Monday, March 5, 2007
Sunday, March 4, 2007
How It All Began
We are the Strickland family from Texas. We have been married for 28 wonderful years and have 5 children - Michael (25), Matthew (23), Missy (19), Molly (4), and Madelyn (2). Molly and Madelyn were born in China, and we adopted them when they were each about a year old. We thought that our family was complete when we brought Madelyn home in 2005.
Several things have led to our adoption of sweet Mason, and God has worked many miracles to bring him to our family. Isaiah 58 is a very special passage to us because God spoke through these verses to lead us to our first adoption. Isaiah 58:12 had puzzled us because it doesn't seem to go with the rest of the passage. While the rest of the verses speak of acceptable sacrifices to God, verse 12 says that "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."
In March 2006, Randy and I spent several days mulling over this verse and really did not come up with much revelation. That same week I felt convicted that I had never asked God if we were to ever adopt again. When I did ask Him on March 27th, I very clearly heard that we were not finished. Randy and I had talked briefly in the past about maybe adopting an older child with a hearing impairment, and so I began to search for a waiting child from China. I found Mason's picture and fell in love! When we were deciding on names, our daughter Missy suggested Mason which means "builder." When Randy did a Hebrew word study of mason, we found that the only time it is used in the Bible as repairer of walls is in Isaiah 58:12!
We immediately contacted the adoption agency in Minnesota that had Mason's file and began the adoption process again. What we hoped would be a fast process has taken almost a year. And no, waiting for the 6th child is not any easier! Even though the journey has been long, God has been very faithful.
Keep checking back as we travel to China (probably in early April) to get Mason and bring him home!
Several things have led to our adoption of sweet Mason, and God has worked many miracles to bring him to our family. Isaiah 58 is a very special passage to us because God spoke through these verses to lead us to our first adoption. Isaiah 58:12 had puzzled us because it doesn't seem to go with the rest of the passage. While the rest of the verses speak of acceptable sacrifices to God, verse 12 says that "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."
In March 2006, Randy and I spent several days mulling over this verse and really did not come up with much revelation. That same week I felt convicted that I had never asked God if we were to ever adopt again. When I did ask Him on March 27th, I very clearly heard that we were not finished. Randy and I had talked briefly in the past about maybe adopting an older child with a hearing impairment, and so I began to search for a waiting child from China. I found Mason's picture and fell in love! When we were deciding on names, our daughter Missy suggested Mason which means "builder." When Randy did a Hebrew word study of mason, we found that the only time it is used in the Bible as repairer of walls is in Isaiah 58:12!
We immediately contacted the adoption agency in Minnesota that had Mason's file and began the adoption process again. What we hoped would be a fast process has taken almost a year. And no, waiting for the 6th child is not any easier! Even though the journey has been long, God has been very faithful.
Keep checking back as we travel to China (probably in early April) to get Mason and bring him home!
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