*I am reposting here for those who haven't headed over to the new blog. poormanponderosa.blogspot.com*
Life has been rocking the boat so hard around here that we are reeling with everything going on. If I look at the facts of we are adopting (again), we are buying a new home and moving soon, we homeschool (at least trying to get the major subjects done), M has been having MAJOR issues lately, E just got hearing aids (the Lord provided funding!!!), taking over the lead in our church's foster/adoption ministry and the simple tasks of laundry, dishes, etc, I start feeling so overwhelmed that I just want to crawl in a hole and sleep until the storm passes. The waves are crashing over our boat and though I know we are not sinking it is hard to have faith when EVERYTHING is so difficult. YET! If I place my focus on God and HIS provision and I set my sights to accomplish one thing at a time, it is doable. If I can be diligent to trust that HE is in control, He will show (and is!) Himself powerful. You can eat a whole pie, one bite at a time. We can get through all these tumultuous times, one thing at a time!
With that in mind- God is continuing to AMAZE us. Today we got Mr. Incredible's passport back, the agent had said that with adding pages it would take 7-10 days. We dropped it off on Tuesday and have it back on Saturday. That's FOUR days! Today we got the last paperwork for our State of Texas grant for special needs adoption. TODAY we got our I-800 Provisional approval in the mail! Just a couple of weeks ago it took 9 days in the mail to get our I-800A approval from immigration. This Provisional approval took TWO days in the mail!!!! (The difference between the two is you first have to apply for immigration for a child you are adopting and then you have to apply for the specific child you are adopting)
We have gone from submitting the contract with our agency October 14, 2010 to having full US immigration approval to bring Lillyanna home January 15, 2011 in 93 days! That is roughly the estimate for just getting paperwork through immigration now.
I know that God has big plans for Lilly's life if He is moving SO BIG just to bring her home. It's kind of scary since HE is entrusting her to US. I don't think that I think THAT much of myself. What does God expect from us?
My best answer is:
Obedience. A willing heart. And diligence in the midst of the storm.
