Sigh of Relief

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh..." I am feeling a huge sigh of relief this week. The first 2 months of our adoption journey have been a complete roller coaster ride already, but I feel like we are finally hitting a smooth point in the ride where we can just breathe and enjoy the view.


I feel like this picture Beautiful Blue Nile Falls in Ethiopia captures how I'm feeling today

 We had our final home study meeting this Tuesday and I feel a huge weight has been lifted. I was really struggling with fearfulness about this part. So my husband and I had a "Doxology Moment" when it was over & literally sang the doxology!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts.

Praise Father, Son & Holy Ghost!"

We know that the fact that the meeting went well was completely the Lord's doing! And the the rest of this process is in His hands. I am trying to enjoy this ability to breathe & find contentment right here, right now, in the journey itself. I know that our homestudy still has to be "approved" by our agency, and we have to fork over $1500 for it, and we have to send it off with our USCIS I600A form for US approval, and then we'll have to wait like 2 to 3 months for a fingerprinting appointment, etc,etc. Basically I know that this journey is FAR from over.
 So I am trying to focus on this: the Lord is in control of this process, the details, the timing, which child(ren) will be ours, the finances, all of it. And I am His. He adopted me when I became a believer in the gospel of His Son. And it wasn't easy. He had to sacrifice His only Son to take the place that I deserve on that cross. He pursued me and loved me first when I was loving my sin and living in rebellion against Him. "We love because He first loved us," (1 John 4:19) I wouldn't even be on this journey to rescue an orphan if God hadn't rescued me first and given me a new heart to love the things that He loves. To live for His glory, not my own.
I cannot wait to hold my son and have him HOME with us here. But that will come in God's timing. It could be 6 months from now, or 18 months from now. I have no control over it, so I have to have faith that God has worked out the details for my good (Romans 8:28), for I know that "God is working all things together for good for those who love God, for those who were called according to His purpose." I know it will probably be harder to say once we get a referral and I have seen his face, I will want him HOME even more, so I better start now!
Thanks for walking this sanctifying journey with us! Continue to pray for a smooth process and for Ethiopia to remain open for adoption for many,many years to come so that tons of children can be rescued and adopted into Christ-centered families!