To surrender our hearts and cease to resist an authority greater than our own is one of the hardest things we face. That struggle reveals the old sin nature and self that prefers to have control. Yet it is surrender to Jesus Christ that opens the door to the better and the best we cannot imagine. It allows the God of heaven to create a design beyond what we can conceive.
Lori Schumaker’s new book, Surrendered Hearts: An Adoption Story of Love, Loss, and Learning to Trust, will capture your heart no matter what area of your life requires a deeper surrender.
Lori tells the powerful story of the desire God planted in her heart to adopt a little girl to join her husband, Bryan, and their two sons (Zachary and Landon) in a “forever family.” As she openly shares how God moved in her husband’s life to create that desire in him as well, you will see the evidences of how the Lord patiently works all things for good in our lives.
We often wish that once we surrender, the path will become smooth that lies before us; but just because we yield does not make that so. Through the pages of Surrendered Hearts you will see Lori and Bryan’s winding journey of ups and downs, trial and triumph, sorrow and joy as they pursue adoption of a precious little girl in an orphanage in Bulgaria whom they name Selah. You will also glimpse the support of their family, friends, and church body on this journey.
Through it all one thing becomes clear: “Without our surrender − without trust enough to follow Him through difficult times, we wouldn’t be the family we are today.”
Many of us are not familiar with adoption or the long process and challenges it entails on every level. The challenges of a foreign adoption can seem unending and is not for the faint of heart. Lori gives us a deeper understanding of this process.
“Adoption isn’t just about growing families. It’s not about rescuing or picking out a child to call your own. It’s about God and His unfailing love for us. It’s about the fact that you are His − no matter where you are or what your story looks like. It’s about miracles, love, and relentless pursuit. And it’s about surrender and trust.”
The wait brought a deeper understanding of the ways God moves even when we do not understand why.
“Sometimes we get to see the why behind the wait. But other times we don’t. We must surrender any right to know why and choose to unconditionally accept life as it is. We must believe that even in situations that feel desperately unfair, God is making all things right.”
Surrendered Hearts is really God’s story displayed through the lives of Lori and Bryan Schumaker, and their sons, Zachary and Landon, who welcome a beautiful little girl from Bulgaria named Selah into her “forever family” in Arizona.
You may wonder why you would read a story about adoption, but each of us who becomes a Christian knows the pain of being lost and the joy of being chosen by a Father who loves us beyond what we could have imagined.
This is a story that will remind you again of the blessing of being chosen.
Surrendered Hearts will be released November 1, but is available for pre-order now at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Christian Book.com.
I will randomly choose one person who comments between October 29 and November 2 to receive a hard copy of Surrendered Hearts.
If you would like to check out additional resources connected with the book including this bracelet, you can click on the website noted below or go to www.lorischumaker.com/surrendered-hearts-blog
