Not Waiting Alone

So it is Sunday and we continue to wait for news from the Embassy.  We did get confirmation that the guardian interview took place on Wednesday but we have yet to hear word from the Embassy.  Did it go well?  Did they get the information they wanted?  Will we clear this week?  We are hoping "Yes" to these questions in the next few days.

As we have been waiting, I have met many others who are in the same situation we are.  Others who have their hands tied and hearts broken waiting on news they can go bring their children home.  Others who have also watched their children grow from infants to near toddlers in pictures and videos.  Trust me, this is a devastating and terrible thing to go through and I would not wish it on anyone; but it also helps to know we are not alone.

I have made many friends on Facebook only by being in this process and having that commonality.  I do not know where these people live, nor what they do for a living, nor have I ever personally met them.  But I feel their pain and their joy.  They have been a source of strength and comfort for me.

Much of my strength has been given to me in words.  Words shared from others hearts because their journeys have also been long and tiring.  One of these women is a friend of a friend on Facebook and her name is Jen Hatmaker.  She too had an incredibly long fight to bring her son home.  The following words she wrote brought tears to my eyes:


   "When God said he wasn't done yet, he just wasn't done yet. He wasn't speaking in code. It wasn't a trick. The story was still in the middle, but I wanted to flip ahead to the end, past the conflict and struggle and straight to the happy ending. As Keeper of the Story, God knew the whole plot.

God doesn't promise us a clean middle part of the story. He never said we wouldn't encounter antagonists and drama and surprise twists and heartbreak. We weren't assured a G-rated plot where good feelings are peddled and no one dies or leaves or fails or waits. God promised things like healing and restoration and redemption. Which implies there will be injuries and broken relationships and losses. When he speaks of beauty from ashes, he seems to know there will be actual ashes to resurrect beauty from.

If you are confused right now, if your story isn't going the way you thought, or if you're tangled up in the messy middle where hope is deferred, dear reader, it could just be that God isn't done yet. Your story is not finished. Every hero and heroine must wade through the conflict to get to the end, and you can trust God because he is good. If you have nothing else to cling to, remember this: God is good. He loves goodness and justice. He heals and redeems. He is on the side of love and beauty. He is for you. He is never against you. You may be against you, other people may be against you, but God is not against you.

It is okay to be confused; I'm afraid that is our lot as finite creatures dealing with an infinite God. Some of God's best heros were confused in their subplots. But I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on. Because God is good and he is for goodness. "

And then there is my friend Jana Henessey who quoted a friend of hers on her blog page regarding her sadness over missing so many moments with her daughter:  "HE did not choose me for those moments.  HE chose me for these.  So I am choosing joy.  And I know that the moments in (Gabby's) life that God did choose me for are coming."

So, we all go on waiting, giving words of encouragement to each other knowing in the end we will eventually reach our goal.  And we will not have reached it alone.