Comedy of errors

This Thursday we headed off to Asheville for our adoption conference with Bethany. Dave and I were excited, nervous, and not sure what to expect. We followed the directions Bethany provided and exited off of the exit where our hotel was supposed to be. All of the other hotels they listed were there, but our hotel was no where to be found. After 3 phone calls we realized that the directions they provided to our hotel were wrong, but a nice woman gave us the address to our hotel and about 5 exits down we found it.

Now, if anyone knows me you will understand what happened next. We pulled up to our hotel and it was actually a motel, with the doors opening to the outside. All I could think was of course the one we picked is not what we thought it was, and of course it was the only one on the list that was a motel, and of course it was the only one with the wrong directions. This is par for the course of my life! We walked into the room and I walked into the bathroom and burst into tears. Utter melt down. Not a good start to the weekend.

Dave found me sitting in the bathroom balling my eyes out. I blubbered out "why does our life always have to be like this?" The words of our mouths are from the overflow of our hearts- who am I to ask more of God than what he has already blessed me with? Why do I feel entitled to something better? What an ungrateful child I am! The truth of my sin was sobering. I quickly pulled myself together and we headed out for dinner.

God didn't have to provide his ungrateful child with yet another gift, but He did. We found a place that I had heard about in Southern Living magazine called the Tupelo Honey Cafe. It was an amazingly perfect little place in downtown Asheville. It was beautiful, quaint, and kind of fairy tale like. There were homemade biscuits and blackberry Jam...and we had the perfect date night with lovely intimate conversation. A gift!

The next morning at 8:45 am we were heading into the church where our meeting was. There were 26 couples. All with the same look on their faces as we had. The look of fear, but also the look of hope. After a very long day- I came away with a renewed sense of purpose. Adoption is what God has called us to. Adoption is so much bigger than us just becoming parents, adoption is the legacy we will leave with our kids. They will have a new identity, a new name, and be loved by us as their parents. God has adopted those who believe in Him. He has given us a new identity as His sons and daughters in Christ. He is our father. We will inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Our kids will inherit the legacy of our love for them and their adoption into our family, as well as their identity in Christ. What a beautiful picture adoption is of Christ's love for us. We are so privileged to be a part of an adoption story. We cannot wait to see God's plan unfold. What a privileged life I live!

Waiting

Psalm 27:14 "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord."

I read this scripture and thought now this is one I need to commit to memory. So much of our life is about waiting right now. We are waiting for the paperwork to be finished, we are waiting for our baby, we are waiting for Dave to finish school, I am waiting for a time when we will have another income, we are waiting to see where Dave will get a job, I am waiting to see if one day I can work less ;)...we are in an indefinite time of waiting.
I am not good at waiting. I was reading this morning in my "Adopted for Life" book and he mentioned that God has always been about waiting in anticipation for something better. He created Adam, but didn't create Eve right away, God waited until Adam realized that there wasn't a helper suitable for him on the Earth. God promised Abraham a son and they waited for God to fulfill that prophecy. Hannah waited for years until she finally had a child. Mary and Martha waited for Jesus to come heal Lazarus- Jesus didn't come until Lazarus was dead. Jesus said he would return and we are anxiously still waiting for that day. But the end to these stories of waiting is the fulfillment of God's best. Adam found his helper, Sarah and Hannah had babies, Lazarus was raised from the dead, and Jesus is coming back for us.
The waiting was part of God's plan. He has a purpose in the waiting. He is using this time to make me more like Christ. He is using this time to prepare me to be a mom. He is using this time to show me that I am horrible at trusting in God's goodness when I am waiting. I am so weak and I realize that I should beg for God's mercy for ever questioning His goodness. In the end I may not get exactly what I am waiting for, but I do have God's love, and He will get the glory that He deserves.
Please remind me of this when I once again fall apart and lose patience in the waiting...

how sweet

I wanted to let everyone know that we are almost done with the home study!!! YEAH!!!! Our class has been moved to April 23rd and we have our final home study visit on May 5th. We are very excited to see light at the end of the paper work tunnel. It has seemed like forever since we started this journey. I am so thankful to not be alone on this untraveled road...
I talked to one of my sweetest friends today, my best friend, and was reminded just how valuable friendships are. She has been one of the most constant people in my life since elementary school. It is so precious to be able to talk with someone who knows you, really knows you. Someone who understands why you are the way you are and how you got to be that way. It is so sweet to share in what God is teaching you and in how tough life can be. To know that you have someone on the other side of the world who is praying for you and encouraging you. My sister in Christ, but really when it comes down to it, just my sister.
I have seen recently so many examples of friendship. Dinner last night with women who have come together to show that when one world is falling apart the others are there to hold up the pieces. Church on Sunday, one of the women I look up to the most grabbed my hand and said "Really, how are you?" I couldn't resist the torrent of emotions that flowed from my mouth and she couldn't resist hugging me and praying for me. She went to battle against the enemy for me. There is no better friend. A friend from work asking "What are you going to do in your nursery?" She has no idea that just that simple question overflows my aching heart so much because she is validating that I am preparing to be a mom, and that doesn't happen often to families adopting. Phone calls to see how I am doing, messages on my blog of sweet encouragement, texts, emails, facebook messages, cards, and Easter baskets.
I see so clearly that we are in fact the body of Christ. My friends and family are His arms hugging me, His words encouraging me, Him loving me. Jesus uses those sweet relationships in my life to remind me that He is good. It reminds me of that phrase "the aroma of Christ", the love that draws you to him, that satisfies, that is sweet to the soul, that makes the empty cup of my heart overflow. What would I do without my Jesus?