| Day by Day |
| 2/28/2006 Another month has come and gone. This week will mark the 7th month since we "began" the adoption. I have to admit...I thought we would be in the adoption process by now. There is a slight disappointment that another month has come and gone without feeling any real progress. I was secretly hoping that today would be the day that we would find out we were officially "starting", that the birth certificate had arrived. **sigh** and **sigh again** The only verse I can really think of is in James. (Taking a break from Psalms tonight :) James 1:2-3 "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." I can't help by give God that little grin and say, "We have the patience thing...can we please start now???" But then I don't really sound so patient when I say that. We still haven't figured out our car solution. If you know of anyone who has ever fit three carseats/boosters in the back of an Accord...send them my way. I know deep down that it probably is hopeless in that department. Please pray for wisdom and clear understanding in what to do. Still praying about the birthday/trip situation. There really isn't much to pray about. We can't do it (wisely with our resources), but the thought of that much time before I see my baby again...it hurts about as much as waiting for a birth certificate! I realize that this doesn't sound quite as positive as I have felt the last few days. I am not really down and out...maybe just a little down. :) And really more tired than anything. I think spring fever has hit elementary students. Unfortunately, I don't get the energy from it that they do! Please continue to pray for some good news for us...we are ready for some. Oh, I do have one sweet story to share. Tonight in the car, Mark and I were joking about how I was going to have to choose...a different vehicle or a child. Hunter, who is quite the eavesdropper, piped up unexpectedly and sweetly said, "We want Maria Elizabeth." That one comment (from a big brother!) says it all... me. Even while we are waiting for Maria Elizabeth. Thank you for your prayers! Please sign our guestbook (even if you have before...) We both get so excited to see new entries...) |
| If you return to the Main Page, we hope that you will sign our guestbook. We hope to share the encouragement and kind words with Maria someday. |
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| 3/1/2006 Psalms 111:1-7 "Praise the LORD! I will thank the LORD with all my heart in the meeting of his good people. The LORD does great things; those who enjoy them seek them. What he does is glorious and splendid, and his goodness continues forever. He has shown his people his power when he gave them the lands of other nations. Everything he does is good and fair; all his orders can be trusted." This morning as I returned to Psalms (I cannot seem to stay away...), I read these verses and thought, "I will have to remember those verses when we get some good news...I can share them in an entry. Then I thought, "NO...I cannot wait. Just because we haven't gotten any news doesn't mean we can't praise the Lord." So I planned on sharing them tonight. And you know what? It wasn't really a good day. I am exhausted. Students have spring fever. My 7 year old seems to have an attitude at this time, and my four year old can be a bit whiny. We have been waiting a couple of days for an (expected) update and haven't heard anything. The one thing that seemed to be going right today is that it was BEAUTIFUL out. I think it got to about 82 degrees. I will take that any day. But in spite of all that, we have a lot to praise God for. We have our health (as far as we know). We have a home and food in our fridge. We both have careers we enjoy. And we know Maria is in good hands while we wait. So we do praise God. I can't say I am overflowing with joy. I actually feel very sad. But we will continue to praise Him and trust that His orders CAN be trusted. Even when we don't understand. That may be the hardest part right now. Not understanding. We know we have open hearts and home to a beautiful little girl who needs a home and family as much as we need her. We don't understand what it taking so long. Why a birth certificate can delay us so much. Why God is having us wait. Why it hurts so much deep in my heart. But again, we are just going to praise God and wait upon Him. Please pray for that for us. (And we are both hoping tomorrow is a better day!) |
| 3/2/2006 Today's verse and accompanying little devotion comes from an Internet friend. Thank you, Tonya! "One of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES is Ephesians 3:20 He is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than ALL we can even THINK to ask or imagine! Take that verse and pray it GOD! Tell HIM that you KNOW HE can go ABOVE AND BEYOND all that we even think to ask HIM for then BELIEVE HIM to work a MIRACLE in the adoption process." Isn't that neat? Will you pray that with us? Well, I finally broke down and contacted the agency. I have been trying to leave them alone. Trust me, it is not easy. I think part of me is afraid of "Out of sight, out of mind"...like they might forget me if I don't contact them. And another part of me feels like I am doing something if I ask questions which is better than doing NOTHING while waiting...Needless to say, they are probably ready for our adoption to be done. :) Anyway, we have been waiting on an update this week. Somebody told me to wait until you couldn't stand it any more, then wait a little longer. So I did. And I did get a response back almost immediately. It wasn't perhaps the first choice response, but it was a good response. We might have the BC now...we just aren't sure. Apparently the Hogar director who would be in charge of contacting the lawyer is out of town this week. So we can't know anything until Monday. Kind of disappointing that it wasn't a sign of progress necessarily, but then it just helps us to focus on some good news on Monday. (Plus I won't need to check my e-mail during breaks only to be disappointed. :) And again, we are reminded that God is IN control. We will wait for Him. Just a quick story on the the "puzzle" piece in the big picture I mentioned a few days ago. Our daughter Lauren has been growing her fingernails. (She bites them a lot) I told her that when they were longer and prettier, we could put nail polish on them. She started asking last week. I secretly bought some pretty pink polish. I was just waiting for the right moment to tell her we could have a "girl's night" of polish. Well, I got the clippers yesterday to trim them up and tell her the news. She quickly informed me that I didn't need to cut them...she had taken care of them herself. She had bitten them all the way off. I had to sadly tell her about what we were going to do but couldn't do for now since she took matters into her own hands. (literally) Hmmm, I wonder if God ever feels like that with me??? |
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