Reading While Waiting

So it has now been over a month since we last posted anything on this blog.  Not much has changed since then as far as timing is concerned.  Our dossier is in Lesotho…

waiting…for the next matching meeting...

waiting…to be on top of the dossier pile at said matching meeting….

waiting…to “match us” with our forever son.

What we know: 

·       Our dossier is in Lesotho. 

·       At this next matching meeting there will be 8 allowed matches with families from the USA.

What we don’t know:

·       When will the next matching meeting be?

·       Where is our dossier in the pile of dossiers from USA families?

So for now, we continue to wait and continue on praying for our unknown son and all the other 360,000 orphans in this oh-so-small country.  We pray for the mother who gave up her son. 

We also Praise God for the wonderful people who have reached out to support us in our adoption process.  Last week, Grace Lutheran Church in Coopersville hosted a Lenten Mid-week meal where all the donations went directly to our adoption fund.  From the bottom of our hearts – THANK YOU!!  Thank you, Aunt Marilyn, for organizing such a blessing.  Thank you to the people of this church who don’t know us at all, but we willing to bless us financially and in prayer.  We pray that God will bless you in return.

I have recently been reading Jen Hatmaker’s book “7” (highly recommend reading this one).  I have been feeling very convicted by something.  The birth-mother of our future son most like had no other choice but to abandon him and therefore give him up for adoption.  She was most likely struggling so much that she couldn’t support either the other children or her husband or both.  Maybe this mother had HIV and chose not to nurse her baby for fear of transmitting it to him and then couldn’t afford the formula to feed him.   For whatever reason, she made an extremely difficult choice.  I will never be able to fully relate to this woman.

In my home, we each have a bed with an adequate amount of blankets.  We have a pantry that is mostly filled with food.  We drive two cars and have 2 cell phones.  Over the last 8 years, we have also taken three very healthy babies home from the hospital and laid them to sleep in their own cribs, never wondering if and when I would be able to feed my child.  We also have wonderful health insurance where I would never question whether or not we could afford to take our child in to be checked out by one of the numerous doctors available within a 10 mile radius.  As I said early, I will never fully know her reasons or what her life what like the day she made her difficult choice. 

So getting back to my conviction….I have too much.  If 100% of what we earn is actually God’s, why am I spending it on things that aren’t needed?  Why am I not using more of this income to further His kingdom?  I also waste too much.  Yeah for recycling, but come on…I could be so much better at this in the first place.  Why are we not buying more things in bulk with less packaging and why do I think I am entitled to “serving sized” portions for lunch boxes?  Just a few of the many convictions I have been feeling from reading Jen’s book.  Watch out – it is a good one.  

Jaclyn