Yes! This is exactly what I am feeling right now! At peace! I almost hate to admit it as it kinda makes me sound a bit cold hearted perhaps? I should be on pins and needles, right? Waiting for an email saying I have been submitted to court. Well don't get me wrong, you see I do actually check my email pretty regularly ... just in case ;) BUT, I can do it all with a really good feeling knowing that either way it is okay! Why? Because it will come when it comes, and it will be at just the right time .... God's time!
This 6:30 prayer time has been a pretty amazing experience to say the least. There has been a bond created ... through prayer. A trust in each other has been formed, knowing there will be 5 other people praying for one another. Is God pretty amazing or what?! I think yes! These women have helped me to come to the throne boldly, with confidence, knowing He is hearing our prayers and I can now wait expectantly! I can wait expectantly NOT with expectations as this is God's plan not mine! I can wait expectantly, knowing He will answer and His answer will be good!
So through my morning prayer time plus being able to trust in His plan in this more and more every day, I am feeling a peace within me that is oh so good and I pray will continue on through the process!
Praise God for being available to us 24/7 - Praise God for proving to us over and over again that He is in fact trustworthy - Praise God for furthering our knowledge of Him which in turn can lead to an overwhelming sense of peace - Praise God for Jesus!
Pray for court dates and decrees before they close - Pray for trust in whatever circumstance you might be facing - Pray for peace knowing that God is good - Pray for my sweet baby LyLah and the other 5 precious babies who have been brought together by God Almighty!
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
Love-
amy
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Eyes fixed on Jesus!
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength ... I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength ... I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Yes! These were the words going through my head this morning as I was coming upon the 1 mile marker ... and then there was 2 miles down. I really didn't think the 3 mile marker was gonna EVER come into sight! By the time we got to the 4 mile mark it was actually the 5 mile mark. Thank You, Jesus!!! And then it was the dreaded uphill climb across the Burlington bridge with the end in sight and legs feeling near jello-like ... BUT because I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me strength I did it! I finished the 10 K! Wasn't exactly pretty but I crossed the finish line standing! Ha! All for my sweet baby LyLah which is in fact the ONLY reason I did this! You see I earned 100 points towards the Well Excel program at work by doing the 10 K race to get 10% off my health insurance! Lol! The price skyrockets when ya add one on to the plan, but it certainly is going to be worth it! So, despite all of the complaining and worrying I did, the jello-like legs and stomach pains I endured, and even the fact that I might actually NOT be able to get up off this couch when I'm done writing this blog because my hips are cramping up ... praise Jesus for getting us through what seems to be impossible, when we keep our eyes fixed on Him!
No more news on the adoption process yet but I am excited to be able to tell you that God brought two more families into our morning prayer group! Jana, Jessica, Devin, Wendy, Ashley and myself continue to be in prayer at 6:30 our time. We are not only praying but coming with confidence, knowing that God hears our prayers when they are in alignment with His will. God has called the six of us to care for the orphans through the wonderful world of adoption and I am just confident that He is hearing us!
Praise God for His strength - Praise God for endurance - Praise God that we CAN have confidence - Praise God for Jesus!
Pray Phil 4:13 when you face a circumstance that just might seem impossible - Pray with confidence knowing God does hear our prayers when we are attune to His will - Pray for court dates and court decrees issued before the court in Ethiopia closes down - Pray for those precious babies hand picked by God not only to be loved on and cared for but to hear the words of Jesus being spoken to them!
" ... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus ... " Hebrews 12:1-2
Love-
amy
No more news on the adoption process yet but I am excited to be able to tell you that God brought two more families into our morning prayer group! Jana, Jessica, Devin, Wendy, Ashley and myself continue to be in prayer at 6:30 our time. We are not only praying but coming with confidence, knowing that God hears our prayers when they are in alignment with His will. God has called the six of us to care for the orphans through the wonderful world of adoption and I am just confident that He is hearing us!
Praise God for His strength - Praise God for endurance - Praise God that we CAN have confidence - Praise God for Jesus!
Pray Phil 4:13 when you face a circumstance that just might seem impossible - Pray with confidence knowing God does hear our prayers when we are attune to His will - Pray for court dates and court decrees issued before the court in Ethiopia closes down - Pray for those precious babies hand picked by God not only to be loved on and cared for but to hear the words of Jesus being spoken to them!
" ... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus ... " Hebrews 12:1-2
Love-
amy
Saturday, May 12, 2012
cRaZy in love
Twelve days later and I am still in awe! I am in awe of a God who never ceases to amaze me. So many things keep coming up that I am without a doubt, confident it is His hand. I am in awe of the fact that I have a new name - a new role - a whole new lifestyle that will one day begin and except for my relationship with Jesus, I have never wanted anything so much. So much that it hurts. It hurts but I know that it will come and "though it tarry" I will wait because "it will not be delayed!" My God is in control of this and He will bring my baby girl to me at just the right time!
