JOYFUL REFERRAL NEWS

Not mine, but my BFF Aimee! Aimee got quite a shock earlier this week when she was contacted by her agency and told that they felt the paperwork on the 8-year-old little girl she was planning on adopting was going to take too long, so she was offered and accepted the referral of a tiny little sweetie named Hermela. Her age is somewhere between 3 and 5. It doesn't matter since everyone who has seen her mischevious grin is already head over heels for her! She is going to fit in perfectly with her little sister, Brynly!

So now we just need to get our girls home!

On my adoption front, I have not received any additional news. In fact I haven't been able to get a confirmation for when our rescheduled court date will be. In the last few days that has made me very uneasy. Hopefully tomorrow I can wake up to a surprise and get the next piece of this adoption puzzle. I am trying to be patient, but sometimes the nothingness gets to me, so please pray for me...because tonight I really need it.

Dear Jaci B

One year ago today, darling girl, I began my journey to you.
I never could have imagined how hard the process would be. But I don't want you to ever think for a single minute that it hasn't been worth every frustration and every tear that I have cried to get to you.
A year ago you were this tiny dream that sprouted in my heart. I remember nervously waiting for that first appointment with the social worker as I tried to remind myself that he put his pants on the same way as I did. Or how nervous I was when I didn't get a tracking number to watch my dossier arrive in Ethiopia like most people do...(it arrived safely though!). Or how Aimee and I sat out on the balcony at the beach trying to get a good enough internet signal to see if perhaps a referral had arrived via e-mail. I didn't know then that I would have to wait five more months to see your sweet face.
And each day as I look at you smiling proudly in the shirt I sent to you, my heart leaps and longs for the someday that has eluded us. Our court failure two weeks ago took the wind from my sails for a few days. But the dream of my heart hasn't dimmed and soon...very soon...darling girl this dream will take wings and I will fly to you and we will finally be together. However long it takes...I will wait for you, because I am your amaye.

This one's for the girls! Saturday Song:

This has not been an easy week for many of the women in my circle. Injuries, heartbreak, frustrations, recoveries, work issues, relationship woes...you get the picture. I wish I was making it up, but this week was one of the ones best left in the past. We all know we'll make it, but until then...here's a feel good song for all of you out there...you know who you are, ladies!

This One's For The Girls lyrics

This is for all you girls about 13
High school can be so rough, can be so mean
Hold on to, on to your innocence
Stand your ground when everybody's givin' in
This one's for the girls

This is for all you girls about 25
In little apartments, just tryin' to get by
Livin' on, on dreams and spaghettios
Wonderin' where your life is gonna go

This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holdin' back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world, this one's for the girls
(This one's for all the girls)

This is for all you girls about 42
Tossin' pennies into the fountain of youth
Every laugh, laugh line on your face
Made you who you are today

This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holdin' back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world, this one's for the girls

Yeah, we're all the same inside
(Same inside)
From 1 to 99

This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holdin' back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world, yeah, this one's for the girls

There is a Skunk at our food bowl

You've gotta love having a great friend beside you when life starts hurling lemons at you. My morning began with this e-mail Aimee sent with this quip:

There is a skunk at our food bowl right now.


One of the greatest secrets of life is having patience & wisdom

Promises

I try to be a woman of my word and one of those reasons is because there is nothing that can cut me so deeply as a broken promise or a lie from someone I have placed my trust in. I don't expect people to be perfect, but I do expect them to be honest. Is that unrealistic? Yes in today's world it often is, but I am not going to lower my expectations because I don't have to. Does that mean I will experience hurts and heartaches...absolutely. But I also know that there is One that I can have complete confidence in that He will never break His word and that is the Lord.
Sunday night as I sat in church, my heart ached over last week's court disappointment. There were a couple times during praise and worship when I thought about walking out. I was broken and so many well-meaning fellow Christians just kept saying things like "Give it to God and trust Him." "His timing is always right." "If it is God's will it will happen." I knew all of that, but I found no comfort in these words, because they were coming from other people. Nothing reached to the depths of my dispair and disappointment, but the Lord had something for me. The sermon that night was about standing on the promises of God. Every word the pastor spoke I felt was directed at me. (Come on, you've been there and know what I mean.)
It wasn't comfortable because the Lord was telling me that while He understood me and how shattered I felt inside...it was time to give it to Him. It was time to dry up the tears and enter fully back into my life. And then during prayer time, my pastor's wife asked if they could pray for me, and I nodded yes. As my church family circled around me, laid hands on me and prayed...I felt the release. Then my pastor stopped and told me that he had been praying that the Lord would give him a scripture for me and that for two days, there wasn't anything. That was until he placed his hand on my head...he said at that point the Lord revealed to him this promise for me...
Psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Well anyone who knows me, knows what my desire is. So today the hurt has almost disappeared. And I am standing on the promise from the One that I know will NEVER fail me.