Saturday, March 31, 2012

Reminder of Truth I needed to hear

I know I have been absent on here for a while. Our family has gone through some hard things lately and I have honestly just been to worn out and busy to post. However, today I post because a friend I have only met online reminded me to keep going. My friend Angie posted this on her blog today. Her family is adopting from Haiti.
Our past weeks have been hard on many levels. I will touch on a few. First, we lost my grandpa nearly two weeks ago. It was a hard time and there are still hard days when I let myself think about it. It has been 2 weeks  of emotions for me that send me into childhood memories of him. Secondly we have been fighting waaay too much illness in my house. Nahum was suppose to have surgery to have his tonsils and adenoid removed and also to have his ears drained 3 weeks ago. However he got sick with strep AGAIN and we had to post pone.  It may not seem like much , but in Nahum's case it is. One reason is we haven't been able to keep him healthy enough to have his surgery. He had strep 4 times in a 5 week period, he is allergic to all but 3 antibiotics and nothing seems to keep him healthy anymore. He needs to have this surgery to stay healthy! I was discouraged from having to wait and worried for his health. Now, we are having to keep him on an antibiotic for the 3 weeks prior to surgery to prevent bacterial infection and keep him away from everyone for 2 weeks before to prevent viral infection. Also, after his surgery he can't be active for 2 weeks and a possible 3rd depending on his healing process. This means I AM STUCK IN MY HOUSE FOR 5 WEEKS! AAHHHHH!!! The things we do....;)
The third thing wearing on me is our housing situation. We have been in the process of attempting to buy the house we live in for months on end. Financing keeps changing and requirements keep changing and at the last minute things fall through. I have gotten so discouraged! When will this end?! To make matters worse, we have to have the purchase of the house finalized or we have to decide to rent indefinitely to get our financial statements accurate and usable for our home study. Which means.....We cannot finish our home study until our housing situation gets finalized. This sets us back as far as time goes for the adoption. SO DISCOURAGING!
Needless to say I have been asking God a whole lot of questions. Like ~If you want us to adopt why aren't you making things move faster? There are orphans waiting! ~If you want us to adopt why don't you pay for these dumb new requirements or closing costs or whatever to get us finalized in this house? I mean we are living within our means, staying out of debt and being responsible with our money! What more do you want?! ~ Why can't my kids stay healthy long enough for me to catch a breath?! ~ Why can't you  make this all easier?
His answer? Angie's blog post. The verses she gives, the statements she makes, the visions she sees......All things I have known, studied, believed and lived yet somehow have forgotten in these past months. Instead of praying my way through this battle I have lost hope, gotten discouraged and wanted to quit. I haven never been one for waiting. This waiting for absolutely everything in my life is wearing me down. But it's time I pull up my boot straps and get back in the game. It's time to start praying and fighting for the things he has put on my heart and in my life. It's time to stand beside my sisters and brothers and pray. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Eph 6:12 It's time to suit up for my little Ethiopian child. 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Eph 6: 12-18 It's time to hold on to hope. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2Corinthians 4:16-18 
Stand besides in prayer friends. Pray for healthy kids, for Nahum's surgery to happen, for a house to call our home and discernment on what that means. Pray for our adoption process to speed up, for finances to come in for it and mostly pray for our child. He or she needs your prayer more than anything! Read Angies blog post......