I would like to share with you just one instance this week where I saw God's hand in several different ways, really. A book that I had read about a year ago was brought to my attention again. It's called "Sun Stand Still" by Steven Furtick. The book talks about asking God for the impossible - acting in audacious faith and then watching God move. The verse that goes along with the book comes from Joshua 10:12-14 where Joshua asked God to make the sun stand still so the Israelites could take victory over the Amorites and would ya guess what God did?! You know it! He did in fact make the sun stand still and victory was awarded! God moved in a way that was unimaginable! With this thought fresh in my mind, I receive a random email from one of the moms from my agency, Jessica, that just received a referral this week. When she posted her referral announcement to the group she mentioned that she was praying for a court date before the courts close down in Ethiopia. For those of you who may not be aware, the court closes down in Ethiopia every year during the rainy season to allow them vacation time. Well, this happens mid August to the beginning of October usually. As court dates usually come 3-4 months after your referral acceptance, and then another 2 weeks later you might be cleared with an official decree by the judge, you can see this makes it pretty unrealistic that either of us would receive a court date and pass before the courts close. Anyway, Jessica emails me to let me know that she and another mom, Devin, had made a pact to pray daily at 7:30 for their cases to clear court before they close. She talked about how much she believed in the power of prayer and that anything is possible with God. She invited me to join them, not knowing what time zone I was in, but to pray daily at 7:30. So I immediately emailed her back to let her know I was all in! I then shared with her about the book Sun Stand Still and the verse from Joshua and of course she had just read it a couple of months ago! The next day at 6:30 our time (they live in Florida!) I prayed for the 3 of us, but I also included Jana and her family as they too received their referral date just a few weeks ahead of us. Jana is the one I have mentioned before. They are the family that got their referral before me. So the day after that, I get yet another email from Jessica asking if I happen to know a "Jana" from our group because we both responded at the SAME time saying we wanted to join them in daily prayer! Have ya seen God's hand in this at all people??!!
Not only did I know her, but I had already added her to our prayer! God has brought the 4 of us together to pray ... to pray our "Sun Stand Still" prayer ... I can not wait to see Him move ... He is able!
So if you are up at 6:30 and think about it, I would invite you to pray with us! Pray that we would all get to court and pass before they close down in the rainy season!
Praise God for His hand in our everyday lives - Praise God for ALL the people He has placed in our lives - Praise God for His sovereignty and rule over all - Praise God for Jesus!
Pray for our eyes to be opened to all things big or small that God's hand has fell upon - Pray for opportunities to share His truth with the people placed in our lives - Pray for continual submission to His authority - Pray for my sweet baby LyLah Lucille, that she would continue to be cared for and loved on during this waiting period!
"The joy of God is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10
Love-
amy
I would like to share with you just one instance this week where I saw God's hand in several different ways, really. A book that I had read about a year ago was brought to my attention again. It's called "Sun Stand Still" by Steven Furtick. The book talks about asking God for the impossible - acting in audacious faith and then watching God move. The verse that goes along with the book comes from Joshua 10:12-14 where Joshua asked God to make the sun stand still so the Israelites could take victory over the Amorites and would ya guess what God did?! You know it! He did in fact make the sun stand still and victory was awarded! God moved in a way that was unimaginable! With this thought fresh in my mind, I receive a random email from one of the moms from my agency, Jessica, that just received a referral this week. When she posted her referral announcement to the group she mentioned that she was praying for a court date before the courts close down in Ethiopia. For those of you who may not be aware, the court closes down in Ethiopia every year during the rainy season to allow them vacation time. Well, this happens mid August to the beginning of October usually. As court dates usually come 3-4 months after your referral acceptance, and then another 2 weeks later you might be cleared with an official decree by the judge, you can see this makes it pretty unrealistic that either of us would receive a court date and pass before the courts close. Anyway, Jessica emails me to let me know that she and another mom, Devin, had made a pact to pray daily at 7:30 for their cases to clear court before they close. She talked about how much she believed in the power of prayer and that anything is possible with God. She invited me to join them, not knowing what time zone I was in, but to pray daily at 7:30. So I immediately emailed her back to let her know I was all in! I then shared with her about the book Sun Stand Still and the verse from Joshua and of course she had just read it a couple of months ago! The next day at 6:30 our time (they live in Florida!) I prayed for the 3 of us, but I also included Jana and her family as they too received their referral date just a few weeks ahead of us. Jana is the one I have mentioned before. They are the family that got their referral before me. So the day after that, I get yet another email from Jessica asking if I happen to know a "Jana" from our group because we both responded at the SAME time saying we wanted to join them in daily prayer! Have ya seen God's hand in this at all people??!!
Not only did I know her, but I had already added her to our prayer! God has brought the 4 of us together to pray ... to pray our "Sun Stand Still" prayer ... I can not wait to see Him move ... He is able!
So if you are up at 6:30 and think about it, I would invite you to pray with us! Pray that we would all get to court and pass before they close down in the rainy season!
