Morning Reading

Isaiah 30:15
"In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
(but Jerusalem was unwilling)

30:18-21
"Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.

....He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the LORD give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."

I have been reading through Isaiah. It amazing how God's word is ALWAYS relevant in our lives. I am thanking God for his promises and fresh new grace and mercy for today only!!

Soberly Resolved

Our adoption updates have been few and far between. Our case seems to be stuck in limbo and no one seems to know the specifics of what is being done to move the case forward.

This morning we were given more discouraging news. They think our case could go on indefinitely and some of these cases have been going for two years!! The advice that was given to us again was to be matched with new children. Jason and I are at a loss of what to do because we feel connected to these two precious boys. We don't want a new referral. This seems to solidify even more that we are needing to go to Ethiopia next year. We were waiting to make it official, but at this point Jason and I are planning to live in Ethiopia from Jan-June. He would teach at a Bible college and hopefully while over there we can figure out what is happening with our case and possibly our presence would move it along quicker. I feel like we are missing some major pieces to the puzzle and us going over there will help us understand more what is happening and possibly bring in some extra resources to get the job done. If we don't adopt these boys, they will probably stay at an orphanage indefinitely as long as they live.

Our tenacity and determination is still there. I think we are a little sobered to the task that lies ahead us. The Lord is in control and He is and will be getting all the glory through this whole process. We could not be or do what we are doing without the strength of the Lord!!

To be truthfully honest, it's been hard again lately. So many changes and uncertainties are lying ahead of us. I feel sometimes that it is a lonely road to travel. Every day is a fight to rest in the sovereignty of God and every day to rest fully and completely in His hands. Jason and I want the Lord to use us as He sees fit. This is about Him. This whole adoption has less to do about us and more to do with the Lord and the orphans in this world that need a family and a chance to hear the gospel.

At this point we will not be accepting a new referral or new children.

Our prayer is this: "Lord, be with these two precious boys. Hold them close to your bosom. Protect them and sustain them. Give us strength God, we so desperately need you. We feel weak.....but You are strong in our weakness. Help us to finish well. Let everything we say and do bring honor and glory to You, O God. No matter the outcome, you are perfect and good and Holy and we rest in Your perfect understanding of the adoption process. We rest in You."

Our Daddy is Cool!!

I know it is not Father's Day or Jason's birthday, but I am so thankful and undeserving of such a wonderful husband and father who adore his girls and prays diligently for the arrival of his sons. The last couple weeks I have tried to capture things that are dear to my heart and wanted to brag on my husband for a little bit.

Ever since the girls were babies, Jason has always put his girls to bed and had a sweet time of tucking them in, reading to them and blessing and praying for them every night of their lives, except when he is gone. He has always done catechism with them, bible verse memory or now lately has added reading through the Bible and acting out certain parts. The girls always remind him if he has forgotten something!! :)

We were in Minneapolis last weekend and brought back a stuffed animal for each girl. A moose for Gracie which she named "Boom" and a black bear for Allie which she named "Rocky". I am not sure why we bought them more stuffed animals, but they seemed to love them. I have no further comment about this video....just plain silliness!! :)

Family Verse

So a few posts back I had shared a song that speaks appropriately to where the Lord has placed us in our lives. Today I wanted to share with you our family verse that we had chosen way back when our girls were first born. Every time I read it or mediate on it, it fills my heart with hope and utter joy for my Savior. So here it is; may it encourage your heart as well.

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from Him and Through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever." ~Amen~

Random Videos

I love this video. Their laughter is very contagious!!




Gracie(#2 jersey & long ponytail) is playing soccer this season and here was a little excerpt of her game. You can hear her little sister cheering her on!!

Allie's soccer team. She is the #2 jersey and she makes a goal in the beginning of the video. The other team didn't show up, so the parents played the kiddos. It was really fun for everyone...even the parents!!

The girls have taken to doing their own personal movies. Here is Allie's along with some 4 year old commentary! (sorry about the vacuuming in the background. It's always interesting what your kids are doing when you are busy in the back doing something.)

Gracie's movie with her own commentary.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for us during this time. We planning towards moving to Ethiopia in Jan-June. Jason is getting an opportunity to teach at the Ethiopian Bible College there. More details to come and quite the story how God has moved our hearts to go to Ethiopia for the spring semester. We have no preconceived notions that it will help our adoption, but hopefully our presence can count for something. God has done a great work to get our hearts to get to this point....anyway will fill in more of the plans later!

Another Disconnected Piece of Information

It seems like our updates come in torrents!! This afternoon after inquiring about a DNA test, we found out that they did indeed know that this man is the boy's father(wondering why they told us wrong info earlier). The problem now is that he has voiced doubt about the adoption and so the MOWA in the southern region(which is like equivalent to our social workers here) is investigating as to whether or not he can even provide for the boys. We are really confused if he doesn't want us to adopt them or if he genuinely wants them back. All they said was that he was having doubts.....that can be interpreted a lot of different ways.

My big concern still is that these boys are in limbo and that they are back at this orphanage again, where we have no idea as to whether or not they are getting good care. I have always prayed that no matter what happens that they would get to be with a family, either us or their biological family. We just did not want to see them stuck in an orphanage the rest of their lives.

To be honest, we do not know how to process this information or how long all this will take. I am feeling very numb and at loss of words on how to even pray other than O Lord, please move this along for the sake of our precious boys. I am still going to call them ours until the end, no matter what direction it takes. I have no doubt that the Lord has led us to them and all this has happened for a purpose and reason in our lives and theirs. I am just weary and tired and I know that the Holy Spirit takes the groanings of our hearts and takes them to the Father.

Thank you all for your prayers and support....they mean more than you will ever know.

RRR...RESTING in God with RELENTLESS love and a RESOLVE to bring home Jonathan and David.(or whatever is best for them)

A Long Overdue Update

This week has been difficult for me to handle. It has been around 2 months since their regional court date and barely any news to sneeze at. I am not directly frustrated at our agency, but the agency they are partnered with.
After almost two months, we found out that whatever the father of the boys said to the judge, the judge thought that he may not be their father. Our agency said this has happened before with other cases that the judges don't believe that certain birth mothers were not old enough to have their children etc... and that they take out ads in local papers to find people to vouch for them and be witness in court that these parents are legit. So our case feels like it is at square one again. This also means that they are no longer at their transition home but were taken back to their region's orphanage again. We found that out today too. The fact that they are back at their orphanage again really breaks my heart. The one thing that has brought us peace during this waiting time is that they were at a good place getting good care and contact. I am worried that this will not help their attachment issues or add to the stress with being jerked back and forth during this time.
Right now we are trying to find out if a DNA test can be done to find out or solidify that he is their father and that we can move on with our case. It seems to be another huge waiting mountain and frankly I am feeling a little worn out.
Please continue to pray....I don't even know what to ask for anymore that I haven't already asked. Just pray.