Some of you have asked whatever happened with Clinton's visit to Liberia... did she bring the subject of adoption up with President Sirleaf?
The long and short answer is "I don't know". I followed all the media I could find, and there was no mention of much of anything beyond her support for President Sirleaf and Liberia's growth and development. I think that if she brought adoption up, it would have happened in their closed-door meetings, and certainly is not important enough of a subject (to Americans in general) to be covered in our media.
So- hopefully, it was spoken of, and some of us families will see some movement forward in getting the laws passed and our children home.

Keep praying!

Secretary of State to visit Liberia

Sorry about the lack of posts, but that directly correlates to the lack of movement on the adoptions in Liberia.

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is on a tour of Africa right now to speak with the leaders of a handful of African nations. She will be in Liberia on August 13th (tomorrow) to speak with President Sirleaf. The adoption agencies and families affected by this adoption halt have been working hard to get requests to her that she address the adoption situation when there. We have requested that she ask that this issue be resolved and that children are allowed to move forward to be adopted. Two children have now died during this wait, and it cannot go on. I was told by my Congresswoman's office that they also have contacted the Department of State to request that Clinton take her opportunity to address adoption with President Sirleaf. They were told that the item is on her agenda, but she does not have to address all the topics they suggest, although she typically is good at covering the items they give her. It was encouraging to all of us to know that our letters and posts and calls have been heard enough to get the item on her list!

Please pray that God will cause this topic to be covered, and that he would cause the President's heart and mind to take action for his good purposes!

I am always encouraged by the times in the Bible when God moved people, even those who were opposed to him, to accomplish his will. God can cause, direct, set-up, depose, move, etc. people to do HIS will. That is what we're praying for. That God would use people who are otherwise uncaring of his ways, to advocate for his children in Liberia by advancing the cause that they be raised in families who love them instead of in institutional care.

OK- the rest of this post is more to do with "touchy-feely" stuff, so if you are here just to get the update as to what to pray about, then there's no need to read on! :)

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I've been quite "numb" recently, since coming to the realization that it could take another year or so to get Kelvin and Hawa home. I think I've gone into this mode to protect myself from feeling things that are difficult to feel. Truly, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" as the Bible says.
Last week I felt the Lord chastise me though... I've stopped looking for what he wants to teach me now, in the midst of this waiting and struggling. I have had my eyes on my circumstance instead of on Jesus. No wonder I have felt discouraged and a loss of heart.

Yesterday, the emotion came. Every once in a while, my logical brain can't stop the tide of feeling that I pen up, and so it washes over me. I feel all the things I don't want to feel; grief, loss, the what-ifs (what if the kids aren't allowed to come home... ever?), hopelessness. I fight against feeling all these things because I know they are not from the Lord. But sometimes, I have moments where I lose my strength (because my strength in those moments is not founded in God's power) and I lose heart.

I'm not saying it's not OK for me to grieve and feel sadness. That part is healthy; I need to feel that heaviness and burden because it brings me to my knees and causes me to recognize my need for God. What is not OK is for me to give in to the despair that God is not the author of. That's just what the enemy wants, he wants me hopeless and impotent, he wants me to give up trusting that God is in control and mighty to save.

As he so often does, God used Jason to encourage me and remind me of all the things my head and heart know to be truth. I'm so thankful for a husband who is rooted and grounded in God's ways, but who holds me and doesn't condemn me for struggling at times. What a man. :)

Anyway, the Lord always seems to meet me exactly where I'm at in those moments when I am trying desperately to think the right things in the face of discouragement. He used a portion of a verse that my cousin posted on her facebook page (go figure) to lift me out of my situation, and re-focus me. (Thank you Chrissy... seriously, it was a word from the Lord for me!) I looked up the verses in context, and found that the Lord had something to say to me!

Lamentations 3:20-26
"... my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope; because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

I mean, seriously, isn't God good? Right as hopelessness sneaks in, he tells me exactly why I can have hope! Right as I question if he's really gonna pull this through, he reminds me of his faithfulness! Right as the wait feels like it will be never-ending, he tells me that HE is enough, and that he is good to those who wait for him!

That is why I want to love and serve him. He is so real and he cares about me so fully!