Answered

Yes. The answer was yes. She said yes, we said yes, they said yes. Most importantly God said yes, the time is now. Time to add a little one into our home. He is so small. He is a treasure. He keeps us awake at night. My hands are full, full of great things. Full of God's great gifts. Full of grace poured out onto me. And yes sometime my hands are just dirty and covered in poo or spit up. But joyous nonetheless. God has to richly blessed us. God's timing is perfect. Never what I would have expected. And that is why He is God and I am not. Praise God!

Call

I am hesitant to even talk about some of these things. Not that talking will make them disappear, but it means I am overflowing with excitement.
We have received a phone call for which we have been waiting a long time for!!! YES! Specifics don't even matter at this point. I am overwhelmed with so many emotions. I am first of all so thankful to God's faithfulness. Even when I was doubtful this kind of thing would ever happen. Or I was scared that I was forcing it, and it wasn't God's plan for our lives. I am scared. I am full of peace. I want to cry. I want to cry GLORY! I want to shout from the rooftops, but then I want to hide and just clean my house and freeze meals for the tough times ahead. I also want to hide and not tell anyone just in case.
What if... what if... what if...
God has all of these in His hand and is in control. I am so glad I am not in control. I can't even imagine how I would screw this up. Seriously.

God had given to us a Heart for the orphan. We have now been given the opportunity to be in line for a child. We will patiently wait for God's timing to bring that child home to us. Whether it is this particular child or if He has other plans for this child. We will praise His Glorious Name either way.

Lord, we praise you for your wonderful faithfulness. We pray that your hand be upon K. Keep her safe. Soften her heart to the amazing provision you have provided. Lord we thank you for keeping us. Allow us to be ambassadors of Christ for Your Glory. Keep the Evil Ones minions at bay from our home and family life. I pray this will not overwhelm the little ones already in our home. I pray this will be a great opportunity for us to proclaim your awesome adoption of us into Your family. Thank you for this chance and glimpse of your goodness.
We Pray in Christ's finished work on the cross.
Amen

T4A

I enjoyed the T4A conference more than I can express right now. I am still processing all that I learned. Main things I learned? Gospel. Keep motivations in check. Submission. Grace. There is an orphan crisis, and it is HUGE.

Its so easy to just watch the precious adoption videos and say, "wow, that is such a sweet thing to do. Let's adopt. It looks like such a blessing." When we need a reality check. That is a video. A temporary suspension of disbelief. The words they say are much more pregnant than they appear. "it was a struggle to have to leave our son in that orphanage." cue sad kind of music. Struggle? hmm.. lets camp out on that word.

Struggle. This little word could mean, many days of heartache. Many tears. Many unspoken words. Emotions running wild. Stress on a marriage. Depression... But all we hear is that one sentence, and see the beautiful family playing together. Happily playing together.

Reality check. The real world is the glorious story of adoption by God. God made man for himself. We are his possession. What is Gods understanding of adoption? It the story of the Bible.

What is my motivation for adopting? Wow, really? That's the question of the day? I haven't quite processed that one just yet. I will need to come back to that.

Pray. Pray without ceasing. Pray in everything. James 5 tells us that God answers prayer. Pray with boldness. Pray specifically asking for those things you want. God's Will will be done. Might not be what you asked for, but His will is going to be done.

What then? after my reality check and praying boldly Whats next. Seek wise counsel. Ever wonder why this is? I never thought about it. When we are praying, we are seeking God's counsel. But He is not gonna give us a talking bush on fire. (I wish) Seek others around you. Those who have been through these types of issues. Even if you know what they are gonna say. But then also ask yourself, who am I avoiding? Huh? Avoiding. Who do I not want to ask their advice because I know its gonna conflict with my hopes. If we avoid some people to seek advice from, we might be blinding ourselves. Our vision has already been clouded by the Fall. Seek counsel.

Patience. Must be Patient. Pray. Seek counsel and wait.

Be Strong

Seeing others loving and living the promise sometimes hurts. I am in love with Adoption. But God's timing for our next child to come home is really not what I was expecting. My heart aches to hold him/her. My emotions run wild when I peer into the lives of others completing their families.
Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

Talk

When do you know that the door is closing? When your heart is heavy laden, how does one sort through it all? I have a somber stillness when I think on these things. Talking helps, but that doesn't always come out the way you want. Writing might help. We'll see.

Talk of the degradation of things meant for good, hovers over head. I want to believe that there are false reports out there and that is the information we are receiving. But I know that people are sinners and choose to do bad things all the time. I look at my own heart and see the brokenness. Is this a problem? Yes. no. I'm not sure.

We know that things can go wrong. What is our hearts desire? Whats a better question is What is God's will and desire for us? Are we to be homely or are we to be jet setters? Then after the individual conclusions, we must come together as one.

What is the purpose of the recent events in our life in regards to our current situations. We have enjoyed the abounding blessings from our diligence. I pray we will continue to be diligent.

Wat?

I am needing to learn a new culture, but not a full immersion culture. I just need enough information to tell my children later in life about their culture. I am hoping to incorporate a few side dishes into my regular cooking routine. Not that I have a routine about cooking, but just a loose rotation, with some experiments. I enjoy cooking so much that my loving husband has gotten me cooking classes for our anniversary. Cool huh? So I am gonna try to make Atakilt Wat, a cabbage-potato-carrot stew. It is traditionally served over injera, but unfortunately I am not gonna attempt that at this time. I am gonna mix up some butter with some spices to make the nitr qibe, instead of ghee.

So the ingredients needed are:

• 3 tbsp olive
• 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 small head of cabbage, sliced 4 medium carrots, sliced thick on the bias
  
• 4 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced ( I will use a press)
• 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger root, finely minced
• ½ tsp. curry powder
• ½ tbsp. ground turmeric
  
• 1 pinch ground cardamom
• ¼ tsp. paprika
• ½ c. water
• 1 tbsp of the spice mixed butter
  

And the instructions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add all the veggies. Cook until softened, stirring often. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the spices and water, cover and bring to a boil. Remove the cover and stir well, then lower the heat, cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has reduced completely, about 25 minutes.

And like I said earlier, it should be served warm over injera, but I am gonna attempt to make it a side dish to some chicken or beef.

a Journey Indeed

Adoption is an incredible journey.

We witness a Miracle every time a child enters into life. But those who make their journey home across time & miles, growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them, are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by
God's very own hands.
~Kristi Larson