A Son From Afar: The Beginning

In 2009, God began drawing our family toward adoption, whispering to our hearts that we might adopt a son. This has been a work of the Holy Spirit; since there was a time we wouldn’t have even considered it. We have dreamed, wondered, mused and talked about “someday.” In 2012, the Lord began to draw me deeper into the lives of a number of friends who have adopted older children and some with special needs. My husband and I also began to learn more about child slavery across the earth. Our eyes were opened more to the desperation of children who have been abandoned or trafficked. We began praying for God to move and show us what we might do.

On August 30, 2012, I saw a photograph of a 7 year old Bulgarian boy waiting to be adopted. Like a banner above his head was the name “Elijah.” The Holy Spirit whispered that this naming was no coincidence, but that he was called as a forerunner for Christ and that the spirit of Elijah was moving in relationship to him. The description explained that he has epilepsy. I felt moved to email and request more information.

The agency replied immediately and sent a lengthy document of his general and medical history. There was much to glean from all of this information, and, frankly, some of it caused fear in my heart. However, the most profound revelation came when I read that his birth name is actually the Bulgarian name for Jesus. As I read his name for the first time, the witness of the Holy Spirit rushed over me with deep tears and spoke that this child bears Christ’s name because he is to be consecrated to God. He bears his true Father’s name, is what I heard in my spirit.

I began praying that night for Jesus to appear to him in dreams and visions and put His Holy Spirit upon this child. I began asking if we were to adopt him, but also felt fear and doubt. I felt strongly that I was to intercede for him. Over the next few days, the Lord continued to speak more about him, about his birth, about the attack on his life and about his destiny. I believe that the Lord let me see so much about the plans for his life as fuel for intercession. In those next few days, Jason had a spiritual encounter with the Lord while praying for friends who were adopting and also for Ezekiel Rain (ministry to rescue trafficked children). After he shared this encounter, I felt it was time to tell him about this child I was calling Elijah.

We, along with our children, started praying for God to show us how to proceed. We put his picture out and prayed for Elijah every day for 4 months. We checked in with one another but without real movement toward saying a definite yes or no to going to get him. We all had days when we were ready to say “yes,” and days when we felt fear and uncertainty.

On January 5th, after sharing with my husband that my desire to adopt Elijah had grown, I began to be attacked with doubt. I thought, “Now I’ve done it. What if I have made up all of this in my mind? What if God is not in this?” I prayed and asked God to give me a dream. He did.

I dreamed that I was in a doctor’s office and was leaving after the appointment. I was walking outside in a shopping district at Christmas time…decorations and lights everywhere. I looked down at my abdomen and thought, “I should have told the doctor I am pregnant. OH, my goodness, I AM pregnant! Why am I not showing…shouldn’t I be showing?” It was one of those moments in dreams where you suddenly realize something and almost feel sick about it. I began to worry and calculate and try to remember how far along I was. Then I thought, “Okay, I’m only four months along, so maybe I shouldn’t be showing that much. Besides, I did think I was looking a little thick around the waist the other day. That’s probably the baby. It’s okay.” Then I woke up. As soon as I woke, I realized that it had been four months since I first saw Elijah’s photograph, on December 30^th (Christmastime) to be exact. I cannot express how much this is a foreign idea for me. I have never thought that I was “carrying” or “expecting” this child. That language had never occurred to me, and I had not truly identified him as “our son.” I felt that God was saying that he IS our son.

On January 14th, Jason decided that he wanted to say yes and start the adoption process. That morning he had an experience, when he was half-awake, of seeing something like a mental slide-show, rapid-fire style, of images of a boy he knew was Elijah. They were vague and clouded, but he felt it had meaning. The Lord spoke to him, through the Word, that morning about the soil of his life and God planting in it.

Just two days later, I needed more confirmation. I awoke discouraged…my courage gone. And once again, I cried out to hear God’s voice. I heard, clearly, Isaiah 43. I have a long history with Isaiah 43, and God has spoken to me out of this chapter a number of times. I thought, “Hm…I know this chapter. There’s nothing there for me right now.” It came again, insistently…Isaiah 43. I opened and read, drawn right to vs. 5 and following: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west…Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Now, I know this is contextually speaking of the gathering of the scattered Jews, but there was so much life on it, and I felt the words burning into me. The scriptures are ALIVE…a multi-faceted diamond reaching through the centuries to mean MORE than just the context from which they were written. He will bring this child from the east and gather us from the west, and this child is LITERALLY, every day, called by GOD’S NAME! I felt so overwhelmed that I wrote in my journal, “Oh, Hallelujah! Glory to God in the Highest! Thank you, thank you!”

We know that God began this process. We know that He will provide and prepare a way for us to go get Elijah. We also believe that we need to “labor” to “birth” this son as well. We have begun fundraising and preparing our hearts and home for him. Blogging gives us a way to more easily share this amazing God-story with those of you who want to partner with us to BRING ELIJAH HOME!