Worship Conference 2

Well, I told you I would write more about the Sovereign Grace Worship Conference, and if I don't do it now, it might never happen. These were the general session titles: Knowing God with the Psalmist (Craig Cabaniss-pastor in Frisco), Expressing Emotion with the Psalmist (Thabiti Anyabwile-pastor in Cayman), Glorifying Christ with the Psalmist (Mark Devor), Enduring Trials with the Psalmist (David Powlison), Praising God with the Psalmist and Living Life with the Psalmist (Bob Kauflin).
The Lord was so faithful to bring His word and change our hearts over the course of the weekend. Jen and I found ourselves in tears time and time again. Tears over our own sin, tears over our lack of faith, tears over "waiting on God", tears over lack of sleep- you know it makes you cry about anything and everything : )

Here are a few key words that stirred my heart:
Craig Cabannis~Psalm 33: God can make something out of nothing. Bring new songs to our God- His mercies are new every morning, therefore, an old song can be new with fresh awareness of God's grace in our lives.
Our perception of God will shape our response to God in our worship.
Thabiti~Psalm 73: Man-centered emotions lead to despair, while God-centered emotions lead to a singular love of Christ and eternal joy.
Is happiness connected to prosperity? We are sad predictors of what brings joy.
In his trial, Asaph's circumstances didn't change, but his perspective changed. He acquired the ability to see the end from the beginning. He saw God as His provision, and this caused his heart and emotions to be poured out to God. He could "taste and see that the Lord is good".
We must come to God without denial (pretending that our lives are clean and neat), and without false theology about suffering, and make truth central to our proclamation to Him.
Mark Devor~The bible has one message and that is the cross of Christ. Jesus taught that the old testament was about Him (Lk 24:25, 44-45~ "then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures"). Christ is found in many Psalms. He taught that He came to fulfill the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a riddle, and the answer is in the New Testament. When we read the trials of David, we can often times see Christ's suffering as well.
David Powlison- We also see that the Psalms were for Jesus. He was a man of sorrows, suffering, and death. The Psalm is a pattern of human experience: need, joy, faith, love.
Faith and dependency don't always feel good. They can feel terrible when you're in dire need, but first admit your need to Him. Then name the problem like David did (for me, it's not my enemies beating down my door, it's waiting for the Lord to build our family). Lift up adoration and exhortation. Faith now feels good because it is full of joy! Faith leads to love, and we carry this out to others.
Bob Kauflin~Appropriate worship should be done from the heart as an expression of gratefulness for God's love and mercy; an expression of heart engagement. The Psalms demonstrate physical expressions. Our expressions can't be measured by raised hands, but it's a way we can glorify Him, and show others the greatness of the Savior we're worshipping. Oftentimes, raised hands and bowed knees engage our hearts. Worship is celebrating what He's accomplished. We share in His triumph!
Well, there's so much more, but I'm running out of time. I came away from the Worship Conference wanting to be honest before the Lord about my pain and need, and wanting to engage my heart in worship with TRUTH about my God. Our hearts cannot just be aflame. We need our minds engaged as well. (Remember the Hearts Aflame, Minds Engaged slogan from CBC?) When I'm dividing God's Word, He meets me in my need and brings joy (even in waiting) as I proclaim His faithfulness and promises found in His TRUTH! He is answering my prayers and meeting me in my trial~ it just doesn't look the way I thought it would. Praise the Lord for drawing near to me!

Worship Conference

I just returned home from the Sovereign Grace Worship Conference, and it was such a time of refreshing and renewal. I will write more later about my time there, but for now I thought I'd post a few pictures. My Dad and sister were there and we had such a great time together. We stayed in a beautiful area in Gaithersburg, MD and were able to take walks and have coffee in the mornings there, while enjoying the beautiful scenery. The conference was at Covenant Life Church and there are some pictures of us in front of the outdoor tent where we would eat lunch. There were 1600people attending the conference and the praise and worship was amazing. That many voices being lifted up to our Lord. Wow!

