Still Waiting...

Why, yes! We are still waiting! I think God is trying to teach me patience!!! :)  We found out through an e-mail from the US embassy that our little girl's Visa was issued last week and so now we are waiting for the final call...the call for travel approval! This week marks 1 year since we wrote the letter to the intercountry adoption board as to our intent to adopt our little girl.  We had no idea that the journey would take this long! On September 21 (which happens to be Joy's birthday) it will be 1 LONG year since writing that letter! Oh how I wanted to be with Joy on her birthday to celebrate! Instead, she will have one final birthday celebration with her friends at the orphanage and we will enjoy a belated birthday as a family when we are finally able to be with her! 

I have so many mixed emotions right now! I feel as though this journey is just about to begin, even though it started over 2 years ago with the first paperwork we filled out! I feel like we are at the top of the high hill of a roller coaster and we are about to be unleashed into the "real" ride!  We've been anticipating, preparing, reading, praying, and getting ready, the roller coaster chugging slowly up that huge hill of waiting-and now, I better hang on for the ride of my life! I hope I am ready! I am sure we will encounter many issues we could not even learn about in books; we will also see many miracles happen through God's grace! We know God has orchestrated this adoption and I just pray that He will use us to be His hands extended to our daughter.  He knows exactly what she needs, even if I don't.  I am already asking that He grant me wisdom and understanding to help our little girl.

 Please pray with me for extra grace, patience and understanding during this exciting time. Please pray with us for wisdom to know exactly what Joy needs and how to give it to her, both emotionally and physically.  We know that the next few months are going to be a transition time and we are going to have to spend some time just helping our daughter adjust. Our little girl will be leaving the only home she has ever known and traveling 24 hours away to a place of unfamiliar faces, foods, smells, sights and sounds. Please pray for her that God will calm her fears and give her peace. Please pray for her that God will heal the hurts in her heart and that she will be able to open up to His love and our love in a whole new way.

 Thank you so much for being a HUGE part of this miracle! We cherish your thoughts and prayers over the next couple months! We could not do this without your prayers and also your financial support. Thank you so much for being Christ extended to us as we walk the path that God is leading us. We love and appreciate each one of you!  Soon our daughter will be in our arms! Love, Darren, Jenna, Natalie, Micah and Joy Noelle

And...the wait continues!

Another week has come and gone with no word on our daughter's medical and visa appointments.I didn't think this wait from referral to travel would be able to compare in any way whatsoever with the long wait to find out if she was going to be our daughter...I thought it would be WAY easier.  I will admit. I was COMPLETELY wrong. There were times, waiting to find out if we were going to be approved to adopt our little girl, I thought I was going to go out of my mind. When we finally recieved our official referral, I thought to myself, "The wait to travel will just fly by. It will be here before we know it!" The first couple months were alright. I was super busy with my job this summer and I was happy with how quickly the paperwork was coming together on our end. Now, however, I am stalking evey blog, trying to determine why we haven't recieved our call telling us when our daughter will have her medical and visa appointments. I am wondering why it is taking so long! The days pass by slowly...and still no news! This waiting is harder than I expected!  I want to hold her in my arms. I want to bring her home and get her settled into our family. I wonder often, "What is she doing right now?" or "Is she disappointed that it is taking so long for us to come?"

We sent a letter to her through our agency and also a list of questions to her caregivers (through our agency, of course!) that might help us prepare better for her when we finally do get to bring her home. These were sent several weeks ago...and still no response on that end either. I know the Inter-Country Adoption Board is very busy and I shouldn't expect answers quickly, but it is getting harder every day to wait.  At this point, we don't know if we will get to be with her on her birthday. More than likely she will not be HOME by her birthday, but there is a possibility we will get to be with her...so I think I will go shopping this weekend and buy some things to wrap to either take to her or send to her for her birthday.  Maybe shopping for her will help with this difficult wait....Praying we hear something by the first of next week!

All I really want....

It's May...I can hardly believe that we have been waiting almost 8 months to hear if we can adopt a little girl in the Philippines. My heart is so heavy for her, and yet there is nothing else we can do right now except pray and wait.

May has always been a very special month to me! On the 8th, my husband and I celebrate 13 years of marriage, on the 13th is my birthday and this year it is also Mother's Day! I love the month of May and I am praying that we will hear from the Philippines before my birthday! That would be the best present ever!!

To celebrate this very special month of May, I have decided on a couple things. #1 I want to do something special for my mom this year. She has been such a Godly example to me and she is the most amazing mother I could ever have. She taught me the value in following God with all my heart. My mom has everything she really needs and every year tells me not to buy her a gift...so this year, I've decided to make a donation to Mission 1:27 in honor of my mom. I can't think of a better way to show her how much she means to me than by sharing the love of Jesus with orphans!! Love you, Mom!!! #2 I have decided that I don't need anything for my birthday or Mother's Day either and so I want to donate any gifts my family gives me to Mission 1:27. I am not saying this to toot my own horn. I just want to share what God is doing in me and give Him all the glory!

We tell our children the value of giving. We encourage them to give through our children's missions giving programs  (BGMC) and our teenagers through Speed the Light; however, are we teaching them by example? Over the past few years, God has been stretching Darren and I, teaching us the value of giving above and beyond our tithes. Not just a few dollars. Not just a casual offering in the offering plate. Not just the "extra" we have. He's been stretching us to give more. To care more. To show God's love through giving to missions.To give in faith. To give until it hurts. To give and keep on giving. And in return, we've learned the joy and blessings of giving.  I hope that I am a living example to my children of sacrificial giving. And this year, this is something I feel very strongly He wants me to do. It may not amount to much, but I know that God can take what little we can give and make it grow exponentially.

