National Day of Prayer for Lydia

Nation Prayer Day for Lydia

Okay so it is not a nationally reconized day of pray but it is for our family. We have been so blessed to have so many family and friends walk this journey with us and pray for us. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for Lydia. Our family once again is going to fast and pray for Lydia and we wanted to invite you to pray along with us. We believe in the power of prayer of united believers wil bring Lydia home. God has reminded me that Lydia's approval will not come by my doing but by His power.

Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. What are you, O moutian? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Zechariah 4:6,7

We are on Monday going to be 54 days into the wait for the US Embassy to approve Lydia's info. The average wait is 45 days.

**Please pray that we will receive this approval from the US Embassy and we would get a travel date within 24 hours.

Encouragement

I read this on a blog and it was so encouraging:

{ Romans 8:22-39 The Message }That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way!

40 days of waiting

The greatest experience, the one which shakes a soul with hope and fear, the results of which are never ending and incidentally, the one which pays the biggest dividends, is to be found in the adoption of children.
-Anonymous

This day marks the 40th day of waiting (the number 40, we are in good company with that number) to hear from the US Embassy for our approval. The wait can take up to 60 days but averages 45 days. Hopefully, this week we will hear conformation. Then we can WAIT AGAIN for our travel date. We are entering in the last leg of the marathon.

waiting

We are two weeks into the possible 8 week wait (before the LAST wait of approx. 6 weeks). I'll say the obvious, "It is hard to wait!" This last week ,Peter said with a sad heart," I can't take it anymore! I want Lydia to come home." We all as a family feel his pain. All of our hearts long for her to be home. But God has blessed us with each other to lean on and wait with. Because of this journey we are all closer. We have prayed together, fasted together, dreamed together and waited together.

A friend who has adopted three times over gave us this fridge magnet when we started our adoption that reads the following;

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord!
Psalm 27:14

She knew we would need to read it.

Praise God, Great is His Faithfulness!

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?

Who has ever given to God

that God should repay him?

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory for ever! Amen

Romans 11:33-36

Today, God has moved in a mighty way for the Adams family. God has performed a awesome miracle. We received news that Lydia became a "official" referral on Aug. 26, 2008. Our dossier is in the hands of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and now we just wait for the conformation from them and our travel dates! Lydia could be home by Christmas. We are in such amazement of God's plan and are so grateful for all of you who have been so faithful to pray for her! Amen

Perplexed but Not in Despair

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:7-9

God is STILL Good even in this time of unknown!

Closing of Vietnam

In the fall of 2003, God gave me the parable of the Persistent Widow to encourage me in our pursuit of the daughter, He had picked it out for us. He has brought me back to the scripture many times during the last 22 months, during this adoption journey. One again, I find myself reading it. Yes, Vietnam did indeed close, Sept. 1 to the U.S. for international adoption. This was not a complete surprise. Our Lydia, is stuck in a system without the law in place to bring her to us. In the mist of this unknown He is faithful. God has given us the peace for today and He will do the same tomorrow, as He did yesterday. The country is closed but laws and boundary lines have never stopped God from His miracles. We would appreciate your prayers for the following:

*To bring Lydia home we need her to be grandfathered in with the other "officially" referred children. ( Our referral with Lydia is only a "preliminary referral")

*During this time of closure to the U.S. we need Lydia not be referred to another family in a country that is still doing adoptions with Vietnam.

*We need guidance from God. We need to know what God's will is in this situation.

We thank you for your faithfulness in prayer to our family.