Patience

I was never good about waiting.  I admit it:  patience is not a virtue I even pretend to possess.  And I know better than to pray for patience because God doesn't actually give you patience...He gives you opportunities to practice patience.  And I don't really want anything to do with those particular kinds of opportunities.

Viv agrees:  Waiting is the worst!

When the placing agency told us that Jenny's re-classification for international adoption could take as long as 57 days, that sounded like an eternity - a hollow, echo-y chasm of forever-ness from now.

It's hard to put it into perspective.  We've known about and prayed for Jenny for almost 6 months now.  She feels like she's already our daughter.  We can't wait to meet her, but we feel like we already know her.

Don't they know that Jenny needs a family now?  And even once she's re-qualified for international adoption, it could still be 6-12 months before we can actually bring her home?  (Check out the In God's Timing page on our blog for an update on where we stand in the adoption process).

Our Bibles were out and our heads were bowed.

We prayed with specifics:  "God, put the right piece of paper into the right hands today so that Jenny can be re-qualified and so that we can be approved as her family."

We prayed with certainty:  "God, we know you will do this."

During this time, Mercy Me's song "Even If" started to play frequently on KLove.

We were reminded of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's response to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 3.  "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (v 17 & 18, NIV)  I love their certainty.

We KNOW that God will open the doors for Jenny to be our daughter. But even if he does not, we will still praise and honor him for this journey and know that he is working everything for good because we love him. (Romans 8:28)

On March 21, only a mere 62 days after the country's ban, we heard news that Jenny's region had officially endorsed her for international adoption!  We were ecstatic!  The clouds began to part and our optimism grew.  Now the national ministry just had to agree and the Adoption Center had to approve our application!