Today we were driving through town when Tamara was checking her email and all of the sudden I heard an unusual noise coming from the passenger seat. The noise was a mix of speechlessness and something I wasn't quite sure of, so I inquired, "what wrong?" Tamara in a loud overjoyed expression said, "WE'RE ON THE WAIT LIST!!!!" We had prayed that we would get word we were on the wait list prior to Christmas, but Christmas came and went and we figured it would be sometime this week. As it turns out it seems as if it was a little bit of both. The email indicated that as of 12/22 we were officially placed on the wait list but we didn't not receive this email until today, 12/27.
Probably the most moving part about the news came when we told the kids we were officially now on the wait list, they all yelled with excitement and cheered. What a little confirmation of what the Lord is doing in our family. I treasured up that moment for the rest of the day and would imagine that I will treasure it for some time. We made phone calls to some of our friends prior to tweeting the news for the rest of the following world to get word (as if we have a large following). Excitement!
So, what now? We wait! This is after all the nature of the wait list. We know that the average wait time for families waiting on a referral for one child with similar profiles as we have are waiting about 9 to 9 and a half months for a referral. We trust the Lord in our waiting and we know that we could wait longer or we could wait much less time. We are confident in the Lord's timing and we know His timing is perfect. We are so excited to share this news with so many who have been praying for our family and asking so often of where we are in the process. Thank you for your support and prayers, please continue to ask and pray for us as we continue on in this process of expanding our family.
Blessings,
Stephen
Monday, December 27, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Progressing toward the wait
Last Thursday, Dec 9th, I made a phone call to the FBI, and in God's perfect timing I talked to Michael, who will never know what an encouragement he was to me as I called to ask about the status of my 2nd submission of finger prints for FBI clearance. Michael was able to let me know that my prints had been processed, approved, and gave me a FedEx tracking number which I followed all of Thursday and into Friday when they were scanned "delivered". Inside that FedEx envelope was 17-18 weeks of waiting...approved!
What we have learned from the waiting:
1. God's timing is perfect. We don't have to understand why we wait as we do for different things in life but we must trust that God knows and has a reason for our waiting. We can speculate as to why, some spiritual speculation and some not so spiritual speculation but nevertheless we had a peace about the waiting because we believe that God is in control of our wait.
2. God answers our prayers in so many ways. We prayed for patience and long suffering in our waiting, and God was faithful when so many would ask us if we were frustrated or even assumed we were. God provided grace to be able with truthfulness answer those questions with a reminder that God's timing is perfect and so we wait.
3. God grants encouragement at times in the most interesting ways. I may never talk to Michael again, but my heart was encouraged and my excitement overwhelming as I sat in my truck in a moment of praise and adoration to my great God and King.
What next?
Last Friday, I sent my approval to NY where it meets up with Tamara's approval letter to be authenticated and then from NY it will be sent to Washington D.C. The moment it hits the mail to D.C. we will officially be on the wait list. We are hopeful that we will have an official wait list just prior to Christmas this year. After that, we wait again until the Lord moves and all the while we seek to learn what we are to learn as we wait.
What we have learned from the waiting:
1. God's timing is perfect. We don't have to understand why we wait as we do for different things in life but we must trust that God knows and has a reason for our waiting. We can speculate as to why, some spiritual speculation and some not so spiritual speculation but nevertheless we had a peace about the waiting because we believe that God is in control of our wait.
2. God answers our prayers in so many ways. We prayed for patience and long suffering in our waiting, and God was faithful when so many would ask us if we were frustrated or even assumed we were. God provided grace to be able with truthfulness answer those questions with a reminder that God's timing is perfect and so we wait.
3. God grants encouragement at times in the most interesting ways. I may never talk to Michael again, but my heart was encouraged and my excitement overwhelming as I sat in my truck in a moment of praise and adoration to my great God and King.
What next?
Last Friday, I sent my approval to NY where it meets up with Tamara's approval letter to be authenticated and then from NY it will be sent to Washington D.C. The moment it hits the mail to D.C. we will officially be on the wait list. We are hopeful that we will have an official wait list just prior to Christmas this year. After that, we wait again until the Lord moves and all the while we seek to learn what we are to learn as we wait.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)