Finding Peace...

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God." Matthew 5:7-9 NIV

I have found myself in much deep and contemplative thought lately...and it's all about PEACE. We all want it - and yet it seems to elude us. I know it has felt that way for me for a while. It seems that there are times that you feel like you cannot possibly take ONE MORE THING... or you fear you might crumble. But then that "one more thing" comes along... and you find that you are still standing. When you begin any adoption... you can almost TOSS the concept of PEACE out the window. International adoption... absolutely forget it. Tim asked me not long ago... "Did you pray for patience, or what?" As Christians...it seems to be the unspoken taboo... DO NOT PRAY FOR PATIENCE. Ask for grace... ask for mercy... but never, ever patience! My answer to Tim... "No Honey - we are in the process of adoption. This is how it goes." And basically, that is true. I find myself often amused at the people that begin the adoption process - and then find themselves incensed by the "waiting". We have so many other issues to deal with this time around... that the waiting is almost secondary.

Which brings me back to peace. I checked my email Wednesday and found my Daily Devotional from the Purpose Driven Life. It was called "The Conflict of Peace." The title caught my attention immediately. I don't often think of peace as HAVING conflict - but rather being a solution to conflict. But then I read on... "Peace is not the absence of conflict. In fact, true peace is only possible with conflict." (Jon Walker)

I had to laugh... given the last month or so that we have been experiencing... there must be a LOT of true peace being made around us lately, because conflict seems to abound. Between dealing with the IRS...Corporate Tax Time... the office... the adoption...the ceiling falling in at our house... the air being out (twice) at the building...our attorney being held "hostage"(that incident made YouTube)... waiting for the November 4th run-off elections to pass in Guatemala (so we could hear the final reading of the Ortega Law which literally holds our life in the balance)... FedEx packages that are not absolutely, positively delivered... ON TIME... and finding out we are losing our biggest tenant at the building. If true peace is only possible with conflict... I decided that we must be really PEACEFUL. But then I read on.

"God showed us this when, in order to open the path to peace with Him, he sent the Divine Peacemaker, Jesus, to die on a brutal cross for our sins. He initiated this peace plan, even though we were the ones in rebellion; He paid the price for our peace with Him... even though we fought against it." (emphasis mine) It goes on to say that we are all peacemakers - and that we are here to show others how to make peace with God, and with each other. However it offers more one more thing about peacemaking:

"As a peacemaker, it's vital to understand that there is a difference between peacemaking and peace-keeping. Peacemakers won't settle for a tentative peace..." it goes on to say "Instead, peacemakers are like the dentist C.S.Lewis speaks about in Mere Christianity. You go to the dentist because you have pain, and all you want is for him to stop the pain. But the dentist knows he must get to the root of the pain or the tooth will just keep causing problems.

Jesus is like that: We just want him to stop the pain, allow us to have peace, but He knows He has to get to the root of the problem or peace will be nothing more than a fleeting, fragile moment without conflict."

I thought of this... and I thought of all that we are fighting for in Guatemala. This is the same kind of situation. We could settle for a fleeting, fragile moment without conflict there... and in that window of time... many children would be able to come home. But in the end - that isn't really PEACE. True peace will be working through this conflict - to a permanent and a final resolution. One that will benefit the children - and one that will end their waiting.

I know many of you keep hoping for a post that we know more about Sara and about her situation. I only wish we did. Right now - all we know is that our case is back in court... and that at this time they are processing some cases. (It was especially terrifying for us when the Ortega Law passed, as we had been KO'd from PGN at that time) We have hope that they will amend the Ortega Law to include a "grandfather clause" that will allow all in-process cases to be completed. But we won't know anything about that until at least November 14th. However... I have a peace about the process. There is conflict - but I can see that there are hundreds and hundreds of families, and thousands and thousands of people all working together towards a permanent and true peace.

Sara will come home.

When, I don't really know. But we will continue to fight to see this resolved... and we are humbled and honored to have you along with us in prayer and petition.

**Thank you Amanda and Jeff for getting this picture of Sara for me on Thursday! We are so thankful that your Bella is coming home and we Praise God for that blessing!!**