Tag: waiting

There’s a Girl

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

ganshert-9We first saw her face in February.

Three pictures in our inbox.

We learned her story a couple weeks later.

And since then….

We’ve said a lot of prayers.

We’ve done some investigating.

We’ve received more pictures.

I’ve written her love letters.

We’ve sent care packages.

Thanks to so many of YOU, we made her a puzzle….500 willing hearts came together and sponsored a piece to help bring this precious one home.

completed puzzle

I bought her a pair of pink Crocs that sit on my nightstand.

We glued some pieces on our Adoption Map. (Brogan asks, almost every day, if we’re getting closer to the heart.)

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And then….

I flew to the Congo.

I held her in my arms.

I kissed her sweet cheeks.

I smelled her sweet skin.

I wiggled her sweet toes.

I whispered her name into her ear.

I didn’t want to let go.

But I flew back to America and here we’ve been, waiting and waiting and waiting…

Dying to go back.

After losing two previous referrals (a referral is adoption speak for being matched with a child), a little boy in October and another little girl in January, we weren’t going to share the news about our Congolese cutie until we passed court.

But court’s been taking forever.

We’ve been there now for 13 weeks.

We feel stuck.

We’re weary.

We’re distracted.

And we could use prayer.

So please pray.

Pray for her well-being.

Pray for her precious little heart and the difficult journey she has ahead of her. Because what she’s already gone through and will go through makes my “suffering” absolutely pale in comparison.

Pray against corruption.

Pray for all the hurdles we still have ahead of us.

Pray that God would be glorified and we would be sanctified, come what may.

Pray that we’d be a family soon. Because we sure don’t feel whole with her over there and us over here.

My friend, Kelli Standish, says it best:

Waiting is one of the most excruciating acts of worship.

And that’s exactly what it is. Or at least what it becomes. Because when you’re here, in this place of helpless waiting, with no power to move it along, what else is there to do but open your hands and trust?

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Let’s Talk: What are you waiting for?

Update on July 27th, 2013 – PRAISE JESUS! We are a family of four! We passed court! She is officially our daughter. Hoping and praying the rest of this journey goes quickly so we can bring her home! Thank you for your prayers!

Handling the Wait

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

psalm 42 1I often think that God brought me on the publishing journey to prepare me for the adoption one.

Both roads involve loads of uncertain waiting, which is the worst kind.

In my pursuit for publication, as I waited and waited and waited for that coveted phone call from my agent, I honestly reached a point where I was praising God in the midst of the silence.

Don’t get me wrong.

The waiting was no joke. The silence was torture.

But I felt so close to Him in the midst of it.

I came to this point where Jesus truly was the prize.

Maybe not at first (as ashamed as I may be to admit that), but He became it.

This time around?

I’m not doing so hot.

I know this is different.

Apples and oranges, really.

Because as much as we authors might call our manuscripts our babies, they do not actually have beating hearts.

This child we are waiting for and praying for and longing for does.

And this mama sure does too.

Waiting is a hard, hard thing.

After doing everything under the sun to ensure our adoption is ethical, there reaches a point where my to-do list is all checked and now I just sit. And wait. And wait some more.

The silence.

The not-knowing.

The utter lack of control.

All very maddening things.

Trying to become a family of four via adoption? We’ve been at it since November, 2011.

For a time there, we saw a definite glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Then a couple months ago, Congo adoptions went flip, upside down, and the light disappeared.

And as I sit here today, vacillating between wanting to crawl out of my skin and wanting to burst into tears, I realize…

It’s time to get back to that place.

Of trust, yes. Because God’s got this. No matter what happens. Regardless of the outcome. He has it.

But mostly, I need to get back to the place where He is my prize.

Not another child.

Not being a family of four.

But Him.

Just Him.

God is faithful, my friend.

He will meet us in our longing. He will become our sustenance as we wait. 

When that becomes our heart’s cry–more of Jesus–we will never be left dried-up or disappointed.

It’s a prayer He’s in the business of answering.

I’m sure of it.

Let’s Talk: Is there something in your life that you’re longing for more than Jesus?

Waiting….

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

We were put on the referral list in mid May.

We’ve been told it takes about six months for a family to receive a referral.

So we most likely have another few months of waiting ahead of us.

But it could happen anytime, really. It’s possible to get a referral tomorrow.

Regardless of when, one day, we will get a phone call followed by an email and that’ll be it….our child. This faceless nameless child we’ve been praying for. 

We’ll have a picture and name and a background. 

Maybe a little girl. Or a little boy.

And all of a sudden, the plight of the orphan will have a face. All of a sudden, the plight of the orphan will feel personal and raw and….real.

Because that will be my little boy or my little girl. And instead of hopping on a plane and flying across the Atlantic and bringing our sweet pea home, we’ll have to wait. 

For another 12 months, give or take. Knowing that the children in these orphanages are perishing. Knowing that the situation is heart-breakingly desperate. 

We’ll have no choice but to wait. While the courts confer. While due diligence is adhered to.

We will wait.

And we will pray.

We’ll pray like we’ve never prayed before. We will lift this precious child–our precious child–to the throne room of God. Begging that He would keep our little one safe until it is time to bring our little one home.

Let’s Talk: How do you handle waiting? What’s the hardest thing you’ve had to wait for?