THE STORY BEHIND INDIA'S NAME

It's a bit lengthy and winding, the story behind India's name. (And, let's face it...if you've known me for any length of time, you know there's always a story behind it...I get it from my dad.) Nevertheless, it's very personal to reflect on God's purpose and journey in our hearts through the naming of each of our children and India's began with a lesson I hope we never forget.

Tracking back well over a decade ago, the Lord stirred in our hearts a desire to serve Him overseas.
Through twists and turns, ups and downs, and the pursuit of a career which has kept us here for now (another day/another story), God has continued to influence our hearts with the same desire.

But where? When? For how long? These questions don't have definitive answers yet, so we've remained where we are, thankful to be adopting, participating in short term missions as we continue to seek guidance for our future. In other words, up to this point it's remained clear that we are still right where God wants us (for now) and we're choosing to bloom where we're planted, minister right where we are, raise up an army of children for the Lord, and testify as often as we can about the greatness of our God.

Fast forward to January 2011...We had moved, were living in temporary housing, had sold most of our possessions, had to find homes for our pets, were displaced due to a sticky situation with a renter in our home, and we were sure the time had come for God to move us on. We prayed, waited, prayed, waited...and God's plans began to unfold for us to begin our adoptions...here.

We ended up moving back into our home which had been rented out, decided to stay at least through the course of our adoptions (even though it's a bit "cozy" for our growing family), and we began to pray again.

One day before my daily Bible reading, I prayed and asked the Lord to PLEASE show me His plans for us in service to Him. Would we stay? Would we go? We were willing to give up everything to go, but we didn't dare take one step outside of God's revealed and confirmed will.

“How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me. After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the Lord our God."
Joshua 18:3-4, 6  

("The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD." Proverbs 16:33)

That day as I began reading in Joshua 18, it felt like a flashlight at our feet for the next stage of our life journey (chapter 2 as we call it). So we committed to "surveying the land", prayerfully, in hopes that God might lead us into His plans for us in ministry (overseas? locally?), all the while continuing to do His work here just as we are, as we await future changes should that be God's will.

We've come to accept that the Lord may just want us to live our lives openhanded, willing to go, hands off the wheel, never holding too tightly to what we have here. But, we've also committed to "surveying the land" and seeing if there will come a time when God clearly beckons our hearts to go elsewhere for Him. 

In 2011 and 2012, Brodie (the "surveyor") journeyed to China, Malawi, and South Africa. All three places remain in his heart, but China calls and he will begin repeated visits as a short term mission trip coordinator for All God's Children International in 2013.
He is thrilled about this! He loves the Chinese people. We all do.

This is where the India part comes in...

So, last spring our church began plans for a trip to serve in India this coming fall. Although we were in the "surveying the land" frame of mind, there are only so many vacation days in a year and with our adoption travels coming up, we figured (mistake #1) that India just wasn't a place we saw for our family's future life in ministry, so we figured (mistake #2) that Brodie should not go on the short term trip with our church so he could save his vacation time.

Meanwhile, I began praying that God would increase my tenderness for the people of India and break my heart for them as His is broken for them and let me just say that God is a responsive God! Wow! All of a sudden, everywhere I turned India and the surrounding regions of Asia kept popping up:

-My missions magazine- theme India and Adoniram Judson

-My daughter's new missionary biography- India

-A reference at church- totally random- again Judson

-A free book arrives in the mail- No Longer a Slumdog- all about the sorrows of the needy in India and those who are ministering to them in Jesus' name.

-A book given to me by a faithful friend- My Heart in His Hands about Ann Judson (wife of Adoniram Judson)

-Our church supports missionaries in India- They came to visit and shared about their life there right around this time.

India.

India!

India!!!

OK...point taken...God clearly was opening our hearts to India (in answer to my prayers) and the mission was accomplished. So we said yes. Brodie would go with our church to India, even though we had our future "all planned out" and had decided that India wasn't in the cards.

LESSON 1: Don't put God in a box. His will is always best. We remain open and submissive and He leads. We FOLLOW.

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."
Proverbs 19:21

Right about this time, a precious baby girl, fearfully and wonderfully made, was born in a very sad country in Africa. Though her first days of life would leave her an orphan through tragic loss, God had a loving plan for her.

Across the globe, there was a mommy and a daddy waiting for their second little {boy} to join their family from the same birth country as this tiny baby girl. They had figured (mistake #3!) that if they had a homestudy and immigration approval for two boys, then they would remain securely within the confines of God's will for their lives through adoption.

Duh. Have we learned anything yet?! Never put God in a box. He is God. We are not.

LESSON 2: Relearn LESSON 1

OK. Got it.

-God is God. We are not.

-Don't put God in a box. 

-Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand!

The email came through...We had already said we would say yes to the next little one who came our way (assuming this would be a non-newborn little boy)...And, there {she} was in our inbox. No photo...just a question...

Would we be interested in adopting a four day old baby girl?

Ummmmm.......

But this wasn't the plan and we don't have enough bedrooms and we hadn't considered this before and I'm still nursing my one year old and we have a plan and...

Be still. Pray. Wait for it...

And like a flashing caution sign, blindingly bright and redundant came these words in my mind:

"REMEMBER INDIA."

(Literally it sounded like and felt like and still feels like, "Remember the Alamo!") Ha!

"REMEMBER INDIA!"

What had we learned in LESSONS 1 and 2? Oh yes:

-God is God. We are not.

-Don't put God in a box.

-Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand!

At this point, for all we know, God may have ordained the rest of our years on earth to be lived out in Thiruvananthapuram. So we prayed and prayed and within 24 hours said yes to our God-sent little girl, the one who we never saw coming, but praise God!

 

He did.

-God is God. We are not.

 -Don't put God in a box.

 -Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand!

The homestudy was amended. Immigration too.

Had we pigeon-holed ourselves (or God) by putting parameters on our adoption plans?

 

Of course not.

LESSON LEARNED.

Now, as it turns out, we are scheduled to travel to Africa for our children literally at the exact same time as the church trip to India, so ironically Brodie won't be going after all, but God clearly had a plan as He opened our hearts to be submissive to His lead from now on. No more putting God in a box. No more plans of our own...just following the Leader who can be trusted with our future.

And so, we named our beloved daughter India since her life has served as a symbol for us of the lessons we've learned through her already. We are well aware that God is God. His plans are best. We can't put Him in a box. His will can't be thwarted. His ways are higher and better and wiser than ours could ever dream to be. And WE CAN TRUST HIM. He's knit this tiny soul to ours and we love her as our own soul, hence, the middle name.

"The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul."
1 Samuel 18:1

We pray that the testimony of our daughter, India Soul, and her God-ordained beginnings will serve as a witness of the hand of God in our lives. We pray that her life will stand as a perpetual reminder of the lessons God has taught us this year:

-God is God. We are not.

-Don't put God in a box.

-Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand!

"REMEMBER INDIA!"

I pray this story gives you peace today as you read and trust and seek and pray for God's intervention in your life. It definitely encourages us and spurs us on to follow God into the unknown, realizing fully that ALL things, present and future, are known by Him already and we pray the same for others through the story behind India's name.

"But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine."
Isaiah 43:1