Trusting

Faith.  All you need is a little bit.  The Lord is able to take that little bit and do amazing things with it.

I know this to be true.

And it is by grace that He does this.  Because He loves us so much.

I know this to be true too.

See. . . yesterday I was having a pretty down day.  So much seemed to be weighing down on me that it was hard to have hope.  It was hard for me to have faith and trust that we would ever get home.

Oh sure, I had some faith and hope, but my tank was emptying pretty quickly.

All I could do was cling to this verse.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

I don't know about you, but when life seems tough, and I feel this gloom hovering above me, things seem to be so much worse than they really are.  As I yearned to get my boys out of the baby house and home with the rest of the family, I felt that the hope of that happening was being taken from me as I heard the news that we might not get the birth certificates in 1-3 days.

Then with the news that we would need more money,  I was very discouraged.

Last night I went to bed early and just prayed and prayed for renewed strength and hope.

With my worldly thoughts, I really couldn't figure out how things were going to magically be better in the morning, but I knew that the only one who could get the job done is our Loving Father in Heaven.

Well, he didn't let me down.

I woke up feeling better.  My burden was lighter.  My spirits were lifted.

I do have much to rejoice in.

We all do.

As I checked my email, I found some very encouraging words from friends and family.

They brought smiles to my faces as I read each one.  It was as if I could reach into the screen and touch them, they felt so close.

The body of Christ is an amazing group of people.  It is hard to explain how I can feel so close to brothers and sisters in Christ, yet I do.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

We went to visit the boys today.  Nolan was happy to see us.  He understands that I am his Mama and Rachel is his sister.  He is beginning to understand that we have a connection.  When I went to take Oliver up to his groupa to eat, Nolan wanted to follow me.  He even lied and said he had to go potty just so that he could follow me upstairs.   Ya sure, the lying part isn't so good, but the thought that he wanted to keep dibs on me is precious.

Oliver is still congested.  No one seems to notice.  When he is outside, he feels hotter than usual.  And I hardly see him sweat.  Is this normal?  Hopefully he sweats and I just haven't noticed it or aren't looking in the right folds-- LOL.  Hopefully no one seems concerned about his congestion because it is just allergies.   Please keep him in your prayers.  The sooner we can get him home, the better.  

Did I mention that he is a major cuddle bug?  He is content sucking on his tongue sitting in my lap.  I still haven't heard him cry.  I'm thinking of pinching him just to hear it. ;)  Now that I have gotten to spend time with all the babies, I am convinced that he is the second biggest baby in the groupa!  And yet they all eat the same sized portions, so go figure.  He is less active than the rest of the babies but that is slowly changing.  I'm betting he sheds a few pounds once he is home and starts crawling.

After our visit with the boys, we took the marshootka back to the city center.  We did something really adventurous by sitting up front next to the driver.   It was actually much nicer since we had a direct breeze from the open window and no one to bother us with stinky armpits.  However I kept thinking as the engine revved louder than ever for half a mile, "When's he gonna shift!  He better hurry up and shift!"  The drivers sure are hard on the engines here.

John was able to give me some pointers about finding an ATM to pull out some money.  Bless his heart.  He aways manages to be my knight in shining armor.  

It's crazy I know, but I have a personal problem obsessing over the outrageous fees that some banks charge.  With many mouths to feed, I take pride in avoiding them at all costs.  It makes me feel like a better steward of the money that God has given us through John's job.  I avoid the bank fees at all costs so using an ATM here has stretched me in ways I did not want to be stretched.  

I was able to pull out only a portion of what we need because of limits, but it is a start.  It was bittersweet having the extra money in my hands.  In one way, I feel that I have now increased our chances of getting home sooner and on the other hand I feel like I have flushed money down the toilet.   But the fact that I bit the bullet and just did it, I am sure makes my hubby smile.  I bet he wondered if I would actually do it. :)

I saw that someone donated $50 to our grant fund.  How amazing is that?  I think that will cover those outrageous bank fees.  Oh how the Lord works.  Makes me smile knowing how creative our God is.  Certainly not on my own understanding.

Thanks for following along and for taking the time to leave me a comment.   Blessings.