God, Where Are You?

Rubins Noel / LBA Member

Photo by Devon Janse van Rensburg on Unsplash

I have been a Christian for 35 years. In my Christian walk I have learned many lessons. One of them is that God always answers the prayers of His children. God has three answers: "yes," "no," and "wait." The latter is the most difficult one for me because I often cannot distinguish a "no" answer from a "wait" answer. It takes a lot of one-on-one time with God, reading the scriptures and fellowship with other Christians to discern and understand the unfolding events of a "wait" answer without getting frustrated and disillusioned.

Another lesson I have learned is that “the life of a Christian is usually interpreted looking through the rearview mirror.” It all started in early 2006 when I approached my business partners about opening a dental practice in Batavia, NY, which made perfect sense because we already had several practices in the Greater Buffalo area. I was given assurance that we would open Batavia. However, during the fall of 2006, to my great disappointment, the Batavia deal fell through. Instead we decided to open in Erie, PA, which was two hours away and very difficult to support, especially during the long winter season. Sometimes I cried out to God, “where are you in all of this?” I always felt uneasy justifying the Erie location. My wife, Edeline was hesitant at first but felt that God had a greater purpose.

During the Summer of 2009, I was at the Erie office when one of my staff told me about a lady who had come in for an oral examination before going on mission to Haiti. I met Jane Dennington who told me about the burden she and her husband Bud had for the Haitian people. They had just retired and would be moving to Cape Haitian to help the Haitian children. I was very excited to hear that, and we developed a friendship. Edeline and I continued to receive periodic newsletters from the Denningtons about their work among the Haitian children. In the fall of 2012, we received a newsletter and picture of an eight-month-old child called Samuel Joseph who was brought near death to the orphanage that the Denningtons were running. The story of Sammy grabbed our hearts. The Denningtons were looking for adoptive parent for Sammy. Edeline and I felt that maybe this was the child for us since we had tried to adopt twice before with no success.

We reasoned that the process should be short and quick since we are Haitians. That was not to be the case. Instead we went through six years of an emotional roller coaster and lots of unforeseen expenses. The adoption law changed three times during the adoption process. One of the changes require that the adoptive parents not be over 50 years of age before receiving permission to adopt from the Hague. The Hague approved our application one month before I turned 50 years old. That was a great sign of encouragement. Not long after, everything came to a halt. We could not get answers from anywhere as to the status of the adoption. Edeline was a source of encouragement and steadfastness. She told me that she had given all her frustrations and disappointments to God and felt that we needed to wait for God’s timing. The most painful experience for us occurred last year through the bonding visit. When it came time to leave Sammy cried and pleaded with us not to leave him. Edeline and I bent down, looking him straight in the eyes and said we love you and will come back for you soon. Then I prayed in my heart, Lord, please do not let me disappoint this child.

We praised God for His timing. In mid-April, the Haitian court approved Sammy’s adoption. He was granted a passport. By God’s grace, we are going to pick up Sammy mid-May or early June. Now I see that even when things did not make sense, God was working. We are grateful that God has chosen us to participate in the plans that He has for Sammy. God never wastes an experience says Lon Solomon. If there were no Batavia practice disappointment, there would be no Erie, PA practice. If there were no Erie, PA practice, there would be no Sammy.