Winter

It's winter. We live in Minnesota and this time of year winter is everywhere. We have lived all over the country and winter here is the real deal. It is cold and there is snow on the ground from sometimes October through (let's be honest) May! Last year we had a foot of snow the first weekend in May! The length is hard but more than the length is the severity of it. Normally January and February have many days below zero. This year our sub zero temps began in December and are hanging on strong! Our high on Monday is forecasted to be -13. Let me put that another way the highest temperature we expect to see Monday is 13 degrees below zero. It will be as low as negative 25 with wind chills 50 (or more) below zero. Most native born or long time Minnesotans have embraced winter and found ways to be outside taking part in leisurely and athletic activities. Ice fishing, snow shoeing, and cross country skiing are the favorites. And in our 6 years here we have certainly adapted as well! We (like other Minnesotans) really see no need for coats once the temperatures reach the mid 20's. And as soon as the 30's roll around in April we are outside like it's the first day of summer! But these sub zero temperatures, the 3 feet of snow, the bare trees, the gray skies, and insane length of winter takes it's toll every year. There hits a point every year where I lose perspective. I start to think that maybe winter is never going to end. I start to forget what green grass and leave look like and what warm fresh air feels like. I complain and grumble. I am impatient and depressed. I miss moments right here and now because I start wishing for some time ahead. Some warm and bright time ahead. For the next season. 

As we continue on in this process of bringing home our next two children I am seeing a bit of a parallel in these two "seasons" of our lives. Minnesota winter and this "winter of waiting" for our babies to be in our arms, for this process to be over. Right now I have no news. When I would update before going on the wait list I felt I had significant steps to report. I had something tangible to cross off a list and share with you are joy in each milestone. Now we are simply waiting. Week after week and month after month we are waiting. We are sure things are happening, process is being made, we are surely getting closer- but we are kept in the dark and don't get to see all that is happening to bring us closer. We simply must wait. That kind of waiting can feel long and I am tempted to lose my perspective just as I do every January in Minnesota. Will this ever end? When? How long must we wait? I am tempted to look only ahead- at what is to come. The day we will get our referral and see their faces, the day we will travel to meet them, the day we will bring them home all loom before us and we long for these times. But maybe in doing that I am missing all that is right here and now. I believe that God gives us each day and that there are a thousand blessing to experience in each day. If I only look forward I miss all that is right here and now. I am also beginning to think that God has a purpose and a plan for each of these seasons- for the waiting and the receiving. For the winter and the spring. 

He says in his word 

"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven."

Ecclesiastes 3:1

I am looking for perspective now. I am determined to wait faithfully. I am seeking what God wants me to know, how he wants me to grow, and what he wants to show me of himself in this season. Not the next, but the one I am in right now. 

This season is hard and slow. But we are trusting in God's purpose and timing. 

"But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God. My times are in your hands."

Psalm 31:15

We will continue to update as we get new wait list numbers each month. And will update as we do fundraising and as we apply for grants and as we process new truths through each season! 

Please continue to pray:

For the details of the adoption process

For our hearts

For our Ethiopian children, their birth parents, and entire situation

For finances

For the government of Ethiopia and international adoption. 

Thank you! 

And just to bring a smile today: here is a post I wrote on Facebook in April of last year

As I bundle my kids in snow pants, watch them build another snow fort, zip up footie pajamas, and look at the big metal ring that is supposed to hold a trampoline in our yard...I think that I just may have forgotten what summer feels like. Green grass, kids on playgrounds, swimming in pools all feel sort of like a dream I had once, maybe something I heard about a long time ago. So I have lived through 33 summers.... my kids- well they have lived through so few in their short lives that I think the memory may all but be lost. The example that I think might prove this:

Recently I put my kids in shorts to go to an open gym time at the gymnastics center. They immediately began exclaiming (and continued through that day and the days to follow)
"Yes! We get to wear SHORTPANTS!" "I love these SHORTPANTS! Don't you!?" "Can we wear these SHORTPANTS all day?" These SHORTPANTS are so awesome!" I wish we could wear SHORTPANTS everyday!"

Seriously..... ?!

I looked at them and said "Guys! They are called SHORTS!" "Don't you remember wearing SHORTS?!"
Nope.... I really don't think they do.

Shortpants.

January 2014

Each month as families ahead of us receive their referrals we will move along on the wait list, getting closer and closer to number 1! We only moved up 3 spots this month and start the new year at number 70! Please continue to pray for families to be referred and for our move down this list. Pray that there are no set backs or delays.