There's been a little bit of sifting going on. A little sifting out of some of my hopes and expectations. Some might laugh at my personal hopes- but as of early winter, and into spring- our family had sincerely hoped that we'd be on our way to Peru this summer. We are still waiting on dossier approval. Going to Peru this summer might have been a possibility if we had already received dossier approval and had already found our child. We haven't. All we can do is pray that next month our child will be on the waiting angels list. God knows our girl. God knows where she is right now- He is going to put her on that list at the perfect time.
This sifting isn't letting go of my faith- it's allowing myself to accept what I'd hoped for may not be what God's plan was. It's allowing myself to accept that God's timing is better. When all of my hopes and expectations are sifted through God's pan- what will be left is gold. Not dust. Not sand. Gold. That's what I want anyway- His gold for my life. So as much as it hurts and as much as I had hoped we were on the verge of having finally struck gold; As much as I had expected to dip this pan out of the water and find there to be a nugget of gold there- I have raised it up and watched the dirt, water and sand slide out into the river. (All of my personal dates and deadlines- all of my plans.)
This isn't depressing. God has our gold on the way.
It's worth holding out for. It's worth preparing for.
That's what I intend to spend my time doing this summer. It reminds me a good bit of when I stopped dating and began waiting on the Lord to send my husband. I can remember realizing it wasn't going to happen in my time- so I could either sit around and whine about it, or I could start working on preparing to be the best wife possible. That's where I'm at now. I am determined to spend this summer having a blast with my boys and husband. I'm determined to seriously dive into learning Spanish- (something that has been seemingly impossible with all of the other things filling our time to get to this point in the adoption process) and helping the boys do so as well. I am excited about it.
It feels like a New Year or something to me! Really. This week I am going to start getting our little notebook of summer activites put together. I think what we're going to do is plan six weeks of things to do. None of these activities will take more than an hour a day. Each week we are going to have a topic (reptiles, Native Americans, mammals, plants, trees. etc). Mondays- we will go to the library and search for books on our topic (each of our kids choose an age appropriate book or two). Tuesday we will make something in relation to that topic. Wednesday we will go out in search of something in relation to that topic. Thursday we will write a short paragraph in a journal about that topic (or I'll find a coloring or activity page to go along with that topic). Friday- I'll try to find some kind of movie for us to watch on that topic. The boys are really excited about doing all of this! I am too.
Other things I'd like to do this summer:
*Perfect my homeade ice cream recipe. I'm thinking homeade ice cream once a week-
but I want to learn to make some super rich and creamy stuff! YUM!
*Work on getting Amaus closer to swimming (or actually swimming). He's been in the water since, well... he was born in the water! Each summer we practically live in the pool. Last year he could kick under water to the steps, but not enough to hold his head above the water.
I'm hoping he can move along a little more in that dept this summer.
*Have a great time reading together as a family. The boys reading on their own- and us finding some awesome chapter books to immerse ourselves in. Josiah is very interested in missionaries right now. I am hoping to find some other neat biographical stories to read to him. Isaac was getting a hoot out of the "Hank the Cowdog" series- so I hope to find some of those to purchase.
* Devote myself to praying fervently for the lost in my area-
if there is never growth in the prayer life- there is never a change in the real life!
Pics from our recent trip to the beach:
The beaches were empty some mornings!
Making a sand fort
Feeding seagulls
My mom with the boys
The beach wore Amaus out!
Since we've been home:
The boys had a piano recital. I took their picture right before...
6 comments:
The waiting is the most awful part. We traveled about 6 months later than I originally thought we would. It was an agonizing time, but so faith building. As it turns out, His timing was perfect. Hugs!
We, too, are waiting! I thought we would travel the first week of June, but now we are waiting on an official birth certificate (from somewhere in the jungle)! I guess we just sit back and feel God developing our character a bit more. :) Blessings!
Have I told you lately that you are teh world's best MOM? (Besides mine, that is!) But, WOW, you never cease to amaze me. See you guys soon. That perfect princess is coming right along somewhere. Every time I buy clothes for Avery, I think "Oh I can't wait to see Calley's little girl in this!"
I have a couple of friends that used to teach swim lessons, if you're interested (and if they still teach), I could help you get in touch with them. :)
Looks like you had a great time at the beach with your mom. :)
Man those beach pictures make me wanna go so bad! Where did yall go and stay. that little porch right there on the beach looks nice! I agree with Casey, you are a great mom. What a blessing to your boys and to that little girl who will be amazingly BLESSED to come live with you guys! Cant wait to meet her!
You ladies are all such an encouragement to me. :)) Thanks for being with us through all of this...
Cristi- We did have a blast- The place was called The Harbor House in Gulf Shores. You can find it on VRBO.com. The only bad thing was there were no elevators. You park under your room- which is nice if your on the first floor right above it. We had to carry everything up 4 flights of stairs. It was great though- right on the beach. We got a good work out! lol
Casey- You're so sweet! I think YOU are the awesome mom!
Post a Comment