Standing on the Promises!

So, it’s time for a little honesty on my part. The waiting and wondering about our adoption process has been hard lately. Once again, we are in the place where we have to honestly say that we just don’t know what our family’s future will hold. You’d think after all the years of infertility, not to mention our failed domestic adoption experience, that I would be better at this waiting game. I don’t know if you ever get very good at feeling this sort of yearning in your heart – or I really don’t want to go through what’s necessary to get good at it!

Still, I’m realizing that I have learned a few things in the past 14 years of marriage, and I have been feeling convicted that now is the time when I’d better put them into practice. For me, my best, most effective, never-lets-me-down method of coping with the waiting is Scripture. In fact, I think that might even be Scriptural, as in “…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

I have been trying lately to stand on God’s promises, and I thought I might share some of the ones that have spoken to me lately. Please, please, please leave a comment here with the Scriptures that God has been using to encourage you right now. If you are here looking for some good encouragement, don’t forget to click on the comments button at the bottom of this post. I know my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are on this adoption journey with me will have some great words for you too!

Jeremiah 29:11-14 – For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord…

Psalm 4:6-8 – Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy….I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Matthew 7:11 – If you, then, though you are human, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 6:8-9 - ….Your Father knows what you need before you even ask him. This, then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’

Romans 8:28-29,31-32 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son….What, then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

II Corinthians 1:3-5 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so the we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. Fur just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

I John 3:1 – How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Psalm 143:5,8,10 – I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done….Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul….Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Isaiah 55:8-11 – ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seek for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you….’

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The Reindeer have Arrived!

Okay, so this post is largely for my mother and my brother, neither of whom believed when I spoke with them on the phone that plain sugar cookies could quickly become reindeer! Also, this is a neat trick for the rest of you, who I'm sure have about 80 school parties, church functions, cookie exchanges, and other happy Christmas activities all requiring you to bring something cute - because we all have tons of baking time right now! :)

So here's how it works:

1. Take plain sugar cookie dough and cut out circles. (I used a sugar cookie mix, rolled, and cut them with a cutter, but only because my grocery store was out of the slice-and-bake sugar cookie dough.)

2. Pinch each circle in the middle to form the shape of a peanut.

3. Add chocolate chips for eyes and a red M&M for a nose. Break sections from regular-sized pretzels to make antlers and add. (Expect to have to sacrifice a lot of pretzels in this process to get good sets of matching antlers, but who ever uses a full bag of pretzels anyways? Come on, they live in your pantry for too many months and then they get thrown out, right? That's what happens at my house!)

4. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. Cool completely. I put mine in the freezer for about 5 minutes to really set the chocolate chip eyes before I packed them in the cookie jar. I hate doing all this work and then ending up with chocolate shmears all over my cookies! :(

5. Enjoy! Ours turned out to be tasty and quick! We mixed up the dough early in the day (takes maybe 10 minutes including doing the dishes!) and then we made about 4 dozen in an hour this afternoon. Will did all the decorations himself - always a favorite at our house! Sure, the antlers aren't exactly straight and a couple of cookies were sacrificed in the process, but, hey, that's part of the holidays, right? Joy in the journey not just the destination is my motto right now!

6. By the way, I'm thinking you could get creative with this idea, too. I haven't tried it, but I bet you could cut out an oval and pinch it twice and have a great snowman. Maybe decorate with a chocolate chip eyes, M&M buttons, a red licorice scarf, and a pretzel broom? We might try it - probably in January when we have a little more baking time! :)

7. Have fun!

Home for the Holidays!

We had sooooo much fun on our vacation! We've posted a few highlight pictures below, but they really don't do our week justice. We had such a great family time, with a few days of just our family of three, and then the second half of the week with Paula's parents coming to be with us. Will was in heaven - from meeting Mickey to a whole store of Legos to parades and fireworks every single day! Oh, and let's not forget those rides - this boy can plunge with the best of 'em! He rode absolutely everything that he was tall enough to ride - most of them more than once!

Sorry we've been neglecting our posting time here, but by the time we dug ourselves out of our laundry mountains, it was time to think about the holidays. We spent Thanksgiving at home - just our family of three. Wonderful, relaxing, football-filled, tree-decorating, non-shopping weekend. It was great! We're usually travelling at the holidays, so it was kind of nice to watch the Thanksgiving Parade in our P.J.'s in our own living room! :) We are also usually big time post-Thanksgiving bargain hunters, but we've started trying to change our tune. This year we finished our Christmas shopping before we left for vacation (Hip! Hip! Hooray!) so we could just focus on some great family time instead of running through the mall mazes this holiday season.

Speaking of great family time, we have a momentous occasion ahead! You see, Will turns FIVE this week, and we are in full-blown party mode. He wanted a Lego-themed party, so I have been studying up on how to make a Lego-shaped birthday cake. If it turns out well, I'll post pictures - if not, well... you can imagine that it is a cute idea instead! :) We even have the special treat of Bill's parents coming from Denver just for the birthday festivities. So, I'm sure Will is going to be in five-year-old heaven! Just think, a birthday celebration and Christmas all in three weeks. It's big stuff at our house!

So, please forgive us if we our posting continues to be sporadic at best. Between the birthday and the heart of our Christmas season, our calendar remains full. We continue to be amazed at how blessed we have felt this fall, despite good news or no news on the adoption front. Thanks be to God for peace that passes all understanding right now, and for continuing to be real and present in our lives.

For those of you not on the adoption roller coaster, the situation in Vietnam has been less than stable lately. The U.S. and Vietnamese governments continue to struggle with how to make the adoption process more safe, more ethical, and more fair for the children of Vietnam. Of course, governments aren't always the most moral, logical, or honest folks. (Think about your last trip to the DMV for a new driver's license and then multiply it by 100 and you'll have a tiny inkling of what some of the paperwork related to an adoption can become and how frustrating the process can be at some points!) Still, we continue - especially in this Christmas season - to be so thankful that

"For Unto us a Child is Born, to us a Son is Given,
And the government will be upon his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace
There will be no end."
- Isaiah 9:6-7

We are holding strong to the hope that God is so much greater than any governments or bureaucrats. He is firmly in control of this situation in Vietnam and his peace will continue to increase. Please pray right now for the children in Vietnam - for their continued health, safety, and blessing. Pray for the families in the adoption process - for those who are waiting to bring their children home and for those like us who are waiting to be blessed with children and are trying to keep hope in our hearts right now.

This verse above is one of the central sections of the Handel's Messiah. Bill is a self-proclaimed Messiah junkie - he loves to take in the music, the Scripture, the praise. If you have a free hour or two this Christmas season, take a few minutes and listen to it. Chances are, you'll be glad you did. Maybe you don't have the time to go and hear a live performance of it, but at least grab a CD and pop it in your car stereo. You'll be amazed how different your day can be when you really understand even the simplest of lines that "for unto US a child is born!"

Merry Christmas Season Everyone!

Disney Highlights!

Meeting the Mouse!

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!
Have a great week, everyone! We'll try to post photos, but I bet we'll be having too much fun! We promise to share the trip with you too!
If you're stuck at home and a little jealous, we recommend the Playhouse Disney site at http://atv.disney.go.com/playhouse/index.html.
They have tons of fun coloring pages to print, games (Will loves the Little Einsteins games), stories, and other activities. Hey, if you can't go to Disneyworld, here's hoping this brings a little Disneyworld to you! :)

Fall Fun!