Did I forget to schedule my ultrasound?

20 weeks and counting

Isn’t this the time for an ultrasound photo???

I always got ultrasound pics at about 20 weeks and it seems only fair to get a different kind of photo this week.

Natalie???

What to do during the wait – other than whine and complain.

God has been nudging me/us to do some things. We have sort of ignored them for a time, because, hey, we are adopting and we will be getting that referral any day now and will have a speedy court date and will be shopping and packing and preparing for travel….

Yep, it was time to respond to the nudge.

So, today we had our first get together about developing an orphans ministry at our church. It is just a first step, and we want it to be all about what God is leading our church to, so we are going to have a season of concentrated prayer with other families that also have a passion for orphans. This gets me incredibly fired up! Thanks, God, for the continued nudge. You just knew we would finally stop ignoring it.

Also, I just finished the book Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets. Fantastic. After reading the book and having some questions, I felt led to do a word study on the word “PRAY” in scripture. Well, there are 365 verses with the word “pray” or a form of it in the entire Bible (NIV), as obtained from BibleGateway.com. Going from Genesis to Revelation has given me a glimpse into how people have been praying throughout biblical history. Did you know Samson only prayed once? Probably should have been less wrapped up in Delilah and more into prayer…. Oh, please, like I should judge. It was interesting to read, though. I have written so many notes from what God is teaching me about prayer that I get an inkling this would someday make a good bible study. The thought of writing one makes me ill, though, so maybe I will just send my notes on to Beth Moore.

Another book I committed to tackle in the past month is Desiring God by John Piper. I was half way through it a year ago when I put it away to read some things on adoption. So as not to have it solidify into a permanent fixture on my end table, I picked it up again. It's definitely not a light read, but I can't stress enough the enormous benefit I received from reading it. In the 2nd half of the book, he wrote some incredibly convicting stuff on money, scripture and missions. My dear friend Laura and I sometimes say we feel like we're from a different planet from others we interact with, as we feel such strong convictions about a variety of things Jesus taught, and they don't seem to get our passion. How cool to see that Mr. Piper appears to be from our planet, too. Well, we are aliens.

Yes, I would love the referral, but God is always faithful. This waiting time is not fruitless.