Wholeheartedly Waiting

"If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord's people have always been a waiting people." - Charles Spurgeon

So, we are waiting. We sent off our paperwork to immigration almost two weeks ago now. We know they received it, because they cashed our big fat check and sent us a letter saying so. Within the next week, we hope to receive an appointment from them for our biometric fingerprinting. Then we'll be back to more waiting! We sent all our other dossier documents to our agency last week, so they are ready and waiting for our immigration approval....then we will be "DTC" or Dossier to China! Then we'll be back to more waiting! And this is how it goes in the world of adoption. We signed up for this year plus of waiting and expected it, but some days it still seems SOOOO long. We're anxious to see our little one's face for the first time, to give her a name, to bring her home. I've been studying the book of Genesis with BSF International this year, and it's been so good for me to be reminded of all the patriarchs of my faith and how they had to wait (frequently decades) for God's perfect timing and fulfillment of His promises to them. I also remember a sermon by Gary Brooks (our pastor in St. Louis) from a couple years ago on "waiting." He spoke about some biblical examples of waiting, and how it's so clear that God values waiting and He wants His people to be a waiting people. You see it in almost every book of the Bible. Knowing this, I am excited to see what God does during our waiting period! While we actively wait, we've completed 6 adoption grant/matching grant requests; I mailed 4 of them off today! We probably won't hear news from those until late summer/early fall, but I'll keep you posted if we do. Most organizations have periodic deadlines and only make grant decisions a few times annually. 

On a side note, I wanted to share a coupon with you for Just Love Coffee. If you order from them through our link on the sidebar, part of the profits go directly toward offsetting our adoption expenses. This code is good for 10% of your order from now until April 8th! Just enter "KISSTHERIM" in the coupon code box at checkout. We also still have some beautiful handmade wooden cross clocks ($40), soaps ($3), scented wax tarts ($3), a 31 thermal tote ($15) and jewelry for sale ($24 - more jewelry coming in a couple of weeks) - just check out the facebook album HERE and HERE to see what is left! Also, Josh's dad (who made the clocks) is now making custom furniture, and he has offered to donate 10% of any orders to our adoption fund. If you have any interest, let me know - I'll get a brochure to you! 

Quilting has been another exercise in patience for me! This is only my second quilt top, and I'm so thankful to have my Mom teaching me! I have made quite a bit of progress lately. I finished making each of the 20 blocks, and now I'm working on piecing them together and getting all the borders ready!

  

We'll keep you posted on any further developments! If you are also in a state of waiting, be encouraged!!! God is faithful and is always at work. His plans will not be thwarted.