updated numbers & encouragement.

Remember how I told y’all that God was moving in really cool ways while we were at the beach? Oh, how sweet He is. He knows when His kiddos need a little encouragement {I still like to think of myself as God’s kiddo even though I’m a “grown-up”}.

I will admit that I was a little frustrated when we received our latest adoption number update. Our agency hasn’t had a lot of movement this past month and I was starting to feel like the wait would be endless. I started to do the math – averaging out the wait times and the number of families ahead of us and coming up with a depressingly long wait ahead…blah blah… it was a fruitless exercise.

I was quickly reminded by my ever-trusting {sometimes annoyingly so, why can’t he just freak out with me one time?!} hubs that God has got this. I can go ahead and let it go. He has this whole master plan thing figured out. And, He loves our child more than we can even begin to comprehend.

Okay, I know all of these things in my head. But, my heart. Well, my heart was aching. My heart was aching for those babies being abandoned in a market and for all of the children going to bed hungry. My heart was aching to do something. For movement. For forever families. For children to be in a loving family that wanted them desperately.

And, God did what He does best. He intervened and allowed me to meet this family on the beach. He gave me a glimpse into how beautiful our family will be when our newest member comes home. And, most importantly, He reminded me that there is plenty of work to do while we wait. There are amazing ministries like Mission Ethiopia that I can support, encourage and pray for during this time of waiting. I was blessed to meet Dave McIrath that day on the beach and am so encouraged by the good work his family is doing in Ethiopia.

But that’s not all. It gets better! God decided that what I really needed was to spend a quiet morning having coffee with a sweet friend that I had never even met in person. Courtney and I found out that we were both vacationing on the same beach and we were staying only a few houses away from one another {now really, if that doesn’t have God’s fingerprints all over it, I don’t know what does!} so we made plans for a Thursday morning coffee date.

Courtney is another AGCI momma and she is about to travel back to Ethiopia to pick up her GORGEOUS daughter, Reeve!!! I was SO blessed and encouraged that morning with Courtney. She showed me photos of her precious little girl and I got a photo tour of Hannah’s Hope {our agency’s transition home} and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We talked about God’s sovereignty and how His timing is always perfect.

I was so encouraged and uplifted through these encounters. He truly restores my soul {Psalm 23:3} and I am so grateful.

Even though our numbers are higher than I’d like, we can rejoice because there are TEN {!!!} less orphans in Ethiopia this month!!!!!!!!!

Blessings!