Our Promise

Drew and Kate have been looking for the end of the rainbow.

They have determined that the best treasure is there...
our sweet little sister.

We have had a lot of rainbows over the last several months.  They have become a very personal sign of hope and promise for us.

God loves to whisper hope to us.
He is so faithful to His promises.

Today, we found it.

A complete rainbow with both ends - right in our yard.
Our whole family stood on the porch and knew He was speaking.

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.  -Deut. 7:9



The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. -
1 Thessalonians 5:24





 

Dossier for China!

  
We prayed over it Tuesday!

We mailed it Wednesday!










Our dossier arrived at our agency today!

This dossier is the collection of documents we have been compiling for the last four months.  It will represent our family in China during this process. 


Our agency will process it through the U.S. State Department and Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C.

Then, they will send it to China.

Once it arrives in China, we are fully available/eligible to be matched with a little girl.

We expect to be matched within the next several months, but it could literally be any day.

Thank you for all the prayers you have lifted up for our family!! 
God has truly been working in this process, and we are thankful for all He has done and will do. 
We can't wait to see all He is about to do!
We are ready for our sweet little girl to experience all of this love!

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, for He who promised is faithful. - Hebrews 10:23

The Lord's purpose will prevail.

Well, I want to drop a little update and ask for prayers.
Adoption paperwork has a very unique stress.
Details, timelines, personal info and evaluation
And, every completed step must line up in a certain way in a certain time frame.  Even one glitch can set you back weeks (and weeks feel like years).
We have actually been in an unforeseen delay the last few weeks.  An error from U.S. Immigration created some issues that have set us back.  Waiting is hard, but the added worry of an error is even more unsettling.  In the grand scheme of it all, not massive, but it's definitely a current stress as we move closer to some deadlines. 
We are so anxious to complete our Dossier of paperwork and send it to China.

So, two things:
1.  The "unforeseen" descriptor above is from my perspective.
God knows every detail.  He's never fazed, and He's been holding me close.  My planning mode shifts to worry very quickly, so I am constantly seeking Him.  He is quick to comfort, and His presence and Word are the only things that keep me from panic. (not exaggerating)
This is a pic of the calendar over my desk.  I erased it.
I erased the numbers and appointments that were staring me in the face, and I replaced them with Proverbs 19:21.

"You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail."  Proverbs 19:21








Scripture is powerful.  God's promises are true.  My God is sovereign in this process and in all things.  I believe it, and I cling to it.
Timing is a HUGE piece in the adoption process, and "The Lord's purpose will prevail."

2.  Please pray with us and for us.  Prayer is powerful, and we need it.  Our little girl needs it as she waits for us.  Thank you for praying!!

Thank you for praying with us, supporting us, and being a part of our journey.

Full Speed Ahead!

In the last 6 days, we've had 6 adoption-related appointments along with multiple adoption paperwork errands.
We are only 3 documents away!!!
Then, we will apply to USCIS for the final piece.

Tonight I submitted an application that will put us on the waiting list even before our dossier is complete.  (This is huge)

It's been a major week for our process, combined with some great
family time.
Thankful doesn't even begin to explain how I feel.
Thank you again for all the prayers!!! Please keep praying!

We are so close.  I don't know exactly how close, but close.
One step closer to our little beauty.
Full speed ahead!

Hope is Blooming

I placed little pieces of hope in the ground
after I wrote this post last fall.

I covered them up
believing - trusting - knowing
that God is at work.








Winter brought a lot of change.  We started to see things that only God knew would come.
God began to give us a glimpse of things to come...

...at just the right time.
in just the right season.







We will be with our little beauty so much faster than seemed possible just weeks ago.
Years of waiting have turned to months,
                  and I can feel the promise emerging.

Today, we had the home visit for our new home study.
We are on a steady course to China.

We are praying for wisdom and peace as we complete our dossier to send to China and prepare for our little daughter.
Her beauty already blooms in my heart.

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 
for He who promised is faithful."
Hebrews 10:23

We Wait on the Lord.

Adoption is hard.
Nothing profound in that statement.  It's just true.
Exactly three years ago, we made the decision to start the adoption process.  God was speaking and moving strongly in our hearts.
Then the process began.

All we wanted to do was go scoop up a little child and love her forever.
But, it doesn't exactly work like that.

We began a process of research, choices, and decisions.  Choices and decisions?  It's so hard.  There's a big, wide world, and we will gladly bring each and every orphan home.  But, there are decisions.

1. Find an agency
(I have been very thankful for ours - America World Adoption)
2. Narrow to one country.
Well, that's actually easier than it sounds, because only some countries even have international adoption.  The ones that do also have guidelines/requirements.  We don't even qualify for some places.

So, our choice easily went to Ethiopia, and we quickly fell in love.  We soaked up every bit of info we could over the last few years.
The world has become much smaller than it seemed before.

We've tried to share our journey and keep everyone informed along the way.  At the beginning, we expected to be home and settled with our sweet girl by now.  Lots of things have changed within their government, and after so many changes, our wait is not even half over.

