Congratulations...

Kendra and family on their referral of a baby girl. God is a great big God and has been matching children with families at amazing speed recently.

We will get our monthly call next week with our updated numbers. I have been going crazy trying to figure out how far we have moved down the list. I know we are at least #15 and there may be a possibility that we are down to #11! How crazy would that be!?! Referrals come when they come, there is no uniformity to there speed and so we could still be waiting until December for ours, but at this rate it may come by October. We can't wait to see the little girl God has chosen for our family and she never leaves our prayers.

On this day of fasting and prayer

we can also celebrate the referral of a sweet baby to Michelle and a little girl for Karey. Take a second and congratulate each of them on their new additions.

One of the things I love the best about our AGCI family is that even as some families are having difficulty with the adoption process and we are uplifting them in prayer, we can also celebrate the good news of referrals and travel calls. God is in each of these situations, with each of his children throughout this process. We praise Him for His never ending love. He will not forsake us.

For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you...Deut 4:31

The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Deut 31:8

A day of prayer and fasting

Several of my friends (especially Karen, Sharon, and Robin) have recently had complications to their adoptions. They are desperately longing to bring their children home. Some people in our agency have decided to pray together, and fast together, and ask God for a miracle to deliver these children. Of course it is in the best interest of these children to be united with their families, and also, for the parents who long to meet and hold the children they have prayed for for years. Specifically, for a few of my friends adopting from Ethiopia, there is a possibility THIS WEEK they might squeeze through a loophole. Would you join me in prayer and fasting for these families?

Here is our plan:

FAST from 8pm Wednesday(PST) to 8 pm Thursday(PST), which would be 6am Thursday (Addis Abba) to 6am Friday (Addis Abba)
PRAYER at 5am Thursday(PST) or 8 am Thursday(EST) or 3pm Thursday (AddisAbba)

Please join us however God may be calling you.

Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. Matthew 18:19-20

8 weeks waiting, but who's counting?

Well, we have been waiting 8 weeks today. Sometimes, I can't believe it has been almost two months, other times it seems to be dragging along. I am so glad summer is here. Although I hate being busy all the time, and we are every summer, this year it will be a gift to help make the time pass a little quicker.

So here we are trying to keep busy and stop waiting!! The company my husband works for has a huge private park on a nearby lake, so we went out for the morning to enjoy some sun. For those of you who don't live in the PNW, they have been calling June "Junuary" as it is the coldest June since the late 1800's, so we were ready for a little sun. It is only in the upper 60's, but is feels like the 80's after the cold spell we have had! (You will have to put up with a lot of pictures in the upcoming posts, because we finally have a camera again. It stopped working and was almost as expensive to fix as to buy a new one!)

Riding our trikes.

Say cheese!

Bean loves to swing. She would have stayed on them all day if I had let her. I get a little tired of them, because I still have to push her. (Note to self: focus on teaching the child how to pump her legs to swing!)

The creek that feeds into the lake is their favorite place at the park. What kid can resist throwing rocks and splashing?

A little picnic lunch on the banks of the creek.

Bug loves his juice. No, I mean he really loves it. I am one of those mean moms that never gives my kids juice and if I do I water it down, so when they saw the juice boxes I think they died and went to heaven.

Best guess, John Piper and 50th post

I am guessing after all the referrals that went out in the past two weeks that we are at least

and possibly even...

Also, I know this sermon has been posted a few times before, but it is soooo awesome I wanted to post it too in case someone misssed it. Here is the link to John Piper's Predestined for Adoption to the Praise of His Glory: Reflections on Being Adopted by God and Adopting Children. I am providing the link so you can choose to watch it, listen to it or read it. (I am a visual learner so I do much better reading!) If you haven't had a chance, take a peek or a listen.

I just noticed this is my 50th post. Wow, I usually don't have that much to say-lol.

After 6 weeks and 2 days we are ...

and may even be ...

