Week 25

Motivated not so much by prepping for Sparrow but more by good deals and an upcoming visit from Moriah and her girls, I have made some strides in adoption preping.

First, I got a carseat. One of those that is supposed to go from 0-8 years. Rear facing, forward facing, booster.... I will probably change her car seat to an actual booster when the time comes, but for now I think Sparrow will have a safe way to travel, whether she is rear facing or forward facing (so hard to buy when you just don't know!)

Next, I got a gate. I have a one set of stairs in my apartment, but they are at such a horrible location. I have known that I need to install a gate, and I was holding off since the stairwell is wide and gates that expand past a standard doorway size are so expensive! Unless you buy them new off craigslist for just a fraction of the price! So, now it's just a matter of installing it before Charis gets here!

Finally.... I bought a car! Easily fits 2 (and maybe even 3:) car seats!

In an email last afternoon, Gladney relayed some new info about the present delays. Things are looking brighter, and hopefully those glimmers of hope will turn into a sparkling sky full of hopes fulfilled!

Adventures

I had 2 big adventures in the past few days. Check them out here and here (I have pictures!).

Thanks to all who have commented and donated. Please keep it up!

Prayer Time!

Today is group prayer day; we will pray today as we have each Tuesday since the delays began. Please join us!

When: Today, July 8, 7:30-8:00 pm EST

Where: A quiet place, in your home, with friends, alone, anywhere!

How: Please pray as you are lead.

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

300

It's NOT...

The Chrysler 300.

It's NOT...

The movie 300.



It IS...


Post number 300!

That's right, folks! This is my 300th post on this blog! Can you believe it? Neither can I:) I always knew I liked to talk a lot- I didn't know I liked to talk this much!

In honor of my 300th post, I would like to do 2 special things.

First, I would like to get 100 comments. Seem impossible? It's not. (You are allowed multiple comments:) Talk about your adoption journey. Tell me something really great that has happened to you today. De-lurk and just introduce yourself with a little howdy! I read every comment, and there is nothing I like more than knowing I made someone think, encouraged them a bit, or just made them smile. (And come on, ladies, which of you didn't smile when you saw the abs in that 300 picture up there? Nice:)

Second, I would like to do something about the present crisis in Ethiopia. People are starving. Children are starving. Babies, too feble to cry, are lying listlessly in their mother's laps, unable to find the energy to even open their eyes.

I feel horrible about this, but so often, I feel like there is nothing I can do. My budget is tight right now, saving for the adoption, and what could my few dollars do?

I think a lot of us feel that way. Maybe you can only give a dollar or two. So you just don't give. But I think that if we pooled all of our dollars together, we could easily gather $300 to donate to humanitarian relief. That is my goal: $300 dollars to feed the children of Ethiopia, raised out of the kindness of my readers' hearts. Will you help me?

The money raised from donations will be sent to WorldVision. I chose World Vision because they are the World Food Program's largest distributor and have the infrastructure already in place to provide food to the hungry as quickly as possible. They have agreed to InterAction's standards, and 86% of our contribution will go directly to food aid. They are also a Christian organization that shares my values. They also offer child sponsorship, and in addition to emergency food aid, they are working in Ethiopia to promote a better future for children and their families.

Readers, you are the best, and you are a huge part of what drives me to continue blogging. I know that together we can do something to help these starving children. Please celebrate this blog, this 300th post, by donating.

Something Big!

Something big coming on Monday!

Mustard Seed Faith

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." Luke 17:6

Valarie left me a comment reminding me that "God does not respond to our needs and our wants. He responds to our faith." How true. In all of these delays, I have often commented that I am "keeping faith" but I have never really stopped to think about what that means. Have you?

It means that if I pray that no evil force will prevent me from being united with my daughter, and I truly believe in God's ability to thwart any evil plans, then it has been accomplished. It means that if I pray that Sparrow be protected and cradled in the hands of the Almighty and I truly believe that God is her loving Father, then I can know she is resting in his arms. It means that if I pray that that God's perfect timing is the timeline guiding this adoption, and I truly believe that He created time and hold my future, and Sparrow's future, in his hands, then I can stop looking at every clock and every calender, and start looking at the heavenly timeline.

So, maybe this isn't a matter of me praying more, so much as it is a matter of having more faith. I don't want mustard-seed faith, I don't want apple-seed faith, I want mango-seed faith!

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:22

Glimmers

Like sparklers on the 4th of July, I am seeing glimmers of hope.

Please pray that this seed of hope grows and blooms.

Week 24

Sometime, this wait can be quite weighty. It can weigh on me, and pull me down.

In those times, I am so privileged to have this community, who is fulfilling the Paul's instructions to "carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal. 6:2)

Pray Today!

Yesterday marked one month of delays. I believe that rather than resignation, we need to press harder in our prayer time!

When: Today, July 1, 7:30-8:00 pm EST

Where: A quiet place, in your home, with friends, alone, anywhere!

How: Please pray for all the families and children involved, from those waiting on a successful court date to those who are still paper-chasing. It's hard. Please also pray for the money and resources that traveling families normally bring into the Ethiopian economy to be supernaturally replaced so that the native Ethiopians who depend on this income do not suffer due to these delays.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

Our Baby

Abigail: Momma, is Lily our baby?

Me: Yes, I guess she is.

Abigail: Then what is my sister?

Me: Well, she is my baby.

Abigail: Then what am I?

Me: You are my big helper reading girl.

Abigail. Oh, I am very important then.

Me: Absolutely.