This One is a Reminder to Me.

The last year has been an emotional roller coaster and at times, it has seemed almost too much to bear.  I’d really like August to come around so a fresh year can start.

Through it all, I’ve learned some valuable lessons.  The first, and for me, the most important, was I have absolutely no control over life.  Second, I can handle anything because I have a God who is so much bigger than me.  Third, worrying is useless because of lesson #1 and lesson #2. Fourth, sometimes compartmentalization is the only way to survive emotionally.

“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17 NIV1984

^20-22 We’re depending on God;
he’s everything we need.
What’s more, our hearts brim with joy
since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.
Love us, God, with all you’ve got—
that’s what we’re depending on. –Psalm 33:20-22 The Message

Answered Prayer

I was doing a study this morning as part of facilitator training for our church’s women’s ministry called Friend 2 Friend.  We’re going through a book called “Growing in Christ” by the Navpress. I’ll be willing to confess that I wasn’t all that thrilled to be asked to go through it.  I mean, I’ve been a Christian since I was 19 (wow, is it really almost 30 years). This is pretty basic stuff, I thought. I was reminded that even the most basic stuff is what we need sometimes.

We’re still anxiously awaiting news from Haiti. We know that four or five dossiers from our orphanage have received presidential dispensation in the last two weeks.  We still do not know which dossiers. Why? Because as soon as this news was received, Haiti began to erupt in political violence. A prominent police officer was killed prompting riots throughout Port au Prince. In addition, seven kidnappings took place. A group of 50 ex-military men stormed parliament demanding back pay. A prominent governmental official was accused of killing a store owner. The list just goes on and on…..

As I went through this study this morning, I was reminded again of the battle that is taking place in the spiritual realm in Haiti.  There is active opposition to children coming home both spiritually and in the natural world. As much as I have written about this spiritual battle, you would think that I would have been girded and praying and engaging in that battle. Instead, I heard these were signed and have been fretting and pestering the director of the orphanage trying to get any information at all, to no avail.

Lessons from today:

1. Don’t stop asking in Jesus’s name

John 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

2. Ask according to His will – I John 5:14-15

3. Abide in Jesus, trusting in Him, reading and applying His words. – John 15:7

4. God’s answers to my prayers will be great and mighty, beyond what I ask – Jeremiah 33:3 and Ephesians 3:20

5. The wrong reaction to this uncertainty is for me to become anxious; the right reaction is to keep asking God with thanksgiving. – Philippians 4:7

6. When I do, He will give me peace and guard my heart and mind. Philippians 4:7

I’m thanking God today for the reminder.

Prayer Requests for the adoption this week:

• Those with dispensation will be told this week.
• Dispensations will be published in Le Moniteur even this week.
• Files will exit IBESR by Friday next week.

Hope

One of my favorite daily devotionals is Jesus Calling written by Sarah Young. Every day that I remember to open it (I wish it were every day), it seems as if the daily entry had been written directly for me. Today’s (March 26) entry begins with three small words that I have come to know so well over the last year, “Waiting on Me…”

Would that we would all learn how to patiently wait on Him.

In yesterday’s blog, I posted the verses from Isaiah 40:30-31. But there are some other great verses about learning to wait on Him. Like this one from Lamentations 3:24-26, “I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

As I looked for more verses today on waiting, I was blessed when I looked again at Isaiah 40.  Starting at verse 21:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

He (our God) sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and wear, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:21-31 NIV)

What a great picture of who it is I am waiting on!  Our God calls out the stars by name every night and because of His great power and mighty strength each one of them lights the sky!  How can I say that my cause (or in my case my dossier in Haiti) is disregarded by God?

For all my friends who are in the process of adopting from any country, who are growing weary and weak as the process drags on, I say this:

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Our God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth and our ways are not hidden from Him! He will not grow tired or weary and He will renew our strength. Lift up your heads and sing His praise!

Honestly…

I have truly felt at peace the latter half of this week. When it became clear that March 25 was not the day we were bringing them home, I have truly left the boys in God’s hands. However, honestly I quit asking for God to move as well.

Oh, I’ve prayed for protection at the orphanage, the workers at the orphanage, peace for adoptive families and  I’ve prayed for all my kids here and in the states, but what I wasn’t praying for was for God to continue to breakdown the stronghold that is keeping adoptions from Haiti from moving forward.

I have to ask myself why I have not. Do I have faith that He can break that stronghold? Absolutely! I believe Him to be all powerful and capable of all things! Do I believe that He wants orphans cared for in forever families? Yes, absolutely! His word commands that we do so and He cared enough about us to adopt us into His. Do I believe that He specifically cares about our adoption of Lowenski and Daveson? Absolutely! He numbers the hairs on their heads and has written down all the days of their lives before even one came to pass.

I guess it’s really that I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn’t going to happen and for a bit of time kind of gave up hope. It’s silly and shameful now that I’ve spent time pondering it. How easily I have forgotten the same chapter of Daniel which I posted earlier this week.

Please pray for me, that when I begin to grow weary and faint and begin to lose heart, that I will be reminded of this truth:

Isaiah 40:30-31

New International Version (NIV)

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

My hope is in you, Lord!!!

