| 2/8/2006 Hello again. No, we don't have any news as of yet. (We answer that a lot) Trust me, when we finally get pre-approval, you will hear SCREAMING from NWArk. Anyway, the verse I want to share for today is in Psalms 139:13-14. "You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother's body. I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What you have done is wonderful. I know this very well." Sometimes when people find out you are adopting, they mention they could never do it because you don't know where the child is coming from. Parts of that is true. I don't know who Maria's birthmother is other than her name. I don't know anything about her birthfather. But I do know something about her heavenly Father. He knitted her together in her birthmother's womb. And as I have always heard, "God don't make no junk". (Very appropriate language for a kindergarten teacher :) Could there be some problems? Sure. But when I had Lauren and Hunter, I didn't get any kind of warranty or guarantee with them that there wouldn't be anything wrong with them. No parent does. I realize we will have issues to deal with. I think everyone does, though hers will be different. But I know who created her. And that is the only thing I need to know. |
| Day by Day |
| 2/6/2006 A verse comes to my mind every so often, especially tonight. It is Mark's favorite, and definitely one of my life verses as well. Proverbs 3:5-6- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path." If you have ever had a baby or dealt with a serious illness, I am sure you are aware of the many "horror" stories people love to share. I am sure I am just as guilty (at least with the childbirth ones). I don't know why we feel the need to share. It obviously isn't to make the other person feel better. Well, I can tell you that it is not a lot different with adoption. Announce you are adopting, and you will get dozens and dozens of congratulatory notes and comments, promises of prayers. But you will also get the horror stories. Stories of children who are never brought home. Stories of horrendous wait times. Stories of anything and everything going wrong. I am a bit of a worrier. Okay, more than a bit. (I heard my mom chuckling at that...) And I try to keep those stories in perspective. But try as I might, at times, they overtake me with anxiety. And suddenly I am breathing hard and sighing loudly (ask Mark), wondering what on earth I am doing? (And to be honest, what on earth is God doing?) Yet tonight as I pondered yet another horror story, that verse came to mind. I don't know if it was God speaking to me...I have never heard Him audibly like some have. I just know it is what I needed to hear. "Trust in the Lord." Not trust in the lawyer handling your case. Not trust in the government and court systems. Not trust in your agency (though obviously if we didn't have some kind of trust there, we wouldn't have signed with them...). It is "Trust in the Lord". It cannot be any plainer for me. And I hope each and every time I do that heavy sighing, worrying about tomorrow, those words will come back to me. "Trust in the LORD". I cannot lean on my understanding. (Which is a good thing, as I have little understanding of what I am going through) I cannot change the adoption process and the incredible time it seems to take. I cannot worry about the limited power of people. I can only trust that God is in the details. He will direct my path. |
| 2/7/06 "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you..." Jeremiah 1:5a This past Sunday, my Bible Fellowship (new name for Sunday School) class studied this verse. I was thinking about what all God knew about me before I was born. There were so many things that popped into mind (He is an AMAZING God)...the one that stood out was my Spanish. I must preface this with the fact that I am NOT fluent. But I can speak enough to get by. When I was a little girl, I can remember learning and enjoying Spanish with Sesame Street. Not much, just a word here and there. When I was finishing my freshman year in high school, my father was transferred to another town. I wasn't really grateful at the time. I had to leave my first love/boyfriend. And my new school was half the size of my old TOWN. Anyway, the good news is that I was finally able to take Spanish classes at my new high school. It wasn't offered in my previous town. I LOVED it. I took all three years, then some in college. I even have my "area of interest" (similar to a minor) in it. But it went beyond learning at school. I liked to buy Spanish kids' books. And if a friend went on a mission trip, I would ask for a Spanish Bible or a Spanish newspaper. I cannot explain why...I had never been exposed to it before. At that time, NWA didn't really have any Spanish speakers. But I do believe God had a plan. A plan from the moment I was placed in my mother's womb. A plan to have a Spanish speaking daughter one day. The past few years I have been fortunate to practice my Spanish with my students and their parents as our Spanish speaking poplulation in NWA has FLOURISHED. Thankfully, they are a patient bunch while I attempt to speak it. ;) And as I have said before, I am constantly busying Spanish kids' books. I could never explain why, but there was just always this little voice that urged me to... Just recently I watched our video of our visit with Maria Elizabeth this past December. With her being a toddler, she has some awareness of language. And I spoke Spanish (broken and probably at times incorrectly) the whole time to her. I was even able to teach Mark a few words here and there. And all along, God knew. Isn't our God an amazing God? |
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