Thursday

Well, Ashton survived ISS. He was really worried last night, but when I picked him up today he was all smiles and glad to get it behind him. His big concern last night was if this would be on his permanent record. His cutest comment of the evening was "I'll never work in this town again". The boy watches too much TV. He was quick to say he finished his busy work early today and when the ISS monitor asked him if he had completed it, he said yes. His older, wiser, BTDT, brother was quick to point out, "Never tell them that you are finished with your work, you'll just get more to do". Ashton learned that valuable lesson. I don't think he wants to spend any more time in the "slammer", so I'm hoping for really good behavior for the rest of his school years:)

I have had the privilege of staying home for the last 3 days and cleaning my house! Yes, I consider that a privilege, considering how messy the house has been. Now I have to get ready for a birthday party on Saturday. I just hope the pool water is slightly warm enough for the boys to swim, therefore keeping them out of the house.

Hopefully there will be more work on the pool fence tomorrow or Saturday before the party. I am hoping they get it finished and look forward to seeing the finished product. We have so many things to do around here. Does it ever stop? Bo is off all next week and with the exception of playing golf with me on Monday, I am hoping that he gets to do a lot of "honey do's". Our list just keeps getting longer.

No adoption news for us. I am very excited for my friend Maria who received a referral from Kyrgyzstan this week. Praise God. I know they are so excited. They have been looking so forward to the day and it finally came. I look forward to that day and the feelings that will surround it.

I had a devotion this morning about how waiting is really trusting. I couldn't agree more and thought it would be something to share. I'm not the greatest at waiting or trusting, but God continues to send me gentle reminders just when I need them:

Why Waiting is Really Trusting
Nobody hates waiting more than I do. At Wal-mart, I use the self-checkout, because there is usually no line. Unless, of course, I commit the unpardonable crime of putting the bread on the wrong plastic bag and the machine begins yelling at me. Then, of course, I have to wait for the human to come over and fix the machine. At the post office, I hate waiting an hour to mail a package. So I usually use the automated box that allows me to send anything slightly smaller than an elephant. I especially don't like sitting in traffic in the Chicago suburbs, where I believe they widen the roads once every 76 years. So I have a better chance of seeing Haley's Comet than getting into the turn lane on my local highways. Nice. So you can understand that I have an especially tough time waiting on God. He just doesn't seem to fit His plans into my rushed, hurried, panicked world. And in reading the Scriptures, I've learned that He hasn't changed.
In fact, almost all of the great men in the Bible had to wait. Some agonizingly long. Let's look at three examples.

Your Prince is Ready
Though Moses grew up in the house of Pharaoh and was groomed to be the next in line for the throne, I believe he saw all of this as God raising him up to deliver his people, Israel. His mother probably had something to do with that. As the years passed and Moses looked from the window of his stately palace and saw the oppression of his brethren, he grew more and more impatient. Finally, he acted on impulse and killed an Egyptian taskmaster. So that meant 40 years in the wilderness. Here God's people were suffering and their future deliverer is leading sheep in the backside of the desert. Yet God wasn't delaying. He wasn't stalling. He wasn't anxious.
Finally, when Moses was broken and humble enough to be used as an instrument by God, God sent the 80-year old prince-turned-shepherd back to Egypt. But do you see what his happening? The headlines wouldn't read, "Prince leads coup. Prince leads revolt. Prince overtakes Pharaoh." No, I wouldn't be about Moses anymore. It would be about God. How about, "God Miraculously Delivers His People."?

Dreams of Greatness
As a young man, God spoke to Joseph through dreams. In these dreams, Joseph was leading and his brothers and even world leaders were bowing at his feet. Kind of heady stuff for a teenager, don't you think? And it didn't play too well with his brothers. But Joseph knew God was calling him to a special place. A place of impact and leadership and power. So that's why Joseph was probably stunned and shocked when he found himself in the bottom of a pit, praying his brothers wouldn't kill him. Or when he found himself sold into a strange country, Egypt. Or when he was thrust into prison on rape charges. Didn't seem like those dreams were panning out too well, did it? Didn't seem like God was working out His plan? Oh, but God was working out his plan. And Joseph, while he didn't know a lot, He knew He could trust God.

Running for King
Okay, so this prophet comes to his house, dumps some oil on his head, and then whispers in his ear, "Oh by the way, you're going to be Israel's next king." But then it was back to the shepherd's fields, back to being the forgotten son and brother, back to obscurity.
David was anointed king as a teenager, but he waited 14 long years to assume the throne. And those 14 years were hard years. He was Israel's next king, but there was his madman, Saul, who was determined to see David dead and buried. If you read the psalms you can experience David's angst. He scratched his head in wonder, "Why is God allowing Saul to do this?" "Why doesn't God just move Saul out of the way?" But again, like Moses, like Joseph, David had to learn to trust God. And waiting, is trusting. David had to be broken, humble, and read to lead God's people. Do you see a pattern developing here? God often gives his people a dream, a desire, a calling and then puts them through a period of waiting. It is in this waiting where your real courage and character are forged. It is in this period of uncertainty that you're life takes on a whole new dimension. You learn how to trust God. You learn to lean on God. You learn what's important and what's not important. So if you're like me and you really hate to wait, know that waiting is trusting. Daniel Darling is the author of Teen People of the Bible. Visit him at danieldarling.com.

I really needed that devotion this morning and God knew that. As we continue to wait on our adoption and days seem to drag on forever, I have to really trust God. If that was hard for the great men of the Bible, I guess God understands that it's also hard for a woman like me.