AS ANTICIPATED...

Based on our last conversation with Jessica, and as anticipated, we did not make it through court for the 3rd time, and now have our 4th attempt scheduled for January 14.

Please keep us in your prayers as we, ourselves, pray for strength and gracefulness during this latest period of waiting.

Many continued thanks to all who have been walking along side us through the journey. We are blessed to have so many blessings in our lives.

Love to all,
smj

GUIDO

Well, it's time for some good news, some bad news, and some new news.

GOOD NEWS FIRST! KOKO UPDATE!

“I've mentioned before that she likes to keep her eyes wide open, in order to see everything that's going on around her. That hasn't changed one bit, except that now she has a different perspective – one from sitting! She is doing so much better at sitting on her own, though occasionally she will lose her balance and topple over to one side. She still occasionally leans forward to put her hands down in front of her – tripod style – but can push herself back up to upright if she wants! I wanted so badly to give you a smiling picture of her, but every time I made her giggle (done by holding her arms and letting her fall back, then pulling her up again), she stuck her hand right in her mouth. Obviously she hasn't figured out what "photo?" quite means yet! When she is not trying her best to sit, she has turned in to quite the squirmer, and can roll over quite quickly by flicking her leg over the other.” --Phillip -Weight: 7kg

BAD NEWS (and I mean fairly bad)

Caseworker Jessica called today to tell us that November 20 will not be a successful court hearing for our family. There are many things happening that will cause several more months of delays and, long story short, we are told not to expect any movement with our case until at least January. We are so very sad, so very devastated, so very hurt, and so very blown away that this process is unfolding as it is. What can we say - life isn't fair. There are no words. None. Also, there's some hurting going on over HERE, too - stop by and give 'em some lovin'.

NEW NEWS

This is Guido, the cutest little yorkie boy you've ever seen. He is 12 weeks old and in the middle of potty training. Pretty much spur of the moment, it was fate that we adopted him into our family today of all days. Fate for the previous owner and for us. Guido will provide some much needed diversion, a sweet distraction - we love him already!

Dreaming of days to come...

smj

UNTITLED

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
- Albert Einstein

Hmmmmm....think on that one.

Really not much to say, not much to tell, not much at all.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,...to him be glory...for ever and ever, amen."
- Ephesians 3:20-21

11 days to...

IMAGINE

So, I gave a speech at church (all three services) this past weekend. I thought it would be pretty terrifying but it turned out to be a great opportunity to publicly state my views on our financial situation at church. No one threw tomatoes. The campaign theme is Imagine, and I'm stealing my own speech material to share with you for our latest blog update, since it fits this point in time so well.

Unlike my speech in church, I won't urge you here to give money to lower Abiding Hope's suffocating mortgage debt, but if you're feeling inspired, I obviously won't stop you. (Hey, I'm not beyond using our blog as a financial campaign marketing tool.) Anyway...getting back on topic, this waiting stuff is pretty tough!! As I hoped to spread the word to the congregation to imagine greater things for our church, I used this angle:

God is imagining bigger things, more for us than we could ever imagine. To illustrate, when we started this adoption process I imagined -
-the waiting and how hard it may be
-the feelings of anticipation
-and most of all what it would feel like to hold our baby girl in our arms.

Luckily God's imagination has been soooooo much bigger -
-He has opened my eyes to an immense growth in character
-to what patience ACTUALLY looks like
-and to the reality that there is a bigger need than just one child waiting to have a home.

I FINALLY finished "There is no me without you" - this is a must read. I promise you will intermittently cry (I did at least), and you wil have a deep understanding of the country where your future new little "family" member, Koko, was born. It is a moving read. Just do it.

And, to those who heard the speech, sorry to bore you with it again here. This big imagination, this stuff, is what we have to hold on to, along with imagining that this will happen someday, Koko will be in our arms someday...
...someday when it's time.

And so, our most sincere congratulations to the "newly-passed-court" families - we are totally thrilled for you! Awesome!
And to those who continue to faithfully wait (on your adoptions or anything else in life) we are with you - may you find peace in the waiting!

17 more days to court date re-replay.
Love to all,
smj