"...The Waiting Place...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
Or a bus to come, or a plane to go
Or the mail to come, or the rain to go
Or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
Or waiting around for a Yes or No
Or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting." Dr. Seuss
We are somewhat in the waiting place.
Our documents are in Ethiopia. I'm not sure what's happening to them now.
I don't know if they are being processed or if they are just sitting on someone's desk.
Regardless, we are in the waiting place.
Sometimes it's hard--as waiting is usually hard, especially when we're waiting for something
AWESOME!
Our time frame changed yesterday---it went from an expected 12 month wait for a referral to a
10 month wait.
This is really exciting! This means that if we have to wait the entire ten months, we will have a referral by June of 2012 and that's not too far away!
You may wonder, "Why is the wait so long? Aren't there like over 4 million orphans in Ethiopia?"
Well, yes, yes there are.
BUT and it's a big but, lots of things have happened in the world of inter-country adoption.
1. Child trafficking and exploitation. (You may or may not be familiar with this, but it's a serious problem in our world and sadly, many children adopted from other countries weren't brought home to loving families; they were used as sex slaves or just house slaves.)
2. How do you determine if a child is truly an Orphan? (Unfortunately, not everyone agrees on this. UNICEF (You know they come around with little boxes at Halloween) has a say in this process, as do the individual countries.
Specifically in Ethiopia there are many children who have not been cleared by government officials to be adopted. This has slowed the process in Ethiopia.
3. The closing of Orphanages. (UNICEF went in to Ethiopia and closed many, many orphanages and those children were sent to other orphanages, which are now overcrowded. Those children's documents have to be looked closely before they are released for referral or their already in process adoption is completed.
These things have contributed to the slowing of adoptions and referrals in Ethiopia.
We must be mindful and faithful to pray for orphans everywhere and to support countries as they work hard to protect children from exploitation.
My heart grieves to think of the many children who are now in slavery to someone or the sex trade.
I know that God will give us a referral when the time is right.
While we're in the Waiting Place, we'll be faithful to pray and prepare for our new son!
Adoption is war. Satan doesn't want these children placed in loving homes.
But God is more powerful and with the power of the Holy Spirit, we (as believers) can make a difference in the world of the fatherless.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
The Art of Contentment part two
In Philippians, Paul speaks of contentment and even states that whatever his circumstances, he has learned to be content.
Chapter 4, verses 11-13 are quoted often when referring to difficult circumstances.
I think if you look back closer to the beginning of chapter four, you'll find a nugget of wisdom and perhaps the answer to truly being content whatever your circumstances.
In verse 8 he says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Now, some might say that there are circumstances in which there is nothing worthy of praise, there is nothing honorable, there is nothing good to think on.
But I think if we take this verse and another verse in Colossians then we get an answer to our contentment issue. In the third chapter, second verse, Paul writes, "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."
These two verses together give us an answer to our contentment issue.
Regardless of our circumstances, if we CHOOSE to think on the things of heaven, on the things of the Lord, then we will have something true and honorable and just and lovely and commendable and excellent and worthy of praise to think on.
And as we all know, our lack of contentment begins in our heads when we begin focusing on what we lack or our less than perfect circumstances.
Ultimately, I think we have to decide if we really believe God's word.
And if we do, then we have to live like we do.
I will say from experience that this is easy to say and hard to do.
Just like athletes train for races or events, we have to train ourselves to finish our journey is this life as we look to the next, eternal life.
It's that thought that makes the pain of losing my daughter easier to bear because when I think of the life that is to come, she is there.
And the first time I see her face, I will never have to say good-bye to it.
In that I can be content to live with this present pain because compared to what my days in eternity will be like, it is just for a day.
Chapter 4, verses 11-13 are quoted often when referring to difficult circumstances.
I think if you look back closer to the beginning of chapter four, you'll find a nugget of wisdom and perhaps the answer to truly being content whatever your circumstances.
In verse 8 he says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Now, some might say that there are circumstances in which there is nothing worthy of praise, there is nothing honorable, there is nothing good to think on.
But I think if we take this verse and another verse in Colossians then we get an answer to our contentment issue. In the third chapter, second verse, Paul writes, "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."
These two verses together give us an answer to our contentment issue.
Regardless of our circumstances, if we CHOOSE to think on the things of heaven, on the things of the Lord, then we will have something true and honorable and just and lovely and commendable and excellent and worthy of praise to think on.
And as we all know, our lack of contentment begins in our heads when we begin focusing on what we lack or our less than perfect circumstances.
Ultimately, I think we have to decide if we really believe God's word.
And if we do, then we have to live like we do.
