Thinking about His love

There is a chorus that has been running through my mind the past several weeks:

Think about His love, think about His goodness
Think about His grace that's brought us through
For as high as the heavens above
So great is the measure of our Father's love
Great is the measure of our Father's love

When I start to feel discouraged, this song just fills my heart with peace. One thing that I have struggled with for a long time is truly grasping the unconditional love that God has for each one of His children - including me. I always thought that I had to earn that love by doing certain things or not doing certain things. As I have gotten older and, hopefully, a little wiser, I understand that God loves me no matter what, not because of who I am or what I have done, but because of who *HE* is. I have experienced a freedom in recent years that I never had before. That doesn't mean it is ok for me to go out and do whatever I want (because His grace will cover it), but it makes me want to live to please Him even more. I still have so far to go, but I am able to see progress and my view of God has changed, too. I think I am able to understand His heart a little bit better. That, too, is what has brought us to the place in our lives where we understand our responsibility to reach outside of our four walls and help those who need it. It is easy for me to have love and compassion toward those who are less fortunate. What is not easy for me is to have love and compassion toward those who would condemn us for reaching out to certain populations who are less fortunate. That is my current struggle. I admit that I am not working very hard to overcome it, either.

Since our referral has not been forthcoming, I have had a lot of time to ponder various scenarios related to our adoption. One such scenario is: what if baby S's paperwork is never able to be completed and she cannot be adopted? As painful as that is to consider, it is a possibility. Until we pass court, she is not ours. We are trusting God and continuing to pray that He will move in this situation. Every day I wake up hopeful that today might be the day we hear some good news about MoWA. Every night, I go to bed and pray that God will work things out for us to bring our daughter home. The same cycle is repeated day after day. When I start to feel discouraged, I think about the love that God has for this precious baby girl and I know that I can trust Him with her life. Whether it takes days, weeks, or months for things to come together, we will wait for her. Great is the measure of our Father's love...