You Are So Loved
Dear Children,
As I sit here, on the border of India and Nepal, I’m consumed with gratitude by the amount of people who already love you. I was just having coffee with a dear friend who runs a children’s home here and telling him how God has completely given your father and I what we need in order to bring you into our home, including a brand new car.
I want you to know, from day one as Runyons, that you are now our children. You are wanted, loved and fought for. And…
You are chosen. Not only by me and your father, but by our community: your new family and friends.
When we first told people about you many of them cried happy tears. Your pictures are already hung on many people’s walls, people are praying for you and sending gifts to help prepare your home for your arrival.
Before we started the adoption process we were worried that we might not be able to provide for you. Money worries were high on our list but as we moved forward we declared that God would provide if He wanted you to be our children.
We said Yes to adopting you with no way to pay for all of the paper work, lawyer fees and travel expenses, which added up to around $45,000. We also have a 1000 sqft home and one small car, so living and traveling together would be tight. But we pressed on, deciding in faith to not let material inconveniences stand in our way.
And that’s when all of the amazing people you will soon come to know and love began showering our family of 5 with support. People near and far sent their hard earned money to us so that we could cover your adoption costs. We can say, with the most humble of hearts that through our amazing friends and family we have raised the money needed to bring you home!
And children, hear this: When you are afraid, when you are worried, think back to this time of our family becoming one and remember that God chose you to be our children and He made a way for your father and I to bring you into our lives, even when we literally did not have the means to do so on our own. If God calls you to do something He will always find a way to make it work out, that doesn’t mean it will be easy and you might have fear, but He will provide.
Dad and I were making dinner one night when we got a phone call. It was a couple, Brad and Lara Postma, who have a house in the same town where your dad grew up. They knew about our adoption and cared about your lives and said they had some news. We switched over to FaceTime, you know the way we’ve been talking to you 3 for the past few months while you’re still in the Congo, and they told us that they were worried about our car situation. They didn’t want us to not be able to safely fit your car seats in our car and they knew the burden one car would bring once we’re all home doing life together.
“So we bought you a minivan.” They said quite calmly. And that’s when the water works went off. What?!?!? Who does that??? Who buys someone else a car, no strings attached? Do you understand this? People out there (who we cannot wait for you to meet) loved you and wanted to bless you with a safe car!
God doesn’t always work like this of course, He’s not a genie or a wish granter. But He always provides when His will is being accomplished. We fully believe that God has redeemed your story. He wants you and He wants you to have a loving and devoted family. And you will never know how sorry I am that your birth family could not raise you but it is our greatest honor that God chose us to be a part of your beautiful redemption story as He chases and pursues your hearts.
Children, you are not alone on this journey, there are so many who love you and will walk with you through this life. Just remember God has provided beyond measure for you already and He will continue providing for you for all of eternity.
You are so, so loved,
Mama