http://carpologist.blogspot.com/2011/03/gateway-worship-stay-amazed-from-god-be.html

If you have a minute, click on this link and worship our amazing God with me!

~Jenny

AND THE NEWS OF THE DAY ISSSS..........

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!  Seriously, guys, if you think that God doesn't work in the lives of men and women today, re-read all of my posts.  He has totally blown me away AGAIN.  As you might recall, my last post was about how I had to surrender my frustrations and sadness over not having any idea when we would be assigned a court date to make our adoption of Abigail Biruk legal in the country of Ethiopia.  In this adoption journey every time He asks me to surrender to Him and I do, He moves on our behalf.  It hasn't always worked like this in my life, but it has certainly been the case over the past year and two months.  

So here's the low-down:  We need to be in Ethiopia to stand before the court on June 1st.  That means that several things need prayer!  
1)  That the Lord would provide the money we need for the trip
2)  That the Lord would work out all of the details for the kids and our dog while we're away 
3)  That He would bring us peace and safety as we travel
4)  That He would bring our children peace as we travel
5)  That He would allow us the honor of meeting Biruk's family while we're there and give us exactly the right words to speak into them when we do
6)  That her family would be given peace the moment they meet us; that the Lord would also confirm to them that He brought us to their cherished loved one 
7)  That He would prepare her sweet little heart to leave everything she's ever known to come live in America and that the transition would not be traumatic for her


...and anything else that the Spirit lays on your heart to pray!  We so love each of you and are so thankful for your encouragement and for interceding on our behalf.  We'll keep you posted!  AND WE PRAISE THE LORD JESUS!  Woo-hoo!!!

Learning Lessons in the Midst of Waiting

If there's one thing I know for sure about myself, it's that I'm not good at waiting.  I know that since becoming a daughter of the King, however, my heavenly Daddy wants me to learn while in the midst of waiting and even (GULP) to learn to be patient and trust Him.  I'm now convinced that this waiting is for my own good.  (Do you have any, ANY idea how hard that was for me to type???!)  I haven't updated this blog for a long time because I felt that I had nothing new to report, and quite honestly I've been in a funk the past three weeks.  Who wants to read a blog written by a woman who's hope was waning and was quickly losing her joy?  Not me, and I can honestly tell you that I didn't like being that woman.  I started talking with the Lord about it, and guess what He told me?  Not even kidding.  "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God's people who are in need.  Practice hospitality."  And again, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  My joy was dependent on my circumstances, and at the first sign of difficulty I could feel it slipping away.  I can be demonstratively JOYFUL in the midst of these circumstances.  Why?  Because I can trust that my God will bring Abbi home and the story of how He does it will be something that we will tell to our children and they will tell it to theirs.  I can smile knowing that His faithfulness is great, and that He cares even more about the plight of the orphan than we do.  I can laugh out loud when I think of how He is changing this chronically impatient woman into one who bears the fruit of patience.  Do I want Abbi home with us?  You bet I do.  Do I have to be honest with the Lord and sometimes cry in His presence as the prospect of waiting even longer for her looms over us?  Yep.  Can I ask Him to replace my spirit of despair with a garment of praise?  According to Isaiah 61:3 I can.  And I will.  I'll wait patiently on my Lord, and learn to praise Him in the wait.     

Remember, remember, remember

I dearly love being reminded of Biblical truths by fellow brothers and sisters walking this journey with me, living out our God-stories together.  I'm feeling down today.  I'm wondering many things about the timing in our adoption.  I'm missing Abbi.  I was just reading a blog and she reminded me about the faithfulness of God.  She reminded me to remember the faithfulness of God in our life.  Thank you, Lord, for using a sister I've not even met to encourage me today with this passage.

Joshua 4
"When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 'Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.'
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, 'Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.'
So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.......... On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."

It's just what I needed.

New Fundraising Adventure!

I have a dear friend who really wanted to help us raise funds for us so that we can bring Abbi home.  I have such A-M-A-Z-I-N-G friends.  One of the families who we are blessed beyond measure to know has a 12 year old girl who wanted to help us.  She set up her own Etsy account (which is unfortunately closed now) and made the most adorable Christmas tree ornaments out of clothespins.  She called them Acorn Angels and sold a bunch of them to help us.  How cool is that??  Well, we have another friend who is making earrings, bobby pins, and alligator clips to sell for us.  What's so fun about this for me is that she is the lone girl in her home, making all sorts of beautiful girly things!  You can check out her link here. 

Check it out and see what you think!  

Waiting and praying and waiting and praying and....

"I am confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."  Psalm 27:13-14 (emphasis mine)

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.  O (believer), put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption."  
Psalm 130:5-7

"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength...Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.  For the LORD is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for him!"  
Isaiah 30:15a & 18

"I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry...Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust..."

Psalm 40

As we wait and pray, will you pray with us?  God has been so good to us in every way, but I've been ever so grateful that He has filled us with a blessed hope as we wait to bring Abbi home.  We are moving forward with all that we can do on our end (like get vaccines and make other preparations for us, the kids, and even our dog when we're called upon to travel...round number 2 of shots is today!), and in the meantime God brings rest to our souls and pours hope into our hearts that the wait will not last forever and soon we'll be able to hold Abbi and look into those great big brown eyes and tell her how much we love her!  Our paperwork is in the court system and now we're waiting for the government to issue us a court date.  As soon as they do, our agency will call to let us know and we fly over to make our adoption of Abbi legal in the country of Ethiopia!  Thank you so very much for all of your prayers.  I'd also encourage you to look on the Ordinary Hero website as they've put some new items up.  Please don't forget to go to the affiliate names and choose our name if you choose to buy something!  We appreciate your support!