I will say from experience that this is easy to say and hard to do.
Just like athletes train for races or events, we have to train ourselves to finish our journey is this life as we look to the next, eternal life.
It's that thought that makes the pain of losing my daughter easier to bear because when I think of the life that is to come, she is there.
And the first time I see her face, I will never have to say good-bye to it.
In that I can be content to live with this present pain because compared to what my days in eternity will be like, it is just for a day.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Art of Contentment Part One
Contentment is something most people strive for.
Usually we think about contentment when we aren't content.
It usually goes something like, "If I only had this... or if I were in this place...or if I wasn't here..."
Sound familiar?
We may think of contentment as a lofty aspiration and something that only really wealthy or
incredibly aged people have.
I've met quite a few people who are in their eighth decade and are quite discontent with their lives.
They long for the times when their bodies were healthier or their minds were sharper or their families lived nearer.
Perhaps it's the longing for things not obtained that produces this lack of contentment.
But what if the exact spot we're in in our lives this day is exactly what God intends for us?
What if we chose to live in this day instead of looking at this day and deciding that it's not right because we don't have everything we want or desire or wish for.
It'll require a change in perspective. What if a Jeep with no air conditioning on a 100 degree day is exactly what I need? Or if a bank account that has enough, but not much left over. Or I'm single. Or I'm childless?
I was forced to think about these things a year ago when I was pregnant with our daughter and we learned that she would not live after birth and then a month later at five months pregnant, she died.
Many people said that I only had to believe and ask God for a healing and miracle and it would happen.
I prayed for a miracle.
I believed it could happen.
It didn't.
When she died, I remember feeling and even saying to a friend that I wasn't ready to let her go.
So how do I marry that God gives us exactly what we need when we need it and the fact that my heart wasn't ready to let go?
Seems like a contradiction, right?
If getting pregnant with a baby that was going to die was exactly what I needed and what glorified God the most, then why did it hurt so stinking much?
For that matter why does it still hurt?
The answer isn't simple and I'm not even sure I fully understand it myself.
I have to go back to the beginning---to Genesis when Adam and Eve had everything they needed in the Garden and through deception they introduced sin into the world.
I am a child of Adam, but through Jesus Christ, I've been adopted into God's family.
Because of that adoption, I can carry a child that is going to die and be at peace through the pain that this is indeed God's best for me.
For that matter I can continue to live everyday after her death knowing that God did what was best and it's in that changing of my perspective, that dying to my deceptive emotions and feelings, that focus on my Creator and the life to come that I can choose to be content with whatever my circumstances are.
Usually we think about contentment when we aren't content.
It usually goes something like, "If I only had this... or if I were in this place...or if I wasn't here..."
Sound familiar?
We may think of contentment as a lofty aspiration and something that only really wealthy or
incredibly aged people have.
I've met quite a few people who are in their eighth decade and are quite discontent with their lives.
They long for the times when their bodies were healthier or their minds were sharper or their families lived nearer.
Perhaps it's the longing for things not obtained that produces this lack of contentment.
But what if the exact spot we're in in our lives this day is exactly what God intends for us?
What if we chose to live in this day instead of looking at this day and deciding that it's not right because we don't have everything we want or desire or wish for.
It'll require a change in perspective. What if a Jeep with no air conditioning on a 100 degree day is exactly what I need? Or if a bank account that has enough, but not much left over. Or I'm single. Or I'm childless?
I was forced to think about these things a year ago when I was pregnant with our daughter and we learned that she would not live after birth and then a month later at five months pregnant, she died.
Many people said that I only had to believe and ask God for a healing and miracle and it would happen.
I prayed for a miracle.
I believed it could happen.
It didn't.
When she died, I remember feeling and even saying to a friend that I wasn't ready to let her go.
So how do I marry that God gives us exactly what we need when we need it and the fact that my heart wasn't ready to let go?
Seems like a contradiction, right?
If getting pregnant with a baby that was going to die was exactly what I needed and what glorified God the most, then why did it hurt so stinking much?
For that matter why does it still hurt?
The answer isn't simple and I'm not even sure I fully understand it myself.
I have to go back to the beginning---to Genesis when Adam and Eve had everything they needed in the Garden and through deception they introduced sin into the world.
I am a child of Adam, but through Jesus Christ, I've been adopted into God's family.
Because of that adoption, I can carry a child that is going to die and be at peace through the pain that this is indeed God's best for me.
For that matter I can continue to live everyday after her death knowing that God did what was best and it's in that changing of my perspective, that dying to my deceptive emotions and feelings, that focus on my Creator and the life to come that I can choose to be content with whatever my circumstances are.
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