Isaiah 58

Here is the way I want you to fast:

Set free those who are held by chains without any reason.
Untie the ropes that hold people as slaves.
Set free those who are crushed.
Break every evil chain.
Share your food with hungry people.
Provide homeless people with a place to stay.
Give naked people clothes to wear.
Provide for the needs of your own family.

Then the light of my blessing will shine on you like the rising sun.
I will heal you quickly.
I will march out ahead of you.
And my glory will follow behind you and guard you.
That is because I always do what is right.

You will call out to me for help.
And I will answer you.
You will cry out.
And I will say, 'Here I am.'

Get rid of the chains you use to hold others down.
Stop pointing your finger at others as if they had done something wrong.
Stop saying harmful things about them.
Work hard to feed hungry people.
Satisfy the needs of those who are crushed.

Then my blessing will light up your darkness.
And the night of your suffering will become as bright as the noonday sun.

I will always guide you.
I will satisfy your needs in a land that is baked by the sun.
I will make you stronger.
You will be like a garden that has plenty of water.
You will be like a spring whose water never runs dry.
Your people will rebuild the cities that were destroyed long ago.
And you will build again on the old foundations.
You will be called The One Who Repairs Broken Walls.
You will be called The One Who Makes City Streets Like New Again.

Looking Up?

Today is looking a bit more optimistic. The unfortunate situation, while not fully resolved, may be less dire than feared. And so, we are at least willing to venture further into the potentially good situation, and will see what happens. Thanks for the comments & prayers!

Unknowns...

We appear to be faced with a couple of conflicting scenarios at the moment, one may be kinda cool, one unfortunate. The unfortunate, if it comes to pass, would definitely jeopardize the good scenario from coming to fruition. Sorry to be cryptic...waiting to see where things lie, as that will determine which news ends up being relevant to share.

If you would pray, I would invite that...I am again sensing the conflict we have experienced since early in our adoption process, between what we believe is such an important direction for us to head, and factors which could make that impossible. The pattern is striking, and makes me think of another blogger's recent post that movement toward the individual and familial restoration achieved through adoption often appears to be actively blocked by forces (human and supernatural?) in opposition.

Yeah, That's Right. Yay!

For all those who care whether anyone uses "yeah" and "yay" correctly!

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/yea.html

Uh...?

So...

Not much to say, but here is an orchid from the Singapore Airport (a destination in and of itself).

No adoption news, for sure. Our file is still with Imagine, for Ethiopia. We have not started updating paperwork for the official country switch yet (from Ghana to Ethiopia). Partly because travel to Thailand occupied most of our attention the first few months of the year, and partly because we foresee a long wait, so may as well procrastinate a bit so the updated homestudy is current as long as possible once it is finally re-done. Medicals and fingerprints have expired at this point, too. With a long wait ahead for Ethiopia, we are thinking...but not sure what we're thinking about. Age requests? Saving up for an extra trip, now that two trips will be required? Isn't there something productive we can do in the meantime (other than re-doing our septic bed...boring, but necessary)?

Generally feeling a bit aimless. Thailand was great, and we want to keep the spirit of that trip alive through our involvement with the Karen people in our area and beyond...but not totally sure how. The house feels like it has taken over our lives sometimes - one minute we think there's not much left to do, the next we are staring at puddles in the yard (septic issue), windows about to fall in (sagging front porch pillar issue...not new, but previously not affecting the windows), windows in general, lame attempts at landscaping which need professional intervention (caused by me, pretty much), areas of major disorganization (cellar and storage garage)...it is a lot.

Looking forward to camping season starting May 1, but already have major scheduling conflicts with important events on the first two camping weekends we had planned at our trailer.

Keep feeling like taking a course of some kind (something I tend to do when I already have too much to do), but not sure what - sums me up, basically - interested in everything, not focused on anything. ESL? French? Photography? Theology? Interest classes (like sewing)? And I need to exercise...

But, we at least seem to be pretty much over the jet-lag, for what it's worth. And we are looking forward to putting together a nice, big presentation about our trip sometime soon. Thinking that it would be fun to partner with our Karen congregation to do a traditional meal at the church when we do our presentation. Will see how that unfolds.

My mind feels full and blank at the same time, but I realized I haven't posted much lately. Thinking, more than writing, I guess. Hmm...

This Rings True

A little reading, by a woman who was adopted internationally, which I enjoyed:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/234343

Journey's End

Just a quick hello after arriving home from Thailand this morning - lots of pictures to upload and share in days to come! Things went really well, and we had a great time. Still HATE flying - lots of unpleasant turbulence (wish we could have just used the elephant for transportation home), but otherwise safe & happy (albeit hot) travels.