God is always Good. God is always Great!

To my Dear friends and family who sent up such a beautiful offering of prayers for my physical healing this week, Thank you so much and hugs to you all! I received so many wonderful calls, e-mails and kind words. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the abundant blessing of family and friends that God has given to me. I arrived home in the early evening yesterday feeling wonderful and so very happy to be home with my sweeties and sleeping in my own cozy bed (without the IV tubes and heart monitors to navigate around) . My cardiologist was "pleased" with the results of the ablation and needless to say, so I am.

I will post again soon or if we get any news from Ukraine. Our internet service has been up and down at home today, but I just wanted to express my appreciation.

Love and Joy in Christ,
Theresa

Matters of the Heart

In my last post I boldly made a proclamation that I was not counting the days until we receive our SDA appointment and invitation to travel to Ukraine. After learning that our dossiers were not submitted in June but rather July I have kept my promise and it has kept me sane. That 9 week wait only to find out we were on a much different schedule and have a different due date resembled a long and grueling "false labor". Waiting for anything in life is tough for most of us, especially for those things we long for most. One thing is for certain though, it is ALWAYS worth it. So it is with greater peace that we hope for God's plan to unfold in the weeks to come.



Today I am also filled with a new sense of gratitude as another prayer is about to be answered. As many of you reading this chronicle of our adoption journey know, I have been a long time heart patient. For our new friends, I will give a super sonic, brief history to give light to this post. In 1991, at age 29, I underwent open-heart surgery to replace a defective mitral valve and at the same time had a cardiac defibrillator implanted to help correct arrhythmias. Do not let Lindsey Wagner and Hollywood fool you, I am the real Bionic Woman!! Since that time I have been blessed with the birth of 2 more sons (A testimony for a whole other Blog) and a life that I pray will glorify my Savior. I have also obtained, not by any personal desire, a plethora of arrhythmias due to a faulty electrical system. In the past few months one of those arrhythmias called Atrial Flutter (a reference for those of you who are intellectually stimulated by too much information) has increased. I let God know that I do not have time for this and if he really plans on blessing us with more children through the gift of adoption, I need him to remove this thorn in my side before we leave for Ukraine. The week after I had this conversation with Him, my cardiologist told me about a procedure called an ablation that has a very high success rate of "curing" Atrial Flutter. So here I am reporting from my hospital bed (I love WiFi) waiting for tomorrow's promise. I am scheduled to have the ablation about 12:00pm. It will take about 3 hours. I will be sedated. No general anesthesia -no cutting. Just lovely dreamland. God willing I will be home, healed and in tip top shape again on Sunday or Monday.

God Heals
Jeremiah 30:17"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the LORD.

Jesus Healed
Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people

God Calls His Disciples to Heal
Luke 9:1-2Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

God sends us out to heal others
Mark 16:15-20And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.


Healing in the Atonement of Jesus
1 Peter 2:24Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.

Everyday is a miracle!!!

Joy In Jesus,
Theresa

No news, is NOT ALWAYS good news!!

Here are some of my favorite little peeps. My nephews and niece. These are the smiles that make a cloudy day sunny. Thanks Julie and Jerry for making me an Auntie.

Joshua -The face of true joy!

Teresa Mary and Jacob (the princess and the family comedian)

Hello my dear friends and faithful Blog readers,

Today was one of those days I had to praise God a little bit longer and a little bit harder. What is so special about today? I was reminded once again of how much God loves each of us so much and how He personalizes His relationship with each of His children based on our special needs. First, let me share my daily scripture reading and reflection with you from last Wednesday. All of God's word is very important but God knew before hand that I would be needing this particular reminder to be fresh in my thoughts.

Perfectly Complete
Today's Scripture
“Be confident of this. He who began a good work in you will continue to perform it until it’s perfectly complete” (Philippians 1

Reflection:

Do you have dreams that have not yet come to pass? Are there promises that you are standing on in your health, finances, or relationships? Know this: God is a god of completion. He wants to finish what He’s started in your life. No matter how long you’ve been praying, don’t let the enemy tempt you into thinking that it’s never going to happen. Be encouraged today because God is called the Author and the Finisher of your faith. That means He’s working behind the scenes on your behalf. Anything He begins, any dream He puts in your heart, He is well-able to finish. Stand strong on this promise. Be confident even when it looks like it’s not going to happen. No matter how long it takes, stay in faith and keep your hopes up because God has promised to finish the good work He’s started in your life!

For those of you following our progress thus far, we began our ninth week yesterday waiting to receive word of our SDA appointment. I've been getting concerned that we are well over the 30-day review period. Granted, some families have reported exceeding "30 working days" due to some back log and summer holidays, but still something else did not seem quite right. We also had not ever recieved confirmation that all 3 of our dossiers were submitted. So I contacted our agency and they called our coordinator in Ukraine (who is a very hard working and honest woman) We have learned though that our cultures do communicate in different ways. Sometimes these ways make us a little crazy.

Our coordinator sent this response:"Wollschlagers were registered only 2 weeks ago, the people through whom we registered their docs couldn't control the situation with them and we thought that they were already submitted! So many up and down things in this registration, but now it'll be much easier to get their travel date, I'll let you know! I think they'll be able to travel in October-November."

K. at our agency had also asked her if all three were registered at the same time and she responded:"They all will have the same number, they don't have to be submitted separately!"So I guess it's good news and bad news ...we thought they had already been registered, but they weren't (that's the bad news), but it looks like all were registered at the same time (that's the good news).

I was at a complete loss for words , which does not happen very often. But although I was disappointed for not knowing this information all of these weeks, I resolved that there is a higher, unknown purpose that makes it easier to accept. I immediately recalled His promise to complete the good work He has begun in our family and this gave me great peace of mind.

So what does this all mean? We are still waiting. There is a new count of working days, but you won't get the answer to how many more here. I have stopped counting the days and have begun to just count on HIM.

Thanks for your continued prayers. Theresa

The joy of waiting.........

O.k. I thought maybe if I post today we will get "the call" we have been waiting for. Not that we are counting, ya right, but it has been 36 business days since our dossiers were submitted to the SDA (although I'm sure there were some special holidays in there that I have not accounted for). That having been said and released from fermenting in my mind any longer, I am moved to praise God for the wait because I am confident it is because He is working to complete the work He has begun and weaving a perfect tapestry. We will get the appointment on the day of His choosing and not a moment earlier or later and for this I am so grateful.

Theresa