Seeking Whom He May Devour

1 Peter 5:6-10:

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand,

that he may lift you up in due time.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be self-controlled and alert.

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion

looking for someone to devour.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith,

because you know that your brothers throughout the world

are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,

after you have suffered a little while, will himself

restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

God's word is exactly what I needed today. This is verse whose concept has been hid in my heart since private school days and came to me as I sat reflecting on how Satan has continued to attack us and our adoption today. Satan knows that we are going to save Ellie from a life in a country where she probably not be exposed to Christ. And he doesn't want that. He wants her soul. We are in a battle for her soul and she's probably not even been born. But I have God on my side and "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Just imagine how angry the devil is that each of you come to this site each day and are immediately confronted with God's word. Which is why I think this happened:

I tried to log onto my Google Adsense account today to find this message:

Account Disabled
Your AdSense account for this login is currently disabled. We recommend checking your email inboxes for any messages we may have sent you regarding your account status. Sometimes our messages can be caught by email filters, so please be sure to check the Bulk/Spam folders of your email accounts as well.

I have not gotten an email. After much research, I found a few references on the blog to AdSense and clicking and how this can earn us some money. Apparently, I'm not supposed to do that. There has also been a lot more activity on this site than normal (THANK YOU ALL FOR CARING ABOUT US!!!) and so that must have triggered something. I have filled out an appeal and am hoping to hear from that soon.

And then, this morning I got a call from our first agency asking why I had let our fingerprints expire for our I171H. Well, I really didn't really want to talk to them anyway, so I just told her I had been busy. Truth be told, I wasn't really sure, when they expired, what the best path for us to take was. Our SW indicated that she was going to send an email to the headquarters to ask about our status in being able to do a concurrent adoption. Hmmmm.... I didn't mention that we already were doing it. She said that she thought we would be able to do that and would be able to move on this month. She asked how long for a referral and I told her 2-4 months. She did send the email and copied me on it. Kevin and I talked and decided it would be best, since we have an appointment to get our homestudy updated from another agency tomorrow, to call the director and tell her where we were and that we needed a decision like today.

She told him she had done all she could do as a branch director but gave him the name and number for her supervisor at headquarters. Kevin called and surprise she was going to be out until Friday. Her voicemail did indicate she would check her voicemail. She just called back a bit ago and said that she was "aware" of our situation (I'm certain that EVERYONE there is "aware" of us) and that she appreciated our "passion." She said that she would make some calls tomorrow but it would be Friday before she would be back in the office and at that point she would talk with the CEO of the organization (folks, this is a BIG organization) and get a determination for us by Friday afternoon. So.... then we were faced with a decision: a) wait and expect a different result from them than we normally get, or b) go ahead with the new home study agency update tomorrow. The thing that made it a more difficult decision is that the update from our agency is $150. The update from the new agency is $1000. Mindful of the fact that we need to be pinching our pennies so hard they drip water, we opted for decision a. We will wait until Friday. I have cancelled our appointment for tomorrow -- without telling her exactly why -- and will reschedule for next week if Friday doesn't go the "right" way. Regardless, we are set to move forward. We have to -- we've mailed the contract and agency fee. So, we have made it all the way to the top now. I'm not so sure that's a good place to be -- but leave it us to be there.

On a sweet, sweet note, when I checked my email today I had a paypal notice telling me a friend of mine from high school (folks, this has been a day or two!) had made a donation to our adoption fund. I almost cried. She recently adopted her daughter from China, which is how we found each other again. I rejoice so much over the blessings because they make the "junk" part of adoption so much easier to deal with. Thank you so much; you know who you are!!

Our pastor is leading our church in a four month study of Satan. It began last week. We have been warned that we will be attacked. The title for this week's lesson was, "Finding Satan." When I saw it in the bulletin, I leaned over and told Kevin, "I don't seem to have any trouble with THAT one, I need the one on getting rid of him." We got a good chuckle from that. Brother David has asked each of us to get a prayer partner. I was so lucky that Janice asked ME. Yay!! I have been praying for her several times each day. I know she is praying for me. It is a comforting thought. I leave you with what God says about praying for each other.

James 5:16

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].