How precious are the feet....

       On Friday all of our paperwork had officially arrived at USCIS. Now we are waiting on them to send us a fingerprint appointment. Fingerprinting is the next step in our journey. Please pray for everything in the next few weeks with our paperwork to go smoothly. Our goal is to have our Dossier submitted to Ethiopia before the rainy season (when courts close) which I think begins in September. We greatly appreciate your prayers.  Some exciting news! A sweet couple I know just received a referral of a little boy from Ethiopia. You can follow their journey to bring home their son in the next few months on her blog HERE!

       This past weekend we had a baby shower at my house for my friend Keri who is due to have her little girl in August. For some, the beginning of summer may signify "wedding season" but for me this year it signifies "baby season!" Got lots of sweet babies on the way!  It was so good to see all of my friends that I don't get to see much anymore. We all come from different walks of life and have journeyed through different seasons together. Our sweet friend Emily, had literally just flown in from her mission trip to India at 8 o'clock a.m. and made it to the shower at 10 a.m. - props to EM :))  I mentioned Emily and her trip because I had one of those "time freezes" moments when she was talking about her trip. I love those moments. A moment when all of a sudden everything in life is put into correct perspective and you realize what really matters in life. It's like time freezes and you realize that so much of the junk you worry about day in and day out means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Emily does not know this (other than my facebook post) but the Lord spoke to me while she was talking. I could not shake the emotion of that moment for days! Here is the story:
       Emily was recalling something that happened on her trip. Forgive me if the details are incorrect EM :) They were praying over people. Over families. A man was praying over a family who happened to be Christians. He said he felt something on his feet, but didn't want to be distracted so he just prayed even harder. I am assuming what was at his feet did not stop because he finally paid attention to it. He said that it was one of the family members - a woman. She was on her knees kissing his feet. At first he was afraid that she was worshipping him so he told her "no,no,no!" She looked up at him and made a statement to explain herself. The interpreter told the man that she was saying scripture, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:15; Isaiah 52:7 As Emily revealed what the woman said, she was crying and those of us who were listening had tears in our eyes. It was then that time froze. You see... we weren't crying because it was a "feel good story." We had tears in our eyes because deep in our hearts we believe the same thing the woman does. How BEAUTIFUL are the feet of those who bring good news. Their feet are beautiful because they worship a beautiful savior. That moment just felt "right." All of my being agreed with what was said and I loved to see the hearts of my friends revealing the same thing! Eternity is what matters. Revealing the gospel to other is what matters. Here in the States we take the Gospel for granted. People in other parts of the world are persecuted for being a Christian. To receive salvation in places like this means to receive persecution. Not just being made fun of, but true persecution. Pray for our brothers and sisters around the world. Pray for those meeting in underground churches. Pray for the Gospel to continue to be spread. Pray for the Lord to send out workers into the fields.
       I confess that sometimes I get lost in all the busyness of adoption - fundraising, blogging, paperwork, etc. Saturday reminded me of WHY we are adopting. We didn't decide to adopt because we thought it would be a "good thing to do," because someone inspired us (we knew no one), or because we attended a church who supports adoption (our church had NEVER mentioned adoption from the pulpit when we were called). We are adopting because we BELIEVE with everything in us that Jesus is the Christ. Salvation in a moment became our journey for a lifetime. Our relationship with HIM is the very reason we are adopting. This life is a temporary assignment. One day we will stand before God and recall all that we have done. Thinking about this moment drives me and keeps me awake at night. I do not want to stand empty handed before my King.

This verse was from my Quiet Time this morning :) -
"The law from Your mouth is more PRECIOUS to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold."
Psalm 119:72

More news!! Lee just called and said that we got approved for the "adoption grant" from Pinelake!! Yay!! what a huge blessing!!

Also, here are two fundraisers we are doing!

My sweet friend Courtney Anders painted this cross for me to auction! Auction begins now and lasts until Thursday at noon! Please facebook, text, or email your bid. I will keep you updated!
  

Here is another fundraiser we are doing! These bottles have been passed around to several families in the process of adopting! We get to use them now :) Basically we are passing out bottles to families and businesses and asking people to fill them with their loose change!  If you want a bottle or know someone who does just let me know! We have lots of them.

Thanks for journeying with us!!