WAIT

Author Unknown
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."
"Wait? You say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is Your hand shortened? Or have You not heard?
By faith, I have asked, and am claiming Your Word.
My future and all to which I can relate hangs in the balance,
and You tell me to wait?
I'm needing a "Yes", a go-ahead sign,
or even a "No" to which I can resign.
And Lord, You promised that if we believe
we need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
"I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
as my Master replied once again "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair,
defeated and taut and grumbled to God,
"So, I'm waiting...for what?"
He seemed, then, to kneel and His eyes wept with mine,
and He tenderly said "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could vie, and please you would be.
You would have what you want - but, you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power I give to the faint.
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me;
When the darkness and silence were all you could see.
You'd never experience the fullness of love
as the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I five and I Save, for a start,
but you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
The flow of my comfort late into the night,
the faith that I give when you walk without sight,
the depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
of an infinite God, who makes what you have last.
You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
what it means that "My grace is sufficient for thee."
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!
So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
that the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late
My most precious answer of all is still,


"Wait."

Update

Seriously, I do not know how to begin other than to say thank you to all who have prayed,fasted and helped us in so many ways ! Being one that likes to be independent and have it all together it has been a bit difficult task to do.Having SO many kind acts of service and prayers have truly lifted our burdens.

The good news is that our son is home now and we are grateful for the progress that has been made. After driving an hour and a half each way every day to the hospital (Thanks to L.A. traffic) we are glad he is home ! Although we continue to monitor a very delicate situation we are grateful for the progress we have made.

I have been asked if we are going to still continue with our adoption plans? The answer is absolutely YES! When we are called to do something we do it! Gods timing may not always be when we might think though. Without elaborating too much I will say that everything that has happened in this roller coaster adoption journey is beginning to make more sense. My new motto is to simply relax and enjoy the journey. ( even though it is harder than one might think! ) When it is time we WILL watch the miracle of it all come together.

We are now reaching near the top of the waiting list for a girl under 2 from Russia. When that will be is hard to say exactly but, I am sure it will be the perfect timing. In the meanwhile, we are trying to regain a sense of normal back in our home. Although not completely there it WILL happen too. Perfect timing I know.

Battling the Storms !

The last month has proven to me once again how much we depend on the lord to help us.Even though I know that weathering the storms of life gives us experience and fine tunes us to be more like God it certainly is not easy !! We have been battling a frightening, stressful, and emotionally draining health issue with one of our children .We are so praying the next few weeks will be the beginning to bring the proper treatment needed.It is so hard to see your child suffer and not be able to fix it in addition realizing this will need to be very carefully treated and managed for the rest of their life.
Any extra prayers are greatly appreciated !

Baptism and Birthdays

Victoria turned eight this month so she had the privilege of being baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!She was blessed to be baptized by her daddy.We are so proud of her decision! She was baptized in the same baptism dress as her sisters. We also celebrated a birthday for Reece as well.He always gets a great celebration since his birthday is July 4th!

Bahamas / Florida

We had agreat time on our trip to the Bahamas!We spent a couple days in the Miami area before we left on our cruise from the Port of Miami.The beaches in the Bahamas are so incredible! They are sooo blue and warm!! The sand is soo soft and fine! Snorkeling was a favorite for the kids.The ocean water here in California is so much colder so I Loved having the water be warm!The cruise liner was really nice but, living in two cabins with 5 kids gave us a bit of a lot of togetherness !Coming home again made us appreciate our own space!These times together however, are priceless as the kids are growing up so fast!

We will not give up ! There is a plan !

From the title of this post you may have already gathered the little sweet baby boy referred to us no longer belongs to us. He will however have a home with another family .First , I will say this had nothing to do with his health or any fault of our agency.Second, we have learned the possible up and downs and risks of adoption and that having a referral does not mean they are meant to be ours.Third,we are grateful it was decided at at this point in the process. Fourth,despite another hard emotional week we are at peace and know there is a plan.We will continue our journey to complete our family. Since international adoption has been such a huge roller coaster ride we have opted to open more doors and start domestic adoption in addition to continuing with international . We are not expecting another referral from Russia any time soon because we have requested the next referral be a girl.( long story I will share another time)Some day we will understand this spiritual journey better but, for now we continue on enjoying the blessings we do have.The next couple weeks we will enjoy the blessing of our family as we spend time together cruising around the Bahamas .

Here Is The Graduate !

Miracles do happen! Despite being diagnosed with autism at age 3 he has come so very far from that time. We were told he may never talk or learn much independance.Through hard work, intensive therapies and much dedication on behalf of many teachers, specialists and yes, his parents he graduated with a GPA of 3.8! Many of his teachers and therapists through out his life were at his graduation. He was given the title of POSTER CHILD FOR AUTISM from those who have worked with him.

Autism is not something that will go away BUT, there is hope and resources to help these kids try to reach there fullest potential! Reece will be attending college in the Fall. I could really never have asked for a better gift than a son who has taught me so much. Since I was pretty young when he was a little boy I guess you could say he has helped me grow up too!