We again, find ourselves in a time of waiting.  Waiting for the silly phone to ring with news of when our court date is.  After our referral, we had a nice month in which I knew the phone wouldn't be ringing with adoption news.  It was one of our best months simply because for the 9 months before that, we lived in anticipation of 'the call'.  We were thrilled to hear that our case was submitted to court so quickly.  And, now here we are nearing another piece of time in which the anticipation for the phone call is growing with each passing day.  With the upcoming rainy season and court closure, I have spent much of my week in prayer regarding our court date.  From the time we knew there was a possibility of sqeaking in before the court closure- I knew this was totally in His hands.  The struggle has been in finding the balance between favoring the hope of God's power or contentment in God's plan.  Hope and contentment don't really go together. 
I 'stumbled' across this verse from a book I've been reading lately...
"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that when you are done the will of God, you may receive what is promised."  Hebrews 10:35-36. 
Reading this yesterday was one of those moments when you are reminded that there is nothing random about the way God chooses to reveal Himself in our lives.  Don't throw it away, we have to keep our confidence in Him who is the author of our story.  The verse doesn't say 'and, He will grant you the fast track as you please'.  We firmly believe we are doing the will of God.  However, we're not done.  We are still awaiting our reward. 
Instead of focusing on the hope of an unusually quick court date or contemplating God's definition of contentment... really the focus is on confidence.  Confidence in our BIG God, who knows best and loves us beyond measure.  We'll keep praying for the Ethiopian workers within the court system.  May their days be highly productive and may any challenges be removed before they even arise.  For us, we'll keep praying for confidence in God's plan. 
In the meantime, I really think I need a big time distraction so my email refresh function doesn't go on strike :)   So, I'm heading to Laguna Beach and Disneyland and Hollywood and.... a bunch of other fun places.  Seriously, I really am even if it is with students and considered a 'work' requirement.  It couldn't come at a better time...definitely a great distractionary activity, just when I'm kinda really needing one. 
We'll just keep uplifting our little guy in prayer in confidence that God has it all figured out.  God Bless