4 months and giving up apples and bananas!

So the big 4 months of waiting milestone has come and gone (for those keeping track it was on the 18th). We haven't had phone or internet this week so this post is late, late, late! However, I have been writing it in my head over and over! I like to do that throughout the day...write posts in my head. Of course they always come out better in my head and when they're flowing out inevitably I am never by a computer to get them down as hardcopy but that is ok. Does anyone live their life that way? Always composing in your brain? Surely. No matter. Moving on. So FOUR whole months of waiting. Doesn't sound all that very long does it? Guess that is a matter of perspective...for us 4 months of waiting on a child who we have never seen a picture of or don't know anything about is not that long of a wait. The hardest part is knowing what that child might possibly be going through as I go to sleep in my large, comfortable bed tonight. When we think about what that small child will endure in these next few months before we know them and cannot physically do anything about then the 4 months seems like an eternity. However, what we rest in is knowing that our God is in control and is surrounding our child with angels as He prepares us for that child and brings our child home to us. We serve a BIG God who does not lose control in the circumstances or is unprepared for this fight this child will endure. We find peace in our God and in knowing that we can pray for this child and that prayer is indeed ENOUGH at this time. I will say that in 4 months of time we have gone from #17 in line for a boy and #10 in line for a girl on the unofficial list that a group from our agency keeps to NUMBER 3 for both a boy and a girl! I LOVE THAT! God is so in control of our journey and I just laugh at His sense of humor. So many people would assume (as we did) that requesting either gender would guarantee us a boy (which is wonderfully perfect for us mind you) as the wait time for a boy is half the wait time for a girl. I have loved watching as we move up on both lists at just the right times to keep us guessing! Guess it's the closest we will come to being "surprised" by the gender of a baby of ours! And I love the freedom we have found in giving God total control!

Which brings me to the title...giving up apples and bananas! I have been thoroughly enjoying Beth Moore's bible study When Godly People Do Ungodly Things. But my absolute FAVORITE nugget of truth that I have heard and have held on to recently is a message on understanding that God wants to be the THRILL of our lives!! I have grown up in the church as my parents did and their parents did and so on. I have sat through many messages, attended youth camps, read my bible, etc. But for 32 years I have missed this truth somehow! I have focused so much on the sacrifices of living for God and the things that I CANNOT do as a follower of Christ that I have MISSED what I CAN do!! Beth Moore points out that God wants to THRILL us and be the adventure of our lives!! She makes the illustration that all our lives we have been given apples and bananas spiritually and that God says that He didn't only feed us apples and bananas...He wants to give us kiwis and mangoes and papayas and pineapples!! There is PASSION where God is and the work He is doing! There are RIVERS of delight! Our God is limitless...get that?? LIMITLESS!!! I so know I don't live like I know that truth...I LIMIT God to what I know as my reality but scripture says otherwise! OH MY how I loved hearing that and feeling that. I get to find JOY in my faith and in my wait and in my struggles but not only in the those hard things! There is JOY now in the sunrise and the cool breeze and the laughter of my boys and the embrace of my husband. JOY from the Lord and I am thankful!! Thankful for this adventure that we've been called to and THANKFUL that the adventure does NOT END here! I love walking this road to grow our family through adoption but I have faith that God is not done with us after this adventure ends...this is just the beginning if we'll be listen and obey. And I don't know about you but I want kiwis and mangoes and papayas and I will be making sure my kids know this truth also!

As always we so appreciate your prayers as we move along this road to our child. We pray for patience and contentment with God's perfect timing. We pray over the child He has chosen for our family and for the transition to a family of 5. We pray for peace for the transition for our young boys as we prepare to make two long trips to Africa and bring our child home. And we thank you for praying along with us.

Because of HIM...