Longing

I told you how much I loved holding and loving on the babies and children in the Dominican Republic. It brought me such joy to share the love of Christ with these precious ones.
I even had the pleasure of visiting sweet newborn babies in the hospital and praying for them with their families.
Justin loved the babies too and I loved seeing him hold sweet little ones again. Our boys are 5 and almost 4 and although they still like to snuggle every once in a while, they are too busy to just sit still for long.

It did my heart good to play and be silly with these beautiful girls, but I just couldn't stop thinking about our daughter in Ethiopia. My heart longs to know who God has planned for our family. Will it be one little baby girl, or two sweet sisters, or maybe a precious brother and sister pair?
I couldn't help but think about our child or children last week. I put this picture below on my facebook page and a friend asked us if this was our girl. Oh, how I wish I had a picture of me holding our girl. It hurts my heart to know that we are still many months away from that dream coming true.
Holding these beauties made me even more excited and hopeful about bringing our own little one/s home. Of course, it also made me sad that we have no idea when that will be. I am so ready to add a little one to our family!

I feel like I constantly go between two emotions during this wait. Most of the time I either feel hopeful or discouraged. I can feel those two emotions in the same day and even the same minute.

I am hopeful, because I know God has a plan for our family. Yet, I get discouraged during this long wait and the ups and downs of adoption.

The Ethiopian courts closed last week for the rainy season. They will be closed until October. Families who have already passed court can still travel to bering home their children and kids can still be referred by our agency, but things will slow down. This is not the greatest news, because things are already moving very slowly. Of course, this discourages me some, but I am also very thankful for rainy season because East Africa is in desperate need of rain right now. I am praying the Lord brings rain to the nations who desperately need it to live.

We have also recently learned that several orphanages in Southern Ethiopia have been shut down. We don't really know why or how this will affect future adoptions. We do know that several families from our agency who have already met their sweet ones are being told that their adoptions can't be finalized until further investigations are done. My heart is breaking for the families who have no idea when they will be able to return to bring their children home. Please join me in praying for these families and for the orphans of Ethiopia who are being affected by the orphanage closures.

Every time I feel discouraged the Lord gently reminds me that my hope doesn't lie in what is going on in Ethiopia or in knowing how many more months we will wait. My hope comes in the Lord and in Him alone and His love never fails me. I pray that I will long for the Lord even more than I long to meet my daughter. I pray that He will restore me as I seek to fix my eyes on Jesus.

That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:10