Delight Yourself In The Lord ...

Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart". If you had asked me ten years ago what that verse meant I would have said that if I loved the LORD, He would give me what I wanted. Ten years ago what I would have thought I wanted was more free time to do what I wanted, more time for David and I to travel, to hang out.  But the LORD thankfully has changed the the desires of my heart to HIS desires.  Now I am counting the days till I have another daughter!
I am so inspired by the Yorks, a young couple in our home church who are traveling to China to adopt at the same time we are. We have become dear friends as we have navigated this journey together and I am blessed to watch them follow the Lord in obedience to His call to adopt at such a young age. They have delighted themselves in the Lord and on Sunday they will meet their daughter Molly, the desire of their heart and His. You can follow their story at michaelandbethyork.blogspot.com
I have often wondered why David and I were called to adopt. We are not those "super" parents. I am not the room mom, I do not make cupcakes for every occasion, I hardly cook and the house is in constant disarray. When I ask the Lord why we were called to this blessing, I have heard Him say "Because like Israel, you are the least of these."  Amen! We are completely dependent on the Lord as we raise children, all of them. We only do what we do in His strength.
"For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but You are strong" 2 Corinthians 12:9

Travel Itinerary

Official appointments have all been set, airline tickets and hotels have all been booked, the little details of life all being finalized and Katherine's suit case(s) have been packed, unpacked and repacked (6 times?), the only uncertainty left is to see if I will be allowed to pack in just my carry-on bag or will I be given an outside compartment of a checked bag. I'm sure I will know Wednesday morning around 9am.

Below is our itinerary for the next few weeks. Please make a special note of Monday the 6th (early afternoon there or wee hours Monday here) -  - Gotcha Day. This could be the most traumatic day in her young life. We invite everyone to please join our family in praying that Katie Kay would love and trust us immediately; the Holy Spirit would be so present as to super-naturally envelope her in His consuming love and incomprehensible peace. Thank You.

In HIS Strong Love - David

Travel Itinerary

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1 - Travel to Beijing 

> Depart GSP for Beijing @10:00 AM - Wednesday(16 hours)

> Arrive in Beijing 8/2/2012 2:20 PM -  ThursdayFRIDAY, AUGUST 3

> Beijing - minister to orphans outside BeijingSATURDAY, AUGUST 4

> Beijing  - sightseeingSUNDAY, AUGUST 5> Beijing - church/worship

MONDAY, AUGUST 6 - Travel to Jiangxi
GOTCHA DAY!

> Flight to Nanchang, Jiangxi - morning

* Meet and hold for 1st time - Katie Kay Dennis -  early afternoon *

TUESDAY, AUGUST 7
> Adoption Appointments & bonding time

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8
> Adoption Appointments & bonding time

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9
> Adoption Appointments & Sightseeing

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10 - Travel to Guangzhou

> Flight to Guangzhou for US visa appointment 

& medical examSATURDAY, AUGUST 11

>  Katie Kay's US Medical Exam - morning    

> US Consulate “Paperwork Party” - afternoon SUNDAY, AUGUST 12

> Sightseeing & ShoppingMONDAY, AUGUST 13

> US Consulate Appointment at 8:30 AM - Consulate Oath-Taking CeremonyTUESDAY, AUGUST 14

> Pick-up Child’s visaWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15

> Free Day in Guangzhou


THURSDAY, AUGUST 16 - Travel Home! 

> Depart Guangzhou 9:15 AM arrive GSP @ 10 PM

> Katie Kay meets the rest of her family & friends

<><   Ebenezer  ~  Jehovah-Jireh  ><>

14 More "Sleeps"

It is so very hard to believe that in 14 more days we will finally be able to hold our little girl. We have loved her from the moment we began this process. She doesn't even know us, or have any idea how we have been working to come and get her, but in 14 more nights she will be put to bed for the first time by a mother. I know that there have been wonderful people taking care of her, but not a mother. I pray that she will feel our love for her and adjust easily, I pray that the LORD wraps her in HIS love and she is protected during this transition. As we wake up each day, she is going to bed, and as we go to sleep, she is beginning her day. But in 14 days we will be together.

Katherine

Those Eyes

"For my eyes are toward You, O GOD, the Lord; In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless." 
- Psalms 141:8

If asked, I could not tell you exactly why I decided to log-on to an orphan advocacy website the Tuesday evening of March 20th especially when I never paid any serious attention to them up to now and probably not visited one in the previous 6 months. There was no reason to since we had been patiently waiting on our agency to match us in the conventional way when they received a child who matched our profile. Why then would tonight be different? I have thought about it a great deal over the last few months. Perhaps it was due to my excitement building as we were drawing closer to our second adoption and I wanted to see the profiles of the children who were available and needing a family to take them in. It may have been because our dear friends where in China at that very time adopting their little boy and we were praying for them daily and hanging on every bit of news they were sharing with family and friends through their journey. In some strange way, when I am reading and researching about China and specifically the orphans in China, it makes me feel closer to Katie-Kay. Strange I know, but somehow it connects me and God has used this to show me how I can specially pray for immediate needs concerning the orphans in China. My conclusion, as you will see unfold in our upcoming post, can be nothing short of a super-natural miracle from God. I believe God used all of the reasons and many others I am positive I'm unaware of this side of heaven. I have hesitated and apologized in the past for over spiritualizing situations and events in my life but the older I become and the more I grow in my faith in the Lord, the more I believe just the opposite. God is sovereign and incomprehensible and by his providence and grace, He directs our steps and gives us the desires of our hearts - this is the answer I was seeking and the reason why He alone is God and worthy of all of our praise, honor and worship. 

Once I was on this website, I filled out the parameters of the child I knew would fit our profile. Things like sex of the child, age range, country, ect…. Then when I hit "enter", this picture (above) of these gorgeous eyes appeared as our number one relevant match. To say my heart skipped a beat would be an understatement. I was totally captivated and my first reaction was to ask Katherine to come look and we quickly agreed it could not hurt to complete and submit the simple online inquiry to find out more of her status. She seemed like a match straight from heaven; this had to be some sort of mistake, she must already have a family pursuing her and her profile was accidentally left up on the website. Surely the agency we were making the inquiry too will realize their oversight when they receive our inquiry and delete it from their site. How could this beautiful child remain on a public orphan's advocacy website more than 2 minutes, it made no sense to me. As we prayed before we went to bed that night, I felt a peace in my heart as we ask God to watch over this child and make her transition into the family HE had chosen for her as smooth and seamless as possible and that her family would teach her about Jesus so that one day she could trust Him as her personal Lord and Savior. 

I went to sleep intrigued but realistic of what the response might come in the morning. Those eyes were never more than a few minutes from my conscience thoughts as we waited to hear the next day as the website promised a next day reply. Would we have a chance to see more than just those big beautiful eyes, would we have an opportunity to review her file, what part of China is she from and the biggest question we held in our hearts, is this Katie-Kay, our daughter? What we could not have possible known that night was the incredible journey God was inviting us on.  How He was going to stretch us, challenge us and deepen our love and faith in Him. We were entering into uncharted adoption territory and God would have to show us the way - His way.  

David

"The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." - Proverbs 16:9