The exact location, I am unsure of ... the time of day, I have no idea ... the activity that was taking place, I do not recall ... BUT the one thing I do remember ... the thing I am sure of ... the absolute only thing I do recall .... is that she called me "momma". Yes! I had a dream! There she was! And she called me by name! Momma! I have not come to the point in the adoption process where a referral has been sent, but God gave me hope that night. God gave me a hope that provided yet another affirmation that He does in fact have a precious baby girl out there somewhere who He is watching over and caring for. A baby girl who will one day be my own.
My emotions have been on overload these days. The information I have been researching makes it all the more real and the tears continue to flow as I think about the day when I will get the opportunity to put all of this to practice .... for real! I have been reading books on how to build bonds of affection and trust with your adopted child - how to deal with learning and behavioral disorders - strategies to use on how to discipline your child with love.
The emotions I have been feeling are kind of hard to put into words as I don't even have a picture to go with the "thought" of my soon to be baby girl. All I can say is that I long for the day I get to hold her in my arms. God has broke my heart for her and to think that it could be more than a year before I actually get to see her for the first time, simply tears me apart. I long for the day that she will look me in the eye and call me "momma". I am going to be her momma!
Once again, I have to remember the hope that God has given me. I know that He is providing her every need. I know that she is in His hands and there are no better hands to be in! I know that His plan for me to be able to love on her as my own, will come in His perfect timing under His perfect plan. Unfortunately, the hard part is getting what I "know" in my head to travel down to my heart and trust Him completely. Now you would think that would not be such a hard task as it is only approximately 18 inches from your brain to your heart, but for me it seems to be! God continues to work on me and refine me into the woman He wants me to be and although it pretty much stinks at times, I would not want it any other way! None of this would be happening if God had just left me the way that I was ... He broke me and is in the process of molding me in order to prepare me to be the "momma" He would have me to be! Thank you, Jesus!
Praise God! Praise God for life in Him! Praise God for Jesus and the cross! Praise God for the hope that we can have in Him! And with that hope, praise God for life eternal!
I am asking for continued prayers for Jan as she completes my home study report - pray for Jim, the program director at IAG and Leigh Ann, my coordinator from IAG as they read over Jan's home study report and make any appropriate changes before it gets sent off to be cleared by the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) - pray for that sweet baby girl of mine!
I continue to thank God for each and every one of you! For your continued support through prayer, encouraging words, fundraising projects, financially, etc. My God provides and I will forever praise His holy name!
"Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe.” Hebrews 12:28
Love-
amy
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
In Everything, Give Thanks!
Thankfulness: to express gratitude or appreciation.
Gratitude: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
Appreciation: recognition of the quality, value, significance, or magnitude of people and things.
These three simple words get used quite frequently during this time of the year as we are coming upon the day of Thanksgiving. A day that for many people will include lots of food, family and possibly football?! A day that for some might mean getting to bed early so you are ready to go when that alarm goes off at 2 AM to get ready and go stand outside in the freezing cold, most likely, just to be first in line to get that awesome deal you've been waiting for since the Black Friday ads came out.(and for those of you who can do this without getting irritable ... I commend you for your patience!) What a great idea it was to set aside one special day of the year to stop, reflect and to give thanks to our Almighty Creator! That IS what's most important to you on that day, right? Well Im here to tell you that if you're like me, that is not always the case, but you're in luck! You see we actually have 364 other days of the year that we SHOULD already be giving thanks to God! One day a year is simply not enough to give thanks to God for ALL that He has done for us, ALL that He provides for us, for His love, for His grace, for His mercy, for His forgiveness, for His faithfulness, for His suffering and enduring of the cross for our sake.
So I challenge you not only to give God praise daily, but thank Him for what He has done in your life, be grateful for who you are in Him, appreciate the fact that there is NO other God like Him! And in a week from now when you see all of the beautiful Christmas decorations coming up and music playing in the background .... you can still give thanks to God!
My God continues to provide in so many different aspects in this adoption process and I am so very thankful for Him. My God continues to lead and guide me and I am grateful. My God continues to walk beside me, comfort me and love on me every minute of every single day and I appreciate Him for that! There is not a soul who can even come close to the quality, the value, the significance or the magnitude that my God and Savior displays.
