Hope deferred

“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” – Prov. 13:12

For the past 2 months we have been waiting for 1 little paper to come back from Huanuco so that our adoption could be completed.  The adoption has been done (except for this paper) for 3 months.  You know  how you feel when you are so anxious to get something and you just know that you’re going to get it and then all of the sudden you don’t?  It’s devastating.  This verse in proverbs pretty much sums up that feeling.

We are so close to having this adoption process finished (after waiting for 2 years and 6 months and after having the girls for over 4 years) that we can taste the joy and satisfaction that comes with a finished product. Well we found out a few days ago that the paper we have been waiting for hasn’t even been registered in the computers in Huanuco.  Which means that either someone lost it or piled it away and it hasn’t seen the light of day.  Also, the judge here in Cusco told us if the paper has been lost we have to send it again. We were truly devastated to hear this news.  To be perfectly honest we have been extremely discouraged the past few days.  As most of you know this isn’t the first setback in this process but we thought we were finally past all this.  We have been planning with our families things that we are going to do while in the U.S. and just been looking forward to seeing everyone after being in Peru for almost 5 years.  Our hope has definitely been deferred, but we  joy in the last part of this verse:  “…but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” How sweet will it be when the girls’ adoption is completely over?  We don’t know because it’s not. We do know that God has a purpose in everything, but right now we can’t quite see it.  We trust Him because we know that He knows what is best. Moses said in Exodus  14: 13 “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD…” The only thing that we can do is to stand still and wait on the Lord. Why? Because the very next verse says: “The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” The “hold your peace” part can be hard but the Lord has fought for us this far and He will always see us through. Thankfully, His grace is sufficient.  I don’t know if you’re discouraged at this point in your life, but all of us get discouraged.  Don’t forget that the Lord fights for us. Even when we can’t see it He is fighting for us!