Our Christmas Gift

As many of you know, lately the wait has been increasingly difficult. From around the beginning of November on, with each day that passed and no word, our chances for meeting our precious boy before the end of the year were depleting.  The thought of not seeing him before Christmas and him not having a family to spend such a special day with was so hard to think about.

As our hope was fleeting, another family from our agency was heading over there at Thanksgiving, and we were able to send him a small package for Christmas.

We were so glad his court date on the 5th went smoothly, but also very discouraged when we didn't receive our court date. Often times I read from the devotional Jesus Calling. This is an excerpt from December 11th-
"I am working on your behalf. Bring Me all your concerns, including your dreams. Talk with Me about everything, letting the Light of My Presence shine on your hopes and plans. Spend time allowing My Light to infuse your dreams with life, gradually transforming them into reality. This is a very practical way of collaborating with Me. I, the Creator of the universe, have designed to co-create with you. Do not try to hurry this process. If you want to work with Me, you have to accept My time frame. Hurry is not in My nature. Abraham and Sarah had to wait many years for the fulfillment of My promise, a son. How their long wait intensified their enjoyment of this child!"

Ever feel like God is speaking directly to you? Wow.

Wake up 12-12-12 to an email from our director-we have our court date: December 25th. Well played God, well played.

I am so incredibly humbled by our Lord. We will be celebrating the birth of Christ on the same day this precious little boy will be transformed from orphan without a family, into a SON, brother, nephew, grandson, and great grandson.

What an awesome God we serve.

Hard to Sleep...

Some of you have been texting and calling to see how court went? And we don't want to leave you hanging anymore!

For us, this felt kind of like a kid waiting for Christmas morning! We had a count down going and the days dragged by, until finally the time had arrived. Yesterday was the longest day ever! A dear friend reminded me of Philippians 4:4-7, I tried not to worry but to trust that even though this important case was happening a half a world away from us, the LORD was near. He knows our heart and He knows what is best for this sweet boy.

Our little family had some special time together in the nursery last night. We decided to do Emory's bedtime routine in there. She picked some of Baby G's books for us to read together. The first one was "God Found Us You." If you know anyone that is or has adopted, I highly recommend it. It is a children's book, but it spoke to me in such powerful ways as it talked about how much the mom waited and longed for this precious baby. And even when days got long and hard, she knew that God planned perfectly. Here I am, thirty years old, and taking life lessons from a kids book! Thank you Jesus!

We figured the case would be between midnight and 7 am our time. It was so hard to sleep!...

This morning, every time I turned over in bed, I checked my phone for an email from our agency! We broke down and emailed them at 9:30, to find out they were having communication issues getting in touch with their representative. Finally, a little while later they were able to get an email through to tell us that everything went well in court! PRAISE THE LORD! Unfortunately, we are awaiting a letter from the courts before we will have our court appointment date. Bummer. Not exactly what we were hoping for. They are thinking they will get this letter in the next few days and we will know our date!

So thankful things went well and we are another step closer to this baby joining our family! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers, support, and encouragement!