Happy Day!

Today is the end of our 30 day Non-Appeal wait period!   The twins are officially ours and we are officially finished with the Congolese Courts. 

 

Here is what the next steps look like:

Our lawyer will collect a series of documents (including new birth certificates)

All of those documents will need to be translated from French to English

Passports will be issued for the twins

ALL of that will be submitted to the US Embassy for review

They will issue an Embassy Appointment, which our lawyer will attend on our behalf

The Embassy will send us permission to travel

We'll pack our bags and head to DRC

Please pray with us that these next steps happen quickly!  We are still praying (and hopeful) that we can bring our little ones home before the end of 2012!

Thanks for following along on our journey!  We appreciate your prayers and encouragement so much!

Choosing What is Better

Today is my "day off" from work.  Taking a "day off" when you are in ministry has always been a hard concept for me to balance, but over the past couple of years God has taught me that taking time for myself is not selfish, in fact, it's necessary and extremely important.

Okay, so I've learned to not beat myself up about taking a "day off"...

Here's the next problem - and I know this is something that moms all over the world struggle with - my "day off" from work usually ends up being my "day on" at home - you know what I'm talking about...laundry, groceries, cleaning toilets, etc, etc....Usually productive, but not always beneficial for my emotional/spiritual health.

So today, I was reminded that I have a choice to make.  Choices are a part of our everyday lives and yet in the busyness and dailyness of life, there are times when I forget that I have the power to choose what's best. 

This morning I was reminded of the story in the Bible of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42).  This story is one that I always secretly struggle with.  Yes, I know Mary made the wise choice and yet my busy, "doer" heart always goes out to Martha.  Couldn't have Jesus and Mary at least acknowledged that Martha was doing a good job and thanked her before asking her to come sit down?!
But that's not the point.  In verse 41, Jesus says, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her."
Mary chose what was better.  Jesus wasn't saying that there isn't a time or place for cooking and cleaning and being a good hostess - He was simply letting Martha know that in that moment, she had a choice to make - sit at Jesus' feet and be filled up by Him or continue on with her busyness - and she didn't make the right choice - she didn't make the better choice.

So today, I have a choice to make.  Right now, because we are doing some rearranging to fit a piano that was given to us by a good friend, I have a room in my house that looks like this -

For those of you that know me well, you know this drives me crazy!  Every instinct in me is saying, rearrange furniture, hang pictures, fill that room up, for goodness sake!
On the other hand, the past month has been difficult and I'm longing just to sit at Jesus' feet and pour my heart out and allow His joy and peace and power to fill me up.
So I have a choice to make.
I can tell you what my "Martha-ness" is telling me to do...but not today...today I'm choosing what is better.
Today I choose this -

We are Family! :)

We received an email yesterday from our Adoption Agency with our Adoption Judgement documents attached - WooHoo!  We now wait for a 30-day non-appeal period and after that we start our immigration process and prepare to bring our little ones home!

The documents we received yesterday are all in French, but the part I did understand was this...

de l'enfant OMBA a' celui de Jayce Jeffrey Thomas, et l'enfant SHAKO a' celui d' Alli Kristine Thomas

My interpretation...Omba is now known as Jayce Jeffrey and Shako is now known as Alli Kristine.  Two orphans now belong to a family - our family - the Thomas family!  

What bubbles up from the deepest part of my heart is "Bless the LORD, oh my soul!"

As God continues to write the story of our family - there are now two more characters!  I can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter - this is a real page turner! :)

Surgery is Complete

Good News!  We got word today that little A and J had their surgeries and are now recovering in the home of this sister and brother.

Word from our Director is that they are doing well!  And it looks like they got some cool sunglasses out of the deal (although they don't look all that impressed)! :)

So thankful that God holds our little ones in His Almighty Hands! 

Continuing to pray that they will be home soon!

Quick Update on Project Feet

Thank you all so much for praying (and giving) over the past week about the situation at our children's Orphanage.  Our sweet Director is feeling encouraged - as are we - with the progress that is being made.  Here is a portion of her Sunday blog post:

The good news is this:  we have 3 or 4 people who will be in Congo by this weekend.  This includes an African Public Health nurse with experience in this issue, who will be a tremendous asset in dealing with the short and long term problem here. At this point, there is no need for more travelers! Thank you to all who have considered going to Congo.  God has provided the hands we need for now.

More good news:  the 2 children who were in the most severe situation had SURGERY on Saturday!  AND, they are staying in the home of a Congolese pastor and wife for recovery! 

More good news:  I was able to speak with a Congolese pastor yesterday.  He had been studying the project blog website and had already printed out all the pictures. Today, Sunday, he is presenting this need to 3 congregations.  The conversation with him was the most encouraging conversation I have had.  He said, “We MUST help these children. It is our job, it is our duty.  We must do so”.  Praise God.  We trust that today, God would speak to the hearts of local families to serve Jesus by serving these children!

I look forward to presenting ‘before and after’ pictures of the children, and to see their smiling faces!  God bless you for caring for children you have never met.  He sees! He judges the motivation of each heart!  He provides!  He rewards!  Praise Him!

Here is the link to our Director's blog if you'd like to read more www.projectfeet.wordpress.com

We would ask that you continue to pray for all of these precious children! Please pray specifically for our little J and A and for our family.  It's hard to be a world away from your children when they are hurting.  Pray that our lawyer would have an unexplainable sense of urgency, that he would act quickly and thoroughly, and that the time for bringing our children home would be soon!

I just don't understand...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  Proverbs 3:5

There are so many things about these past few weeks that I just don't understand.

And when I seek to find understanding to all the struggles and hard to explain situations...

I fall miserably short.

And then I'm reminded {again} that God has instructed me to trust in Him, not my own understanding.  So instead of searching for answers and illusive understanding, I need to be searching for and seeking our Mighty God!

This verse just sums it up for me today ~

When You said, "Seek My face", my heart said to You, "Your face Lord, I will seek".  Psalm 27:8

My heart is heavy today.  Our children are hurting and in danger and yet, they remain half-a-world away.  My only action today is to fall to my knees and lift them up to their Heavenly Father.  Please pray with me!  I'd also ask you to read Our Director's Blog and help if you can.

Jeff will be talking with our Agency this afternoon to see exactly where our family is in the process and what our best course of action will be.  I'll keep you up-to-date once we know more.

These are pictures of little A and J's feet.  

There have been and will continue to be many unknowns and challenges in this journey, but we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the One who has called us is Faithful!