God is Up to Something

God is so good.

We had a great service at church on Saturday night. The whole service revolved around connecting with God and hearing from Him. There were multiple opportunites during the service to just be quiet before Him and listen.

I felt as if God was continuing to call me to be patient. There is a little guy out there and it will be soon. Just a continued call to trust. That's good......

Then Jim and I had the most interesting conversation on Sunday. I was blown away! Jim shared that he was wondering if our son could perhaps be a little African American boy or a Hispanic boy. He even encouraged me to find out more information about some brothers that are currently in the foster care system.

All this to say, I just feel so thankful that Jim and I are united under Him. Jim isn't wearing out and asking me to reconsider adopting. Instead, he is tuning into God and telling Him that we will walk wherever we need to . The box is open. No limitations. Palms up.

Those of you who know my family realize how huge this is. God has done something in Jim that is truly a miracle. I am so thankful. I am so amazed! Yay! I am not crazy.... :)

Our little guy may be in Russia. Maybe not. We will just continue to pray for God to barricade the wrong doors and throw open the right one.

This weekend, I just felt a confirmation that Jim and I are unified and in His Will. You can't ask for more than that. Hallelujah!!!

The Lord Often Uses Children

I was struggling this week. I was asking for encouragement from The Lord. Fears were gripping my heart as it relates to the realities of our adoption. Would it ever really happen? What if the anticipated referral doesn't pan out? What will we do then? We feel confident that we are to adopt... but are we on the right path? Should we be looking somewhere besides Russia? This is taking so much longer than our other friends that adopted from Russia.

I was driving home from the YMCA with tears streaming down my face. I just cried out to Him and admitted my weakness. I admitted my sadness in comparing my journey with others. I confessed that I needed some encouragement from The Lord. I asked that He show me that we are in His Will.

Upon arriving home, my daughter Alecia greeted me with a joyful but somewhat sheepish grin. "I wrote a song, " she said with enthusiasm. "Do you want to hear it?"

Still red- eyed, I smiled and nodded my head.

Then her sweet, innocent voice started:

Help Again

"Is there hope?
Is there faith?
Am I on this journey all alone?
I need help. I need love.
Is there anyone in this dirty place?
So as you can see, I need a caring family.
I need a good family to help me out, help me out.
So is there anyone out there to help me through it?
Is there anyone out there in the darkness?
Cause I'm in this dirty place. Cause my mama died and my papa's very sick.
I would love if you could send an angel. I just need help again, help again.
And then when I looked up into the clouds, I saw an angel.
And he said, "Follow me, child, Don't be afraid. "
So I followed him to this wonderful place.
The kindest lady opened the door.
She threw up her arms and said, "What a wonderful surprise! "
But when I turned around, he was gone. He was gone.
And then 12 months later, I walked into a home with loving siblings and mama and papa of my very own.
Help again..."

By Alecia Snyder (age 10)


Wow! My eyes filled again as she finished her song. But this time for a different reason.

I had asked for encouragement from The Lord. God knew..... Before I shed my first tear in the car, he had planted that song in Alecia's heart. Before my first plea to Him in the car, He had her putting pencil to paper. It says in His Word that before a word is on your lips, He knows it. How amazing. How reassuring.

God's ability to encouragement is beyond our expectations. I still don't know what December will bring- perhaps nothing. I still don't know if our son is in Russia.

But I do think we are on His path. We are seeking and he will lead us to our child.

That's enough for now.

My prayer continues to be that our child (like the child in Alecia's song )is somehow sensing the love of Jesus along the way. He needs to know that all good things come from Him.

Waiting for His Brother

I had a very precious conversation with Jim yesterday about Caleb. A few years ago, Jim tore our boot box out of the mud room to utilize the space differently. As is typical of Caleb, he built something new with it- he fashioned it into an additional small table top for his work area in the garage. It is little- comes up a little higher than my knee.

Recently, Jim was trying to clean up the garage and asked Caleb if he could throw it away- Caleb had plenty of workspace. Caleb said, "Please don't throw that away. I am going to put it right next to my workbench for my little brother. Then he can work right beside me."

My eyes filled with tears. Caleb is so excited! I can almost picture the two of them out there now.

Suddenly, the wait doesn't bother me so much as long as my little guy eventually comes.....