In spite of the fact that I am perpetually 10 minutes late to everything, I like to get paperwork done on time. We've been pretty diligent in doing just that, and in sending in every check needed when it was due. Nobody's had to wait for us, and it's been a nice feeling to know that.

God has clearly shown us the adoption road, and we want to walk well and not falter.

And when it's time to wait, we want to wait well.

We've received several emails this last week from Regina, our caseworker, regarding our place in line. She told us recently that we were number 7 in line, and she let us know this last week that, while we are currently at number 5 in line, the three families ahead of us in line will not be ready for their referrals for a few months. So that leaves...drum roll, please...us!

After reading the email, we looked at each other (with HUGE smiles on our faces) in disbelief, both of us wondering how we were going to come up with the remaining $18,000, but more than that, so completely excited that everything was finally happening.

I'll confess, we thought about shortcuts. Should we borrow from a bank? After all, if anything is, adoption is a cause worthy of borrowing money for! Or maybe borrow from our inheritance (with our parents' permission) with the intention of paying it all back?

Or maybe...

Maybe remember that God is on time, and that He has a child picked out already for our family - a child who will be ready for us exactly when we are ready for him. Because sure, it's possible for us to borrow from people and then spend years paying for the child who will be so worth it. But if God has been so faithful to provide everything we've needed up to this point, it would be foolish for us to assume that we have to take the rest into our own hands.

I read a story once of a man named Edgar who runs an orphanage in Mexico. He and his boys had run out of food, which wasn't unusual, and he sat down with them to pray. After they prayed that God would provide for their needs, Edgar had a choice: either he would go out and ask friends and neighbors to give them any extra rice and beans they had on hand, OR he would wait for God to answer his prayers. And keep praying.

After they were done praying the first time, the littlest boy piped up and said, "What kind of food does God deliver?"

Edgar smiled at the boy and said, "God desires to lavish His riches on you. Let's see what He provides.," They prayed again. Again, the little boy spoke: "Do you think...Will God bring us...meat?"

The faith of a child: to ask for the best in their time of need.

The man challenged that little boy to believe that God heard them as His children, and to ask again.

The same day, a man had flown into Monterrey, Mex. for a business convention. He told Beth Buckenberger, author of Reckless Faith, that he had lots of extra "product" that was no longer of use to him. Beth, embarrassed, told the man that she had forgotten what his business was, and he explained that he represents a meat company, and had brought choice cuts for potential vendors. Beth, connected to several orphanages in the area, said yes, of course she knew of people who could use it! She called Edgar and as she explained, he whispered, "Praise God!" and then turned away from the phone and shouted the news to his boys, that the Lord's response to their prayer was on its way over!

__And the boys at Edgar's home ate meat that night that would make a king jealous.

That man could have prayed, and then gone out on his own to do what needed to be done. But instead, he stayed on his knees in a room full of children who had the faith to ask for the best.

God likes to be asked for what we need.

So even though a small part of me - a part of me that's getting smaller every day -  would like to go out and ask every bank in town what rate they could give us on an adoption loan, I'm going to tell my soul to be still.
I'm going to keep praying, and I'm going to ask my children to pray with me. Because they know how to ask for the best, and I have a God who delights in giving it.

"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so provie to be my disciples." - John 15:7,8

In the adoption world, delays are expected - especially when you're adopting internationally. When we chose the Korea program, I was impressed with the way everything was laid out. The timeline looked so nice and neatly packaged. We would start out as number 12 on the list of families waiting for boys, and steadily move up the list until we were at the top, probably within about 8-10 months. Then, we would receive our referral and wait to travel to pick up Leonard child #4.

And we were expecting delays.

What we weren't expecting was to be at #7 now, and to hear from our agency that we could expect our referral in as little as two months!

Now, I'm all about getting our referral as soon as possible (although I know once we have a face and a name, it will be very difficult to have to wait to go pick up our little goober). The problem is my faith. See, it's a little...lacking. At best.

Two months doesn't leave me much time to be the hero and figure our how we can "miraculously" scrounge up $17,000. It's not like I'll find that under our couch cushions! It doesn't leave room for the fundraisers we'd planned because those take 8-10 weeks just for approval, and we're still waiting on the last bit of paperwork to come in the mail for our application! It doesn't leave room for much of anything, because things take time in the world of fundraising, and our adoption timeline was supposed to line up nicely with that.

But as I shake my fist at the God who called us to visit orphans in their distress, I remember what it means that He is God. This wasn't my idea; it was His first. So my fist has to drop to my lap as I hang my head and open my hands to Him.

Do you ever see a verse written somewhere and know that God was sending that straight to your heart? I got one of those yesterday. Actually, I got the same one twice, from two different sources:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." - John 14:27

So we'll wait on God to act, because to Him, it doesn't matter if we have two years or two days. Two months? Makes no difference. God knows we need help to do this. He knows we can't carry this burden on our own shoulders in this short amount of time. He knows that I tend to get stressed about money - because I don't trust Him the way that I should. He knows our weakest points, and uses them for His glory.

So I'm praying like crazy that our Father will look on us with favor and that He will equip us to go, right on time. And He has given me His peace.