Apparently their is another girl referral out there that has not been accepted, but Christy said we would be 18 if it is. Five-six spots is not bad for being on the list 6 weeks. Praise God for all those kids being united with families and thank you God for bringing us a little closer to our girl!

How Awesome Are Your Deeds
To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.

66:1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

2 sing the glory of his name;give to him glorious praise!

3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you;they sing praises to your name.” Selah

5 Come and see what God has done:he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

6 He turned the sea into dry land;they passed through the river on foot.There did we rejoice in him,

7 who rules by his might forever,whose eyes keep watch on the nations—let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

8 Bless our God, O peoples;let the sound of his praise be heard,

9 who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.

10 For you, O God, have tested us;you have tried us as silver is tried.

11 You brought us into the net;you laid a crushing burden on our backs;

12 you let men ride over our heads;we went through fire and through water;yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;I will perform my vows to you,

14 that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

17 I cried to him with my mouth,and high praise was on my tongue.

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,the Lord would not have listened.

19 But truly God has listened;he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God,because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Word of God Speak

At church this past Sunday, we sang Word of God Speak by Mercy Me. I have listened to this song a 100 times, but this was the first time I really “heard” the lyrics and they truly moved me.

I personally don't believe you have to get on your knees to talk to God. Now don't get me wrong, I do have a dedicated prayer time each day that is maybe more "formal," but I also have conversations with God throughout my day, when I am doing laundry, when I need patience with the kids, driving down the road, etc. Word of God Speak reminded me that a lot of my prayer time is me talking and God listening. It is a one sided conversation. But I realize that prayer also involves a quiet listening to God .

There is a chapter on Prayer in Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton. (On a side note, this is a fabulous book that my small group is reading a second time. It focuses on spiritual transformation through the integration of solitude, scripture, prayer, honoring the body, self-examination, discernment, and the Sabbath.) Barton says that if we just stop the flow of our own words, we find ourselves resting in prayer. A place where we are empty and can freely receive whatever it is that God wants to give. “We come to him with empty hands and empty heart, having no agenda.” She goes on to say that "half the time we don’t even know what we need; we just come with a sense of our own spiritual poverty. Emptiness is the prerequisite for receiving."

To illustrate her point, Barton tells the following story:

A learned professor went to visit an old monk who was famous for his wisdom. The monk graciously welcomed him into his temple and offered him a seat on a cushion. No sooner had the professor sat down than he launched into a long, wordy account of his own accomplishment, his own knowledge, his own theories and opinions. The monk listened quietly for a while and then asked politely, “Would you like some tea?”

The professor nodded, smiled and kept right on talking. The monk handed him a teacup and began pouring tea from a large pot. The tea rose to the brim of the cup, but the monk kept right on pouring while the professor kept right on talking. Finally the professor noticed what was going on, leaped to his feet and demanded, “What are you doing? Can’t you see that the cup is overflowing?”

To which the monk replied, “This cup is like your mind. It can’t take in anything new because it is already full.”

We live in a world filled with noise. Everywhere we go there is noise, competing with our minds and not allowing our thoughts to go below the surface level. We have to make a conscious choice and substantial effort to empty our minds, so that we may hear God speak. We need to stop trying to put everything in words. Barton says in Sacred Rhythms, when we rest from the clinging, grasping and trying to figure everything out, the soul will return to its most natural state in God.

In my prayer times, I am going to make a renewed attempt to be still and quiet, to silence the thoughts in my head and the noises in my life and just rest in God, because..."The last thing I need is to be heard, but to hear what You would say. Word of God speak.”

Word Of God Speak

by Mercy Me

I'm finding myself at a loss for words

And the funny thing is it's okay

The last thing I need is to be heard

But to hear what You would say

Word of God speak

Would You pour down like rain

Washing my eyes to see Your majesty

To be still and know

That You're in this place

Please let me stay and rest In Your holiness

Word of God speak

I'm finding myself in the midst of You

Beyond the music, beyond the noise

All that I need is to be with You

And in the quiet hear Your voice

I'm finding myself at a loss for words

And the funny thing is it's okay