In the Waiting....

UPDATE:
IT CAME! IT CAME!!! IT CAME!!!!!!!!!!!! Our last and final form for our dossier arrived in the mail this morning so we spent the rest of the day running around crazy getting all of our paperwork just perfect. Tomorrow I will take it to the county clerk's office for county seals and then we will likely drive it to Nashville at the beginning of next week for state seals. After that it will go to our agency, who will then forward it to the US consulate for federal approval. Then it's OFF TO ETHIOPIA! The process from us taking it to our agency after the county and state seals to it arriving in Ethiopia for translation is around 3 weeks. Prayers for efficient, effective mail service, please! Grateful beyond words.

Original Post:

It has been a wild few weeks for us, so the blog needs some cobwebs to come down!
Our family has been battling viruses, infected bug bites (that ended up with staph & cellulitis), double ear infections, my biopsy site became infected 10 days post-procedure, strep throat, & high fevers. Wanna come over for dinner? Ahem, just kidding. Oh, wait, did I forget in the middle of it all we spent time at Disney (thanks to sweet friends who treated us to a place to stay!). We also made our trek to Nashville for fingerprinting on May 17. The following week I met with our agency & got the final list of paperwork needed to complete our dossier (the big batch of paperwork sent to Ethiopia). The only form we are waiting for is the form issued from immigration that can't be processed until our fingerprints are done. So, guess what I do everyday? Run to the mailbox with high hopes. So far, we continue to wait.

But, in the waiting.......

God continues to do a supernatural work in us. The week prior to our Disney trip was also our anniversary. So, we decided to get away for dinner. Sitter was found, reservations were made. There was only one problem: I cried most of the day. The way God wires us with emotions during the adoption process continues to astound me. On the one hand our daughter felt so close. On the other hand, she felt light years away. My heart was heavy and sad throughout the day. As the day went on I prayed, crying out for comfort for my grief so I could focus on 11 amazing years with my man! I pulled it together enough to get dressed & get the kids fed. However, we didn't make it far when I confessed to Mark that I had had a tough day thinking about our daughter. He chuckled & said, "That's just like God. I've thought about her all day, too." In that moment it occurred to me.... God did send comfort, but it was in the words & sympathy of my sweet husband. We talked through it, cried a little, & enjoyed a great anniversary date.

In the waiting......

God continually grabs my heart in scripture when I read about my rebellion against Him, yet He shows mercy, grace, & steadfast forgiveness towards me. In that, I'm reminded of my need for a Spiritual Father & a Savior. How blessed to know that both are found in the person of Jesus Christ. In my rebellion He chose to adopt me and make me His own. Just tonight Mark & I came across a song by Third Day that is about adoption (www.third day.com/adopted). A man who spoke at the beginning of the song spoke such truth that i was in tears over God's graciousness toward us. He said (& I am not quoting) that adoption had taught him that his adopted children are no different than his natural children to him. And we consider how that translates to our spiritual life, when God adopts us we are no different to Him than His very own son.
Unbelievable.

In the waiting......

I'm learning so much about grace. Packing for & going on vacation nearly killed me. I kept feeling like I was leaving someone out. Repeatedly I would have to remind myself that God's plan & timing are all perfectly calculated. In those minutes & hours of missing her I found God's grace to be sufficient. Without fail. Then, I laughed (though through tears sometimes) while we were gone and 3 of the 4 kids were sick that I was distracted from pondering it too much because I had 3 antibiotics, steroids, Motrin, Tylenol, cough syrup, antacids, and Phenergan to administer to 4 kids who were sick on vacation. In it all we had a great time and again, His grace kept me from bawling my eyes out on more than one occasion!

In the waiting.....

I am seeing God grow our kids into giants of faith! Brycen had to fill out a paper Sunday morning in his small group about a faith journey. One of his questions read, "What have you had to have faith in God for or what was happening in your life when He surprised you in a big way?" My eyes filled with tears immediately when I read his response in red magic marker this morning when I found it. He wrote, "God surprised me that I was getting a sister from Ethiopia!!" I don't think I give this process enough credit for what it's doing IN each of us individually as well as together. When we shared with the kids this week that we only lacked our travel money for the adoption Regan looked at me, like only she can, & said, "Oh good, Momma! That will be easy to get!" I laughed, knowing the cost in my mind (so does she!!) but also knowing she wouldn't have changed her answer even if she had a better grasp of how much money that really is. As we were leaving the Magic Kingdom the last night I said, "guess what? Next time we are here you all will have a new sister!" Later Regan said, "Momma, my sissy is gonna love Disney. And even if she doesn't it will be fun to show her." Yes, sweet pea, it will. I'm thinking about that day more and more....

In the waiting.