By the Far Side of the Sea

The elusive court date has finally arrived- July 14th- which is in 2 days!!!  We are praise the Lord for breaking down this wall in His timing!  We are prepping all of our paperwork and pictures for the big day. We have heard that it can be a very long day especially for kiddos. Please be praying for wisdom and clarity as we sit before the judge and convince him that Victory is our girl ordained by God and we are her forever family!  We have no doubts that He will provide all that is needed to make it official.  Speaking of making it official- I should mention my scary beard that has recently obtained its own zip code.   When we were here last year and decided to adopt Victory, my razor quit working. I then made a commitment to myself that I would not shave off my beard until Victory was officially ours.  It has been a daily scratchy reminder of my little girl whom I love like any of my other kids.  At first I thought I would just let it go Duck Dynast...

So, this past month marks 1 year since we were called to bring Victory home into our family.  So much has happened in that year's time it is a bit overwhelming to think of it all.  But God has given us the next turn in this narrow road to Victory, little by little, knowing that we couldn't handle it all at once.  Here we are, actually in Africa, with our FIVE kids, for an extended period of time, really doing this thing!  I have been and continue to be fully confident in God's calling and promises for our family regardless of the difficulties that we have faced so far.  I know, that I know, that I know, that Victory IS my daughter, I AM her father, and we ARE her forever family.  My confidence doesn't come from the adoption agency, the local probation officer, the lawyer, it comes from the Lord God Almighty whose power made the sun stand still and made the walls of Jericho tumble to the ground.  It is with this same power that Victory will be able to ...