She's Ours!

She's Ours!

Posted by Candace

So I received the call today right before David and I left on a 6 hour wine tour with the people on the trip we are on. I was very anxious about touring the vineyards, just because I am always anxious about anything I have never done before and "caves" had been mentioned :). As soon as Emily's number popped up, I knew. Tears came to my eyes before I answered the phone. Emily said, "Well, we got your letter." I lost it. Crying in a lobby full of people and trying to pull it together enough to talk to Emily, I could barely believe that the letter we had waited over 90 days for had finally come. And with it, a guarantee that Kate is our daughter!! She is our daughter! The enemy has no power over her life any longer! She will belong to us and we believe that she will also belong to Christ.

With this journey has come much waiting, but we have also battled. Since we got Kate's preapproval letter, the enemy has come against us with full forces. He started by trying to convince me that I was not a good mother. I almost believed him...HA! He has brought all kinds of fears, all kinds of worries, all kinds of lies about God not being big enough. Well, HEAR ME, DEVIL! You are finished! Christ is Lord of the Roberts' family and that now includes Katherine Hope. You stinkin' liar! You have to leave us alone. Yes, I am fighting mad! Maybe you don't believe in spiritual warfare, but we wrestle with principalities and powers....and we WIN! ALWAYS! Because greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world! The devil HATES adoption and he will do anything in his power to stop it. He hates the picture of Christ's love for us. Kate cannot deserve our love, she cannot earn it, and she cannot buy it. It is simply hers. It is hers because she exists. When she comes home, we have high hopes that she will accept our love. We cannot force her to, but if she does we will lavish it on her every day for the rest of her life. So it is with our God, He loves us in spite of our past and our present, and He hopes for a future for us that accepts that love wholeheartedly and without reserve. The enemy HATES this, so he does everything in his power to distract us, to shame us, to lift us up in human strength. He lies, he kills, he steals, he destroys...he wants us left abandoned on the steps of life at the mercy of his grip, but Christ has come to give us life and a home and a family and Kate is the picture of this. The enemy does not loose his grip easily, but he MUST loose his grip.

So I sit here tonight in front a warm fire in Napa Valley, CA completely amazed at our God's faithful love...it never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on us...NEVER! I am so excited to see how God will use Kate's story to move people out of darkness into His marvelous light and from the domain of death into life everlasting. Can you imagine what God has planned for the life of this little girl? Can you imagine what God will do even in our boys' lives as they watch the real life results of adoption? Isn't He even now doing something in your heart through the story of this little girl on the other side of the world? I know that you cannot imagine what He is doing even now in us!

"I sought the Lord and He delivered me from all my fears... He is on my right hand, I shall NOT be moved."

The Uniqueness of Adoption

The Uniqueness of Adoption

Posted by David Roberts

Once again, not doing so good tonight at sleep. Probably the long day planned tomorrow keeping me up. For some reason, could not stop thinking about Kate tonight. Figured I would post on all the recent thoughts and happenings in our adoption process.

For starters, it is a little strange that a few weeks ago, our Youth Pastor, Rich Griffith presented an entire Sunday message on adoption from a spiritual perspective. He has adopted a little boy from the foster system and it is an amazing story. While we do hear about being adopted by God… all the time in church, I cannot remember a message like that in 36 years of attending church on a weekly basis. The fact that it came in our first year at The Orchard and while we are finalizing Kate’s adoption was pretty amazing. Anyway, this was just another confirmation of what has been an amazing and long process over the past year+.

I have to admit that talking to some people about Kate is often frustrating. We tend to get one of two responses. First, we often get a confused look where the other person is clearly confused as to why we are doing this. The other response is one of telling us how great we are for rescuing this little girl (bla bla bla)… Sadly, the second response is closer to accurate with the roles reversed. In the end, I think it will be Kate rescuing us from ideas and shells we never knew existed.

