Monday, October 31, 2011

October Pictures

The last few days have been busy.....
We carved pumpkins. This pumpkin was my favorite.




Matthew and Elizabeth ran in the Grey Ghost Run. For Elizabeth, this was primarily a social event. At one point, she and Taylor were just walking holding hands chatting about something...during the race.







We visited with my grandpa (the kids' great-grandpa) before he went back to Michigan.





We then spent some time collecting way more candy than we need. It's been a fun couple of days!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Wrestling with God

Genesis 32:24-32...are you familiar with the story? Jacob is wrestling with God and he says, "I will not let you go unless you bless me". Jacob, now Israel, walked with a limp because the Lord had touched him on his thigh as they wrestled. Maybe Israel always walked with a limp and that was just a reminder of his encounter with the Lord.

This is where I feel like I am personally right now. Wrestling with God and hanging on for dear life. I'm begging and pleading and asking him to answer our prayers regarding our adoption and some days I feel like it's going to happen and other days, it just seems impossible. You don't need all the details, but the adoptions in this particular country are becoming more and more complicated and difficult. I am begging the Lord to bless me and to give me the desire of my heart. And I'm hanging on until He does. But really, it's not about the blessing. It's about the encounter with the Lord. I know His blessing will come, but what that will look like in my life, I don't know.

I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say that there's a part of me that fears or wonders if we'll walk with a limp the rest of our lives. If at some point in this journey, we will have a broken heart. It's possible. But it's also possible, that God will move the mountains that need to be moved and we'll have an incredible testimony of God's goodness in the story of our son. And whichever way God chooses, I know that His ways are higher than my ways. And if it doesn't go the way I am praying and believing with great faith, He is still good. I don't think we got on the wrong path...I think God just has us in a place where we'll wrestle with Him and through the wrestling, we are truly encountering God.

My Bible has a note that says "strong character develops as you struggle through tough conditions". That's where we are....we are struggling through some tough conditions.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Freaky Friday

We have one that plays by the rules and one that doesn't.

Today was crazy day at school. One plays along for the fun, the other simply refuses.
Oh well. We love them both!


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Ready to Blow Out the Candle


Do you know what this little girl is thinking?
Why do I have to wait? Why are you taking pictures? What is the purpose in that? I just want to blow out the candle and eat the cupcake...waiting is no fun....
And the answer from mom is because we all need to learn patience and some day you'll be glad you have this picture.

And that's what this girl (me) is thinking too. Why do we have to wait? Why isn't our case already before the courts? What's the purpose in the waiting...waiting is no fun! And God's answer is...because I am God and I am saying that it isn't time yet. And there is purpose in the waiting because I am going to teach you many things during the journey. And some day, you'll look back and you'll thank me. And everything will be much sweeter because you patiently waited. And so we wait...that's the update. We wait on the Lord to move. Just like Elizabeth in this picture...some days I feel like I can see our "promised land"...our son. Some days I feel like I can hear him and smell him, but he's just out of reach and God has told us to wait...it's not time.

And so I cling to verses like Psalm 27:13-14 that say
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD
.