New pets

The kids started school last week. My camera somehow replaced their first day of school pictures with these weird graphics...I have no idea how that happened or what to do about it.

The only pictures that survived are these below...we have new pets. To explain the madness of more pest...we have the awesome school experience where the kids go to a part time school...they go 2 full days a week and I home school the remaining days. As part of our homeschooling this semester we are doing science and art projects. So these pets are more like "projects"...and the learning aspect gives me better motivation to clean fish tanks and hamster cages.

In the pet store Hannah insisted on getting something pink...thus the fish. But getting home she realized the hamster is way cooler and lots more fun...so she is rethinking the pink strategy. A few days ago I caught her walking toward the fish tank with the fish net in her hands. After approaching her she said, "Mom I'm just going to play with my fish" Well, duh! Great idea...fish love to be played with.

Peer pressure?

We are blessed with many friends who share our hearts for adoption...yeah!!!! And apparently the men have decided they share a heart for tattoos...yikes! This weekend 3 Daddies permanently displayed their love for their adopted children, the countries in which they were born, and the Savior who has adopted us all (Ephesians 1:5).

October 17th

We have a new court date....October 17th. We are hopeful that we can then bring the twins home a few weeks following that date. As we enter yet another season of waiting...we are still learning what it means to fully trust in the Lord's perfect plan...

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

A note on the previous post...I included a portion of Ephesians 3...I was "randomly" reading that paragraph a few minutes before our case worker called. I knew I was waiting to find out when we would be allowed to bring the babies home and I was stealing a few minutes of time to myself....I read "to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" and I just stopped and thought "Oh NO!"....I thought "Lord I know my vision and desires are so limited...I just want these babies home....help me to trust in what You have planned" Then the phone rang....and tonight I still am "trying" to learn through the tears what it means to trust in what He has planned.

Sad news...

We did not pass court today like we had hoped for. The rainy season court closure has begun....so our next expected appearance in court is sometime in October. We are so sad and asking for God's power and peace to guide us these next few months of more waiting....

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Pray and Shop

***Updated....Go read this post if you too are waiting...

http://injerahotdog.blogspot.com/

Pray....

Tomorrow, August 6th, the courts close for the rainy season. Our case is still open in court....please pray for us tonight (Ethiopia is 7 hours ahead of us)...that while we are sleeping (trying to sleep) our case is approved by the judge in Ethiopia!

Shop....

Some of our dearest friends have designed the coolest logo. Please go check out their cafe press site and buy something! You will be supporting something great and wearing something very cool! Please pass the word around....

http://www.cafepress.com/cscc2400

Lessons from Moses

The kids and I have used the summer to look at the life of Moses. We started studying Moses in order to look as God's heart for adoption and His sovereignty in people's lives. We have really enjoyed looking at how God used the little boy in the basket in mighty ways. I was preparing for teaching them and the Lord sweetly taught me a few things. Moses had many lessons in trusting and patience and waiting on the Lord....all lessons I need!!!! Exodus 14 discusses the dramatic event of the Israelites being trapped between the Red Sea and the approaching Egyptians...at no surprise to the Lord but at great distress to the Israelites who were freakin' out. Moses gave the best reply...and his words have stuck in my heart and have carried me through our continued wait....

Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today....The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

So with the adoption we continue to wait....hoping to hear final word next week and still hoping to travel in August??? We will keep you posted....

**

Just waiting for THE phone call

To update those wondering....things are really looking good for the Gladney families who have been waiting like we have. We know our case is still open in court and is just waiting for final approval. We are just waiting for the final phone call from our awesome case worker....she will let us know when the adoption is final and when we can travel. We are hoping to travel sometime in August....yippee!!!!!

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27: 13-14

For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. Isaiah 64:3-4

Moving

Good news...things are beginning to move and the delays seem to clearing up. We are so excited to think of getting to the babies soon!!!



"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." Lamentations 3:22-24

While we wait

Accepting Circumstances

Beau here. I read a great quote this week, and I wanted to share it today as an encouragement to all those waiting. You see, I came into a relationship with Christ in early 2000, and one of the first books I read in 2000 was Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. It really opened my eyes up to what Christianity was - not just a decision, but also my life's calling. While I will enter the kingdom of Heaven only because of Christ crucified and resurrected (see Ephesians 2:8-9), Christ wants me to live in all ways to know and glorify Him (see Ephesians 2:10).

Anyway, Bridges recently wrote a book called Respectable Sins that my community group is reading. It is a review of sin in our life that most people find acceptable, stuff like anxiety, pride, impatience, unthankfulness, selfishness, envy, and worldliness. As a follower of Christ, I don't want to be pleasing to man; rather, I want to be pleasing to Christ (see Galatians 1:10). therefore, I want to work through sin areas in my life that most people are not going to call me out on. So last week I was reading on DISCONTENTMENT, which is obviously a trap easy to fall into when life doesn't go your way. So here is a quote from Bridges that I need to constantly remind myself of:

Acceptance means that you accept your circumstances from God, trusting that He unerringly knows what is best for you and that in His love, He purposes only that which is best for you. Having then reached a state of acceptance, you can ask God to let you use your difficult circumstances to glorify Him. In this way you have moved from the attitude of a victim to an attitude of stewardship.

Wow.

Father, as I meditate on Psalm 63, I am reminded that I can “rejoice in You” and rest in You as You are sovereign and You are good. Lord, help me to view You as necessary in the same way I naturally view water and food as necessary. May I wake up with a thirst for You in the same way that I want a glass of water in the morning. May my thirst be for my accepting Your will, not my lamenting the lack of fulfillment in my own selfish desires. May I have a hunger that can only be satisfied by You, and may I seek to satisfy that craving all the days of my life. Lord, You are my deliverer, and as a baby bird is only safe under the wing of its mother, may I stay in Your shadows. Lord, I lift up my friends who are waiting in their "wilderness experience" today; Lord I don’t know why I say that, as You know this already. You are the author of life. Lord, Your love for us is CRAZY; it is scandalous. You don’t want part of us; You want all of us. Why – because You want what is best for Your children. Just as David didn’t need a tabernacle to worship You in the wilderness, I thank You that we don’t need to be in a physical church to be in and rest in Your presence today. I thank You for giving me a personal relationship with You Lord, and I pray You would help me see today how I know You will use it. Help me see “Your strong right hand” today, and may I rest in the hands of my Daddy. Lord, I praise You. Amen.