I think one of the biggest revelations for me in this process is realizing the amazing spiritual side of the process. While I am a true Arminian at heart, I have to admit that this experience at least makes me uneasy around my Calvinist friends. Every time we think we have it figured out, something different happens and only later do we find out the “why”. Even now, we are asking ourselves almost daily why the last part of the process seems so delayed from what we expected. Without even thinking too much, God makes multiple reasons very clear to us. We are definitely starting to trust God more legitimately rather than in theory, but it is not always a romantic experience that makes it all better. There is not a day that goes by anymore that I don’t find myself thinking about life with Kate. Just the other day, I found myself wondering what we would do if something happened and we were denied the final adoption approvals. My mind raced to what amounts of money, time and energy would be expended to overturn such an event. It only confirmed in my mind what I would do if I lost Jordan or Nathan unexpectedly and how I would spend every waking moment of my life to get them back. The reasoning for this is that they are our own, just like Kate even though we have never laid eyes on her before and hold on to a precious few pictures watching her look into a camera in one image with a clear look asking why they have placed her on a brick platform and left her on her own while they must be taking a picture with a mechanical device that she has probably never seen. She looks so confused and almost has an attitude in her look. I like her already.

As time passes without her physically, I continue to daily wonder what life will be like. In theory, we could not be any more different. She is eastern and we are western. She is learning Mandarin Chinese and we speak English. She looks different and has black hair while we are all brown/blonde’s. We have all had parents while she has never known a parent in her life. The only thing I can think of similar is that we are all in the lower 1% of our respective populations in size. For that, Kate will fit right in from the start with all us little people. I check in around 5’6”. Candace cannot be much more than 5’ flat. The boys are uniquely small in their school classes and little Kate is in the lower 1% in sizing charts for Chinese girls. Seems pretty cool that God chose to give us a little girl that literally fits right in. While the differences are stark, there is not an ounce of disconnect with Kate even before she arrives. My mind races continually to how the next 15+ years will play out. Where will she go to school? What will it be like to watch her graduate high school and college? How will I ever walk her down the aisle and survive? What will I say to the little boy that wants to take her out on a date? What details will I describe for him of what I will do to him if he ever violates her in any conceivable fashion? Will I utilize the gun polishing technique in front of him while I am having that conversation? In what amazing way will she server God in her life? These questions and more consume my mind at times and I just want to get on a plane and start the new life as a family. Believe it or not, I keep asking Candace if we are going to do it again! She is not really up for a true discussion there, but we know there is no way we could rule it out. I have a sneaky feeling that somewhere long into the future, we will look back and wonder how much of life we would have missed had we never walked down this path the first time. Cannot wait for the trip very near and I keep rehearsing in my mind that moment in Guangdong when we go up on the platform and take her from a social worker for the first time realizing she is really ours, permanently. Probably not far off from how God feels every time he pulls a life up to a new level. I hope she looks at us like she did this piece of cake on her birthday...

Mother, May I? Confronting the Fear

Mother, May I? Confronting the Fear

Posted by Candace

Well, Kate's approval letter has still not shown up and since this week the government offices are closed for the Chinese New Year, the soonest we can hope is Monday morning. I would have thought by now that I would be fully and completely impatient, but I can't help but be sure that God is using this time to prepare us for our daughter and prepare me for a trip to China.

Ever since I can remember, fear has had a place in my life. I know part of the reason is probably my sensitivity and my inner makeup, but a good bit of it is because I have allowed it to... I have run away from it to any comfort from anywhere that I could find and when I got comfortable, I told myself that the comfortable place was the only safe place. Lately God has brought me to a place where I have been forced to confront fear. I first had to confess it as sin... it is sin...whatever is not of faith is sin and the root of my fear is not trusting God. Not trusting that He is enough...that He can sustain me and empower me in every particular moment of my life.

When God started working the promise of adoption into our lives, I was thrilled, but also scared to death. The closer China got, the more sure I was that I would stay home and let David go to the other side of the world and get Kate. My heart was broken at the thought of missing the moments in my daughters homeland, but the fear had a strong grip and wouldn't let go despite my grief. I began to ask God to perform a miracle (okay, I didn't exactly ask with gusto...it was more of a timid, "I think You have told me to stay home, but if you haven't let me know.")...to allow me and to help me to have the courage to go to China. Little did I know that people who loved me, like my father-in-law and his wife, were praying the exact same prayer...led of the Holy Spirit to ask on my behalf. I tear up as I write this, because my Daddy in heaven is so gracious to me.

