Malachi Update

We were hoping to be in Uganda about now, but we are still waiting. Long story short, we are waiting for a paperwork issue to be cleared up on the Ugandan side of things that we expect will take another couple of weeks. After the paperwork is cleared, we can finally file for court and hopefully be on an airplane to Uganda within a month or so of filing.

It is so hard to wait and frustrating to have delay after delay - there has been a delay in literally EVERY single step of our adoption process thus far! It has been a challenging lesson in trusting in God's sovereignty and believing that He has the perfect time chosen for our little boy to come home. I keep reminding myself that God created our little boy and loves him even more than we do . . . but it is so hard to be patient when your son is on the other side of the world and you can't get to him!

We found out recently that Malachi is younger than we originally were told. We were told back in October that they thought he was born in February, but the date they ended up estimating for him and putting on his birth certificate is in April! So Lord willing, we will get to celebrate his 1st birthday with him either in Uganda or back home!:)

Please be praying (a)for the paperwork issue to be cleared up so that we can file for court, and (b)that we will be issued a court date very quickly once we are filed!

Celebrating Malachi!

A couple of weekends ago, some of my friends completely surprised me with a baby shower for Malachi. Special friends from all diferent parts of my life and from the different places that Scott and I have lived were there, and several even drove from a couple of hours away to come celebrate and anticipate our new son with me. Adoption has been a much more difficult and emotional journey than I expected, and the love, support, and prayers of our wonderful group of friends has meant so much to us.

Diaper Cake:)

A beautiful cake my friend Kelly made (that's right - she MADE it!)

Wonderful friends

Lessons From Parenting

One of the things I have loved about becoming a parent is that it gives me a beautiful and clearer glimpse into the heart of God as a Father. Though on a much smaller level, I get to experience what it is like to have a child that I dearly love. When my son, in his ignorance and inability to see the bigger picture that I can see, wants to run out into the street or climb the stairs alone or eat something hot or do something else that I know is not in his best interest, I reach out in love and prevent him from doing or getting what he wants, even as he pitches a fit and cries for his own way and doesn’t understand why I am withholding something from him that he perceives as good. . . Sound familiar?



How many times do we question God for His timing or for withholding something “good” from us, only to see later that what we had perceived as good was not good for us afterall? We get worried and anxious instead of trusing in the sovereignty of our God.

When my son needs to be disciplined, or when I have to let him learn a lesson the “hard way” by experiencing the consequences of making a bad choice, I so clearly see how discipline or allowing something bad to happen in a person’s life is not an indication of a lack of love, but just the opposite. Parenting children is such a gift in that it allows us to experience just a tiny bit of the Father’s heart as he guides our hearts and instructs us, His beloved children.

This parenting experience has affected me most in how I pray and in my commitment to seek a relationship with Christ. When Javen was just a couple months old, I was rocking him in his room and thinking about God’s heart as a parent, and a thought occurred to me:
How would I feel if my child did everything I asked him to do, tried to please me as much as he could, and even told people about how much he loved me . . . but rarely or never spent time talking to me and didn’t desire or cultivate a relationship with me?. . .
. . . or what if he spent 20 minutes talking to me in the morning and then checked me off his list and ignored me for the rest of the day? . . .
. . . or if he only spoke to me when he needed something from me?

There have been plenty of times in my life – and still are way too many days – when I know I grieve the heart of my Father by treating my relationship with Him like that, and I am so grateful first, for His mercy and grace toward me in those times, and second, that being a parent has given me the very humbling opportunity to view myself a little bit more as God must view me and to get a clearer and better picture of the loving kindness of my Heavenly Father.

Friends who are parents or who spend a lot of time with children – how has parenting drawn you closer to God or affected your perspective?