The Waiting Game

It's hard to wait.

I remember waiting for Christmas or my birthday as a kid, and time seemed to pass by so slowly! The only consolation I had was the ability to cross days off the calendar.

There are times, however, when we are forced to wait for something to happen without having the advantage of looking to a calendar and being able to count down the days. For example, our adopting a little girl named Ava Yulia from Bulgaria. She is now officially our child and we were supposed to travel July 3-10 to pick her up and bring her home. Unfortunately, the US Embassy in Bulgaria seems to think they now need revised paperwork. This may delay travel for who knows how long, as well as add unexpected expense.

A week has passed since we found all this out and we've spoken with our adoption agency, our homestudy agency, the US State Department, the US Citizenship & Immigration Service, as well as our local congressman's office. No decision has yet been made, but who is surprised by the slow movement of government?

Anyway, we're told the decision will be left for the US Visa Office to make. We pray they will make a decision very soon so we know how to plan. We also pray they can see and understand that all documents and paperwork have passed up to this point and requiring additional paperwork only delays the joining of a soon-to-be 3 year old girl with her new family.

Waiting is a part of life. But why? Why would a loving God make us wait..especially in an instance like this one?

Romans 5:1-5 reads:

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Well, here we have an answer to why waiting is a good thing. Patience, character, and hope.

Lord, help me today to wait upon you and to be thankful for these times in which you are refining me. Thank you for always knowing and hearing our cry. Let me echo the words of the Psalmist in 130:5, "I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,and in His Word do I hope."