SUBMITTED!!!

So, yesterday, we were officially submitted!  Our completed dossier (big ol' expensive stack of paperwork, outlining our entire life as a family) is in the hands of the government officials of the country our newbie is from.  Yesterday is the beginning of the 40 day trial, the 40 days of waiting....40 days and counting.

It's not a literal 40 days, but an estimate of our wait.  But that "40 day" estimate really set into my mind and I pondered it.  In the Word of God, 40 is the number God uses as the length of time, whether it be days and nights or years, to set that person on a journey of trial and testing and probation (I'll come back to that word in a minute). Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. (Matthew 4) Satan used three different ploys to tempt Him: physical drive (hunger in this instance), pride, and .  All of these ploys are human issues, not God issues, so Satan was tempting the human part of Jesus.  Satan even has the gall to attempt to use God's own Word against Him! Satan quotes from Psalm 91, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down [from the pinnacle of the temple he had led Jesus to], for it is written "He will command His angels concerning you," and "On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." (Psalm 91:11,12)   This is a psalm about trusting God to take care of us, and satan contorts the words as a means to test God and cast doubt on God's faithfulness.  Satan also says in every temptation "IF you are the Son of God.."  IF IF IF.

I am not a patient person.  There, I said it.  I can be patient with my kids, but I don't like to wait for other people to get things done.  Guess what?  The country that our little one is from is notorious for taking their sweet time.  There is no sense of urgency with these people!  My child is wasting away in some orphanage and I have to wait on red tape?!  NOT my forte!  This is one of several reasons why we chose not to hire an agency -- why pay more money to wait on someone else to do what I can do myself much quicker and with the same precision?!   I thought the home study wait was going to be the death of me!  (It actually held up everything else, I had every other document finished before we got our home study report back!)

Part of the 40 day wait is a 20-business-day wait for their government to run interpol.  They take EVERY SINGLE LAST MINUTE to run interpol.  Seriously, let me run it myself.  I will send it in for you!  But that's not possible.

So, back to the word "probation".  I found this definition of "probation" and liked it:  "A process of  testing or observing the character or abilities of a person."  This is definitely testing my abilities to wait and rely on God to get things done in HIS time!

40 days is a looooong time when you're waiting on something like rescuing someone you love so much from somewhere you know they are not getting what they need.  40 days seems like not long enough to find the $10K to finish off our adoption and GO!

We need 6 $40 donations every day for these 40 days + 10 more, if we are going to meet our goal!  If you would like to make a donation you can find us at Grace Haven Ministry's website, and we are also featured at Project Hopeful, too!

God bless!!