they thought they would and they went through so much waiting and pain. One day they found out a baby was on the way. There was life growing inside her and she would finally have the baby they had dreamed about. Soon though, her body lost this life. Their hearts mourned the loss yet in faith they knew that God had children to fill their rooms. They just didn't see the whole plan yet. They waited and prayed.Soon they called an adoption agency they had been working with and asked to be placed on the list for Guatemala. Much sooner than the couple thought possible they received a call. A baby boy needed a family. Of course they said yes and their hearts leapt with joy. Soon though the doctors in Guatemala began to realize that this little boy was sick. Not just sick sometimes but every single day. They told the couple that this was a child who would have great needs. They did not know how to help him or whether he would live. The couple made the decision to go forward with the adoption. They felt confident that THIS was the child that God had given them. They would not leave him in Guatemala.Meanwhile the birth mommy of this sick little boy decided she must also relinquish another little boy- the birth sibling of this sick little baby. He was a sweet little toddler she just could not feed. This couple decided that they would adopt him as well and keep these brothers together.The baby brother got sicker and sicker while they waited for paperwork to be processed. They flew to Guatemala to get him the best care possible. The doctors and nurses were so kind and gentle. Yet they had no clue how to really help him. They literally watched him dying as they waited to bring him home. They waited and prayed.Finally they brought him to America and admitted him to the hospital immediately.

After many months he was diagnosed with a rare disease that only 500 people have been treated for. In Guatemala he would have had no chance to live. Here he had a chance but it would be a fight. For a year his mommy lived with him in hospitals while he received treatments to overcome his illness. He would need a bone marrow transplant but the timing had to be right. They waited and prayed.While they waited their adoption agency called and told them some surprising news. Their boys had an older sister who had just been placed for adoption. She needed a family but they weren't even able to do it. They had a son who could die. They lived in a hospital. The agency would never approve this situation. They decided they would have to pray that the right family would come to this precious sister of their two little babies. So they waited and prayed.Finally the doctors said the time was right and their baby boy received a bone marrow transplant. He was so sick and they waited to see if he would make it through. Meanwhile the boys sister in Guatemala waited for a family. They couldn't understand. Why wasn't she finding her family?Their baby boy got better and better. The doctors said he was doing remarkably well. In fact they were amazed how well he was doing. They said he was going to live. Not only would he live but within a year he would be able to live a completely normal life. This would never come back again!

Immediately the couple's thoughts turned to the little girl. Was she theirs? Could this be the plan? They called the adoption agency and told them that wanted to adopt her. The agency said that with the news that their baby would be okay they felt that the family could handle it. They said that they had NEVER had a little girl wait this long for a family. It was as if God was holding her for them.So with great joy they moved home from the hospital. They received pictures of their little girl in Guatemala with her friends- happy and loved. They made a photo album of their family and sent it to Guatemala.OK... NOW I can finish the first story.....Sometimes Esperanza was sad that she didn't have a family yet but she waited and she prayed. Then one day she was told that she had a family in America. A kind lady sat her down and pulled out a photo album of this new family. Her little heart pounded as she wondered about who they would be. When they opened the album the faces of the two little boys she saw looked so much like her. They were faces she knew. They were the sweet little faces of her baby brothers. Could she have imagined it? Could she have pictured that this was why she waited all this time? Did she fathom that God would give her a family and give her back her siblings? In a few short months she would have a new life with her brothers.Joy. Pure joy.Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting this amazing family. AMAZING!

Today I wrote the director of Guatemalan adoption at my agency. Here is part of what I shared with her.Tami,............The coolest thing about this visit was getting to see a glimpse of God's purpose. Just to see dimly how when things DO NOT ADD UP to us God is STILL WORKING!! The fact that if Mason (the baby) had not been given up for adoption he would NOT be alive. God snatched him from the fire!! A jewel!! God's healing of Mason just in time to be able to get Esperanza. Esperanza being with her brothers is amazing.All three of our older girls being in Guatemala together at the same time when they don't usually have older kids (at our agency).... They are best friends and we want to keep it that way. I am grateful that Carol (the mother adopting Esperanza) and Lisa (mother of Lidia) both want to keep our girls close. Carol had a picture we had taken of the three girls together in her kitchen framed. It touched my heart.If this is part of what God is doing through these delays I can accept it. Does God care SO much about little Esperanza's heart that he will not let her be left without her friends until her heart is ready? I believe He does care that much.It's amazing to watch the way God has given Esperanza all the tools to make it through this time. He gave her a sweet foster family, clothes and food. He gave her friends and parties and trips to fun places and even English lessons. She had to watch her friends get families and she didn't have one. They had so many toys and visits and she had to accept that her family hadn't come yet. It's like God hid her under His wing. Dark, safe and a little frustrating. Out of sight where no one could touch her and then wow.... She saw a glimpse of God. Could I see it two months ago? Not so much. Now I do. God had a plan all along. It didn't surprise Him.I know that God gives me the tools to get through the tough stuff just like He has for Esperanza. I fight the pain. Our girls in Guatemala all have so much faith and grace. Just like Jesus said- if we could just be more like children then we could really GET IT.God is ALWAYS on time even when He seems VERY VERY late.Sorry for the book but I couldn't help it. Since you see all the ugliness that comes out of me while I am pressed by this process... you should get to see what God is doing in me too.Angel WOW!!!! WOW!!!! Did this get you the way it got me??? DO YOU SEE IT? DO YOU SEE IT?!?!? God didn't forget her! God didn't forget.. He wasn't late. WE JUST COULDN'T SEE IT!!!! What a privilege to see but a glimpse of God's plan. What an honor. Take heart friends. Here is what God has to say.Jeremiah 29 (New International Version)10 This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. [b] I will gather you from all the nations .......YES!!!!

God has good plans for us. Sometimes we don't see things as good though. We see it as pain. We see it as TOO SLOW. God sees it as perfect timing. God sees it molding us into who we need to become. It does NOT mean we are forgotten.1 Corinthians 13 (The Message)9We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. 10But when the Complete arrives, our in completes will be canceled.11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.Let's face it. We are so small. If we believe in God why do we assume we can understand everything? Why do we presume to "get it" at all? We can't even understand our own bodies. We are so limited. Someday in eternity we WILL see it. We will get it. Faith means believing that God is in control when we can't see the whole picture.Habakukk 2:3 (New Living Translation) "But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. IT WILL NOT BE DELAYED."God's idea of right on time is very different that ours. Guess what? He is ALWAYS right. Always. He promises that it WILL NOT BE DELAYED!! That means in His book all this is EXACTLY according to schedule. EXACTLY when He meant it to happen. According to God there will be no "delays."Do we believe it? Do we REALLY believe it? I do a little more every day.

Love,Angel

Esperanza with her brothers

Esperanza with Zoe...who is Angels daughter and Zoe's foster sister Lydia