It has been a long 11 weeks waiting on our next court hearing. So glad it is finally here!!
On Sunday morning, July 16, (when we were waiting to find out if a hearing actually happened or not on the 15th) a word kept coming in front of me...that word was VICTORY!
As I was getting ready for church a song came on with the line, "You who holds the stars, who call them each by name, will surely keep your promise to me, that I will rise in Your VICTORY." (From the song "Take Courage")
The church service started out with a video. A line stuck out to me. It said, "The VICTORY belong to God."
We sang the hymn "VICTORY in Jesus" in that service also.
Then our music minister introduced us to a new song called "God that Saves." The bridge says, "I hear the song of VICTORY ring over me."
The next day 1 John 4:4 came across my path, "But you belong to God, my dear children You have already won a VICTORY over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world."
So I started praying we would get the VICTORY in our adoption process this month!
Had to get a picture of the boys with the sign!
These girls right here!!!
We planned a lunch date today for us and our kids. I was late as usual, haha! But when I got there this is what I saw...
They said it was a "We are Claiming it" Party!
Made. My. Day!! I love you girls, and SO blessed by your friendship all these years!!
Please pray for VICTORY in our adoption process tonight!!
Leaving you with one of the songs I mentioned above (thank you Kyle!)
4 more days until our July 30th hearing. We were told that on July 15th the judge said he needs time to read the guidelines regarding adoption. I keep hearing, seeing, and thinking about the story of the Israelites in Egypt; God sending Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people go from captivity and Pharaoh's hard heart. Adoption can feel like that; like our babies are being held captive and need to be set free, but the judges are hard hearted towards adoption. Please pray the judge will have no peace or rest until he passes us with written orders!
Some words that have preached to me lately...
"We've all walked through seasons where our circumstances don't seem to line up with God's promises. But just because they don't line up doesn't mean God isn't going to show up. Our God is a God of completion. He makes promises and then He fulfills them (Heb. 10:23). Yes, the journey may be harder than we expected. The road to our promise may not look anything like we thought it would. But we can rest assured that there is never a question of whether or not our God will be faithful...We can trust Him. Even when the road gets hard. Even when life takes unexpected twists and turns. Our God is a promise-keeping God."
"Little by little," (Exodus 23:30) God told the children of Israel He was going to come through on His promise, but He had a time and a plan that was best for them.
From another adoptive momma..."We knew when we decided to adopt that we were intentionally walking into a battlefield. Anything that reflects God's redemption is the exact opposite of what the enemy desires. Jesus is for life and life abundant. The enemy's aim is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10)...The enemy has tried to kill and destroy her life. He is now working to steal more time from her life because he knows we're coming. We, her family, are coming with a small reflection of God's big redemption. We are coming to pursue her heart and to do all we can to make sure she has an abundant life within our family...We can't expect a judge, who doesn't know the Lord, to have any sense of urgency for orphans or a sensitivity of his own to the will of God. Instead, we expect the enemy to use what he can to steal more time. So, we pray down the battle. That God would go before, behind, and hem our family in. That just like the Israelites, He would go before and win the victory."
"God is working. He is. Trust the process. Saturate your mind with His truth. And let His voice be the loudest in your life."
The devil is vicious, but he is not victorious. (Eph. 6:10-11)
Thank you Amy for the sign in front of the church!
Can't wait to see our precious girl in this sweet shirt made by an India adoptive momma to help out another India adoptive momma!! I LOVE the community of adoptive parents I have gotten to know through our process!
On my birthday, July 5, we were told our court date was moved up from July 30 to July 15. Last night I posted this for all of our prayer warriors...
As of 7:15 pm the court website still has our court date as July 30. Our agency has emailed the orphanage director to find out if we had a hearing last night or not. I will update as soon as I have any information. Please continue to pray that we will pass court soon!
Encouragement from another adoptive momma...
We had a sad ending to our week last week. Our lab, Dixie, who was my Christmas present the first year we were married had to be put to sleep. She was 14 years and almost 8 months old. She lived a good life and was THE BEST dog!!
We enjoyed one last beach trip of the summer with my family!
Please continue to pray that we will have Mary-Lynn home soon!! I will update about court when I have information.
Today is my birthday! And it's been the best ever!!
I got this text at 9:48 am...
SO excited!! That is one of the things we have been praying for!
Then at 10:20 am I got an e-mail with pictures of Mary-Lynn wearing the outfit and headband we sent in her birthday box, and playing with the toys we sent!!