I have another homestudy visit with Jan on Tuesday, so I'm asking for prayers that it goes well and that I am prepared to answer all of the questions she has for me. Pray for Jan as she writes up the completed homestudy report. Continue to pray for my sweet baby girl. To God be the glory!
"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Love -
amy
Gratitude: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
Appreciation: recognition of the quality, value, significance, or magnitude of people and things.
These three simple words get used quite frequently during this time of the year as we are coming upon the day of Thanksgiving. A day that for many people will include lots of food, family and possibly football?! A day that for some might mean getting to bed early so you are ready to go when that alarm goes off at 2 AM to get ready and go stand outside in the freezing cold, most likely, just to be first in line to get that awesome deal you've been waiting for since the Black Friday ads came out.(and for those of you who can do this without getting irritable ... I commend you for your patience!) What a great idea it was to set aside one special day of the year to stop, reflect and to give thanks to our Almighty Creator! That IS what's most important to you on that day, right? Well Im here to tell you that if you're like me, that is not always the case, but you're in luck! You see we actually have 364 other days of the year that we SHOULD already be giving thanks to God! One day a year is simply not enough to give thanks to God for ALL that He has done for us, ALL that He provides for us, for His love, for His grace, for His mercy, for His forgiveness, for His faithfulness, for His suffering and enduring of the cross for our sake.
So I challenge you not only to give God praise daily, but thank Him for what He has done in your life, be grateful for who you are in Him, appreciate the fact that there is NO other God like Him! And in a week from now when you see all of the beautiful Christmas decorations coming up and music playing in the background .... you can still give thanks to God!
My God continues to provide in so many different aspects in this adoption process and I am so very thankful for Him. My God continues to lead and guide me and I am grateful. My God continues to walk beside me, comfort me and love on me every minute of every single day and I appreciate Him for that! There is not a soul who can even come close to the quality, the value, the significance or the magnitude that my God and Savior displays.
I have another homestudy visit with Jan on Tuesday, so I'm asking for prayers that it goes well and that I am prepared to answer all of the questions she has for me. Pray for Jan as she writes up the completed homestudy report. Continue to pray for my sweet baby girl. To God be the glory!
"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Love -
amy
Saturday, November 12, 2011
What is your net worth?
"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Thank you, Jesus for the beauty of the day ... the sunshine ... the color of the leaves .... the warmer temperature .... what a great fall day!
Praise God! I received my contract from my agency on Monday, read through 25 pages of information, initialed each page, wrote out a check, and sent it back to them on Wednesday! Thanks be to God for providing a people of prayer, a loving group of family and friends who have been using their gifts and talents to fundraise, and those who have been blessed financially who have given as well. All glory goes to God as He is the one who made this happen, not me! He told me from the beginning that as I obeyed, He would provide and this is exactly what He has done!
There were two devotions this week that God used to speak to my heart pretty significantly. The first one being about how if you want to feel rich, count all of the things you have that money can't buy. The second one being about when you reach a point of impossibility it's actually an opportunity ..... to trust God. I had to come up with a "self net worth" last week for part of my homestudy and obviously on paper it did not look like much so I had to come up with a financial "plan". Now to me, the number on paper seemed like quite a bit! Lol! But, not enough for them to say this can work, so I made a plan with what I have and turned it in. I have yet to hear any more about it so I will wait and see. God has been transforming me quite a bit this last year, more drastically in the last 6 months. One of the things He has shown me is that I can live with ALOT less and still move and breathe like always! It's now becoming very clear just why He had been doing this. Despite the fact that "I" had to make a plan, I am still certain that His plan, His purpose will prevail!
The second devotion helped to make all of this real. On paper it does look impossible BUT by trusting God, He is providing! So my self net worth may not consist of much but because of the many ways I have been blessed, I truly am a millionaire! Thank you, Jesus!
Praise God that He knows what we need even when we do not - praise God for refining us and molding us into the people He would have us to be - praise God that we have nothing to fear as He is our comforter and protector! Pray that I would continue to follow and obey God alone - pray for that sweet baby girl!