In answer to the prayers, God recently started me on a journey...no, pretty much forced me on a journey three months ago that has been a confrontation of one fear after another. He first reminded me that fear will not ever go away completely. It is the weapon the enemy uses to come against us and one of the only tools that he has once we are ransomed from his captivity by our Savior. But I have defenses and weapons that have overcome the world and every time I do not use them, fear wins the battle and becomes more powerful in my life. He has been working those weapons into my inner being...showing me how He empowers me for every task, each moment of my day...showing me that He loves me beyond comprehension and has my best interests at heart in every moment of life...showing me that true peace and joy ONLY come from intimacy and relationship with Him. He has been daily walking me down a path of victory over the fear that has kept me from freely serving Him.

I cannot say that I would have willingly chose what God is doing in me. It is at times perilous and risky and even dark and it goes against everything I have trained myself to protect. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a SAFE person. I don't take risks... I like things like 1+1=2...definite things, comfortable things... so taking these steps with God is like learning to walk for the first time. Our pastor preached recently on courage and He said that God wants us to have courage to take the next step... we will never be "Marine" Christians if we don't first take the first steps bootcamp. God doesn't save us and then say "Okay, now go out there and change the world. And for heaven sake's don't mess up, cause I'm counting on you." Alot of us think that is what He says, but instead He says "Okay, now watch this... Didn't that build your faith?...now this time you do it with Me. That was a great try, let's do it again. Now, that wasn't even a try. I know you can do better then that. I created you to do better. Let's try it again." Like a loving Father, He teaches us and shows us how to walk out the plan and purpose for our lives, not so that we can help Him get this crazy world under control, but because it is only in that place with Him...in His perfect Will... that we have fellowship with God, the fellowship from the Garden before sin entered the picture, the fellowship that He craves and that He created us to crave. He doesn't put the world on our shoulders, He wants to put us on His shoulders so that He can carry His message through us to the world. We don't ever go alone and if we do, our work will not stand...it will be burned up. I can't tell you how much work I have seen go up in flames lately as He shows me how to walk by faith and not by sight. So much of my life lived in my own power, thinking I could do enough to stand before God and hear "Well done, good and faithful servant." Now I realize finding my rest in Him is the key to hearing those precious words.

The other day our case manager called me because God had placed it me on her heart for 2 weeks and told her to discuss fear with me. The conversation was perfect timing. I had just told the Lord that day that I was ready for the LOA... I was ready to move forward in whatever He decided for me about China. Emily reminded me of the story of Gideon and how before his battle with the Philistines the many soldiers were preparing themselves. God told Gideon to tell anyone who was afraid to go home. Many of those soldiers left and went home...after all home is comfortable...home is predictable...home is safe. But the ones who didn't go home, they got to see God perform mighty miracles in that battle and they went forward changed and victorious. Just as Emily said that God spoke to her, I feel like He said the exact same thing to me, "You can stay home, but you will miss seeing a magnificent victory." I have stayed home all my life... I can't even imagine the things I have missed. I am ready to walk with God...step by step...

Lately I have felt as if my life with God is a game of "Mother, May I?" He says, "Candace, I want you to take one baby step forward." and I say, "Okay, God, I am trusting You to empower me with this step." and then I take it and He says, "Okay, Candace, now I want you to take one medium size step forward." and I say, "Are you sure this is what You want me to do, God? Because if You are not with me I am screwed and I really don't want to get stuck somewhere or lost or..." He always interrupts me "Candace, take the step. I am with you. I never leave you or forsake you. You are safe with Me ALWAYS." So I take it... and now guess what He says... "Candace, I want you to take one giant leap forward." I am still in the midst of forming my response to Him.

Will you pray for me? Will you pray that courage will rise up within me and I will have encouragement on all sides? I believe God is asking me to trust Him and go to China and I know that not all the steps will be overly difficult, but that first step, man, it feels like walking off a cliff...and I need courage.

Thank you for your prayers and for your support. When Kate comes home God's glory will be shown in so many ways and she will never be the only one who is adopted in this family. We are all orphans until He picks us up, cleans us off, and gives us freely everything that belongs to Him. But then, there is something wrong if we still act like or feel like an orphan. We aren't orphans any more...we are sons and daughters of God. We say "Father, may I?" and He responds, "Yes, you may!"

You Get an "A"! :)

You Get an "A"! :)

Posted by Candace

So I really don't have anything new to report, which is why I have put off writing. We are still waiting on the elusive LOA from China. Being involved in international affairs is starting to stink! :) I just keep reminding myself that we will go get Kate in God's perfect timing...not a moment sooner and not a moment later. It is difficult to watch the days pass and realize that every day, she gets a little older and spends another night without a Mommy and Daddy to tuck her into bed. I am so glad that it seems her orphanage takes great care of the children and the pictures I received from her birthday showed beautiful smiling women who looked to really love the children. I rest in the fact that she is in God's care.

