God's Perfect Plan

By Julia Olson

With our children almost all raised, I asked God how, in the second phase of our life, we could be a tool for His service. I was not prepared for His answer and the plans He had for us. Whenever you hear God speak to you and you know you are doing exactly what God is telling you to do, satan will be right there to try to make you stop. This is a true story of the many trials and miracles we endured as God unfolded the plans He had for us. This is God's story for without Him this book would not have been written. From the very beginning in Matthew 6:9-13 when God taught us how to pray, right up to the end in the courtroom when we literally felt the breath of the Holy Spirit. I am honored and humbly grateful to have been chosen to be His tool and my prayer is that we can continue serving our Lord as he continues to unfold the plans he has for us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098016258

Book preview

Chapter 1

Really?

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

—Psalms 9:10

It is now February 2000.

Lindsey was at a basketball game with her friends, and Ed and I were relaxing at home watching television. Being in control of the television remote, Ed decided to turn the TV off—in the middle of the best part of the show. Obviously, he wasn’t watching the show at all. His mind was somewhere else, and I was about to find out where. He looked at me and said, I have something to tell you, and I don’t want you to say anything. Just listen, pray about it, and then when you are ready, we will talk.

Ed loves to joke around, but I could tell he was serious, so I was all ears.

This was what he said, I have had this overwhelming feeling that God is telling me we have children in another country.

Of course, I was in total denial and said, Oh, right…you have to be going through your midlife crisis or something.

Ed replied, I am serious, Jul. It has been two weeks. I can’t sleep. It’s in my head all day. I have never experienced anything like this before, it has to be God…just think about it.

The rest of the evening was pretty much in silence until we went to bed that night, and I started praying again. As I got to the part where I said, "We will do anything, Lord (I am thinking, for missions). We just want to be a tool for Your service—" It started to hit me. Are you really sure, Lord. Tell Ed, not me! I didn’t even finish my prayer.

I just sat straight up in bed and said, Are you kidding? I then proceeded to tell Ed about my prayer, and at that moment, I, too, knew this was God. I was filled with both excitement and total fear. Needless to say, by the end of the weekend, we were online looking for an adoption agency.

Chapter 2

Family Meeting

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among ourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.

—Romans 15:5

There are so many agencies online, it was literally impossible to make an educated guess as to which one to choose. Maria had just graduated from a Christian college in Orange City, which is a wonderful Christian, Dutch community, so we decided the agency in that town would be a good choice. We contacted them, and the process began.

We decided not to share the new expansion of our family with anyone as we knew the process would be long. The week before Palm Sunday, we couldn’t stand the news any longer, and since this was going to be a family mission, we just had to share it with the kids. I called Maria and asked her to please come home for the weekend because we were going to have a family meeting. I said, No one is sick, but your Dad and I have something we want to talk to you kids about. I then made the same phone call to Matt. He goes to our church, but I wanted to make sure he also came for dinner. Lindsey was still living at home, so we knew she would be there. Obviously, they were very curious as we had never had a family meeting before.

Sunday came, we filled the church pew, the kids kept looking at Ed and me to see if they could read our faces. Was anything wrong? Are we surprising them with a trip? What is it? Church was finally over, and we were now home and putting dinner on the table. The kids were still watching our every move. Ed and I were just bursting inside with excitement. Once we were all sat down and starting to eat, we proceeded to share our new mission with them.

We started out by telling them that they have been such a blessing to us, and that we think we should share them. They didn’t get it! Matt asked if I was pregnant; they all laughed! Until I said Yes…in my heart!

We then explained the story about how I had been praying and how God spoke to Ed and told him we have children in another country. These wonderful kids immediately shared in our excitement. We could tell already this truly was going to be a family mission.

The next weekend, of course, was Easter, and my whole side of the family would be here for Easter dinner. Before the meal started, we gathered everyone together and told them of our mission. Yes, they were shocked, nervous about the traveling but supportive. The following week, we made a phone call to Ed’s side of the family and told them of our news.

Even though we had chosen an adoption agency, the anticipation of who God had for us was overwhelmingly exciting. We didn’t know if the child was a boy or girl, how many children, or where they even were.

Chapter 3

Clarity

God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding.

—Job 37:5

A year previous to this, we had a girl from Albania, named Eva, visit us in our home. She told us what life was like growing up in Albania. She talked about waking up before dawn and waiting in line at a meat shop just to have the store run out of meat before she got to the front of the line. She also talked about her mother being in the hospital, and the family had to bring meals to her because the hospital did not provide meals for the patients. Other stories were of people she knew who spoke out about their government and were never seen or heard from again. She told stories of how their current regime was changing, and they now had some freedoms, but there were still many children growing up on the streets and in orphanages. Actually, visiting with someone with personal experiences like this brought the reality of the situation to the forefront of our brains. Not only could we visualize the pictures in our minds, but we could physically see and hug someone that had lived through it.

