Enough about Beet Juice…we have an Update!!

Blogging about juicing was short lived. Little did I know that on the heels of announcing the newest addition to our home, the juicer, there was an even bigger announcement on its way.

Last night we got an email from our agency stating that the Prime Minister’s office has opened a very short window of time for agencies to “register” (by Monday at 11:30am to be exact). A few weeks after they’ve registered, the Ethiopian government will send this list of registrants to the US Embassy in efforts to get those on the list licensed for adoption in Ethiopia. This is a great step forward!

First: please pray. I don’t doubt for a second that this progress was made because of prayer. Please continue to pray that this registration/application process would be completed and our agency would get their license.

What’s dangerous about this blog is that my heart and mind are changing fairly quickly these days — again, pain and struggle being the avenue God is using to mold me. My perspective on God is deepening, but in many ways I am like someone who’s just learned a new language and, even with all the “practice”, is really tentative to just speak. So, do I hold back on the blog and just say “God is Good” (e.g. “How are you?” in my new language) as a response to last night’s news or do I take the risk of mixing my words and saying something horribly awkward in an effort to express my true heart?

I think I’ll do the latter. (Heck, I’ve never before missed an opportunity to say something awkward at just the wrong time:))

The God I serve is amazing and every second of waiting and pain (in relation to this and other things) has been like a scalpel on my heart. I mean, who really wants to go through the necessary steps to have your heart re-oriented? Seriously, it is so much easier to just not change. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve not only migrated but set up a tent in the camp of bitterness and jealousy and just plain stubbornness. But in the moments of clarity I see a God who is actually way different than I have believed for pretty much my whole life.

I see a God who is relentless after my heart. I see a God who will stop at nothing to be glorified on this earth, and most-times that means through the ones we’d least expect. I see a God who wants more than my tithe or my ministry. I see a God who is ravished by one little movement of my heart towards Him. I see a God who is full of grace towards my failings but is desperate to release His holiness in me. I see a God who hears even my faintest cry and is very near.

The older I get the less I feel like I actually know of this God of the Bible. The more I read and study, the more I think … I don’t really know Him. There is so much to know.

So this recent advancement with our agency is a HUGE answer to prayer, but to be honest — we don’t really know what the heck is best for us. When is a good time to adopt? When is the right time to adopt? When will we be ready? I can plan, but really … have no clue! But scripture tells me that there is this one, Jesus, who is living to intercede on my behalf. He does know. This news, then? It’s exciting … because He knows. And what does this information do for me? It makes me want to follow Him more.