He Gives and Takes Away, Blessed be His name!

Psalm 139:13-16 "For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was not one of them.

I have heard so many people take this beautiful Psalm and use it to glorify the creation. And while it is true, we are wonderfully and fearfully made, the beauty of this passage is in the glory of the Creator, not the creation. When we think of the intimacy and knowledge our creator has with every part of us, His creation, we should drop to our knees and worship the God of the universe who "intricately wove us in the depths of the Universe!" Our hearts have been comforted by this and many other truths pouring from friends and family as reminders that the Creator of Life is sovereign, good, and is in full control of every heartbeat.

Our first scheduled ultrasound this past Thursday came with a devastating blow. No heartbeat. Nobody saw this coming except for the One who wrote the number of the days of our child when as yet there was not one of them. We are heartbroken. Yet we cling to the truth that His ways are higher than ours. He is at work in our lives and we consider it a privilege to walk through this fire. We pray that we emerge on the other side as a more brilliant reflection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are overwhelmed by the love and support of dear Christian friends. Thank you for helping us keep our eyes focused on Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. We covet your prayers as we walk through this dark time. Our prayer is that even through this tragedy, you and I will be more compelled to cling to the Gospel of Christ, and to the promise that He will one day redeem this fallen world and everything will be made right. Until that day, Blessed be His name.

Nobody Saw this Coming!

For those of you who were hoping that I was going to post an update on the 25th of every month while we wait, I hope you are not too disappointed. It is not for lack of excitement that I have not posted. There have been a lot of changes and a lot twists and turns over the past few months. So here's the news.

Shortly after my last update, things in Ethiopia hit a major slow down. To put it in a nutshell there have been some political "issues" taking place with in MOWCYA (Ministry of Women's, Children, and Youth Affairs). Where it was rumored that there would be a possible slowdown in the past, MOWCYA confirmed this as definite truth.

Due to the significant increase in wait times, America World changed one of their policies regarding concurrent family building. Previously, if we had become pregnant during the waiting period, we would have been removed from the Ethiopia program. This policy was in place to protect adopted children from coming into a home where the family was not quite ready to give 100% during those crucial, early days of adoption. Because of this policy, we were beginning to think that we might be waiting years rather than months before our next child. So, needless to say, we were thrilled when they changed this policy to allow for concurrent family growth while we wait for our adoption!

This opened up two options for us. We considered pursuing another domestic adoption and were also excited about the possibility of having another biological child. We decided to "put it in the Lord's hands" humanly speaking (it always has been and always will be there anyway). He answered our prayers immediately and we are excited to announce that we are expected a baby around the 25th of February. Our hearts our filled with joy toward the creator of life. He has known from the beginning of this journey what this would look like for us. Nothing has been a surprise to Him.

*** On a side note, I have many sweet sisters in Christ who I pray for by name on a regular basis who desire so much to blessed with a child. For whatever reason, the Sovereign God has made that dream an abundant reality for me in more ways than one. As I celebrate and rejoice over this new life that has been created in me, I also fall to my knees and pray the same for you. I pray that He would bless each one of you with the gift of children, whether through adoption or birth. And I pray that your joy would be made complete in Him. He has a beautiful plan for you, and whatever it is, it will bring Him ALL the glory! He is good.