Is it September already???? UPDATE :)

Oh MY! How easy is it for a couple weeks to pass without me writing on this blog! I hope once we get back into the “normal” crazy of a more structured schedule with school starting I will be able to be more diligent with it, as I do enjoy sharing our crazy lil life with you guys! So, what's new in the Walker house? Well, as school inches closer and closer the kids are gradually getting to the point where they are climbing the walls (literally in some cases!). No amount of planned activities, or entertainment seem to suffice.... they are ready. School bags are already packed and school clothes picked out, new haircuts and school lists are out. So excited for them to start a new year, and I pray its a good year for all of them! Pictures will be up Wednesday of the first day of school :) And this will be Mama's first time home with only ONE child for 6 hours a day, in over 7 years! Until our new little love arrives, of course :) And that new little!! Ahhhh, patience, the virtue I soooo need to work on, and as a result God ALWAYS PROVIDES! LOL! Goodness, if I didn't laugh at myself I'd have gone crazy by now (of course it is debatable in many minds as to whether that happened years ago). We did receive an update late last week. Unfortunately, not much of an update as far as waiting list movement goes. We are STILL holding fast at #13! Please pray for some movement this month. August was an active month with travel and bringing babies home (YAY! Praise GOD, forever families being formed!) which is freeing up lots of space in our agencies orphanage, and Our agency has 5 referrals almost ready to make and another 8-10 in the wings, so once all these come to fruition, we likely will know who our little one is... have a picture and all sorts of information on him/her. Of course, God always makes sure to shine through in every moment though. As we were greeted with a somewhat disappointing update this month, the very next day I moved enough to our adoption savings to just pay for the bill we have at referral. This is quite a moment, as the bill at referral is the single biggest payment we will have to make at one time. And even more worth noting.... 2/3 of it was literally provided by works of God himself. We have scrimped and saved. We have cut many, many expenditures (some of which God decided to provide us anyway, as He is always so faithful and good!!!), and did everything within our power to put all that we have in His hands. However, all we had... when looking at this bill was very easily compared to the 5 loaves and 2 fish, to feed 5000! And, just as in that miracle, when you put everything you have in the hands of our Lord, no matter how seemingly little it seems... .it is enough!! I really hate to focus on money at all... As I have learned over the years that when you are doing His will, He always provides... however I know many people need to hear stories like this to build their own faith... and so I share. We are not talking hundreds of dollars here... but thousands, provided.... We did not ask, and in fact when we looked it wasn't there LOL it was through realizing that we don't have the answers and trust Him to provide for us in this walk that He called us on. And I will say one more thing. Many times, even when we are doing God's work, it is so tempting to pull whatever money we are saving for this work close to us and cling to it... in fear that we will never have enough if we give any of it away. I am reflecting on two separate times in the past few months, when I could feel God calling me to donate (one time to a missionary priest from Africa raising money to build a church in his country, and one time to some deserving teens) and literally the only extra money I had was the money folded up in my wallet, waiting to be deposited for the adoption. And both times, I chose to jump out of the boat and trust Christ to not allow me to sink, and I gave that money away. And both times it came back, one of the times in the very same day! It wasn't even out of my wallet for 6 hours, and I dropped off a statue I had painted for someone and they, knowingly and willingly overpaid me for it..... EXACTLY the amount I had donated. GOD IS SO GOOD!!! We still have quite a financial journey to go, as we have two trips to Ethiopia to figure out but I trust fully that God will provide, as long as we give Him our all... and we are doing everything we can to do that!! God Bless you guys and please pray for lots of referrals and grace for us as we wait (praying for patience is risky business please don't do that LOLLL!!)