Since my last post about our adoption, not much has seemed to change. We finally received the Act of Adoption we'd been waiting for, with all the corrections made, but we are still waiting to submit our i600 because our agency has recommended we get a few more documents first. Hopefully this will make the actually processing and approval of our i600 easier and faster, once we submit it. From acceptance of our i600, we enter the investigation phase so that we can then apply for their US visas.
Not much seems to be happening in the way of the DGM suspension either. Looks like September will be the earliest they begin issuing exit letters for adopted kids again; but just this last week, they did issue some of the ones they announced they would last October. So some movement is more encouraging than none. They are taking their time during this suspension to re-evaluate their adoption laws and the enforcement of those laws. I think many are nervous about the possible changes that could come out of this and to whom they will apply the changes to.
All this to say, not much has changed, but there has been a LOT going on in my heart throughout this seemingly bleak time. I say it's bleak, because at this point (after 2 years + of being in process) we don't have any certainty when or if our kids will be allowed to come home. This long period of uncertainty (since last October) has weighed heavily on me and especially lately as I've been feeling pretty hopeless, discouraged, and fearful of what is or isn't to come.
But I praise God in the midst of this! He is so good! When I am at my most discouraged place, He has gone great lengths to clearly speak truth to me, encourage me through sisters in Christ, and to just make me feel so loved by Him that He would keep telling me the same truth over and over again to build up my hope again.
Just when I was at my most discouraged place, I went to a women's retreat that some incredibly generous and loving women from a church in Arkansas put on for my coworkers and I. I didn't know how badly I needed it and how badly I needed to hear from Him what was planned to be spoken that week. (The speaker had prepared it far in advance). The whole theme was being still and waiting upon the Lord in the midst of our storms, our times of uncertainty, and letting Him fight for us. My sweet friends and coworkers prayed over me and spoke words of truth to me that were like water to my soul. Sometimes, when I am in the midst of something so big, it gets really lonely. To see my friends carry some of the burden on my heart, yet who were so confident in the Hope we have that our God is bigger than this mess--helped me see past the mountain and cling to the Hope of what He is going to do to make this all right.
Even today, as I listened to my current bible study lesson (Living Beyond Yourself, by Beth Moore) I was reminded to keep pursuing the task He's given us and to leave the rest up to Him. And that the Lord will guide us through this thing, as scary and unknown as it is. (Isaiah 58) And through a sermon on the Battle of Jericho I was reminded that when we look at the 'walls' keeping us from the promise He has given us, our perspective gets off balance. We need to keep our eyes on Him and keep walking for as long as He tells us to, pressing on, knowing that the victory is His. And even though we don't see the progress in the midst of the pressing on, all at once, when He says so and in His way, the victory will come.
So that's where I'm at. Pressing on, one day at a time, and clinging to my hope! My hope is in the Lord and that He will finish what He started in this adoption. He has lead us every step of this journey and He won't stop now.
I am thankful for this renewed hope because even today, my four year old broke down in tears, asking when Jeremiah and Tirzah are coming home! He was just distraught, out of the blue, so I asked him what made him think of them coming home. He said he had a dream that they came home last night and asked "why is it taking such a long time? They have to take so many airplanes to come to our airport, It'll take, like, an hour!" I said "I think it will take longer than an hour, honey" and he said, "yeah it will take, like 255 days for them to come home!" While I hope it doesn't take 255 days for them to come home, I know that if it does, He will carry us through this. I am so grateful that I had just been encouraged so I could encourage his tender heart. My daily prayer through this is that the Lord encourages Jeremiah and Tirzah's hearts for me. That they have a remembrance of us and are clinging to the hope that they have a family who is yearning for them to come home. For us and all of our kids, that even in this tough time, God is doing something beautiful in our hearts and teaching us patience that clings to a Hope in God alone. And that through this whole adoption, He will be glorified in us and in the outcome of this journey.
Not much seems to be happening in the way of the DGM suspension either. Looks like September will be the earliest they begin issuing exit letters for adopted kids again; but just this last week, they did issue some of the ones they announced they would last October. So some movement is more encouraging than none. They are taking their time during this suspension to re-evaluate their adoption laws and the enforcement of those laws. I think many are nervous about the possible changes that could come out of this and to whom they will apply the changes to.
All this to say, not much has changed, but there has been a LOT going on in my heart throughout this seemingly bleak time. I say it's bleak, because at this point (after 2 years + of being in process) we don't have any certainty when or if our kids will be allowed to come home. This long period of uncertainty (since last October) has weighed heavily on me and especially lately as I've been feeling pretty hopeless, discouraged, and fearful of what is or isn't to come.
But I praise God in the midst of this! He is so good! When I am at my most discouraged place, He has gone great lengths to clearly speak truth to me, encourage me through sisters in Christ, and to just make me feel so loved by Him that He would keep telling me the same truth over and over again to build up my hope again.
Just when I was at my most discouraged place, I went to a women's retreat that some incredibly generous and loving women from a church in Arkansas put on for my coworkers and I. I didn't know how badly I needed it and how badly I needed to hear from Him what was planned to be spoken that week. (The speaker had prepared it far in advance). The whole theme was being still and waiting upon the Lord in the midst of our storms, our times of uncertainty, and letting Him fight for us. My sweet friends and coworkers prayed over me and spoke words of truth to me that were like water to my soul. Sometimes, when I am in the midst of something so big, it gets really lonely. To see my friends carry some of the burden on my heart, yet who were so confident in the Hope we have that our God is bigger than this mess--helped me see past the mountain and cling to the Hope of what He is going to do to make this all right.
Even today, as I listened to my current bible study lesson (Living Beyond Yourself, by Beth Moore) I was reminded to keep pursuing the task He's given us and to leave the rest up to Him. And that the Lord will guide us through this thing, as scary and unknown as it is. (Isaiah 58) And through a sermon on the Battle of Jericho I was reminded that when we look at the 'walls' keeping us from the promise He has given us, our perspective gets off balance. We need to keep our eyes on Him and keep walking for as long as He tells us to, pressing on, knowing that the victory is His. And even though we don't see the progress in the midst of the pressing on, all at once, when He says so and in His way, the victory will come.
So that's where I'm at. Pressing on, one day at a time, and clinging to my hope! My hope is in the Lord and that He will finish what He started in this adoption. He has lead us every step of this journey and He won't stop now.
I am thankful for this renewed hope because even today, my four year old broke down in tears, asking when Jeremiah and Tirzah are coming home! He was just distraught, out of the blue, so I asked him what made him think of them coming home. He said he had a dream that they came home last night and asked "why is it taking such a long time? They have to take so many airplanes to come to our airport, It'll take, like, an hour!" I said "I think it will take longer than an hour, honey" and he said, "yeah it will take, like 255 days for them to come home!" While I hope it doesn't take 255 days for them to come home, I know that if it does, He will carry us through this. I am so grateful that I had just been encouraged so I could encourage his tender heart. My daily prayer through this is that the Lord encourages Jeremiah and Tirzah's hearts for me. That they have a remembrance of us and are clinging to the hope that they have a family who is yearning for them to come home. For us and all of our kids, that even in this tough time, God is doing something beautiful in our hearts and teaching us patience that clings to a Hope in God alone. And that through this whole adoption, He will be glorified in us and in the outcome of this journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave us a comment, we love to hear from you!