Ephesians 1 - A verse for our child

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

the cat's out of the bag - we're adopting!

The cat's out of the bag so to speak, and Jordy and I are planning an adoption! It's one long and scary process that's for sure, so although I am excited I'm also really working on trying to keep my emotions in check. Adoption is not like being pregnant, although both involve waiting and anticipation, our 'paper pregnancy' will take a whole lot longer than 9 months (I'm not saying that physically bearing a child is easier than this, I'm just trying to say that I am restraining myself from decorating the baby's room this weekend!). We are in the stage of finalizing everything we will accept in a child which is incredibly stressful. How do you say yes or no to an illness a child may have? It's heartbreaking.
So after this is finalized than we will wait to be released by the ministry for our home study and PRIDE training and then we go on the wait list again for a referral. It could be 2 years or it could be 10 years we have no idea. We could really use and would appreciate your prayers at this time; pray that we would be patient as we wait for a child and will use our time wisely before we become parents, pray for our future child that their transition would be smooth and we will form a secure attachment to one another, pray for the birth family, for peace and healing no matter what their situation is.