Waiting is hard, but with each day that passes, I am sure beyond a doubt, that God is preparing us. He is working so strongly in our family right now. In David and I, as individuals, and in our unit as a whole. He is working so definitely that I have actually been afraid to pray that this letter would hurry. We need to fully be prepared to add this precious child to our family. I need to stop running from the uncomfortable and I need to confront issues in my life that have been easily hidden.

So as a recovering performance driven, approval addict. I would like to share an excerpt from a great book I read recently called "Jesus + Nothing = Everything". This would not be my usual choice since it was written by a Presbyterian :)... no offense to all the Presbyterians out there, but I don't consider myself a sold out "Calvinist" so I usually stick to "Armenian" reading material. :)But no doubt, God led me to this book and it has worked some healing in me. I want to share it with someone else... perhaps you...especially anyone trying miserably to measure up or be perfect in any area of life. This touched my heart greatly...

"To close this book, let me retell a story that my friend, Steve Brown, tells that illustrates well how God deals with us according to the finished work of Christ. He says that one time his daughter, Robin, found herself in a very difficult English literature course that she desperately wanted to get out of. She sat there on her first day and thought, 'If I don't transfer out of this class, I'm going to fail. The other people are much smarter than me. I can't do this.' She came home with tears in her eyes and begged her dad to help her get out of the class so she could take a regular English course. Steve said, 'Of course.' So the next Day he took her down to the school, and they went to the head of the English department, who was a Jewish woman and a great teacher. Steve remembers the event in these words...

"She (the head of the English department) looked up and saw me standing there by my daughter and could tell that Robin was about to cry. There were some students standing around and, because the teacher didn't want Robin to be embarrassed, she dismissed the students. As soon as the students left and the door was closed, Robin began to cry. I said ' I am here to get my daughter out of her English class. It's too difficult for her. The problem with my daughter is that she's too conscientious. So, can you put her into a regular English class?' The teacher said, 'Mr. Brown, I understand. Can I talk to Robin for a minute?' I said, 'Sure'. She said, 'Robin, I know how you feel. What if I promised to give you an 'A' no matter what you did in class? If I gave you an 'A' before you even started, would you be willing to take the class?' My daughter is not dumb! She started sniffling and said, 'Well, I think I could do that.' The teacher said, 'I'm going to give you an 'A' in the class. You already have an 'A', so now you can go to class.'"

"Later the teacher explained to Steve what she had done. She explained how she took away the threat of a bad grade so that Robin could learn the actual English literature. Robin ended up making straight 'A's on her own in that class."

"That's how God deals with us. Because of Christ's finished work, Christians already have an 'A'. The threat of failure, judgment, and condemnation has been removed. We're in-forever! Nothing we do will make our grade worse. In this life, by His death, and with His resurrection, Christ our substitute secured for us the everything, the 'A', that we come into this world longing for and yet are incapable of securing for ourselves. All the pardon, the approval, the purpose, the freedom, the rescue, the meaning, the righteousness, the cleansing, the significance, the worth, and the affection we crave and need are already ours in Christ. We don't need to add anything to it. The operative power that makes you a Christian is the same operative power that keeps you a Christian: the unconditional, unqualified, undeserved, unrestrained grace of God in the completed work of Christ."

"As I said, the banner under which Christians live reads, 'It is finished'. So relax, and rejoice. Jesus plus nothing equals everything; everything minus Jesus equals nothing. You're free!"


This short passage of this book, brought a new understanding to my life. Since I am naturally hard on myself and used to beat me to a pulp on a regular basis, I find myself saying "What am I getting so upset about? I already have an 'A'." Christ did a whole lot on that cross and we often cheapen it by trying to add our works to it. You might think that this way of viewing things might make Christians lazy or more apt to sin... I disagree... I would give my life for this kind of freedom... I will be grateful for it EVERY day because I know how it is to be in bondage to measuring up...to trying to be perfect...to keeping everyone happy. And the more a Christian realizes what Christ actually accomplished on that cross to free us from sin, the less there is ANY desire to even mess with thoughts of sin. Why would you, when you can have all this amazing fruit and freedom apart from it? When our day is lived moment by moment, in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, our life becomes...well, it become LIFE! To know that when we accept Him and He makes His home in us, we automatically get an 'A', frees us from judgement and condemnation and people pleasing and criticalness, etc. etc. We are free!

