Kicked out of PGN!

Yesterday, our agency informed us that we had been kicked out of PGN on 2/2/07 with a previo stating that our witness statements were not included in our dossier. Our attorney corrected the PGN reviewer and showed him that our witness statements were in fact a part of our dossier...he had just overlooked them. We were resubmitted to PGN on 2/2/07. We were really hoping & praying that we were going to get out of PGN with approval and no previos, until this happened. We spent 7 weeks in PGN waiting to get an unnecessary previo and now we are praying that we don't have to spend another 7 weeks or more waiting to get out. We cannot see a reason for this insanity right now, so we are just going to have to trust that God is in control and that even this unjustified previo is all a part of His perfect plan to bring Savannah home.
I am reading a devotional called, "Secrets of Happiness" by Michelle Medlock Adams, and this morning's topic was based on Psalms 31:14-15, "I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, "You are my God!" My future is in your hands." The title of the devotion was, "God Is At Work."

Did you know that God is often working most when we sense it the least? As I reflect on my life, I can see that has often been the case. Those times when things looked the worst, when it seemed as if God had gone on vacation, were the times when God was working behind the scenes on my behalf.

We discover that our timing is not always God's timing. Actually, our timing is almost never God's timing. We want instant gratification in our give-it-to-me-now society. We want to pray and have God answer us by noon. But God usually doesn't work like that.

Take it from Noah.

He followed God's leading and built an ark - even though it had never rained before. He obeyed God's instructions perfectly. Pairs of all the animals began to fill the big boat, and finally, Noah and his family boarded the ark and waited for the rain.

You know the story. It rained forty days and forty nights, and Noah and his family were the only ones spared. The boat ride, however, was much longer than forty days. It went on for months and months! Think about that for a moment: Noah and his family are on an ark with a bunch of smelly animals for months on end, and there's no land in sight. Can't you just hear his wife saying, "Yeah, great plan, Noah. Where's the land? Did God tell you how long we'd have to float around with a bunch of stinking creatures?"

You can imagine Noah, every day looking out the ark's windows, only to see water on every side. Finally, Noah sends out a bird, hoping to get proof that land has appeared somewhere - but the bird comes back empty-beaked. It must have looked like God had forgotten them, that they were doomed to ride around on a big boat forever.

But God was at work, slowly diminishing the water every day - even those days when Noah saw water all around. In time the ark hit dry land, and Noah and his family left the ark to enjoy God's promise.

Are you on a long ark ride right now? If so, rejoice! Be happy today - even if you can't see anything changing. Land is near. God hasn't forgotten you. He is at work behind the scenes.

I don't believe that this devotion was a coincidence...I believe that God chose to have me read this devotion today because He wanted to remind me that His ways are higher than my ways. Sometimes I feel like this is the longest ark ride in the history of the world! It feels like we will never have Savannah home, like we will never get out of PGN! It feels like we've been waiting patiently for such a long time and every time we look out the window we are surrounded by water with no land in sight. I am so encouraged to know that God is at work behind the scenes and He is orchestrating every detail of our adoption to bring Savannah home to us in His perfect timing. Of course, His timing and our timing are very different things. We want her home now, actually yesterday, or more like several months ago! But God is in control and He says, "Just trust me, I know what is best for your family and I have a special plan for Savannah's life. Have faith that I will bring her home to you at the proper time. Enjoy the day I have given you today and rejoice in your many blessings."