Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas morning and the sun is just about to come out. I thought if I got up by 5:30 I would have time to do my quiet time before Levi (Nephew) awoke for the big morning. Haha! No way! He woke me up at 5:28. There is no beating that kid! It was so fun watching him this morning. He was fairly excited about his toys, but when we went to get "baby desus" out of the pocket on the advent calender- he was SUPER excited! My niece, Emma, knew exactly who's birthday it was when I asked her the other day.

We went to the Christmas Eve service last night and had communion- which is always super special. What better way to celebrate THE Messiah's coming than by remembering his sacrifice? I will confess that I couldn't keep myself from thinking about our children though. I tried hard to keep my eyes dry several times yesterday and last night. My efforts were fairly successful as I didn't want to alarm others to my pining heart. It must sound silly to some that I miss 2 little people I've never even met, have no clue what they look like, and don't even know their sex, much less their names! Yesterday I also realized that they have BOTH probably been born. We really are enjoying being with family and friends, but I can't help but feel the yearning for ALL our family to be together.

I miss you my children and I hope to know you by next Christmas! Merry Christmas wherever you are my babies!

by faith...

I have been working through Thessalonians in my quiet times and i am really loving it. This morning I read and underlined this "With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith." 2 Thess 1: 11.

Yesterday I went with Beth to a friends house to tidy up. I decided to wear my running stuff and run from her house home (don't get too excited, it's not THAT far). For what reason did I make my run for yesterday? What did I pray about and plead with God about? Our PASSPORTS! I prayed that he would help me recall where either I put them or Chris put them. It's just not like us to lose something THIS important. It's like losing the key to both our ministry and our adoption! It's replaceable, but not without a cost. Very unsettling to us both to say the least. Neither of us slept well last night. On my run last night- I prayed that I would have the faith i needed to just TRUST that we would find them. I began talking to myself and praying for BIG FAITH and I came to the point where I expected to walk in the door and Chris would be waiting there for me telling me that he found them. I got home and no passports. We went to eat and visit with my aunt and cousin for a while. On the way home we decided that by tomorrow afternoon (today) we would begin applying for new passports since CT is less than a month away from leaving.

This morning after my quiet time I called the US dept of State to see if they had them. The lady told me that they would have already sent them back to us if they were found. So she and I began the process of invalidating our passports so no one could use them. I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to ask: if we found them could they make them active again? She said that once she pushed the button then we would HAVE to apply for new ones b/c our others would be voided. I told her that I was sorry for bothering her but I needed to look just one more time. The Spirit led me directly to our filing cabinet where we had looked 100 times and deep down in between the "important documents" folder (where we always keep them when we are home) and another folder there they were not inside but between!! I immediately picked up the phone to call Chris in the middle of his bible study and put the phone back down. I got on my knees and bawled. God is just so so so good. Even though this seems so petty and silly it was SO important to us and important to our Father. He wanted us to find them. He DIDN'T want us to spend a few hundred dollars getting new ones expedited. Oh how he LOVES us!

"...by HIS POWER he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and EVERY ACT PROMPTED BY FAITH."

Ho hum...

Got a letter today from USCIS. They got our I600 application however it has "been suspended" until we pay the other $160. It was very confusing to me b/c the paperwork said there was an application fee of $670 and $80 for additional adults living in the home. Well, I thought it meant other than CT and I so I didn't pay it. It's fine... i just feel like it puts us behind which I'm used to, but Chris is leaving January 11th. I reminded them on that via a sticky note with my check for the remaining $160. ;)

If anyone is still following this blog and feels the spirit lead them, please pray we find our passports! Very soon! We have looked everywhere for them and it isn't like us to lose them... we it isn't like Chris. I lose things frequently. We cannot remember where we had them last, but if we do not find them then it causes some problems. It will affect our adoption stuff as well as Chris' trip back to Kenya Jan 11th. Plus it's more money. We feel like we have looked EVERYWHERE there is to look! Only the Lord knows where they are! We have prayed but maybe we need to call Vic Owen... (some of you will get that if you heard the sermon at RFBC sunday)

Guess what?

I know I'm awful for not updating! I'm just so glad to be home and with friends and family that the last thing I want to do is sit in front of the computer.

It's going to get harder as soon as I start a job too. Now, I will stop making excuses and give you the low down.

Yaya market: Went wonderfully! We raised a bunch of money and were so surprised by the turn out! Thanks everyone who came out. It was fun seeing everyone and getting some cool Kenyan stuff in the hands and homes of others.

I600A: Mailed it off and it got there on Thursday. I'm nervously awaiting to hear something from them.

In the meantime, I'm re-working that good ol' dossier. Trying to get it ready for when we get our i171H

Grant $: This morning I saw a large brown envelop sitting on the table, but assumed it was for matt and beth. I looked at the top left corner and immediately knew it was for us! I ripped it open and skimmed quickly to find numbers. WE WERE GRANTED ANOTHER MATCHING GRANT OF $2,500! I was, of course, very excited. I called Chris and he just kept saying: "Lindy, God is just so good. God is SO GOOD TO US!" I couldn't agree more. We certainly don't deserve this, but He LOVES to provide for His children. He are on cloud 9 today to say the least. :) This always makes the wait a little better!

"He loves us, Oh how he loves us..." I have enjoyed listening to Jesus Culture while running lately and this song makes me smile so big every time.

Thanks for staying tuned friends!