That’s right! We have a court date in Uganda to go pick up Hope and Henry! We are beyond excited! The babies home administrator called me yesterday morning to share the good news.

The Lord continues to give me sweet little gifts in this process. Yesterday was Henry’s first birthday. Initially, we thought we would have Henry home for his first birthday, and then we thought we would at least be in Uganda with him for it. Early last week I found out we wouldn’t get to be there. It was extremely emotional when I got that news. Not because I thought Henry would have any understanding we were missing his birthday, but because I had made it this huge milestone. The fact that we weren’t going to be there crushed me.

In most ways, I am very much a sprinter. I give everything I have, but can’t keep it up for long periods of time. When I run, I set lots of short goals. For instance, I’ll decide that I won’t slow down until I get to the end of the block. Then, when I get there, I set another goal of making it two streets over before I slow down. Or until the song I’m listening to is over. I do that in life, as well. I had made having Hope and Henry home for his birthday my first goal. That didn’t happen, but I decided I could accept just being there with him for the special day. When that didn’t happen, I was totally out of steam. I completely hit the wall.

All evening I sobbed and sobbed. In my misery, I sent out an email to some close family and friends. I received lots of encouraging emails back, which meant a lot. One of the emails was from my friend Holly. She suggested I read Proverbs 16:9 which says, “In his heart man makes his plans, but the Lord directs his paths.” Through Holly and His Word, the Lord gently reminded me that I was the one who had decided that we should be with Henry on his birthday. I had made my plans, instead of waiting on the Lord. I had figured out a way to cope with the waiting, instead of resting in Him.

Fast forward to yesterday. On Henry’s birthday, the Lord in His kindness gave me the gift of a court date. It is for April 14th, so we will travel on April 11th. The norm is to get only a week to a week in a half of notice before your court date, but just out of Love, the Lord allowed us to get it on this special day. This was so obviously Him reaching down into my world to tangibly show me His love. How sweet is that?!

Oh, and the late court date? God had His reasons for that too. I just checked the IRS website to see when we should receive our refund, and it said the money should be deposited into our account by April 12th. Did I mention that we are waiting on $6,500 from our refund to help pay for our time in Uganda? If we would have traveled in January, like I was expecting, we would not have had enough money to pay all of our expenses.

So, as always, the Lord’s timing and plans are best. I pray one day soon, I will consistently trust those Truths. That I will consistently trust Him.

Now to make my packing list! 🙂