We have always believed that the experiences that happen in your life are for a reason. God is preparing each of us for the purposes He has for our life. So naturally, we thought maybe our child or children were in Albania. When we inquired about adopting from Albania, we were told by the agency that they were building relations in Albania, but at that time the only way the Albanian government would let children out of their country is if they were bribed. The agency would not bribe an official, so that door was immediately closed. As we continued to pray and seek God’s advice and direction as only He knew where His mission was to lead us, we felt a strong tug toward Russia.

We naively assumed the adoption process would go smooth. However, what we weren’t prepared for was that whenever you are truly following God’s call, satan will be right there to try to make you stop. The more we prayed and leaned on God, the faster satan was to throw roadblocks in our path.

The first one came when someone from where I worked found out what we were planning, and rather than come to me, they told my boss. Whoever it was that felt so compelled to share this special news to my boss also told her that when the child/children came, I wanted to go from full-time to part-time work. I had not told anyone at work about the adoption, so I was very shocked when I was called into her office and was immediately reprimanded for such a foolish plan. We had a very good working relationship up until that moment. She was very definitely a career woman and couldn’t see life any other way. She told me that I had already raised my family, and she had big plans for my career. Remember, I was working in the business office! Career? I was shocked and devastated with her lack of compassion for homeless children. I kept my composure while in her office, but as soon as I got out into the hall, the tears were unstoppable as I walked to my office on the next floor down. In the hallway, I met the pharmacist who I also worked with in getting his provider numbers. He asked if I was okay and led me into his office. I explained what had just happened, and needless to say, he was furious with my boss. Legally, she could not say the things she did, and he was totally supportive of me. I gathered my composure and finished my work day. As I walked to my car, with the wind knocked out of me, I sat in the car in silence, totally numb. I just couldn’t understand how such a joyous time in our lives could have such a dark cloud over it. I always kept the car radio tuned in to the local Christian radio station. As I sat down in the car, the flood of tears started again, and I quietly said out loud, Lord, are you really sure this is what you want us to do?

As I reached up to turn the car on, a loud voice blurted out of the radio that said, God has chosen you to make a difference in a child’s life.

As I gasped to catch my breath, the tears immediately stopped. Thank You, Father, for Your confirmation. We would be honored to continue on Your journey.

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

Another obstacle was when our hog operation contracted pseudorabies. This was financially devastating. God saw us through as the cleanup began—a serious drop in commodity prices, some unexplained health issues, and the need to change agencies. Each obstacle seemed rooted in Satan. However, with each obstacle, our faith was strengthened, and our trust in the Lord was beginning to surpass all understanding.

Chapter 4

The Dossier

For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our God even to the end.

—Psalm 48:14

The process of adoption is very long, and the compilation of paperwork is called a dossier. We needed to complete both a mini dossier and a large dossier. The mini dossier consisted of a home study, home study summary with photos, our marriage license, the agency’s license, agency obligation to register a child (Department of Education), obligation to register (Department of Education), obligation to allow visits, medical obligation, application to adopt, agency post placement agreement, power of attorney, passport copies. The large dossier consisted of INS form, (Immigration Naturalization Service), medical exam for each parent, psychological exam, employment verification for each parent, net worth statement, proof of home ownership, police clearance for each parent, child’s birth certificate of children already living in your home, application to the court, agency obligation to register (regional court), medical obligation (regional court), summary of state adoption law, power of attorney, birth certificate for each parent and our marriage license.

The home study involved even more paper work and face to face meetings with a social worker. Our agency put us in contact with a social worker so we could get started. We had two sessions with her, and Matt, Maria, and Lindsey also had a session with her. She was a little frustrated with us because when you adopt, you can choose if you want a boy or girl, color of hair, how many children, etc. We had no idea; this is God’s plan, and only God knew who He had for us. Therefore, we wouldn’t specify anything. Not the sex of the child, number of children, age, color of skin, hair, or eyes. God will tell us in His time who He is entrusting in our care.

The home study also included five references from people who know us and, last but not least, a session with a psychiatrist. That seemed a little obsessive to us, but we understand the need to make sure children are going to a safe home.

As we were traveling through a small town on our way for our psychological testing, a truck was parked on the side of the street making the line of vision hard for anyone approaching the main road even though they had a stop sign. As we were driving through town going the speed limit, which is thirty-five miles per hour, a girl didn’t see us nor did she stop for the stop sign. She hit the front tire of our Blazer, which bounced, and her vehicle came in our back door. God just shielded me as I sat