orange juice

We are waiting for a call.

Or an email. Or both.

Which is the first of many calls and emails we will be waiting for. Yesterday we met with our case worker, Heather-- for one of the last times --and hopefully our home study will be declared complete. Next week Michael and I hope to put in our application to have Lifesong for Orphans partner with us in our efforts to bring a little guy into our family, but we will keep you up to date as information is given. Anyone who has gone through this process with an “amazing” (for lack of a better word) case worker will agree with us when we say that it is hard to allow this person to drift to the rear lines of battle when they have lead you and coached you so far through this. But even though we feel a bit abandoned it’s where the rubber meets the road.

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place―
the Most High, who is my refuge―
no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

"Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

This week our family has found ourselves surrounded by our christian brothers and sisters and so much encouragement from them. The Lord has been faithful to us as we prayerfully seek godly wisdom. He has opened our eyes to answers and knowledge that we have waited so long for. Even as I write this my heart feels like it is overflowing.

To all of those who prayed for mom and our friends from church, thank you for interceding on their behalf and on behalf of their efforts! They returned home last week with amazing stories of how God turned their circumstances into blessings. They were able to help so many children (and adults) who were in need. If you look up in the dictionary, of what it means to be in need, you will find this adjective described as:

“in a condition of need or want; poverty-stricken;

impoverished; extremely poor; destitute.”

For all of you who have been to a country such as Ethiopia, you will recall that this definition rings true, but lacks the emotion and all five of the human senses, as detailed images of the landscape, children, worn workers, feeble beggars, lame elderly, dirty animals, garbage, flies, mud... dance through your memory. And you left behind those who thirst but have no clean water; hunger but cannot find enough food; wounds that are open and infected but are without ointment and bandages; tiny fingers, ears, toes and eyes that only need a little nutrition but are supplied with nothing.

Michael reminded me a couple days ago that God doesn’t need us. He doesn’t need our money, our food or any of our donations or time. He could address all of these needs instantaneously. So when we anxiously ask a sovereign God why He hasn’t, we get an answer. And the answer is found in your obedience to Him.