It Is Here...

THE LONG AWAITED COURT DATE HAS ARRIVED...NOVEMBER 23!!!!! I can't believe it. It has been a year this month since we had the vision to pursue another adoption. Tonight, I sit in awe at what the Lord has done. Not that He "could" do it that He "did" do it. A year ago, the Lord pointed a way to a path that was rocky, not smooth and asked us to have enough faith to step out (as crazy as it seemed) and trust Him. Never and I mean never, did I imagine we would even get this far. I trusted that God was capable of pulling it all together, but I couldn't envision the final steps and didn't trust that He would pull it all together. I wanted and longed for it, but it was hard to imagine that we would be just a few months from our children.

We had such opposition. Opposition can come in two different forms, opposition from within (friendly fire) and opposition from the enemy. Even as believers we can sometimes oppose God's plan for someone else. Fear, unbelief, pride, selfishness, all of these things can oppose God. Like David, we had opposition from believers and opposition from the enemy. David was opposed by friendly fire, by telling him he was just a kid and couldn't possibly defeat the Giant. Saul tried to give him his way of doing things (Saul's armor). The enemy opposed David, by taunting him with fear. We can easily put God in a box, and try and relate God to our every day living and our rational. What Bryan and I came to understand is that we sometimes don't understand the mind of Christ. His ways are not our ways, so while it does not make sense to us humanly, to adopt more children on our income in this economy, it made sense to God and He made the way!

For those of you who are asking what next, here is the answer. We need prayer to pass court on November 23rd. I am not doubting that the Lord has that covered, but I also know that there is someone who wants to bring opposition to this situation our enemy. Will you join me in prayer covering this court date? After court passes, a week later we are assigned an Embassy date, usually 4 - 6 weeks out. That is when we travel. For those of you who are doing the math, I will save you the time ( I have done it several times), the soonest we will travel is the week after Christmas. Now God can do and will do what He wants, this is just using the info that we have.

I also want to share more praise with you. We have ALL of our funds. The Lord has provided all that we need through various ways. I really must stress to those of you who are reading and have thought that you would love to adopt but can't afford it, Jesus can!! It is not up to us to find the way..it is up to us to obey. This is the second time the Lord has done all of the fundraising. He accomplished His goal in totally different ways, but it is, His way. Today we are completely funded! Thank you to all of our friends, family, strangers, ShowHope and Abba Fund! Praise God and to Him be all of the Glory.

More praise. As we have traveled to a couple of different countries we really have found that we don't like to be locked away "safe" in hotel accommodations. Bryan and I don't like to be sheltered away from real people with real needs. It makes such a difference (in my opinion) to be in a 4 or 5 star hotel, or to just be out with the people. In Azerbaijan, we were blessed to stay in a little country hotel, and not be sheltered from the rest of the world and how they lived. I am singing God praises, because He has met that desire as well. We have met a couple who have an amazing ministry in Ethiopia. They minister to rural tribes in Africa and the "Mingi" or cursed children of those tribes. They have a wonderful heart for orphans and the lost. Over conversation through a couple of emails their family invited us to stay with them while we are in Addis Ababa! We are more than thrilled, and never imagined this a possibility, but God is good! I have been praying about this very thing for awhile. We would love to do ministry while we are there, and this couple is making that possible by opening their home to us. What a blessing when the body of Christ is kingdom minded, not empire minded! Thank you friends, we look forward to meeting you and seeing what the Lord has in store!!

Lastly our prayer requests. Please pray for the older siblings of our children, as this is going to set in as a reality to them. They are sacrificially giving up their loved ones for the possibility of a better life for them. My heart breaks for the two older brothers and older sister. Pray that seeds of hope are planted in their life by us and other believers. Pray for Africa and all the orphans. Pray for our ministry opportunities and that the Lord would orchestrate every step. Pray for court to pass the first time! Pray for a 15 passenger van for us here at home.

We are so excited to be on this journey. We are praising God for all that He has done!

He is your praise; He is your God who preformed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Deuteronomy 10:21