Purposeful Waiting - Timeline Update!

I talked with our case manager today, and she gave me an update on our waiting...it's only kinda good news so Brian and I wanted you to know so you can keep on praying!!!

BTW: Time in Ethiopia is whack!!

The News:

• Hard News: They had a RECORD amount of dossiers submitted in May & June. They are still receiving referrals for their June submissions. Hard for those families to wait!!
• Good News: They expect to give referrals for July-August dossier submissions quickly. They didn't have many of those.
  
• Kinda Good News: 5-7 more months before referral [which is 1-2 months longer]...BECAUSE they are doing some paperwork previously done AFTER the referral BEFORE the referral now.
  
• Maybe Good News: Therefore, they are projecting 3-6 months from referral until we travel to pick up the Little Ethiopian Diaz's. Previously, they projected a solid 6 months.
  

We'll see what happens but let's keep praying for an expedited referral!

Our case manager is so great. She took the opportunity on the phone today to remind us of some truth in the waiting...

• God has a purpose in our waiting [if we haven't learned this already than we have a problem]. It's not delayed waiting. He never wastes our waiting. This is NOT lost time. God's finding a way to use our waiting and/or redeem it.
  
• If we would get the referral when we want, then God wouldn't accomplish what he wants for us. That's so true even if we would've gotten pregnant when we wanted to. He's so intentional it makes me nauseous.
• He wants the best for us and the best for our child. So the waiting is about transforming us and our home to be the best scenario for us AND them.
• When we get our little ones, we won't even remember the wait. This one brings me to tears every time!
  

Brian has had a sense for a while that this waiting is important for us and we need more time before they come home. [I hate it when he's right.] So I pray that we will be diligent in our waiting and looking for ways that God is making it purposeful in our lives and the Little Diaz's.

Joy

I received this quote from a friend I've never met named Andrea. We share infertility stories...

Joy is something that confronts my circumstances and occurs in spite of sadness, difficulty, or loss. It is an attitude I adopt in spite of how things go. Joy is a posture, a position; it’s the deep assurance I have, that the God who loves me is in control. Joy doesn’t happen to me one day and avoid me the next. Joy is the result of a choice, a choice I have to make every day. It’s a choice based on the knowledge that I belong to God, who is my Refuge. And nothing, not even death, can take God away from me.

Fil Anderson

Thoughts? Reflections?

The End of an Era

Today is the end of the first decade of the 21st century, and I'm celebrating!
There's so much to be grateful for this decade [a few notable highlights]...

• Marrying the best man in the world for me
• Graduating from college with an incredible education
  
• Working at two of the best churches in America who've allowed me to do what I love most with people I love dearly
• Moving to CA...I was made for this place!!!
• Buying our first home and making it truly ours little by little
• Traveling the world, especially Africa
  
• Walking with some of the best women in the world whom I love with my whole heart
  
• And of course...Beginning our adoption journey!!!!!!!

Obviously, this decade has been filled with challenges, raw pain, and heartache [see previous postings :)], but today I choose to celebrate the goodness of the 21st century's first decade.

Happy New Year!

P.S. Today is my 100th post!!!! Thanks to those of you who've read every single one [probably just my parents and maybe Brian]. And thanks to you who've joined along the way. I'm amazed that this blog has been read over 8000 times in the past 9 months. I hope it's been helpful, humorous, and healing...