I am so excited to be on my way to freedom. I know I still have a long way to go, but I am sooo very thankful that He leads me on this journey every step of the way and that He has promised to complete the work.

I get an 'A'! Yay!

Season of Celebration!

Season of Celebration!

Posted by Candace

The holidays have arrived! Seems they come quicker every year, and this year I just don't feel prepared. I'm so tired of going through the motions...of trying to live up to the hype. Don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving... I love Christmas... I love all the things that come along with them. What I don't love is the distraction and expectation. I haven't felt that great lately...haven't really felt like bringing out the mistletoe or decking the halls or planning to attend 15 Christmas events. I haven't felt any particular holiday cheer or been in the mood to play carols or anything holly jolly like that, I don't know why. But because at this time of year there is an expectation for everyone to be "merry and bright", I have felt almost wrong in not at least putting on the face of "Christmas spirit". "What is wrong with you?" I ask myself continually and really have begun to worry. But today I remembered... all this stuff is just fluff. Sometimes we enjoy the fluff, but it isn't necessary for the celebration. The real joy is in the reason that we celebrate. Are we celebrating because we get to do all kinds of Christmasy things and feel warm fuzzies, or is it because a Savior was born 2000 years ago bringing grace to a world desperately needing it?

Let's say it's your birthday and every year on your birthday you throw the most fabulous party for anyone who wants to come. And let's say that, at first, only the people closest to you attend, and they give you gifts and sing you songs and make you feel like the most loved person on earth. As the years go on, people who don't even know you hear about your parties and they start coming cause there is free food and cake and lots of party spirit. They enjoy all you have to offer, but they could care less if you are there or not. After a couple of years of just attending, the people who don't know you begin to come up with new ways to make the party better and more fun. They start to add games and decorations and songs that even your closest friends enjoy. As the years pass, a good many people forget it is even your birthday. Some of the people grumble and complain that an event as great as this shouldn't even be about you. Even some of your closest friends are so distracted with all the activity and stuff, that besides a quick glance every now and then, they overlook you. It is rare that you even hear "Happy Birthday" any more, let alone "Thank you for such a wonderful party" or "Gosh, we love you so much".

I really think that God has allowed me to feel "normal" during this year's season, so that I can get back to what this is really all about. I think He is looking for some people who will breath through this time of celebration and enjoy Him most. People who will allow Him to bless them with little random gifts of love, instead of struggling to keep up with expectations. People who will rest...yes, I dare say "rest"...as they keep their focus on Him and celebrating who He is.

As I was driving along this morning, the thought that brought holiday joy to my heart was "Jesus, you're my favorite!" Christmas is a celebration of a Savior that came when we needed saving. A Savior that still offers His grace and His friendship to anyone willing to lay down all the other stuff and say "Yes" to Him. Nothing is wrong with the celebration! But the celebration, itself, is not what brings the true joy. We seek and seek that joy in all the hype and when it's all over, we feel let down. We go about the year thinking "Next year we will do it bigger and better" or even "Next year we will do it smaller and simpler". We have missed the entire point when we "do", instead of "be". Be a Christ follower this season. Rest, give, love, and celebrate with a heart focused on the enormity of what happened one night long ago. "Glory to God in the highest... and on earth, PEACE, goodwill toward men. A Savior has been born to you this day...Emmanuel, Christ the Lord."

Meet Katherine Hope Roberts...

Meet Katherine Hope Roberts...

Posted by Candace

Very long awaited and still waiting for her parents to come get her...but here she is in all her glory :). Kate will be 2 years old on Dec. 2nd. She is completely healthy and from what we can tell only has some small orthopedic issues. She is waiting for us in an orphanage in Guangdong, China. We are PREAPPROVED TO ADOPT HER.

I can't tell you how excited we are and were to meet her! We got the call on November 7th, but we had to wait to share her with you all until we had preapproval from China. She is absolutely perfect in our eyes and we can't wait to bring her home. We now have to wait for our Letter of Acceptance which could take anywhere from 2-3 months, then we will have to be issued a date with the US embassy in China and also travel approval, so it will be at least March before we are able to go get her. Lots more difficult waiting, but at least now we know exactly what we are waiting for!

