Packing.

I'm packing today, but not for the trip we were hoping to be packing for...

We were hoping and praying that we would be boarding a plane this Wednesday bound for Ethiopia and our little girl. Everything seemed to point to this date being our date to go. As the days and weeks passed since our successful court appointment (June 9th) we heard no word that we could travel. I held out hope until the very end... When we got word Friday from our social worker that we should let go of our hope to travel this week, I was so disappointed. Why, the wait, God? So now we are hoping and praying to be able to leave the states on July 29th to go get our sweet Desalee. Feel free to pray along with us!

So why am I packing? If you know me very well, you would know that I would not be packing now for a trip that is nearly 3 weeks away....yes, I am a procrastinator!

As it turns out, God's timing is better than my timing...go figure! We found out a few days ago that Ryan's grandpa Jack, who lives in Texas, isn't doing very well. His battle with cancer has taken a turn for the worse. As we thought about it, we realized that we needed to make this trip to Texas to see Jack. He is an amazing man! We want to be with him, pray for him, laugh with him. He's hilarious! (when I first met Jack, he would jokingly call me by all these different names like Sharon, Susan, etc.) We don't know how soon we would be able to make this kind of trip once Desalee is home. I was worried that Thanksgiving would be too soon for her. So, it appears to be for the best that we wait a bit longer to go get Desi.

So I'm packing for our family road trip (in the new minivan--again--good timing) to Texas to be with our family and spend some very precious time with Jack. God's timing doesn't always reveal itself so quickly, I know. But in this case, it's obvious to me. We need to make this trip. Some times we wait and wait and don't understand why things play out the way they do. Hopefully we can get to that place and look back and see how it all makes sense. Sometimes we don't get to see it. We just have to trust God to lead the way.

If you will, please pray for Jack and for our family. Thanks!