James 1: 2-3

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

This is God's perspective on my life and current situation. I need to keep focusing on the Lord and not my circumstance. I am studying the Armor of God with my life group and this weeks part of the armor is the Shield of Faith. There is so much good stuff in this study.

The world tells us that "Seeing is believing" but God says that "believing is seeing". Genuine faith is born in humility and need, grows by the Word and obedience, and is tested in the crucible of suffering. I am reminded of Jesus' encouragement, "Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." John 20:29

Thank you God for being the object of my focus during this season in my life. Thank you for pursuing me and wanting a personal relationship. I desire an open heart to know you more and act on my knowledge of your character. Thank you for an eternal perspective to look beyond today's struggles and tomorrow's challenges.

Prayer for this week is to be used in such a way that my students come to know you as their personal Savior if they have not come to this realization at this point in their life. God is Perfect.

Lots of hair...

It has been awhile since I have written. Several things have happened in the last 2 weeks. I was reminded again that I should think about getting a new referral from Hope agency. My person pushed back and we are now trying to get missionaries over in Ethiopia to help with Yosef's paper work. I have asked Lisa to give them my email address, but I have yet to hear from them. I look forward to communicating with them in the near future.

Laurie responded back to Lisa and let her know that Shimiless is going to keep working on Lister's paperwork, but it will take a couple of months. This is a difficult process. Well, why haven't we already started working on this? Ahhhhhh! That's what I am thinking right about now.

My friend is traveling over a week from today to pick up her daughter. That is a huge praise report. I am so happy for them. It appears that movement is happening for families, so that is encouraging.

I saw on a post that the MOWA office has been closed for a couple of weeks now. Wondering if that is true and if there is more than one of those over there. I know that it is election time over there and that time could be dangerous. I hope all goes well for Shannon's trip.

So the picture is Yo's forehead and hair. This kid has some serious hair! It looks like he is working on a uni-brow as well. :) I love this little guy. Looking forward to the day that I get to finally hold him.

God is perfect.

Happy Birthday to you...

Yes, it was Yosef's birthday yesterday. April 22nd, 2010 he turned one year old. I can't believe that he is already that old and still not over here! Yikes, it makes me a little emotional when I think about it. A friend of mine and I celebrated last night with some frozen yogurt from TCBY. That was the best tasting stuff! I have been on a diet for 68 days. No dessert or carbs, so you can imagine how good that tasted.

I hope he had a great first birthday. Did someone love on him and sing to him? Well I know that my family was singing over here in the U.S. My mom and I sang together last night and then my sister left me a message and sang to him on my voice mail. We are a silly family, but fun.

Feeling grateful today. I was scheduled to have jury duty today and when I called last night the message said I was released from my duty. Thank you Charlotte court system! The school year is winding down or up, depending on how you look at things and I did not need to miss any days.

I am thankful for Friday and the weekend ahead. Hoping to hear some news today from Lisa. I guess Hope has moved their office in St. Louis and it has been difficult getting in touch. What's new? Thanking God ahead of time for the police report that has already been written. A friend of mine had reminded me that we should go ahead and believe that God has answered our prayers, instead of pleading for them to be answered. I agree. Thank you God!

God is perfect. :)

Change...

What do you think of when you hear the word "Change"? Is it money in your pocket? Getting into your pjs? New hair color? It is something different for all of us, but boy do I feel it lately. Change is hard. I have felt for about 2 weeks now that many things in my life are a changin' and I don't know the outcome of any of them. I hate the unknown sometimes.

So what did I do? I took a personal day and headed to SeaBrook Island to get away and get focused back on what is important in life. It's the circumstances that matter, but how I react to them that matters. God is in control. If only I could be paid in CHANGE for that line. :)

What have I learned this weekend? I know, do we always have to been learning? I think so. If not, why question things? I am learning to lean on Jesus and not myself for my every day. I know He has a plan and purpose for my life and those involved in it to prosper and be fulfilled to overflowing joy. Keep your eye on the prize is a phrase that has been running through my head lately. The prize can be so many things right now. But ultimately, I believe the prize is knowing God and His character so that others may see Him in me during this time in my life.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine...

(This will be one of Yosef's favs when he gets here.)

God is perfect! Tasfa!

Pollen...

Yes, I am blogging about pollen. It is crazy bad out here in Charlotte. Today we were able to get a bit of rain and I have a river running down my driveway that is green and yellow. The kids at school have been messed up all week long. So what do we do tomorrow? We take a field trip to Brattonsville, which is a revolutionary war site in the middle of nowhere. It will be fun, but also full of pollen. Let's just hope that this rain hit Brattonsville.

I am looking forward to an update on Yosef. We need to get a police report written for him. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. So many people are waiting to hear some good news. I can't wait until we all get our kids and can celebrate their homecoming.

God is perfect!

Abandonment Case

Lisa should be back in town from Ethiopia. She did email me a few times while visiting and gave me some updates on Yosef. He is apparently wearing a 24 month old outfit that is a little bit big on him. A little bit? He just turned 11 months last week. Great day! She did say he is having no problem eating. It sounds like he is more like his mother than he knows.

She sent a few photos of him while he was on the potty chair. This is the second time I have seen him on the potty chair. This last time he was on the potty chair, he was holding a baby doll in one hand and a photo book that I sent over in a care package. I sent some pics of me, family and his buddy Lyra. He was looking at the photo of Lyra. I wonder if he remembers her. I look forward to the day that they get to see each other again.

Lisa met with Shimiless on Friday and they called someone and it was determined that his case is going to be turned into an abandonment case now. A Hope staff has to get a police officer to write a report on Yosef and then it can be taken to the MOWA. We should get a court date once this happens. Prayer for a quick report to be written, please. :)

So glad that there is finally movement on his case and we aren't just standing still. I am also happy to hear that Shimiless is over in Ethiopia. Hoping he is making things happen for all of open cases out there with Hope and Nightlight.

God is perfect!

Spring Break...

Spring Break is coming to an end today. It has been so nice to do alot of nothing for the last week. The weather in Charlotte has been great the last couple of days. I have a tulip tree that is in full bloom right in front of my house. I don't think I have ever seen one of these before I moved here. It truly is beautiful. I love the Spring time, but with it comes the pain of allergies. I woke up this morning with a headache and sneezing. Noooooo! Taking some meds asap. Gotta love the South.

Yesterday my girl at Nightlight traveled over to Addis Ababa with a family that is picking up their child. It is my hopes that she can find out what is going on with Yosef's court date. My paper work for the POA arrived on Thursday over there. I am praying that it will bring Yosef to their attention so that he can get a court date. My family all joined together on Sat. morning to pray on his behalf for a court date to be assigned this week. I love my family!

I looked up what Yosef meant in Aharmic (sp?) and it said God is Perfect. So I think my new sign off will be just that. Instead of God is good, God is Perfect!