November 24, 2010
9:11 AM

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and my heart overflows with thanksgiving to God for a unique and surprising blessing that he brought into my life this year. I’m going to post something I wrote a few months ago. My wife, Julie and I had just taken in Brandon as our foster son and things were a little touch and go so we chose not to put this out there right away. But things have calmed down a bit and we can’t help but share some more details on this wonderful story of God’s faithfulness and love.
Happy Thanksgiving!

…from September 1, 2010

Life took quite a turn for my family two weeks ago today. We witnessed an answer to prayer, a miracle, and a precious gift from God given to us in the form of our 4th child, a son, Brandon Joseph. Life was pretty full for us already with 3 children, the youngest just 14 months old today. Yet God seems to have destined us to become the parents of this precious little boy, and his hand is all over it – there was no doubt in our mind that it was his plan all along. I’ll share some of the details that have strengthened our faith in the Lord and inspired us to praise him anew for his faithfulness.

In June we found out that our daughter Maria’s birth mom was pregnant again and due in August. Our youngest son, Ben, was just about to turn one and needless to say, we were a bit overwhelmed with this news. We began to faithfully pray for this child, his mother, and specifically for the family that would take him in. The birth mom was living out of state at the time so the chance that we would get him was slim. While we were willing, we sensed that if it were meant to be, God would drop him into our laps. We made a few phone calls, but realized that there was nothing we could do but pray. We shared this news with our family and a few close friends. Julie and I also prayed that we would be in complete agreement about what we should do. It was exactly two years ago when we walked through the difficult trial of not being in agreement, and had to take a break from foster care as a result.

In August of 2008, on vacation in Mammoth Lakes, Julie wrote this prayer out in her journal:

God-
I just want to add that I know you are the God of miracles and that you delight to give us our heart’s desires. So I want to ask by faith that you would-

1. open my womb that I would be able to carry a baby full term
2. that we would be able to adopt another baby. I would love a sibling of Maria but do I dare be that specific?

So God, I give you those 2 desires and requests. I trust that you are a God of miracles and I trust your timing. I rest in you, knowing that you know what is best. In Jesus’ name, amen.

A few months after Julie wrote this we found out that she was pregnant. Benjamin Jackson was born on July 1, 2009! Brandon Joseph was born on August 16, 2010, just 2 years almost to the day after Julie wrote out this prayer to the Lord. The crazy thing is that Brandon was born in San Bernardino and two days later, dropped into our laps. Well actually, delivered to our door. Deja vu! We lived our experience with Maria all over again with friends and family coming over that night to delight in this beautiful baby boy. It was a party at the Born’s! God answered every one of our prayers. We sense his favor in a huge way, and are still in awe that things have turned out this way.

So, does God always answer our prayers so specifically? No, I must admit that I am perplexed by this all. My mind knows that God is our loving Father who delights to give us good things. Jesus said, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:13-14 NIV). But I have also known that like any father, our Father knows what’s best and only gives according to his will, that which will bring him the greatest glory. He has the BIG picture in mind. How often do I ask for the things that are according to the BIG picture? Not very often; at least my timing is usually off. That’s why the most important part of prayer is the, “Not my will but Thy will be done.” But this time, my precious wife asked for the very things that God had purposed in his heart before hand. And his timing is perfect!

“But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.” (Psalms 33:11 NIV)

All we can say at this point is Hallelujah! Please join us in giving praise to the Lord, and pray for this precious child, and the process ahead of us as we navigate the long and bumpy road toward adoption and life for the time being with two infants. Our motto is, “One day at a time.” May God increase our faith as we continue to trust in him!

Bill Born