We cling to God and His direction and providence in all these steps, big and small.  Although the wait is terribly difficult, we have been staying on course unless God leads us otherwise.

Over the last couple of months, God has been speaking to me about our wait.
"You don't wait on a list. You wait on the Lord.  Wait on me."
The words of Isaiah 40:31 resonate in my spirit.
It is true, when you wait on the Lord, you do not grow weary.  He does renew your strength.  You do rise above the circumstance and hold a different view of your path.
I thought God was assuring me that He was in control despite the wait.  The logistics of a waiting list or legal process fall far beneath His power and sovereignty.

We wait on the Lord.

Another change in Ethiopia.

The government is considering a proposal for some very strict changes to the adoption process, especially international adoptions.  With these new regulations, our family will no longer be eligible to adopt.
It's difficult news, and it breaks my heart for all the children who are already waiting too long.
There are no words.

Other countries have done similar things, and some have closed adoptions completely.
Adoption is a risky path to walk.

We wait on the Lord.

We prayed.  We needed to make a decision.
It's time for some big updates in our process.  We needed to choose our course.

Again, the choices are quite narrow.

We could go in a few different directions, so we prayed.

God has led us to China.

Our agency is allowing transfers to the China program, because China has actually made their qualifications more attainable.
The world keeps getting smaller.  :)

This week we began our paperwork process for China.

There are a lot of emotions in this change, because we have developed a special attachment to Ethiopia.  I feel confident God will continue to use these connections we've made to ministries and communities in Ethiopia.  I know He has a purpose for that.

We wait on the Lord.
Without Him, it looks like we had a detour.  With Him, we can see His hand guiding us on a course that is steady and straight.

China.  I'm falling in love fast!
We've told Drew and Kate, and Luke has already been yelling "China, China, China".
It's hard to explain things that don't actually make sense, but Drew and Kate have been amazing through this entire process.
First of all, you have to realize that our little girl is already a member of our family.  She is a part of our conversations DAILY.  We plan for her, dream of her, and have lots of drawings of her. :)

We explained the change to Drew and Kate.  After some questions, they started getting excited about China.
Then, Drew asked, "What about the little girl in Ethiopia?"
Great question.
We are still waiting for the same little girl.
We began this process and started praying for the girl we would adopt.  God has heard every prayer, and even though we don't know who or exactly where she is, God does.  We began our journey planning for Ethiopia, but God knew that it would change.  God knows how this will all end.
God knows our sweet girl. Even before she was born He knew her. (Jeremiah 1:5)
We have been praying.  God has been answering.  We thought she was in Ethiopia, but she's not.  God always knew that.  He's not surprised.

Please keep praying for our family.
We have been on a journey to our sweet girl for three years, and we won't stop until we can scoop her up and love her forever!

"I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in His word I put my hope."  - Psalm 130:5

Just Beneath the Surface

We began this adoption process over 2 1/2 years ago.  We have been on the waiting list for 2 years.

I hate waiting - nobody likes it, I guess.  I've always been bad at it.  Even the smallest waits are unsettling.

I was reminded yesterday of the hope in a tulip bulb.
A bulb = a small ball of possibility; a piece of the future; a promise.
We have one job when it comes to bulbs - the prep.  We dig a hole and set it in.
We feel so involved in the beginning.  We gently, excitedly prepare the delicate little package.  We create the bed.  Cover it for a long sleep and begin the wait.

It's a strange task really, but we are motivated by the thought of what will spring forth.

Then, we wait.

I can't prod it.

I can't dig it a little closer to the surface.

I can't even see it.

I just wait.

All the work happens under the dirt.  All the rooting and sprouting.
All the work is His, the Giver of all life.

He holds it.  He nurtures it.
When no one sees.

We wait.  We hope.
We hold on to the promise.

Then, at the appointed time, the perfect season...
The ground breaks.

There's a glimpse of green.

Every promise suddenly comes into view, and life appears from the dust.
Then, I can join the Father in nurture, in care, in protection of the beauty He brought to my life.

I wait today.
I wait with hope.
I don't wait on the Ethiopian government.
I don't merely wait on a list.

I wait on the Lord.  (Psalm 27:14)
He renews my strength.
He fulfills His promises.
He is the Rescuer.
He gives life.

This wait is only a hint of the great wait, the real anticipation of all life.  All creation waits for the fulfillment of what God began.  We all long for REAL LOVE to win.  REAL LOVE to return.
We wait on our Lord and Redeemer.  We all long to be rescued.*
One day.
It is the hope of all hopes.  It is promised, and He will come.
And we know it's True...
First - because He said.
And second - because of these small promises.  These small waits.  They are proof.
The bulb - though hidden, dormant, and invisible - arises as promised.

No matter how dark the days; no matter how cold the winter;
Love wins, and Hope prevails.

So even in this small wait,
Even though so many precious blooms are waiting for their moment of Spring,
I will wait as long as it takes to behold my beautiful flower. 
There is hope, just beneath the surface.

*Romans 8:18-27