[ggman]

Hello everyone--

Lately as we continue our wait in our adoption process I (like most others) have been experiencing impatience and really struggling with the waiting. This morning as I was having some quiet time with God, I started to read some verses on waiting and patience and they really spoke to me, so I thought I would share them with you.

Psalm 130:5
I wait for the Lord; my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope...

Isaiah 30:18
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait on him.

Acts 8:25
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Proverbs 19:11a
A man's wisdom gives him patience.

The list is by no means exhaustive... there are dozens more where those came from. But as I was reading all of these (and other verses) this morning, I was very convicted that God is really doing a work in my heart as I wait. In my mind, I think that getting our new baby is the point of this process, but I felt like God was saying to me, "that's not the whole point... the point RIGHT NOW is what I am doing in your heart." I know that God wants my devotion to Him and Him alone. Lately I have let my anxiousness and frustration almost become an idol-- it was something that was plauging my thoughts for large portions of the day.

I heard a pastor once say, "If you know how to worry, you know how to pray." So, I am now trying a new approach-- I am viewing my anxious and impatient thoughts as reminders to pray. I am going to pray for God's peace, I am going to pray for patience, I am going to pray for our baby and his/her birthparents... And when I am done with my prayer, I am going to move on with my life-- doing the things that God has for me to do that day.

I hope and I pray that this perspective will change my view of the "waiting game" and enrich my walk with God at the same time and I hope that it speaks to you too.

Thanks for listening,
G

[blessedbybug]

Thank you...

[foi]

God is always speaking to us. Thank you for listening and passing on to others. God grant us all the peace we need while we wait.

foi.

[jheald]

G,

I could really do well to remember that thought about trading worrying for praying. I'm a worrier by trade thanks to a father that taught me that characteristic quite well. Sigh.

Janet

[ggman]

Hey all-

After sharing with some ladies that I am close with, one friend sent me this poem that I love and I wanted to share with you...

Wait

By Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:

Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.


I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate..

And the Master so gently said, "Wait"


"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!"


Is your hand shortened?

Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.


My future and all to which I relate

Hangs in the balance,

And you tell me to Wait?


I'm needing a 'yes', a go ahead sign.

Or even a 'no', to which I'll resign.


You promised, dear Lord that if we believe,

We need but to ask,

And we shall receive. (Matt.7:7)


Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply.


Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,

And my Master replied again, "Wait."


"So, I'm waiting …for what?"


He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine..

And He tenderly said "I could give you a sign.


I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.

You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.


You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint.

You'd not know the power I give to the faint.


You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.


You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence are all you can see.


You'd never experience the fullness of my love

When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.


You would know that I give, and save, for a start,

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.


The glow of My comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight.


The depths that's beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinate God who makes what you have last.


You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.


Yes, you dearest dreams overnight would come true,

But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.


So, be silent, my child, and it time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.


And though oft My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still…

"Wait."

[caseymunn]

I can't tell you how desperately I needed that poem today. It was an incredible blessing. I've been posting on the adoption forums for over a year and today is the first time I've seen this Christian forum. God definitely knows what I needed!

We are in the process of adopting a daughter from South Korea and have been on the waiting list since October 7, 2005. At that time the wait for referral was 8-10 months. This week they extended the wait time to 10-15 months. We are completely devastated. I have been praying diligently for our daughter, whom we will name Olivia, to be home by Christmas of this year and now it seems doubtful that will happen.

Thank you so much for those words. Thanks also for the scriptures that began this thread. God is using each of you to speak to me in such a significant way today. God bless each of you!