Our May wait list numbers were given to us last Tuesday.....and I'm just now getting a chance to post them. We're movin' on up!!
.............. on the girls list.
................ on the sibling list
While our personal news was good, we learned last week that the Ethiopian government has halted all court proceedings regarding children who are being adopted who were abandoned by their birth parents as a protective measure for these children. There are apparently 11 families with our agency, as well as many others with different agencies, who are "stuck" for an undetermined period of time until this is resolved - could be a week or it could be 6 months - no one knows. While our case manager does not think this will affect other families (like us) who do not yet have a referral (meaning that we don't know specifically who our child or children are yet), it was a profound reminder to us that this adoption thing, is anything but predictable or easy. I'm not sure anyone actually thinks that adoption is predicatable or easy, but there are many moments I find myself thinking that so far every thing is going so well, what could possibly go wrong? I'm not totally clueless - I KNOW there are going to issues that come up the farther we go along because the "firey darts" being aimed at adoptive families & their agencies will certainly take aim at us at some point in this process. But, I also don't want to sit in expectation of troubles to come. So, between now and then, we're just praying hard for these waiting Ethiopian families, praying for our friends who are waiting and praying for the peace and perspective to remember that there is no situation, no pain, no uncertainty that God is not in complete control over.
In my bible study last week, we studied a song sung by Moses to the Isrealites right before they were to take possession of Canaan - their promised and LONG-awaited gift from God. At the start of this song, it states, "I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is our Rock, his works are perfect and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." (Deut. 32.4) When Moses ends this song, he exhorts, "They [the words of this song] are not just idle words for you - they are your life." (Deut. 32:47). So I will cling to God's word for dear LIFE - his promises, his protections, his warnings, his commands - as we continue down this adoption road. I'm going to use this time of respective peace to prepare for the inevitable that is to come for us and intercede on behalf of those who need Him close to them right now.
1 comment:
Oh, Moe -- you know this happened with Robbie, right? In his case, the Guatamalen government discovered that babies were being sold on the black market and shut down all adoptions out of the country, period. At that point, Mom & Dad hadn't even told me that he was coming, as they were worried about delays, but I know they really agonized. Lots of prayer and weeping (weeping on Mom's part, anyway -- I can't imagine Dad weeping a whole lot at any time, can you??). I'll be praying for you.
I like your decision to look at this as a time to cling to God and His promises. Perhaps you can think of it as a time that He's using (though it would not be His choice to have this delay in the first instance) to further prepare your home and family for your upcoming challenge and change? (Does that sound impossibly sanctimonious?)
One of my favorite texts when life is very difficult is from Job: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Obviously, He's not slaying you, but sometimes we have to cling to Him out of sheer persistence. Love you and hugs to everybody, krissi
Post a Comment