I haven't posted in a while simply because there hasn't been too much to talk about. Things with the adoption and with life haven't changed and we are still just waiting - waiting on a referral, waiting on our house to sell, waiting on clarity for God's plan for our family. To be completely honest, I hate to wait. I like to be in control of situations in my life and with the things going in our family and currently I have no control. I have no control of the government in Ethiopia, no control over the housing market and frankly no control of God's plan for our family. If anything God is teaching me personally to stop trying to be in control.
I read an article not too long ago called "God's Will for Your Wait" by Paul Tripp To say the timing of this article was perfect is a complete understatement. Tripp points out 5 ways to look at the wait as God doing something rather than a struggle against the wait.
1)Remind yourself that your not alone. Think about all the people that had to wait years in the bible. Think about the hundreds of families that are waiting for a child just like we are - we are not alone in this. Waiting is a part of God's plan
2)Realize that the wait is active. "To be called to wait is to be called to the activity of worship: worshiping God for his presence, wisdom, power, love, and grace. To be called to wait is to be called to the activity of serving: looking for ways to lovingly assist and encourage others who are also being called to wait. To be called to wait is to be called to the activity of praying: confessing the struggles of my heart and seeking the grace of the God who has called me to wait. We must rethink waiting and remind ourselves that waiting is itself a call to action."
3)Let waiting strengthen your faith. There are three ways your faith can be strengthened through waiting a) by spending time in the Word, b) opening your heart to God for Him to reveal sin, weaknesses and even the struggles of your wait, c)recongize the opportunity to know others better on the same journey as you.
4)Count your blessings. Instead of reminding yourself what you don't have, focus on the blessings that you do have.
5)Long for Eternity. God intends for us to long for home our eternal home.
After reading this article I realized how selfish I am with this whole waiting thing and to be honest I am still selfish with it. There is nothing I want more to bring my baby home - but I want the baby God has for us. I remind myself daily that had it not been for the wait thus far, I would not have the baby God wants me to have one day. These challenges, hiccups, bridges or whatever you want to call it, are, in my mind, designed to help in the timing of the perfect little baby God has for us - when I remember this I don't mind the wait.
So we wait.......and will continue to wait until the day our family is complete.......
Until then please pray for us in the following ways:
-that we would use this wait to grow in our relationship with Christ. That HE would reveal sin, weaknesses and struggles we have in our hearts.
-for clarity as Jonathan and I make other decisions concerning our growing family
-that our home would sell
Thanks for being on this journey with us.
