~Lily Grace~

I praise the name of Jesus!  I shout it from the rooftops that my God is a God of divine purpose.  It is all for His glory we worship Him.  He has found favour with us and is faithful.  May this story be a testimony of His goodness.  We aren't good enough.  We never will be!  But with faith we can come humbly before His throne and ask and He will listen.  I don't feel like I deserve this privilege to mother this beautiful girl.  The reality is it's nothing that we did, but God's ultimate favour and the story He is unfolding through Lily Grace.  I wake up every morning with the sweetest treasure at my bedside.  The gentle whisper of 'mommy' that I have waited for 2 years to hear.  Two years of praying, fighting, hoping and dreaming.  There came a time where my hopes faded to dreams and my dreams faded to numbness.  I wondered if God still heard the prayers from my rooftop.  The alter that I fell upon over and over as I asked "why God, when God?"  God took me on a journey of trusting Him and praising Him through the pain that I felt.  Where I recognized that everything is His.
We brought Lily home August 30th.  It was like she had been waiting her life to come home.  We sat anxiously in the CNA office that we frequented many times with lots of questions and little answers.  That Tuesday was different.  It was filled with much anticipation and excitement that felt surreal. We finally had an answer and it was YES!
 

paper signing

 

adventures at the zoo

It has been 21 days since I've seen my children, 11 days since I have seen my husband and 12 days since Lily has come home.  And it is really just the beginning.  Since Lily doesn't have papers to travel yet, Matt went on home to work for 2 months with the intent to apply for an unpaid adoption leave from the DSBN.  Our kids are attending school back in Canada for the time until they return with Matt.  I know there has been a lot of confusion with our family status but everything is complicated and a process so we prayerfully walk one step at a time trusting God through every decision.   There are days that I wonder how I am going to do this and then I remember that God is always with me and it's in His strength that all things are possible.  The truth is I can't do this on my own.  Being a single mom to a 3 yr old in Canada would be hard enough let alone here in Guatemala. I am very quickly remembering what it takes to raise a 3 yr old.  The other day I turned around for 2 minutes and Lily fed an almost entire pizza to our dog.  Needless to say, Lily is our dog's best friend and Samson will let her ride on his back like a horse.  Part of our time has been spent   ministering to the local widows and the other day I watched Lily's tiny hand reach up on top of Lucilla's head as she laid her hand upon her to pray.  I am so very thankful to Shadow of His Wings Orphanage for the biblical teaching and the inpouring of the Holy Spirit and for her house parents that taught her to pray.

I was home in Canada for a very short visit.  We were celebrating my parents 40th wedding anniversary and I had the honour to preach for the first time at church.  I love how God shows up.  My family was all gathered on the rocks of Port Elgin beach for a picture and my son Max came running over to me and said "mom look what I found.."  It was a rock that had the word HOPE written in bold red letters.  Hope that the sacrificed Lamb promises.  Hope that even the rocks shout out.  God reached out and spoke to me that day.  That He is the Hope of this world and that with faith in Him, mountains will move! I often don't have the words to describe the feelings of what I have experienced.  I love what Pastor Isaac Wimberley shared in "Jesus is Forever"
"So it's not just words that I proclaim, for my words point to The Word and The Word has a name.
Hope has a name
Joy has a name
Peace has a name
Love has a name and that name is Jesus Christ!
Praise His name forever!