The Hiding Place

I love to read. One of the many things I enjoy about the adoption yahoo groups and blogs that I have been following the past year or so is the reading lists. I keep my own list of the books I read about that I would like to read. I have just finished Corrie ten Boom's "The Hiding Place". There are many extraordinary things in Corrie's tale about surviving WWII in Holland. I love to open my eyes to the struggles of the world both now and in the past. It gives me such an appreciation for how truly blessed we are. I checked this particular book out at the library and the version I received has a section at the end titled, "Three Ways to Put This Book to Work in Your Own Life". I would like to summarize this section.

(1) God governs all things, even those that appear to us senseless or cruel.

Like waiting to pick up our angel, like watching a 3 year old suffer from cancer, like war, and on and on. One by one, transfer your worries from your own care to God's "Lord, because I do not have the answers to these things I do not therefore conclude that there are no answers. You know why, Lord, and when I am strong enough-wise enough, loving enough-you will show me, too." Amazing to think that we may not be ready for the "whole story", but God in His wisdom knows when the perfect time is.

(2) God supplies grace for present need.

Don't run ahead of God's supply of grace and strength. Don't "borrow trouble". Matthew 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." And verse 27, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life." This is especially good for me to remember when I have two children on the other side of the world/equator.

(3) God wills us to give thanks.

Now, not when every issue is resolved. "Our praise and gratitude in some mysterious way open the door for Him to bless us as He wishes." Think about some issues that you are most definitely NOT thankful for. Now set yourself the discipline of giving thanks daily for these things as well. See how God is able to use your changed attitude to change facts. For Corrie, it was fleas in her bunk in the concentration camp. Yuck! What possible good could come from that? She found out that the guards avoided their room for this very reason allowing them freedom to share the gospel!

Our God is amazing!!

Encouragement

Romans 11:33-36

"Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are His riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His methods! For who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who knows enough to be His counselor? And who could ever give Him so much that He would have to pay it back? For everything comes from Him; everything exists by His power and is intended for His glory. To Him be glory evermore. Amen."

Hebrews 11:1

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see."

Thank you, Elke and Angie!

This stinks!

I don't know how else to put it...this stinks!! Jessica from CHI just called and we have been given a court date of October 3. So almost 3 months from now we may hear the status of our adoption, assuming nothing goes wrong. I have no idea how those adopting from China can handle the long wait that they endure. I feel just sick right now. I can't see the sense in this.

Isaiah 55:8&9
"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"

Adoption is not for the feint of heart. Someone said that, and it is so true. Last April when we decided to pursue adoption, I was 40 years old. Tomorrow I will turn 42. I so wanted to hear that we would be traveling soon. I know that time goes quickly, but October seems like forever. My darling child may learn to walk before I meet her. It is breaking my heart.

For those of you that know our sweet son, Jake. You can be praying for him. He is now in Argentina for a month long trip with Teen Mania/Global Expeditions. Noelle says that being an only child is no fun! Pray for his safety, that he would draw close to God, and for his food choices (he is fructose intolerant).

Exciting!

I copied this idea from a fellow blogger! Isn't she adorable! She is even wearing the outfit that we sent to her. I can hardly stand it that she is halfway around the world. We received 13 pictures of her! Thank you, Michelle! And the other exciting news is that our dossier is in Ethiopia! Our agency will be requesting a court date next week. Hallelujah! I am so excited. I have read of many families having to go through more than one court date. I do not know how common that is, but it is scary with the courts closing August 7th.

Turning twelve in Chi-town!

Noelle and Hailey at the Shedd Aquarium!

Cheesecake Factory, YUMMY!

Much better than a taxi!

The birthday girls at Wicked.

We love theater! And it was AWESOME!

Tornadoes

Tornadoes struck the Midwest with a vengeance. We are fine, as is our house. One of Noelle's teachers lost her home and a family that formally attended our church also lost their home. Both families are alright. However, seven people have lost their lives. Please join us in praying for their families and communities. Scott is joining some clean up efforts. It is so hard to know how to help. It seems like disaster after disaster has struck the world lately.

Matthew 24:6-8, "And wars will break out near and far, but don't panic. Yes, these things must come, but the end won't follow immediately. The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come."

Are you ready? Is your neighbor or friend or family member ready? We do not know how long we have here on this earth.

2 Peter 3:15a, "And remember, the Lord is waiting so that people have time to be saved."

John 3:3, "Jesus replied, 'I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God.'"

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

Our dossier has left the state!

Our dossier is finally on its way to Washington D.C. There it gets notarized again and authenticated. Then it goes to our agency on the west coast, where they send it off to Ethiopia. I did each of those steps "Next Day" so that should go pretty quickly. I really have no idea what happens then, but hopefully we get a July court date!!

As I was getting papers notarized, the notary said to me, "I bet Angelina (Jolie) didn't have to do all of this!" Makes you wonder doesn't it. At the very least, I am sure she paid someone to get all of this together.

It feels so good to have the responsibility be someone else's for a little while. Now I have to work on Jake's travel papers for Argentina. He is going on a missions trip with Global Expeditions/Teen Mania. Then, I need to do a little Spring gardening.