Tomorrow
Tomorrow.....
Our sweet friend, Amanda, will get home from a 2 week trip to Ethiopia tomorrow. In the stillness of our house this morning, I find myself thinking about her.
Was her trip safe and free from bumps? She bought LD a new van, was having a board meeting, spending time in Adama with sponsors, delivering countless sponsor gifts in Shone, making home visits with sponsor kids and their families, and taking food aid to the South...where there are people starving to death from the drought. All of this she did with her 8 year old daughter, Cecelia, her 6 year old son, Remi, and her mom Janice. While she has been gone, I have closed my eyes and imagined the roads she is traveling, crowded with people and goats and donkeys. Scattered carts, and passing through villages with markets that are crowded, but maybe with no food for people to barter. I imagine the swarms of children with huge smiles surrounding her, touching her shirt and arms, hoping for some relief from the ache in their stomachs. I can almost smell the red clay in Southern Ethiopia, that runs thick in the streams (which may have dried up since I was there), and is embedded in the clothes of all who live there. I also imagine the tears that she might have had to held back when she has come face to face with the reality of harsh poverty. As I have imagined her, I have cried some of those tears for her.
Selfishly, I have also spent many hours thinking about and praying about the news that she carries with her that could impact our family. She may arrive tomorrow with news that we will be able to move forward in trying to adopt our precious sponsor girls, Salome (peace) and Bertukan (blessing). She may tell us that only one of the girls could be adopted. She may also tell us that neither girl is going to be able to be adopted. The journey to adoption is so full of possible road blocks and heart aches. Each step has so many alternative endings in the imagining of the mind. I fully trust that in God's will there are no "alternatives." Each step will happen according to His will. That knowledge is what has kept me sane awaiting her return. Either she will come home with an open door or a closed door. In either case, I trust that God will work for the good of those who love Him. We love our girls, and we want what God would have for them and for our lives. If we are unable to adopt them, then we trust that this small delay was only purposed so that we would be ready in perfect time for the child He has for our family.
Tomorrow is not really a critical day in God's plan. He already knows what tomorrow will hold for us...and the next day, and the next day. We see it as a huge moment, because we will know the next step, but really our knowledge of the next step isn't critical. Only our knowledge of God, our rest in Him, our trust in Him, our belief that He is in control is critical. The rest are just details. But that said, details can bring joy, heartache, tears, adjustment.
Lord, please bring us through today with your Grace and Sovereignty. Help prepare our hearts for tomorrow. Help us greet Your will with open arms. Thank you for reunion with friends. Thank you for the comfort that comes from a journey returning home. Thank you for friends that will travel around the world with us in their hearts and seek Your will for our lives, while they serve you with theirs. Amen.
Our sweet friend, Amanda, will get home from a 2 week trip to Ethiopia tomorrow. In the stillness of our house this morning, I find myself thinking about her.
Was her trip safe and free from bumps? She bought LD a new van, was having a board meeting, spending time in Adama with sponsors, delivering countless sponsor gifts in Shone, making home visits with sponsor kids and their families, and taking food aid to the South...where there are people starving to death from the drought. All of this she did with her 8 year old daughter, Cecelia, her 6 year old son, Remi, and her mom Janice. While she has been gone, I have closed my eyes and imagined the roads she is traveling, crowded with people and goats and donkeys. Scattered carts, and passing through villages with markets that are crowded, but maybe with no food for people to barter. I imagine the swarms of children with huge smiles surrounding her, touching her shirt and arms, hoping for some relief from the ache in their stomachs. I can almost smell the red clay in Southern Ethiopia, that runs thick in the streams (which may have dried up since I was there), and is embedded in the clothes of all who live there. I also imagine the tears that she might have had to held back when she has come face to face with the reality of harsh poverty. As I have imagined her, I have cried some of those tears for her.
Selfishly, I have also spent many hours thinking about and praying about the news that she carries with her that could impact our family. She may arrive tomorrow with news that we will be able to move forward in trying to adopt our precious sponsor girls, Salome (peace) and Bertukan (blessing). She may tell us that only one of the girls could be adopted. She may also tell us that neither girl is going to be able to be adopted. The journey to adoption is so full of possible road blocks and heart aches. Each step has so many alternative endings in the imagining of the mind. I fully trust that in God's will there are no "alternatives." Each step will happen according to His will. That knowledge is what has kept me sane awaiting her return. Either she will come home with an open door or a closed door. In either case, I trust that God will work for the good of those who love Him. We love our girls, and we want what God would have for them and for our lives. If we are unable to adopt them, then we trust that this small delay was only purposed so that we would be ready in perfect time for the child He has for our family.
Tomorrow is not really a critical day in God's plan. He already knows what tomorrow will hold for us...and the next day, and the next day. We see it as a huge moment, because we will know the next step, but really our knowledge of the next step isn't critical. Only our knowledge of God, our rest in Him, our trust in Him, our belief that He is in control is critical. The rest are just details. But that said, details can bring joy, heartache, tears, adjustment.
Lord, please bring us through today with your Grace and Sovereignty. Help prepare our hearts for tomorrow. Help us greet Your will with open arms. Thank you for reunion with friends. Thank you for the comfort that comes from a journey returning home. Thank you for friends that will travel around the world with us in their hearts and seek Your will for our lives, while they serve you with theirs. Amen.
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