Of course, I was sitting there sobbing even trying to look at the pictures. Matthew comes over and starts patting my arm saying, "It's ok mommy, I'm right here, it's ok!" Sweet baby!!
Caleb, our oldest son, is in Kentucky on a mission trip with our church youth group. I sent him the close up picture of his baby sister. I just love his response! (but excuse his spelling, haha!)
The e-mail with the pictures also had a message from the orphanage director. She said Mary-Lynn "is running and laugh openly." It's bittersweet! So excited that she is walking because she was not when Britt met her at 2 1/2 years old, but she is growing and learning new things without us. Please pray that we will pass court with written orders on July 15 (the 14th for us!). July 15th is exactly a year that we were matched with our daughter! We are so ready to hop on a plane and bring our baby girl HOME!!
We appreciate the prayers from all of you! Please keep them coming!
We started our adoption process almost 20 months ago.
We were matched with Mary-Lynn almost a year ago.
It's been 8 months since Britt met her.
Our last court hearing was 7 weeks ago.
And it's just under 4 weeks until our 3rd court hearing.
We are SO ready to go to India to get our baby girl!! Praying we pass court at our next hearing on July 30th (that will be the night of July 29th for us here in America). Please pray along with us!
I had to record this sweet conversation with Eli, our middle son, a few weeks ago...
Eli - I think I know why God hasn't brought her home yet.
Me - Why?
Eli - Because she needs more time to be ready for us, all the change.
Sweet boy! Wisdom of a child. She does have a whole lot of change coming her way once we do get her. Closer to time I will post some articles and videos about attachment, bonding, and cocooning to explain why we will do some of the things we will be doing once she is home.
My last blog post was on her 3rd birthday. We have been busy, busy since then.
We enjoyed our beach getaway May 16-20!!
We could not forget Mary-Lynn in our pictures!
I got all the names written on the back of her puzzle and hung in her room! Thank you SO much to everyone who gave to our puzzle fundraiser!!
My sweet sister-in-law, Jen, bought this outfit for Mary-Lynn!!
The pastor's wife we were under in Graceville, FL made this t-shirt for me!
These teddy bears were one of the crafts at our VBS this year. A sweet little girl at our church made this one for Mary-Lynn!! Thank you Emily!
My momma has been cleaning out closets and found my little suitcase that Nanny bought me from Surprises Inside at Montgomery Mall (who remembers that store!?) I can't wait for Mary-Lynn to use it!! Momma found my sister's suitcase too. So Mary-Lynn and Zoe (my niece) can both have our little pink suitcases to use!!
I re-mailed Mary-Lynn's birthday box. It was delivered on June 10th. We have not heard from the orphanage. Beth, from our agency, e-mailed them to ask if they received it and if we could get some updated pictures of her. We will see if we get a response or not. Praying for new pictures!!
We finished up our first year of homeschooling!
We have enjoyed spending time with cousins Ty, Asher, and Zoe!
We have enjoyed spending time with friends!
Britt and Matthew had a yucky stomach bug, along with a hurt nose on MattMatt (that's what happens when you wrestle with your big brothers!)
VBS Fun Factory 2017
Captain Underpants and Cars 3
Lake fun and Meme's 60th Birthday
Family Reunion fun
Pool Day with church friends
Trying out some Indian cuisine...Indian Curry Rice and Chickpeas and MoMo's
Beach with Meme, Papa, and the Dyers...more cousin fun!
Making slime and fresh bread!
Rockin Jump with our church
June's weekly Library day events!
Fun with the Dyer and Inman cousins at the lake!
Karen Kingsbury's Love Story Tour with my momma and my sister, and added bonus, ran into one of my besties, Nicole!
My great-aunt, Sarah Mae Head, who we called MaeMae, passed away at 92 years old. Even under the circumstances, it was good to see more cousins and spend time with family!
Caleb left early this morning with our youth group headed to Big Creek Missions in Kentucky.
Whew!! All of this in the past 7 weeks!!
Please pray that the judge will show up and hear our case on July 30, or even before! Pray that God will soften his heart towards us and international adoption and that he will pass us along with written orders quickly! We really appreciate your prayers!! For those of you who read my blog faithfully you have probably picked up on the fact that God uses music to minister to my heart! So I am going to leave you with the latest song that plays on repeat in my home or my van a lot lately...
