12 Days of Christmas :: Rest

DAY 10 :: I am grateful for rest.

No news for our Embassy date today. We are waiting. Waiting for his word of hope. If we don't find out by 8am PST Thursday morning we have to cancel our airline tickets and reservations in Ethiopia. If we still can travel for the 28th Embassy date, we will find out first thing tomorrow or Thursday morning. I can't fully wrap my heart around not being on a plane Friday morning. I think I'll go into a depression...

Yet one thing I've come entirely aware of throughout this journey is that God does not sleep. He does not slumber. He is always working in our behalf. Thus, I can rest as he is active. Never before has this become so apparent as in our adoption.

Ethiopia is 11 hours ahead of our time. So when I lay my head down every night, our kids are awake in the next morning. As I fall asleep tonight, the U.S. Embassy is going about their business for the day, perhaps attending to our case. A case that means little to them and the world to us. It's not a "case". It's Judah and Addise Diaz, who need to be home with their parents. I can sleep soundly tonight because even as I renew my energy, God is working on the other side of the globe through officials and flawed processes and mistakes. And he can move mountains.

So, tonight I rest knowing that I am out of control. Utterly. Completely. Uncomfortably out of control to bring Judah and Addise home. But as I rest I trust that the God of the Universe is in control.

Here are a couple more pictures we got today. A visual reminder of why we LONG to bring them home...

12 Days of Christmas :: Emmanuel

DAY 8 :: I am grateful that God is WITH us.

Today is the Sunday before Christmas. I hosted our services today and am once again reminded how much I love God's people. I love the local church and all Jesus imagined it could be. I get to experience God WITH us through this local community - and by nature of our church, a global Body - on a regular basis. Our community embodies the truth that because of Christmas God has come near. He is with us. He went to the fullest length to bring us back to him. So, today, I'm grateful that we love, serve, and follow a God who isn't distant or impersonal. He is here.

May this song lift you toward the One who loves us so much that he did not leave us orphans. He came to adopt us into his forever family. That is a Christmas worth celebrating...

12 Days of Christmas :: Provision

Day 6 :: I am grateful that God always provides.

When we started our adoption we knew it would cost $20,000-25,000. We knew that we didn't have that money in any bank accounts. But we felt called to adopt. So we moved forward in faith. And EVERY SINGLE step along the way God has provided. Thousands of dollars. From the most unexpected places! From people we barely know. From friends who've followed our journey over thousands of miles. From family and friends who have deeply sacrificed to bring home our babies.

Then the original amount changed. We decided to adopt 2 kiddos. Thousands more dollars. Then we found out about a 2nd necessary trip. Thousands more dollars.

But with every additional cost, God opened up his pocketbooks and graciously provided the money. Almost to the dollar every single time. It's proof that God loves orphans and longs they are brought home into forever families. We were moved to tears many times as we opened envelopes and received agency financial statements. Sometimes it seemed like our bank accounts didn't humanly calculate.

Even, today I'm challenged to REMEMBER the One who provides. He's got us this far. He'll get us through the next season. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He cares for the flowers in the fields and sparrows in the sky. Certainly he'll care for the Diaz family and all his children.