psalm 46:10

i knew it would come.  i knew i would begin to feel that gnawing sense of urgency shouting at me to do something!  it's a battle i've fought for as long as i can remember, so the only surprise here is that it took so long to show up. 

so today i popped off some emails to a couple of people tied to our case, and i pulled up JCICS's petition to ethiopia's prime minister, compared the signatures to my email address book, and sent more emails personally asking any friend or family member whose signature i didn't see to go and sign it*.

*this event in and of itself needs some talking about.  first of all, there have been over 18,000 signatures in two days and it's literally growing by the minute.  WOW!!!  and no, i did not dig through all 18,000 to find my target email audience.  there's a search feature, and i typed in each last name until i found what i needed (unfortunately, that doesn't make me sound any less desperate).  :-)  i have to say THANK YOU, though, because i was so humbled and touched by the countless times i saw the signatures of our friends and family members who are going to bat for micah and the five million other orphans who are directly affected by this decision.  serious warm and fuzzy. 

further, i started on a tazmanian-devil-type cleaning spree of our house (which is my go-to response to feeling out of control), but as i was shoveling spring clothes into drawers, winter clothes into bags, and dirty clothes into the washer, i heard truth coming from upstairs.  josh was laying on the bed with all the little people explaining to them a bit more about what's going on with our court date on friday morning local ethiopian time.  as he explained the significance of passing court, he pulled out his bible and read psalm 46:10.

be still and know that i am god.

i can't bear the thought of not passing court on friday if i didn't do every. single. thing. within my power to bring our baby home.  but at the end of the day, i have to continually confess my desire to control and then remind myself that all of my efforts are in vain if the lord's hand is not in them.

"...if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  but if it is from god, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against god." (acts 5:38-39)

"who can speak and have it happen if the lord has not decreed it?  is it not from the mouth of the most high that both calamities and good things come?"  (lamentations 3:37-38)

"unless the lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.  unless the lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.  in vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for he grants sleep to those he loves."  (psalm 127:1-2)

"in his heart a man plans his course, but the lord determines his steps."  (proverbs 16:9)

"there is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the lord."  (proverbs 21:30)

now...in the interest of updating, we got this notice from JCICS tonight:

 

In only 24-hours, over 11,000 concerned individuals have joined our Emergency Campaign for Ethiopian Children by signing our petition. We extend our thanks to all who have supported this initiative by signing the petition, distributing the campaign information and expressing your support of child protections and ethical adoption.
Today, we have continued our communication with the Ethiopian government and respectfully brought the outpouring of concern to them. We believe that there may have been positive developments and will provide further updates as information is confirmed.

praise god!!  we continue to ask that you go to the petition and spend the needed one minute to sign it.  and finally, it's now thursday morning in ethiopia, meaning we're about t-24 hours from the court hearing that will either grant us legal custody of micah or will put us into an "indefinite" waiting period before we reach that point.  we beg of you to commit this to prayer, particularly as you go to bed tomorrow night and as the lord puts it on your heart throughout the night.  

as for me, i'm going to go pray while i bake a few goodies for my amazing hubby's birthday tomorrow.  :-)