Closed doors

On Tuesday I was packing for my trip to Ethiopia with my friend Jill to bring home her lovely new daughter Lilly; everything looked smooth and "mapped out" for our trip. Wednesday, while preparing for my Friday departure , Charlie and I took the better part of our day to travel to Oklahoma City USCIS (Immigration) to renew our international adoption authorization finger prints (which interestingly enough are only "good" for 15 months) Right before we left, I was contacted by my friend Shannon, about a friend of hers who had a plan fall apart unexpectedly and who needed an escort for a child out of Ethiopia: the same week that Jill and I were to be there. WOW!!! Could this be an "Esther " thing.... "for such a time as this?" We talked , we prayed, we went back and forth, I spoke to this lady, Cathy, about her whole situation, and while it was still a bit dicey on the Ethiopia end, and added some complicating elements to our trip, Jill , her husband Scott, my husband and I agreed that the best course of action was to say "YES LORD", being willing to be used of God as His hands and feet in this unplanned situation for Cathy and Helina, rather than to say "No God! That's too far out!" Well ,God asked us to be open and willing and we said "yes Lord." Cathy Fed-Ex'd me the documents I would need to help with Helina's visa appointment, and all the accompanying items. She got plane tickets booked for Helina to return with us, and we began to pray that all this would result in a 7 year old little girl being granted her visa to the USA and to her waiting family who would fly in to Dulles to meet us the next weekend. All was coming together bit by bit as Jill and I grew more and more excited over our getting to make this wonderful journey together. THEN CAME THE STORM WARNINGS for the East coast of the USA...warnings that up to 24 inches of snow could be burying many airports and grounding many planes, changing many people's plans, and ours were rapidly being affected as well. Memories of another planned trip to Africa flooded my mind......... Three years ago I had made plans to go to Ghana, and God made it crystal clear to me that while it was a good plan, it was NOT His plan. Naomi who had not even been sick at all, spiked high fevers, got lethargic and weak: she had a collapsed lung and pneumonia!!! Plans were canceled for Ghana with no question that this was a CLOSED DOOR for this trip!!
Fast forward to Wednesday night and the beginnings of flight changes for me to get to Dulles before flights out here in the west were scrapped. Thursday morning we began to look at flight options which were already very limited. MUCH PRAYER, much back and forth communications: email and telephone, more prayer, much looking at weather maps, more prayer, fewer options and actually only one option: an impossible one for me to make happen. We sadly see that this door , like my Ghana trip door, is clearly closing. the verse of scripture where David talks about God numbering his tears , keeping his tears in a bottle was very precious and poignant to me for Jill and me because I KNOW we filled a lot of bottles.I am still filling some bottles. Sometimes we wonder if God has shown us "clearly enough" that we've made a right decision. Sometimes God speaks SO clearly that there is no mistaking His voice. This trip, planned for over eight months resulted in one of those clear answers. I don't know why we got to plan for all those months, and anticipate the event, I know I would not undo a moment of the time spent planning and anticipating. Our friendship grew sweeter and dearer with each day that passed. I am missing Jill already; she is swamped with the last minute plans of the trip she is taking, and I know we won't get to chat much before she actually leaves to go and bring her sweet daughter Lilly home. I know I won't stop praying for her. AND HELINA?? God shut some doors there too with her paperwork. Cathy and I are counting this short time of getting acquainted as a blessing however...we have much in common but might not have been introduced if not for her Ethiopia needs. We were not able to be the hands and feet we thought we'd be for Cathy and Helina, but a new friendship was launched and I do praise God for that!!! There are new plans being worked for Helina even now and trustfully she will be here soon.

In the midst of all the closing doors for Ethiopia, we also received word that we are ONE SIGNATURE AWAY from Daniel's adoption decree and our paperwork heading to the Embassy for his visa appointment! Perhaps before the end of today we may have an adoption decree!??

I do see that God needed me home for some very urgent pre-teen grandson business, and for that I am also thankful. God's timing is so perfect and while I didn't know a new storm was brewing, a storm which would need me to be here at home, GOD KNEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I am home for now, and much needed. I won't need to go grocery shop for two weeks ; I bought and planned for every possible thing for my absence, the bills are paid ahead, today was a good school day after I Fed Ex'd all the documents back to Cathy, Got grandson situated and assigned him a good home school day of work. It will be a basketball game later this afternoon. Between now and then I think my girls and granddaughter Mady will bake some peanut butter cookies.
This song "In the Hands of God" has been on my mind all week long as I hve navigated through the "rough waters" and the "smooth waters" and my song of praise is in this song God YOU'RE AMAZING!"
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