Drum Roll Please!!!

Malachi 1:1-8,13-14

"'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am the Father, where is the honor due me? If I am a Master, where is the respect due me?' says the Lord Almighty 'It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. But you ask, 'How have I shown contempt for your name?' 'You placed defiled food on my altar.' .....'When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?' says the Lord Almighty." ........"When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands? Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord."

This passage hit home with me. What sacrifices have I offered the Lord lately? I'll name a few:

-bitterness

-anger

-questions

-sadness

-anxiety

-worry

I could go on and on. Now, if President Bush was coming to my house for dinner, what would I offer him? I'm sure that I would put on my fanciest outfit. I would wear make-up, cook dinner, the house would be immaculate, and I would smile a whole lot. I would definitely be on my best behavior!

OUCH! It hurts to admit that! Who's more important in my life? President Bush or God Almighty? Actions speak louder than words, right?!

In these verses, God is saying, "Do not offer Me a crippled animal when you have one without blemishes to sacrifice!" He only wants our best! How dare I offer Him less than that. Having said that, God is also my best Friend. He wants my honesty too. He knows when I am down or sad. He knows that I am weary and anxious. He does not expect me to pretend in front of Him. However, if I say that I trust Him fully and I truly want His will for my life, I HAVE to act like it! And I haven't been. Not even close.

My question? How do you bring God your very best when you are not at your very best?

Here is my prayer.

Father, forgive me for the sacrifices that I have brought You. They are damaged and blemished. They do not please You. I need Your help in trusting You. I am sad and very tired. In my heart I know that You are in control of ALL things. No amount of worrying, crying and sadness will change that. I want to offer You my best. I want You to carry me throughout each day and use me as Your vessel. All things happen in Your time. Help me to trust You and know that You will bring Your child home to me when the time is right. Until then, give me Your peace. The kind that passes ALL understanding. I have no strength left. Fill me with Yours! Thank You for loving me in spite of me. Thank You for Jesus. I love You.

Amen.

Little Drummer Boy!

Who said your feet have to touch the ground before you can play the drums??!! Caden is our worship leader's son--What talent! Wonder what he'll do when he grows up!

Tuesday March 3, 2007

Still no pics or health report. The day is not over though. I'm still looking EVERY FIVE MINUTES for something.

I went to lunch today with a friend and now I am home with Scott. He is off the rest of the week with me! YIPPEE! I am excited about that. This will be our first official break together since he went to work for the school district. We do not have plans or anything. Just to be lazy. We have free movie tickets, so we'll probably catch a movie tomorrow. We disagree on which one, so I'll let you know how that turns out. We have completely different views as to what's funny!!

I will admit that the bright spot of my day, the one thing that has kept me in semi-good spirits is the fact that AMERICAN IDOL comes on tonight!! I know, that's pitiful! I love that show. I become engrossed in it. So, at 8:00 tonight you know where I'll be! I hope every one's having a good day. I will look forward to posting JP's pics SOON!! <><

Monday April 2, 2007

My caseworker received the rest of the pics today and the health report. I have not gotten them yet, but I will post them as soon as I have them!

She has not heard from our lawyer. She plans on contacting him Friday. At that point our case will have been back in for two weeks. So, hopefully we'll get some sort of update then. We'll see!

HAPPY EASTER, JP!

I found this picture on the orphanage website! How cute is my boy???? He's the cutest one there! He always looks so happy. He was the only baby who was smiling for the picture. Hurry home, baby, I miss you! (I know, I know we have to fix the tongue!hehe)

Dreams

I have been having the worst dreams this past week. I know why I am having them, but I do not know how to make them stop. I am waking up really upset and unable to fall back asleep.

In one of them, I am here in South Carolina and a bus from Guatemala follows me around. The bus is carrying all the kids from the orphanage in it. Every hour or so it pulls over and they "allow" me to have JP for about 10 minutes. When 10 minutes is up they make me give him back. It replays over and over again.

In the other dream I am in Guatemala on a horse and carriage ride. Scott and I have JP and we are so happy. The carriage is carrying us to the airport in Guatemala City only they cannot get there because of the men with machine guns. They are trying to take JP from me so that I cannot leave the country with him.

I know these sound horrible and believe me they are!! It's not like I lie in bed and think of him before I fall asleep. I am almost ALWAYS reading a book. Hopefully they will stop soon. I am praying that they will. It's really shaking me up! They are so real while they are going on and it's hard to get over them. Usually by the time I fall back asleep the alarm goes off! YUK! I'm not a morning person anyway!

Oh well, I'll let you guys know what happens! I emailed my caseworker several times this past week. I didn't hear back from her. That is not normal, so maybe she was not in the office. I am hoping to hear from her tomorrow (Monday.) It's time for more pictures. I hope they are Easter ones! We are also hoping to hear from PGN this week---THAT WE'RE OUT! Mother's Day will be here before we know it, and I HAVE to have him here before then!

Everyone have a great Monday and I will post again soon! <><