Saturday, April 19, 2008

The Waiting is done !! (For now)

James 5:16 "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much".
To all of you who have been praying for us over the past 3 months as we have been waiting for the elusive I-171H, we thank you, it arrived today!!!!
Today was a remarkable day indeed. The day began with our fathers and daughters prayer breakfast at church. Every month the men of the church gather with their daughters or sons (this month was daughters) for breakfast and prayer at the church. We are a small congregation and this is an excellent opportunity for us to model for our children how we are to be intimately involved in the lives of other believers through prayer. I mentioned to the men this morning that our family has been struggling with our thoughts recently in regards to the wait for the I-171H. It has been a struggle, as I have mentioned before, to keep our thoughts centered on Christ and on knowing that all things are according to his timing and his will. Several men and daughters prayed specifically for us and it was such a blessing. I cannot express enough how much our family appreciates everyone who is on this amazing journey of adoption with us. We have become connected to so many people, people who's focus is on Christ and his glory, and who truly have a heart for orphans.
I was reading the blog of the Roberts family http://ajourneytogether-momtocnjn.blogspot.com/
last night. They are travelling next week to pick up their daughter in Ethiopia. There is a great picture posted of their daughter and a friend that they met in the cyberworld. The friend is holding their daughter, whom they have not yet got to hold, in the Gladney Orphanage. What an awesome thing it is that this adoption journey pulls together so many people to display God's love to so many others. It struck me that in that very orphanage and indeed maybe in that very room could be our daughter. The thought overwhelms me, but what overwhelms me more is the thought that our God knows exactly who our daughter is and where she is at this very moment and all of this he planned in eternity past, for his Glory!! To God be the Glory!!

3 comments:

Janet Whipple said...

Praise God!!! Woo-hoo!!!! So exciting....we need to have you over to celebrate :) I'll call you.

Shelly Roberts said...

Hey guys!! .... just checking in on you and I'm so thrilled to hear the wonderful news of this document! What a long and winding journey adoption is, huh?! It is awesome to hear of the support/prayer network you have around you there. It's hard sometimes when we don't understand the "whys" and our hearts can question the "if onlys". What a blessing that we can trust that God is still God no matter what happens.

It is utterly thrilling for us to see other families open their hearts towards orphans. I remember the day we heard that Arsema passed court .... to know that she is no longer considered an orphan in the legal system. Yet all along she's been a child of the King and how we pray that one day she'll understand that for herself. Praise be to God for all He's done for your family .... and all that He WILL do! He will get you through each bend in this road. He will meet you on your up days and your down days. Keep on looking to him friends ..... how glorious it's gonna be when you get that news someday .... when this precious child's picture is revealed to you. Wow!!

Take Care! ~ Shelly

emily said...

Awesome news!!!