Homestudy approved

We received word today that our homestudy has finally been approved. This was our change of country and 2 year homestudy update. I am a little excited about that although still discouraged about the lack of referals lately. So far there has been one this month. People around me are getting antsy for referal news from us. I don't know what to tell them. It's on my mind constantly. Again it could happen tomorrow or it could be a few more months. Most of us waiting feel like we are constantly in our 9th month of pregnancy. I know God knows the day and already knows our special girl and I take comfort in that. I just wish he would send me a little note letting me know. The physical pain of natural birth is nothing compared to the heartache if international adoption. People are probably wondering if that's the case then why do it? I would say that God has called us for this and He does not give us anything more than we can handle. Continue to pray for us and for an extra measure of patience.

Wait

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" Psalm 27:14

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope" Psalm 130:5

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isaiah 30:18

Lately I started thinking that in life we spend a lot of time waiting. We are all waiting for different things and it is never easy. Sometimes it's waiting for something fun and other times it's waiting for an awful thing that will happen. While we wait, what do we focus on? More often than not, we focus on the event and what it will be like and how it will impact our life. We get so consumed by it that we can't think about anything else.
I wondered what the bible had to say about waiting. These are 3 of the 10 verses that speak about waiting.Wouldn't you know that in all the verses we are waiting for God.
They talk about being blessed while we wait.
They talk about what to do while we wait (read his word and put our hope in it).
It tells us how to be while we wait - be strong(Psalm 27:14) and patient (Psalm 40:1)
It talks about gifts we receive from him while we wait. Acts 1:4 - the Holy Spirit
                                                                                  Romans 8:23 our adoption into His family
It tells us who we are waiting for. -His Son- 1 Thessalonians 1:10

Waiting is part of life and sometimes it downright stinks. After reading these verses I am trying to adjust my mindset. When I think of our adoption I remind myself that in life I am waiting for God. I am trying to "be strong and take heart". I am trying to carve out more time to dig into his word.

P.S. All of you waiting for your visas. You are in my prayers daily. It's been a long wait for you.

Still Waiting

We still have not received ministry approval. They had some questions this week about our "foster" son that is living with us. This is new from 2 years ago when we first received approval. Our adoption practitioner figured we would receive approval next week. I'm not sure if I'll breath easier then or be more uptight.
 The good news is that Imagine just signed on with a new orphanage with exclusive rights. That means the children from that orphanage will be only referred to Imagine parents. Of course it could take a while for the paper work to be finished for these children.

For Anna

This post is for Anna. I read your blog and don't see a place to respond. I've wanted to respond many times but don't know how. This is for the Anna that has a referal for a little girl from Ethiopia and is waiting for her visa. I just wanted to let you know that I am praying for you and your family. It seems like you have had an extra long wait. Also wanted to let you know that your blog has been an inspiriation. It has gotten me through some tough days of waiting for our referal. We are both at the waiting stages now. I feel like I am nearing the end of my wait for a referal and you are nearing the end of your wait for your precious little girl. You will be in my prayers and thoughts while we both wait.

Dreamworld and an exciting week.

Okay, I think that i was possibly living in a dreamworld in my last post. While I still think things are moving, I might not be as close as I'd like to be.
BUT oh such delicious news from the Yahoo board.  3 sibling referrals and one single referral in a weeks time. How exciting for these dear families. Some have been waiting for a sibling referral for 2 1/2 years.
This is also good news for everyone else. It means that they are getting caught up in Ethiopia with all the extra paper work that was required. I imagine they will now get it all when the child is relinquished. So, all in all this is great news for everyone. Every referral is a referral closer to our own.
God always has perfect timing and I'm sure He has that in mind for this as well. It's not always easy to wait for God's timing, but I find that things always work out for the best. There have been many times in life when I thought that I had it all figured out and then it turns out totally different and always much better than I envisioned.
We had a great sermon the other week. One that I felt I could get definite answers from. 99% of the time I'm positive that we are doing God's will in adopting a child. I could feel it in my inmost being. BUT through the bankruptcy of Imagine, the change of country and things people have said I have had the odd struggle. It was possibly more like maybe we should be adopting locally instead of  internationally. Anyway our pastor had a sermon on how to figure out if it's God's will or if it's your own. Here are
10 Questions to ask when facing a decision or a change of direction:

1. Have you prayed about it?
2. Is it consistent with the Word of God?
3. Can I do it and be a positive christian witness?
4. Will the Lord be glorified?
5. Am I acting responsibly?
6. Is it reasonable?
7. Does a reasonable opportunity exist?
8. Are unbiased, spiritually sensitive associates in agreement?
9. Do I have a sanctified (God given) desire?
10. Do I have a God given peace about it?

Well I could honestly say yes to all the above and now I can wait in perfect peace. Pray for my family as we wait.

Please Phone, RING

How does one even begin to describe this crazy journey I'm on? I feel like a pop can that's been shaken and shaken. One minute I'm going to burst with joy that we are doing this and the next moment I'm going to burst with frustration that it has taken this long.
Today my poor husband does not know what to do with me. I can't even sit and read ( which is my favorite thing to do). He's trying to still the excitement that is building in me. We've had some corrispondance with the agency about some missing papers. From the e-mails I sense an urgency to get these all in to the ministry. From what I was told at the end of June, it would take the ministry 3-4 months to look at my update (which consisted of a change of country and age chang). I was told that if there was a match, they would expedite it. It has only been there about 6-7 weeks. I now am almost positive that there is a match for us but the ministry approval has to be completed.
RING PHONE RING
Everything needed was e-mailed to the ministry yesterday. What are the chances that they will get to it today?
AHHH. The phone just rang. A soliciter. I have some not so nice thoughts for them right now.
Hopefully my next post for you will have some good news but for now I must go and find something to occupy my time.

In the Mean Time....

Well life does go on as we wait. We are a farming family and life gets pretty busy around here. My youngest two ages 9 and 11 are hoeing a field of peppers. My other daughter Rachel (age 14) is picking cucumbers. That is probably one of the worst farming jobs I've come across. You sit on a slow moving machine with your back bent down to pick the cucmbers. She's a tropper - she rarely complains. My oldest (age 15) has an air conditioned job at the local grocery store stocking shelves. He does get out to help on the farm his days off. Our foster son Ben (age 17) has a job at the local Provincial Park. And my job is to hoe with the youngest two and be a taxi driver for everyone else. At this time of year Barry is usually busy on the farm from morning till night. Sometimes it's a crazy life but most of the time it's a good life. It's good to see the kids devolping a strong work ethic. They appreciate the extra money they make and are pretty good at saving it ( if it was mom's money they would be quick to spend it). They still have lots of time to play with friends and swim in the pool or lake. It's evenings like this after a busy day of work and having fun that I realize how blessed we are. Blessed to be able to work as a family and play as a family. And I hope that by this time next year we will have our sweet daughter from Ethiopia to join in all this.

Update on adoption - July has seen 5 referals so far. Pretty exciting seeing as June had none and May had one. This new batch of referals will have to go to Ethiopia twice. Once for court and again to pick up their child. Unfortunately court closes in Ethiopia for most of August and and Sept.  One referal has their court date set for Oct. which seems to be a long wait. We are still hoping for a referal before this year is done.