Home Sweet Home...!

hanging out at home and with cousin Judah

FINAL PICTURES BEFORE SHE COMES HOME

Final Post...

"Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:6-9

I have often wondered what it was like for Joshua to stand on the bank of the Jordan river, looking at the Promise Land and preparing to be the new leader of the children of Israel. No doubt, as Moses passed away, I imagine a flood of emotions came upon Joshua, as it was his time to rise up and lead. Was he scared, nervous, worried, fearful, discouraged? Yes...and that's what makes Joshua chapter 1 so powerful, as the Lord is giving Joshua final instructions before making the journey. How wonderful it is of the Lord, knowing the condition of Joshua's heart and emotions, to spend the bulk of the chapter just encouraging him and PROMISING him that He will be with Him wherever he goes.

So here I am, standing on the bank of my "Jordan" river...waiting to cross over and be with our precious Ayantu. I to am nervous, afraid, wondering about the "unknown" of becoming parents. However, those thoughts are but for a moment, as I have the Lord standing with me now, just as He was with Joshua that day, speaking the very same words to me....Jason, "be strong and of good courage; do not e afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you WHEREVER you go."

How wonderful it is to know that the Lord is the same YESTERDAY, TODAY and FOREVER...and that His promises are still there for us today. Thank you for being with me Lord and loving on this child of Yours!

"This is my Jam..."

"I have decided, I have resolved to wait upon you Lord. My Rock and Redeemer, Shield and Reward, I'll wait upon You Lord. As surely as the sun will rise You'll come to us. As certain as the dawn appears. You'll come, let Your glory fall as You respond to us. Spirit rain, flood into our thirsty hearts again, You'll come, You'll come. We are not shaken, we are not moved, we wait upon You Lord. our Mighty deliverer my triumph and truth, I'll wait upon You Lord. Chains be broken, lives be healed, eyes be opened, Christ is revealed"

I have been loving the song, "You'll Come" by Hillsong. As Jason and I say, "this is my jam". I have been playing this song over and over again. Every time I get into my car this is the first song that I listen to. I love how the first verse describes a strong resolve to wait upon the Lord. I want that as I wait for this adoption to become final. I need to decide to wait on the Lord in this. I need to set my mind to trusting in Him to take care of all the technical difficulties we have come across.

As suresly as the sun will rise... is an amazing picture of how faithful my God is to come and meet me every day. He is faithful to finish the good work He has begun, through adopting Ayantu and bringing her into our family. He will not leave us hanging in this. He will provide all that is needed to get her home. As we are waiting for all this to come to a close, He meets us and fills us with His glorious Spirit that gives us the strength we need to press on as we wait. Only God can do that. I have no idea how people who do not know the Lord, get through adoptions, marriage, challenges that life brings. He is in control of all and I am not...that is a good thing. As I continue to wait, I do not want to waiver in my faith, just because things are not going the way I want them. I want to be like Abraham. Paul tells us in Romans 4:20-21, "He did not waiver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith giving glory to God and being fully convinced that what He had promised He (God) was able to perform." I want to have a strong faith in my BIG God.

As I wait each day for news, I don't want to listen to the lies of Satan and how he tries to convince me this will never happen. I want to hear only the words of the Lord. God is Mighty and He will be triumphant in this adoption. Adopting Ayantu has been so much more than just gaining a daughter. The Lord has broken chains of fear of not being in control. He has healed my heart of being afraid that we will never have a family. He has revealed Himself to Jason and I, how mighty He is and how much He loves ALL His children. He has opened my eyes to see that there is so much more to life than just the normal American comforts. There is a whole world out there that He wants to uses to reveal to me His majest and awesomeness. He is revealing Himself to me daily through this adoption and I praythat He won't ever stop once we get our little precious girl home. I want Him more than ever before and I don't want it to stop!

Our girl is growing up....!

Hoping...Praying...Waiting...!

Jackie shared this journal entry with me the other day and it totally blessed me...!

HOPING... This one is easy to do. It takes just a second to "hope" about something. Got that one down.

PRAYING... This is a little bit harder. It takes more time to pray than to hope. Hoping can be done in a second and takes no effort. Praying is intentional, you must be focused and actually have a conversation with God. People have time to hope all day. Some don't have any time at all during their busy days to pray about things. It's easier just to hope.

WAITING... The hardest of them all. It could take a day, a week, a year, ten years....only God knows. This one takes practice. You could wait on your own, or, ask for help and do it with God. It takes patience which also needs assistance form the Lord to go the distance. In a society where faster is better, get what you want NOW, it seems foreign to wait even a week for news. To us waiting even a little bit longer can seem unacceptable, however, to God its a good thing. It teaches and molds to be patient and strengthens our faith and trust in Him. We want the outcome of things now, and we want it to be done our way. But, God reveals the outcome in His way and perfect timing.

Of these three things waiting is the hardest, but it is the most fruitful if done with the Lord's help and guidance as we wait on Him. He has called us to wait just a bit longer. To us it seems like eternity, to Him... less than a second. The question we must ask ourselves is: How will we wait? Impatiently on our our time OR in God's perfect time and will?

Blessed For The Future...

There is such a powerful story behind the name Ayantu. Once we found out, we knew we were meant to keep her name. While we were in Ethiopia, we learned that Ayantu was born and abandoned in a field by her mother. A group of women found her and brought her to MOWA (ministry of women’s affairs). They then gave her to a police officer who brought her to the YWAM orphanage. It was the police officer who then named her, Ayantu, which means “blessed for the future”. Just to think, that all these years while we were waiting on the Lord for a child, he was preparing little Ayantu to become ours, “blessed for the future”. The verse that comes to mind is from the apostle Paul, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

I want to encourage any of you who are “waiting” on the Lord for something. Please continue to press into Him as He has you wait, knowing that it is for a far better and greater reason then you could ever have imagined. He wants to do that in your life, He wants to BLESS you for the future...!