I know you all will be so thrilled along with us. Many people have already told us that we are doing wonderful thing by rescuing this little girl from a abandonment. Kate will, without a doubt, be unfathomably treasured by our family and hopefully one day by our society, but she will also deal with a great amount of grief in the process. This little girl was left on the steps of a government building as an infant by her parents because, for whatever reason, they could not keep her. We will probably never meet these people or be able to thank them for such an amazing gift and neither will she. She will never know the woman who carried her for 9 months and chose to give her life. She will wonder, even though we will teach her of God's plan from the beginning for her to be our daughter, what her parents look like, sound like, and why they left her. How could a little girl not? Even though she has been raised in an orphanage and we all know how much better off she will be here, she will not come to this brand new place thanking us for saving her... she will grieve! We are tearing her away from her caregivers, from the only home she has ever known, from her country and culture and language... and yes, we do it for her own good, but she will not realize that for many years. She may also continually question her permanancy in our home. My heart breaks for her even now, because our love alone will not fill the void in her little heart. It will take time and a great big God to help us all adjust. And we are so incredibly thankful that we will have both when Kate finally comes home forever.

God's perfect plan is for children to be raised, loved, and cherished by their birth parents. When that doesn't happen in this imperfect world, He has made a way. He's really good at making a way. Adoption is a perfect picture of our relationship with our God. Picking us up, just because... cleaning us up, caring for us, and giving us a forever home. He protects us and loves us, in spite of our inability to be grateful enough or to earn it. We are blown away by this opportunity to follow in His footsteps.

Please continue to pray for us and for our sweet Katherine Hope gift! How GREAT is our GOD!!

God sees.

God sees.

Posted by Candace

So I thought my next post would be one introducing Katherine Hope to you, but a few delays later I am writing just because the knots must come out some way. The matching list that was supposed to come out on the 20th was delayed until Nov. 1st. which was last night in China. Alas, it still has not come out, we have not been matched yet, and so goes what I am told is normal in the adoption process. There are no guarantees. There are no adoption C-sections. The entire process must have its way and there isn't anything we can do to change that.

Needless to say, I have spent the last 3 days vascillating between excitement and anxiety. David, too, has felt the pressure of waiting. At random moments we find ourselves looking at each other and asking "Are you ready?" As if that will hurry things up. Waiting is hard! If you have ever experienced waiting for a child to come into your world, the difficulty of patience is tripled. In both my pregnancies the last week before labor was the most difficult. Not knowing when the contractions would begin, but knowing it could be any moment... I feel that exact way right now. That feeling of just enough weariness to make you want to cry, but just enough hope to keep the tears from coming.

I had to call our case worker this morning, so I could at least move on with the day and think of something else. Emily is so gracious to us and understands every bit of this having gone through it twice herself. She says that she doesn't know what is going on with the list... she is going to call some people a little bit later in the day and find out. My temptation is to doubt, to worry, to be discouraged, but I kinda got an email from God this morning. Strange thing to say, I know, but let me explain. David and I waited up last night for news and disappointment sank in when we went to bed without any. We checked our phones a couple of times during the night and still nothing. I have an app on my phone that gives me a random daily Bible verse. It changes to a new one at midnight and alerts me. I didn't look at it last night because I was so focused on whether I had gotten a phone call or an email, but this morning when I looked at it, the verse jumped out at me. "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry 'Abba, Father!'" Romans 8:15. What??? There are only a few verses in the entire Bible that have the word "adoption" in them. Speechless!

God sees... He sees us here waiting breathlessly for our daughter. He sees my dear friend who just found out she has a mass in her breast as she waits for news about her health. He sees my loved one who has been devastated by her spouse as she waits to see what will play out in her marriage. He sees my husband who is wading through company changes as he waits for others to make decisions that he has no control over. And He sees you...wherever you are, whatever you are waiting for, God sees you. And He waits too... He waits for you to care, He waits for you to believe, He waits for you to follow... He is waiting every day for sons and daughters. I have no words to describe a God such as this. A God who would message me this morning just to say "I see you."

So we may meet our daughter today... or we may meet her next month. Waiting is still hard, but He is here... He's right here beside us...and because I know and believe that, I can face the moments, the hours, the days of waiting.