Thank you to everyone that is praying and specifically those sending scriptures and words from the Lord. We have written these out and they are posted on our fridge so we can constantly be reminded that: THE LORD IS VICTORIOUS, and WE HAVE AN ARMY WITH US in you!
Today had it's own kind of emotional stress. Adoption/transitional counseling started for my girly. One of the major issues I have been concerned about is her awareness of what adoption actually is. As she has been in institutional care for the length of her life she has AND has an intellectual delay it seems the topic of first or birth families has never come up. And for the last 7 years she has been in an orphanage that hosts very few adoptions if any, so she hasn't seen her friends leave with their new families. As hard as I knew it would be, it was important for me to be apart of the conversation that I am indeed not her birth mother, but I am her absolute forever mommy...forever, and ever, and ever. We will tread the waters lightly in the coming weeks as counseling continues--careful to present facts at a level she understands and not to overwhelm her heart. All I can pray is: Holy Spirit, come. This is Your expertise.
On a lighter note, it has been unseasonably cool the last few days with torrential rain storms. With 30+ days of humidity and heat, we've actually been wearing pants and light jackets this week! Next week that all changes...110+degrees. In Celsius that is Melt Your Brains-degrees hot.
Day 34:
My girly was playing with markers and paper today and excitedly copied "MOM" for the first time! My sweet girl hasn't had been exposed to academics and knows only the letters in her name so we are starting from scratch...which means celebrating every victory from the very beginning. Today she copied MOM, drew some fruit and a happy face! Great job!!! She has so much potential locked up in that noggin of hers. I am so very excited to water it and see it blossom.
As you can imagine, we are emotionally exhausted and when we were notified of our 3 week delay early this week, our agency asked us to consider flying back to Seattle getting some R&R and coming back. My immediate response was NO, I'm not leaving my daughter. However, with good counsel we decided that while it would be best that we stay in Albania we do need to step away for a few days and let the Lord minister to our minds and bodies as we prepare for the month that lays beyond our mid-July court date. My girly has a pre-scheduled day camp next week that she has been looking forward to so the timing seemed perfect (also, it is predicted to be 110 degrees for several days next week--we are going to NEED a/c!) So this will be our last post for a few days as we retreat, regroup and refresh. I would ask that you continue to intercede for us! Our agency has an active plan to address some of the demands of the judge and will be working on those while we step away. We need the heart of this judge to drastically change (and to kneel before the Judge of all Judges). Thank you so very much for being on this journey with us. Te dua! (We love you!) We will update again soon...
My two crazy kids with their tongues sticking out!
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