Learning to Trust

Our paperwork has now been in Colombia for two months. We've known all along that this waiting period would be around six months (plus or minus a couple of months). Even so, the waiting has been more trying than we've thought. We had hoped to hear by now that we'd been accepted by FANA and officially put on their waiting list. Other FANA couples have assured us there's nothing to worry about, as families aren't always immediately informed once they've been accepted. We can only hope that no news is good news.

Deep down I know that God holds us in His hands and that His plans for us are bigger and better than we could ever imagine, and yet I find trust to be a daily struggle. I believe God has placed this "waiting time" upon us to use for good. Just when I've let all of the negative "what ifs" creep into my head, He leaves me subtle reminders of His faithfulness.

A few weeks ago one of our Compassion children wrote to us, and as she always does, closed her letter with a Bible verse. Her verse this time was, "For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"--Jeremiah 29:11-13.

On that day, there was nothing I needed to hear more than those words. Moreover, when I opened my Bible to read those words of comfort, I found a devotional underneath them titled, "Waiting." The line that has resonated with me is this, "Waiting isn't just the thing we do until we get what we're hoping for; it's a critical part of the process of becoming what we hope for." What Ryan and I most hope for is to be parents who are devoted servants of God. May God encourage us to use this time to become just that.