We still do not have Haddie's passport (been waiting since October) nor do we have Jon's visa (waiting since August) and there has been no time frame given for when movement will happen. We know our pre-adoption journey is coming to a close but the wait is excruciating. I hate knowing that my daughter will spend one more Christmas in an orphanage...without her family. I had prayed and hoped that she would be celebrating Jesus in our arms but now have to surrender my own plans and desires to the Lord.
As I have wrestled with the frustration and disappointment of missing my daughter the Lord has been so gracious to remind me of a beautiful truth we celebrate this season. We do not worship some distant God, far removed and unconcerned with our lives. We worship and serve a God who chose to become man. Emmanuel, God with us.
The perfect God chose to take on flesh and dwell among us. Jesus met us in our selfishness and hopelessness. He took the form of a servant. Jesus speaks into our brokenness with forgiveness of sin and a promise that one day all things will be made new. He breathes peace into our pain and sorrow with the reminder that He is near. It's because of God's great love that I have comfort and peace this season even though my sweet daughter is spending this Christmas away from her family. My God, Emmanuel is with her. He is her comfort when my arms ache to comfort her. Pray with me in our wait that He would whisper hope into our sweet daughter's soul. As we wait and anticipate our daughter's homecoming I am reminded that so many others are waiting too. There are people all around me who need to hear the hope of Christmas. They need to hear that there is a God who has come near to save us from our sin. He came into our muck and mire to lift us out of it and to breath into us new life, new hope and a new purpose. I am choosing to celebrate the hope of Christmas in our wait and am in my own brokenness seeking to share the hope that I have found. Hope has come and today I am clinging to that!