So this month of May....all I really want is a phone call from the Philippines and to see some orphans come to know the love of Jesus!

PS...If you decide you want to give a donation to Mission 1:27 in honor of your mother, you can donate at www.mission127.com!

It's Gonna Be Worth It...

There's a song that my neice, Autumn, recently introduced me to. It's a song by Rita Springer called, "Worth it All." If you've never heard it, I have put a video link below. It is a beautiful song of hope. The lyrics go like this:

I don't understand Your ways

Oh but I will give You my song

Give You all of my praise

You hold on to all my pain

With it You are pulling me closer

And pulling me into Your ways

Now around every corner

And up every mountain

I'm not looking for crowns

Or the water from fountains

I'm desperate in seeking, frantic believing

That the sight of Your face

Is all that I need

I will say to You

It's gonna be worth it

It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it all

I believe this

It's gonna be worth it

It's gonna be worth it

It's gonna be worth it all

I believe this

It is a reminder that no matter what we are going through today, it is going to be worth it all to just see Jesus' face. Whether you are dealing with the adoption blues (that's me!!!) or if you are struggling with any other issue, the things in this life we struggle with are going to be worth it one day! The troubles we face are going to melt away, be a thing of the past when we see His face!!!

I can't help but think of our little one in the Philippines when I hear this song. Every day, I might face dissappointment that we haven't recieved the call, about the little girl we want to adopt,  but I know it is truely going to be worth it when we get to see our little one's face; when we get to wrap him or her in our arms and bring him or her home.  If you are in middle of the adoption process, remember...every mountain of paperwork, every corner that holds another bump in the road, every minute or hour  or day or month or year of waiting...it is going to be worth it one day!!!

The Burden of Waiting

I've let far too many days pass since I have taken the time to write. Honestly, I've tried to keep myself busy just to keep my mind off of our adoption. This is my crazy season at work, and it has helped the days pass; however, not one day goes by when I don't think about our little one in the Philippines. Some days the waiting is unbearable; a weight so heavy, I simply cry out to God asking Him to move swiftly and give us an answer; and day after day, the sun goes down again in silence. Some days, I know I feel the prayers of others lifting me up, because the burden doesn't seem quite so heavy.

I don't know if you have ever had a season in your life where you had the great burden of waiting, but I want to encourage you today if you know someone who is enduring this season in their lives. Take time to pray for them and encourage them. Take time to really show you care and understand. Waiting on God's timing can be a heavy load to bear. It can be frustrating and stressful. It can be lonely. And yet I know the reward will be worth it all. I know on that day we finally get to meet our little girl, the days of waiting will melt away and the burden will be lifted from our shoulders.

If you are in a season of waiting, I want to encourage you today. Don't grow weary in waiting for God's answers in your life. Keep pressing on. The reward will be worth every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month and every year of your wait. Ask others to pray with you and bear your heavy load with you, but NEVER give up waiting on God! He will come through! He is always faithful!

Patience

Um..I think this picture says it all for today!!!

The God who KNOWS part II

This blog post has little to do with our adoption, but it is something that has been brewing in my mind and heart since my last post about the God who knows. It will apply to pretty much anyone and everyone, so make sure you pass it on if you find it inspiring or thought provoking.

Have you ever thought about the power of knowledge? If you know someone in an intimate relationship, a close friend, a spouse, a son or daughter, you form a bond with them that is not easily broken. In battle, knowledge is priceless. If you know your enemy's next move, or you know where the enemy has hidden, you will win the battle. We serve the God of all knowledge. The Scripture is full of verses showing us just how much He knows.
 He knows you intimately. He knows your name. He knows your thoughts, your life, your hurts, your desires. You may be familar with Psalm 139, but I encourage you to read it again. Our God is a God who created each one of us and who knows your comings and your goings, who knit you together in our mother's womb. Psalm 44:21 says He "knows the secrets of the heart". He knows your needs. Matthew 6:8b "for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." His knowledge of you is not just a head knowledge; it is an intimate knowledge, a loving, compassionate burning desire for you to know Him in the way He knows you. He's not a God far-off, letting the world tear itself apart; He's a God who "knows those who are His" (2 Tim. 2:19.) Like a Father who knows His child, He knows you and He loves you.

Not only does He know you intimately and care deeply for you,  He knows your future. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you" delcares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope." When we are in the midst of a trial, He knows what comes next. Nothing can thwart the plans of God, and His plans for you are GOOD! 2 Peter 2:9  says He "knows how to rescue the godly from trials." Wow! Only our God can rescue us from the trials of this world, because He knows how. He knows your enemy and can combat his next move. He knows your outcome. Job 23:10 said "he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold."

He knows so much more than this, but these are just a few things to ponder.  Trusting the God who knows should be so easy, but in the midst of waiting and in the midst of difficult times, it isn't. Our family is going through a trial right now and I am learning to trust the One who knows in a whole new way. Aren't you glad that in the midst of so much unknown, and waiting for an answer, that there is One who knows? When you don't know how to pray, He still knows what you are trying to say. When you are torn by uncertainty, there is One who knows and He holds you in the palm of His hand.

A Lesson in Waiting...and waiting...

Nobody likes to wait. Waiting at the doctor's office seems like such a waste of time. Waiting in line; waiting in traffic; waiting to hear a doctor's report; waiting for a new baby to get here; none of these things are fun. One of the fruits of the spirit is patience. I guess God is trying to teach me patience on a whole new level. We got word today regarding Mission 1:27....more waiting at LEAST until January or February to see if we get national approval. We got word on our home study....more waiting at least another week or two while the new area director is in training-- and all this waiting is coming before the acutal waiting for our referral! So I guess for now, God is trying to teach us a lesson in waiting...Please, Lord, let me learn it quickly! I am tired of waiting!