We have officially been DTE for 3 months now. We can't believe how fast time can pass most days. The boys and I spent the last week working at our church's vacation bible school. Josh and I are volunteering in the nursery twice a month and I volunteered to help with VBS if needed in the nursery and I was quickly taken up on my offer! I have to say it was a long week working with 8 14-16 month olds! However, the boys (who are not quite old enough to be in the "real" VBS program) had a great week doing crafts, singing songs, and learning about Jesus. I am impressed with the volunteers that worked with their age groups and the material (and craft projects!!) that they completed in a week!
Summer is moving right along and we're hoping to be getting closer and closer to getting a referral of the child God has planned for us in the next couple of months. However, there is a new rule involving having a birth certificate from the child's region before getting a court date scheduled. Through our paper chase stage I found it difficult at times to get all of our birth certificates here in the United States and we have a dedicated office for that! I can't imagine trying to get this official piece of paper from a "region" in a third world country and all the logistics that need to fall into place to make this new rule happen. So, as you can imagine with me, there has been quite a slow down in the process in the last month. The new rule for making an appearance in court just went into effect so we figured things would slow a bit to allow some time for the learning curve that would accompany this new process. So it's back to "hurry up and wait!" Again, we know that God is the author of this journey and our child will not spend ONE MORE DAY in Ethiopia than God has allowed. However, we are getting REALLY excited that we're getting closer to actually seeing a picture of our child!!
On another note, I can't begin to tell you or share with you all that God is teaching us through this process. But I can share bits and pieces which is why I love this blog! I am always amazed at how "blind" we can be to things that are written plain as day in our Bibles and I know there are scriptures alluding to this. How I love when we begin to "see clearly" as God allows our hearts to truly grasp what He is passionate about and the Holy Spirit begins revealing the truth to us. I was talking with someone the other day about passions and what we would say if someone asked us what we were passionate about. What would you tell someone you are passionate about? I wonder if it would line up with something the Bible says God is passionate about. Would it be your job? Your hobbies? Traveling? 147 Million orphans? The poor? The neglected? Children being sex trafficked? Would others know your passion? Would how you spend your time, your resources, your talents, your money point to your passion? These questions have been on my heart and I'm hoping to spend more time on my knees learning how Christ wants me to answer these questions. I'll also be praying that you'll know how He wants you to answer these questions. I'll also challenge you to read the book Radical by David Platt. The whole message is about taking back your faith from the American dream. I'm hoping it will change your life in a big way as it has changed mine. I'd love for you to take 2 minutes to watch the video below. As always we truly appreciate your prayers over our adoption and those walking this adoption journey along with us.