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One month down

Well, we've officially been on the waitlist for a month. Yeah! 1 down, and who knows how many more to go - but we hope it will be 2-4. I guess if you look at it from a "pregnancy standpoint", we're halfway through and we know what we're having, even without an ultrasound: it's a girl :) I bought a diaper bag the other day, and had a hard time justifying it, without a baby bump to show for it. It is sooo cute: dark brown with pink polka dots of course. And I found some baby bedding on sale, so I grabbed it. It's very girly, and very cute. It's the Wendy Bellissimo Teaberry from Babies-R-Us. I was going to use the same bedding that I used for Gracie 6 years ago, but I'm OVER the pink gingham. If anyone's interested, I'm going to sell my Pottery Barn bedding that is "like-new". It's a pink ginham crib bedskirt, and a bumper pad that is white with stitched flowers all over in pink, lavendar, yellow, green and pale blue. It is very cute. And I have pink gingham curtains to match. Let me know if you want to see pictures. I'll probably post it on the Nofolk Craigs List soon.
My mom was reminding me the other day that when we do receive the referral, we'll jump into crazy mode, so I might as well prep the baby room. It will give me something to do with these nesting instincts.
On another note, we had a care-group-wide VBS, and I helped one day, while hosting/teaching another day. We had 15 children at my house, between 2 adults. Yikes! But it really was fun and a blessing to be teaching the children about Christ. I am loving my church, and continue to be blessed by all at Sovereign Grace. Next Wednesday, I'm heading up to Maryland to attend the SGC Worship Conference. I'm so fired up! It will be great to focus on how to bring worship before the Lord, but also a time of singing, learning, and fellowship. My dad and sister are coming up from FW to attend, and we can fit in some family time as well.

Today was Grace's birthday, and I just can't believe that she's 6! This was not a party year (we're doing the every-other-year-party-thing), but we let her invite a friend to go the beach with us. We all had a wonderful time, and tonight we poured over her baby album. I remember waiting and praying- so long ago- for her, and it's amazing that she's been in my arms for 6 years already. It took just about 3 years to conceive that first time around, and here we are walking through something similar. It has been over 2 years now (with one miscarriage last summer) and at times I get sorrowful, or doubtful, but God is working behind the scenes and I can't wait to see what He has in store for us. One day I'll look back at this waiting time, and see how God was so gracious to have us on our knees. It is in those times that we draw nearest to Him.

Baby dolls

My sweet mom is starting to sew handmade baby dolls that are precious. She will make one for our new baby girl, and also for the other little girls in the family. After that she is wanting to host a doll-making party so that her friends can help sew dolls for Ethiopia. Isn't that wonderful? My family has been so supportive and this is yet another way that I sense their overall excitement and anticipation of what God is working out in our lives. Mom might drive out and see me the end of this month, and if that happens, we're going to have a doll party here as well. We will prep the patterns (we're still deciding which pattern to use for the parties- there's a great pattern at this website- www.nonidolls.com/dollyhugs.html) , sewing part of the babies, and then the girls can stuff them, do some hand-sewing, and decorate. What a joy to take handmade babies to little children whose hands are empty.

It's official!

We are officially on the Wait list!!! We have requested an infant girl, 0-8 months, as young as possible. Our caseworker said they will take this into consideration before sending us a referral, and that it could potentially make our wait longer. But when you consider that we won't travel to pick up our baby for 2 months after referral, we could still be picking up a 10 month old. So, all in all, we're hoping for under 6 months, but we'll trust that the Lord will faithfully oversee the circumstances involved. The Ethiopian courts are closed in August and September, so it looks like we won't have a court date until the fall. Please keep all these things in your prayers.

Final Piece of Paperwork

Well, we celebrated this weekend! Sean was at the pool with the kids on Saturday and the hungrier he got, the more he decided he would head out and pick up some good ol' beef- steak of course! If you know my husband, you know his love for a good steak. While he was gone, I checked the mailbox and there was our final piece of paperwork we've been waiting for. It's the 171-H form from USCIS that says our backgrounds have been checked and we are able to adopt an orphan. Woohoo! When Sean got home from the grocery store with steaks, it seemed so perfect. Time to celebrate! Today we will get the paperwork notarized and fed-ex it to KBS (who is putting together our dossier) so that our dossier can be authenticated. This can take 1 or 2 weeks. It usually goes fast. Waiting list, here we come!
On another note, Grace was asking me so many questions the other day about Ethiopia. What it's like, what the children are like, what they wear, what they eat, what they play with. We've discussed these things before, but she really wanted details! She ran off and put together a pile of special things she wanted to donate to the children we'll see there. I wanted a picture of the precious pile, but friends came over and the pile went to pieces. There were babies, necklaces, bracelets, toys, marbles, so many things. And it just melted my heart. I'm thanful that God is giving us a little glimpse into what it must be like to have NOTHING. We will be putting together a list of things that we'd love to take with us and distribute. Some will be specifically for humanitarian aid- diapers, formula, etc. Others will be for the children- windup flashlights, jump ropes, etc. Let me know if you'd like to contribute in some way.
Sean and I went to the "Mission of Mercy" website and found a little girl that we want to sponsor in Ethiopia. She is 6 and not available for adoption. A sponsorship will provide food, clothing, and education for her every day. Her name is Diborah, and I don't know much about her yet. We'll receive a packet in the mail soon. I'd love to meet her when we travel, and take her a care package. We were drawn to her, because she's just a few months older than Grace, so it gives us a little insight into her soul. I picture my Gracie there without necessities and it brings me to tears. So many things to be praying for....