"The blessing of the Lord make a person rich ... " Proverbs 10:22
Love,
amy
Praise God! I received my contract from my agency on Monday, read through 25 pages of information, initialed each page, wrote out a check, and sent it back to them on Wednesday! Thanks be to God for providing a people of prayer, a loving group of family and friends who have been using their gifts and talents to fundraise, and those who have been blessed financially who have given as well. All glory goes to God as He is the one who made this happen, not me! He told me from the beginning that as I obeyed, He would provide and this is exactly what He has done!
There were two devotions this week that God used to speak to my heart pretty significantly. The first one being about how if you want to feel rich, count all of the things you have that money can't buy. The second one being about when you reach a point of impossibility it's actually an opportunity ..... to trust God. I had to come up with a "self net worth" last week for part of my homestudy and obviously on paper it did not look like much so I had to come up with a financial "plan". Now to me, the number on paper seemed like quite a bit! Lol! But, not enough for them to say this can work, so I made a plan with what I have and turned it in. I have yet to hear any more about it so I will wait and see. God has been transforming me quite a bit this last year, more drastically in the last 6 months. One of the things He has shown me is that I can live with ALOT less and still move and breathe like always! It's now becoming very clear just why He had been doing this. Despite the fact that "I" had to make a plan, I am still certain that His plan, His purpose will prevail!
The second devotion helped to make all of this real. On paper it does look impossible BUT by trusting God, He is providing! So my self net worth may not consist of much but because of the many ways I have been blessed, I truly am a millionaire! Thank you, Jesus!
Praise God that He knows what we need even when we do not - praise God for refining us and molding us into the people He would have us to be - praise God that we have nothing to fear as He is our comforter and protector! Pray that I would continue to follow and obey God alone - pray for that sweet baby girl!
"The blessing of the Lord make a person rich ... " Proverbs 10:22
Love,
amy
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Yahweh Yahweh
Have you praised God today? Have you thanked Him for absolutely anything? Tonight, I am at a loss for words as I sit back and think on the week. I have pleaded with God to help me out in countless ways but I can't really remember a specific time when I sat down and did nothing but praise Him.
My Lord has given me a heart that loves, and is breaking for some little girl who is thousands and thousands of miles away from me, and all I can think about is "why does this have to take so long?" "Why would God give me this love that is so strong for a child I have yet to even be referred, and then continue on with the "road bumps" along the way?" I have not once thanked Him for the heart that He gave me or for this awesome opportunity to be able to be a mom! Yes, a mom! I have not once thanked Him for all of the times this week that I was given the opportunity to share Jesus with someone just because of this adoption process.
Just so you are up to date on what's happening, I had my first homestudy visit and continue on with that process, and I still have yet to receive the contract from the agency.
This week, I would ask that you make time daily to give our God the praise He deserves .... not that we are by any means, able to give Him "that" kind of praise, but we can give Him are best and He will love every minute of it! Praise Him for what He is and was and is to come! Praise Him for the life that He has so graciously given to you! Shout out His name, telling Him all of the reasons you love Him!
"Lift up holy hands in prayer, and praise the Lord." Psalm 134:2
Phil Wickham "At Your Name"
http://youtu.be/4TYM92BcQVI
Love -
amy
My Lord has given me a heart that loves, and is breaking for some little girl who is thousands and thousands of miles away from me, and all I can think about is "why does this have to take so long?" "Why would God give me this love that is so strong for a child I have yet to even be referred, and then continue on with the "road bumps" along the way?" I have not once thanked Him for the heart that He gave me or for this awesome opportunity to be able to be a mom! Yes, a mom! I have not once thanked Him for all of the times this week that I was given the opportunity to share Jesus with someone just because of this adoption process.
Just so you are up to date on what's happening, I had my first homestudy visit and continue on with that process, and I still have yet to receive the contract from the agency.
This week, I would ask that you make time daily to give our God the praise He deserves .... not that we are by any means, able to give Him "that" kind of praise, but we can give Him are best and He will love every minute of it! Praise Him for what He is and was and is to come! Praise Him for the life that He has so graciously given to you! Shout out His name, telling Him all of the reasons you love Him!
"Lift up holy hands in prayer, and praise the Lord." Psalm 134:2
Phil Wickham "At Your Name"
http://youtu.be/4TYM92BcQVI
Love -
amy
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