God is Faithful

This sure has been a month filled with many ups and downs!  If you have ever heard anything about international adoption this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.  However, somehow it always does.  Friday our agency sent an e-mail stating that the newest wait time was extended once again to 18-24 months.  Wow, that's the biggest jump in wait times yet!  We weren't quite expecting the large jump.  Our agency very kindly explained that the wait times have increased due to the many "clearances" that have been added to the stack of paperwork that makes a child "referral ready." These clearances that the child has to go through can take weeks, months, and even years.  Sigh.  Not exactly the e-mail we'd like to receive.  Of course I had a good cry, prayed, and thanked God that Josh was would be home from his business trip in a few short hours for a good hug!!  I was so thankful the e-mail hadn't come earlier in the week! 
So after a day breakfast freezer cooking (post coming soon), laundry, cleaning out cars, and all that fun stuff on Saturday, we headed to church's Saturday night service.  One of our elders was preaching and we were taking a short reprieve from our journey through the book of John to look at Genesis 17.  As we read it at the beginning of the service, I thought to myself, "I wonder why we are going over this passage?"  I think I even might have been a little grumpy about it.  Then the sermon began and I felt as if God was using this passage to speak right to me.  It was one of those times I was so grateful for God using people to speak the truth into our lives through his children!
So what was it all about exactly?

 #1: God is faithful even when we are impatient with his timing.  He is God almighty.
 #2: God is faithful to provide.  He provided for ways that Abraham and Sarah could not have even imagined.  Despite their attempts to try and do things their own way. 
#3: God is faithful to use our personal shortcomings for His glory. 
#4: God's faithfulness knows NO END.  
#5: God is faithful to those who doubt or wrestle with disbelief.  Abraham laughed when God told him that Sarah would have a child!  How could this be? God is faithful no matter what.
#6: God's faithfulness requires an immediate obedient response. 
#7: God is faithful to redeem his children.  AMEN!

WOW.  That was all I could do.  As I sat and listened to the band play Rock of Ages and everyone singing around me I thanked God for his faithfulness.  He is faithful.  I'm so thankful that He has a plan and I'm so thankful that His son was a part of that plan.  It is in times like these that I know God has so much more to teach me through this adoption journey.  For now, we continue to pray and know that God is faithful.  We will continue praising Him through it all. 

We'd like to ask you for continued prayer for all of the families waiting for their children.  We thank God for leading us down this path but we are also aware it comes with many ups and downs.  Its filled with days of total excitement and others of wondering when our son will be home. Pray for the officials in Ethiopia, pray for the people working so hard for us AWAA, pray for those precious children.  God is faithful.