Praise God for His hand in our everyday lives - Praise God for ALL the people He has placed in our lives - Praise God for His sovereignty and rule over all - Praise God for Jesus!
Pray for our eyes to be opened to all things big or small that God's hand has fell upon - Pray for opportunities to share His truth with the people placed in our lives - Pray for continual submission to His authority - Pray for my sweet baby LyLah Lucille, that she would continue to be cared for and loved on during this waiting period!
"The joy of God is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10
Love-
amy
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
10,001 reasons
... and today I have 10,001 reasons to praise God! Yes! Today was the day! Happy May Day to me! I got the call! Finally! I now have a beautiful face to put with the thought of the child, hand picked by God, just for me! This morning I received an email from my coordinator Leigh Ann that said to give her a call on her cell phone. So, with my heart pounding probably around 150 beats per minute, I dialed the number ... only to get on the other end "the number you have dialed is unavailable". Seriously??!! I continued to dial the number from my cell phone and it still did not work. I then got a second set of eyes to make sure I was dialing the correct number and sure enough, I was. What in the world? Finally I emailed Leigh Ann back to tell her this number was not working. Of course it was not working, right? Just one more attempt to perfect my patience ... ha! Yeah right! Anyway, what seemed like 24 hours, which most likely was probably around 30 minutes, I waited to hear back from Leigh Ann. Yes indeedy! She had given me the wrong number! God is quite humorous, yeah?! Those were not my exact thoughts at that particular time but as I look back on the moment, it was pretty funny.
Eventually, the call took place and I was asked if I was ready to receive the email with my referral ... DUHHHHH! Of course I was ready! I got off the phone with Leigh Ann so she could make the call to another guy who then in turn sent me the email with my beautiful baby girl, who was in fact the one I had been following for the last couple of weeks! She is about 4 months old and absolutely beautiful! Praise God! I cannot write her name in this blog, but I can tell you that it starts with an "L" which will be quite the tongue twister when added to LyLah Lucille! God had that planned all out, too! I also am unable to post any pictures on the internet, but I will have some with me at all times I am sure !
I immediately called my mom when I received the email while I was at work this morning and would you guess what played overhead while on the phone with her? The lullaby tune play when a baby is born! My mom actually heard it being played over the phone and until tonight when I corrected her, she was certain they played that just for me! Well mom, GRMC did not play the lullaby on my behalf today, but I'm pretty sure that God did!
Today May 1, 2012 will definitely be a day remembered. Today I have a picture to go with a name I have been holding onto for quite some time. Today for me the word "mom" has a new meaning. Today is the day God blessed me with a beautiful baby girl, LyLah Lucille, whom He chose just for me!
Praise God for today! Praise God for His timing! Praise God for IAG (my agency) and their entire staff! Praise God for Jesus!
Pray for an increase in faith because of the hope that we have in Jesus - Pray that we would be filled with wisdom and understanding to be able to grow in our knowledge of Him - Pray that we would be a light shining for Jesus in all that we say and do always - Pray for my sweet baby LyLah to be covered in God's love!
"I asked Him for this child, and He gave me what I asked for." 1 Samuel 1:27
"10,000 Reasons" Matt Redman
http://youtu.be/DXDGE_lRI0E
Love,
amy
Eventually, the call took place and I was asked if I was ready to receive the email with my referral ... DUHHHHH! Of course I was ready! I got off the phone with Leigh Ann so she could make the call to another guy who then in turn sent me the email with my beautiful baby girl, who was in fact the one I had been following for the last couple of weeks! She is about 4 months old and absolutely beautiful! Praise God! I cannot write her name in this blog, but I can tell you that it starts with an "L" which will be quite the tongue twister when added to LyLah Lucille! God had that planned all out, too! I also am unable to post any pictures on the internet, but I will have some with me at all times I am sure !
I immediately called my mom when I received the email while I was at work this morning and would you guess what played overhead while on the phone with her? The lullaby tune play when a baby is born! My mom actually heard it being played over the phone and until tonight when I corrected her, she was certain they played that just for me! Well mom, GRMC did not play the lullaby on my behalf today, but I'm pretty sure that God did!
Today May 1, 2012 will definitely be a day remembered. Today I have a picture to go with a name I have been holding onto for quite some time. Today for me the word "mom" has a new meaning. Today is the day God blessed me with a beautiful baby girl, LyLah Lucille, whom He chose just for me!
Praise God for today! Praise God for His timing! Praise God for IAG (my agency) and their entire staff! Praise God for Jesus!
Pray for an increase in faith because of the hope that we have in Jesus - Pray that we would be filled with wisdom and understanding to be able to grow in our knowledge of Him - Pray that we would be a light shining for Jesus in all that we say and do always - Pray for my sweet baby LyLah to be covered in God's love!
"I asked Him for this child, and He gave me what I asked for." 1 Samuel 1:27
"10,000 Reasons" Matt Redman
http://youtu.be/DXDGE_lRI0E
Love,
amy
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