girltalk Blog
Our adoption agency called on Friday with the exciting news that we have received a court date! We are scheduled to appear in court in Addis Ababa on November 30. This is earlier than we expected, and it means that it is a little over six weeks until we get to meet our new children face-to-face.
This is the first of two trips we will make to Ethiopia. The second will be 4-12 weeks after we pass court and will be for United States Embassy clearance and to bring our children home for good.
On this first trip we are bringing Jack and Tori to meet their new brother and sister. They are so very excited to go to ‘Opia (as Tori calls it). They pray for and talk about their new brother and sister every day, and I can’t wait to watch them all play together for the very first time. And I’m so grateful to my wonderful sister-in-law Megan who agreed to take time off from her job as an ICU nurse to come with us. She’s a super-fun aunt and I know our new kids are going to love her.
We fly out the day after Thanksgiving and hope to meet our children a day or so after we arrive in country. (What a day that will be! I imagine it over and over in my mind.) Over the next few days we will spend many precious hours getting to play with them and their friends at the Transition Home. The hardest part will be returning home without them. But hopefully not for long.
As always, I can’t thank you enough for your ongoing prayers and support. If you would be so kind as to pray, here are a few requests:
-For safe and smooth travel
-For us to pass court with no delays
-For a joyful meeting with our kids
You can follow along on our adoption blog for more detailed updates in the weeks ahead. Thank you so much for your prayers!
4:53 p.m. Find my pumpkin…
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“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:2-3
To “count it all joy” doesn’t mean we will always feel happy in the midst of trials; but regardless of how we feel, it is a command we can and should obey. Martyn Lloyd Jones explains:
“There is all the difference in the world between rejoicing and feeling happy. The Scripture tells us that we should always rejoice [Phil. 4:4]....To rejoice is a command, yes, but there is all the difference in the world between rejoicing and being happy. You cannot make yourself happy, but you can make yourself rejoice, in the sense that you will always rejoice in the Lord. Happiness is something within ourselves, rejoicing is ‘in the Lord.’ Take the fourth chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. There you will find that the great Apostle puts it all very plainly and clearly in that series of extraordinary contrasts which he makes: ‘We are troubled on every side (I don’t think he felt very happy at the moment) yet not distressed’, ‘we are perplexed (he wasn’t feeling happy at all at that point) but not in despair’, ‘persecuted but not forsaken’, ‘cast down, but not destroyed’—and so on. In other words the Apostle does not suggest a kind of happy person in a carnal sense, but he was still rejoicing.”
6:09 p.m.
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One of the many helpful books I have read and re-read these past few months is Suffering and the Sovereignty of God edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor. This book includes contributions by experts in the field of suffering: men and women who have experienced—and in some cases are still in the midst of—extreme and unrelenting suffering, but who have learned to count it all joy when facing trials of many kinds (James 1:2). A few years ago, when this book was first published, we were allowed to offer a sneak preview of several chapters:
”All the Good that is Ours in Christ”: Seeing God’s Gracious Hand in the Hurts Others Do to Us by Mark Talbot
God’s Grace and Your Sufferings by David Powlison
Hope…the Best of Things by Joni Eareckson Tada
“How does God’s grace meet you in your sufferings?” David Powlison asks in his chapter:
“We can make the right answer sound old hat, but I guarantee this: God will surprise you. He will make you stop. You will struggle. He will bring you up short. You will hurt. He will take his time. You will grow in faith and in love. He will deeply delight you. You will find the process harder than you ever imagined – and better. Goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. No matter how many times you’ve heard it, no matter how long you’ve known it, no matter how well you can say it, God’s answer will come to mean something better than you could ever imagine.”
Let me encourage you to listen to the conference messages that these chapters were based on and to buy and study this book. Let these godly men and women hold your hand through your suffering and point you to our gracious, sovereign God.
7:26 p.m. Huh?
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“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:2-3
Nancy Wilson has some helpful thoughts on trials and testing:
So, how do we react when tough things happen? We should view it the way the Bible tells us to view it. This is a test. God sends His children pop quizzes and tests from time to time to see if we are learning our lessons, if we are paying attention, if we are reading our assignments.
Read her entire post here.
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“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Ps. 103:2
The Psalmist tells us to “forget not” because it is so easy to forget—especially in a trial! When enemies surround us and troubles rain down like arrows thick and fast, it is hard to remember the benefits we have received from the Lord.
That’s why my mom started a “mercies list” She wanted to help our family remember all the Lord’s benefits, and not forget a single one. So she asked for our help to think of all the mercies we had received from God’s hand in the midst of this difficult time and she wrote them down. She continues to add to the list regularly whenever one of us remembers or receives a specific mercy.
Not only is this (long!) list a reminder to all of us of God’s many benefits, it encourages us to keep on the lookout for new mercies every morning (Lam. 3:22-23). This regular recalling of God’s mercies gives us renewed hope for the future, for as the hymn writer put it so well, His streams of mercy are never-ceasing.
The amazing thing is that even when we do forget His benefits, God does not forget to lavish us with grace. “God has not forgotten to be gracious, nor shut up His tender mercies,” Spurgeon reminds us, “it may be night in the soul, but there need be no terror, for the God of love changes not.”
What mercies can you remember today? The rest of Psalm 103 can get you started.
9:35 a.m.
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