Thank you once again for faithfully praying for our family! Please continue to do so as this stronghold must come down!

It’s a Great Day at OLTCH

Multiple games of foursquare and PIG, coloring, and chatting.  What a great day!

God brought four gentlemen from Arkansas to the door wanting to learn about what is being done here. They left impressed. Thanks to Mandi and Shawn for telling them about OLTCH.

Having a wonderful time!! The kids are happy and it is great to see them.

While we aren’t bringing them home on this trip, Brian and I are so grateful for the time to spend with our boys.  Thank you for praying us through!

And thank you to those of you who have donated towards the battery pack. As of noon today, we were 1/3 of the way there!

 

I Feel Great and a Thank You

For those of you are closely following my blog, you know that I was hospitalized last weekend through last Tuesday.

I just wanted to say, “Thank You” for faithfully praying that my health would be of no concern on this trip. I am feeling great.  I still wouldn’t say I am 100%, but probably 95%.

The meeting at the embassy went well, even though I didn’t have everything they wanted. Praise God, I have been able to gather it all and by tomorrow afternoon, I will have a clear process in place for all other families adopting privately from our orphanage and our I600 will be filed.

The boys are great. it has been wonderful to see them. Their English is so much better!

Keep praying. God is still on the throne and we know he hears.

Remember I Said, “Not My Will, But Only Yours, Lord”

Our lawyer essentially said tonight there was no way we’d be taking our boys home on Sunday.

We do not know anything beyond that, but nevertheless I am here, we’re making some important contacts and I will be eagerly waiting for God’s will.

Please keep praying. This is God’s fight to win, not ours, but we can keep praying.

Daniel 10:1-19 is a great picture of continuing to pray when prayers are not answered in time. Often we do not understand why there are not immediate answers to our prayers. This may be why:

Daniel 10

Daniel’s Vision of a Man

¹ In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war.^[a] The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.

² At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. ³ I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

⁴ On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, ⁵ I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶ His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.

⁷ I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. ⁸ So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. ⁹ Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.

¹⁰ A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. ¹¹ He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.

¹² Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. ¹³ But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

¹⁵ While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. ¹⁶Then one who looked like a man^[b] touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. ¹⁷ How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”

¹⁸ Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. ¹⁹ “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”

When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”

While I’m waiting, I’m going to be reading some books to pass the time.

• A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
• Norman Grubb, Rees Howell Intercessor
• John Eldredge, Epic: The Story God is Telling

Your continued prayers for yesterday’s list is coveted, especially for my youngest son in the US.

So, I’m Here

The hotel is nice and I have a meeting with the lawyer in about an hour.  I’ve been asked by our government friend to push the lawyer into moving more quickly.  So, if you know me at all, you know I’ll be pushing.

We’ve had a bit of a hiccup unfortunately in the embassy processes.  Somehow, I managed to only email one of the birth certificates for translation into English.  In addition, the hotel’s business center is 1998 style.  So printing is a big issue.  I’ll try again tonight, but the computer I was working on didn’t have acrobat reader on it and it wasn’t downloading easy.  Oh for a travel printer right about now…. It looks like filing the I600 might have to wait until next Monday or maybe on Thursday when Brian comes down.  Who knows.  We’ll see what happens at the appointment tomorrow morning ’cause I’m still going.  At least I can get some questions answered.

On the upside, we are working on a better communication method between our lawyer and the adopting families.  I’ll post more on that in the OLTCH Adopting Families private group. So if you’re one of them, be looking for a post soon.

On the Way

I’m writing this from a Newark, NJ hotel room (which I’m blessed is a decent room). Tomorrow morning I’ll meet up with 2 traveling partners and we’ll be wheels up to Port au Prince.

Tomorrow afternoon I will be meeting with our lawyer and with our government friend for a status update on all the cases currently in process and hopefully getting some answers. I’ll be overnighting in Port au Prince as I have an 7:00 am appointment at the embassy on Tuesday morning.  I have no idea if I will be able to file the paperwork, but I’m hopeful.

We are still trusting the Lord for March 25. I should mention that we have no information from either our lawyer or our government friend that this is the date, but we are believing our Lord.

Nevertheless, not my will, but His will. 

There will continue to be attacks this week. I specifically ask for prayers for the following:

• The flight
• The meeting tomorrow afternoon. Pray that we’ll have some solid answers.
• The meeting at the embassy on Tuesday morning. Pray for favor, that our documents are in order, and for a clear process for all adopting families.
• The trip back to the orphanage and my time with the boys.
• Please pray for our boys and our married children at home. That they will be protected from attacks on them.
• My mother-in-law who is taking care of the boys in our place. Pray that all goes smoothly.

Stepping Out

I was impressed last weekend that in order for the adoption to happen in time for us to be on that plane March 25, one of us would be required to be in Haiti to file the visa paperwork with the US Embassy in advance. So I bought my ticket last Saturday. I will arrive in Port au Prince on the afternoon of March 19.

At this point we have done all we can do, and we have made ourselves available in case God moves. All the pieces are in place and now we’ll watch the Grand Chess Master.