A Truly Joyful Noise

A Truly Joyful Noise

Dari van Hissenhoven

            My sweet 7-year old daughter, Analise, is known as the "hugger", the most enthusiastic singer of the “Holy, Holy, Holy” and the bearer of the cross that’s twice her size at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Maitland, FL.  This is her story and mine as well.  It's a testimony of walking in trust and obedience to God.

            For years my husband and I considered adoption.  Although we had our own children, we saw much need in the world.  We prayed that if we were to adopt a child, God would provide the way. 

            We had long discussions with my friend Susana who is a social worker for an international adoption agency.  She has three internationally adopted children of her own. Then one day, she told me about a 7-month old deaf Guatemalan girl with other medical issues who was in need of a family. In that moment, my soul was filled with a resounding --YES!  God himself was whispering in my ear.  My dear friend probably thought I had become delusional when I told her this was the child we had been waiting for.  Yet never before had I been so absolutely certain of anything.  My husband also knew wholeheartedly that God was leading us.

            Anyone who has ever gone through the adoption process knows what a frustrating and expensive paper chase it can be. Among our other concerns were a political storm about the ethics of international adoption and a treaty about the rights of children that might sideline the entire process. To further complicate the situation was a misspelled email address that was our only contact with the U.S. State Department.  

            You would think that I would be just…well…anxious.  However, I, who am almost always anxious about everything on some level, was nothing but certain that everything would be fine even though it took ten months.  How could my God, who was orchestrating each step, not bring it to a joyful completion?  I had been obedient, and now it was the time to be faithful. Over and over again, I told myself to be still. Be still and know that He is God and that is sufficient.

            During the time we had to wait for the paperwork to be completed, we made a big decision to go live in Guatemala so we could become acquainted with our new daughter in her environment.  Before leaving Florida our entire family prepared for Analise's arrival to her new home. Medical experts were consulted. We began to learn sign language. We bought a bigger car.

            Then the day came when we were packing our bags to go to Guatemala to meet this little person who was our daughter and to celebrate her very first birthday. Well, let’s just say that it was love at first sight. We had found our daughter, AND SHE WAS PERFECT IN EVERY WAY.

            Once there we met Analise's foster mother, Lidia, who had been praying all along that this sweet child would find a family despite how dire the medical predictions were for her. A woman of faith, Lidia, too, knew somehow this baby she loved so dearly would find a family. This frail child was beginning to grow and thrive under her care. This little deaf girl was now starting to repeat sounds and speak words.  When we showed her the picture of our German Shepherd, she cheerfully pointed and said, “puppy!” After just a few days, we decided to abandon our original plans to stay since we could see how God was using this saintly woman to heal this little girl. Now it was time for us to be obedient, faithful, and very, very patient. Analise stayed, and we returned home to wait some more. It was hard to be separated, but we knew this was how it was meant to be.

            More weeks passed. The political situation was getting unstable and was becoming unpredictable. We knew nothing about how a change in government would affect our process. Susana, my dear friend who had become a catalyst for all of this, was heartbroken at the thought of perhaps having to tell us that the adoption would not be possible.  However she was a woman of prayer and knew the power of hope and had faith that God would overcome the obstacles.

            At last... on Easter weekend we flew to bring our baby home. All the idiotic workings of man could not and did not overcome the will of God. The rest is history. Analise is now singing with absolute joy in our congregation…. seeing her makes one smile and know that all things are possible with God.