Great Things He Has Done

Wow...I can't post often enough to even keep everyone in the loop! Things are constantly changing over here, and we keep having to shift gears.

First, let me share with you how faithful the Lord has been to our prayers and your prayers on Emmy's behalf these past few days:

• Pray for good memories to be made this weekend.

We had the best time this weekend! Emmy was her normal, adorable, easy-going self. I got to rock her to sleep Saturday night. She napped on my husband's chest for about half an hour Sunday. Such sweet, sweet moments. I had a great run and met my sweet baby girl and my amazing husband at the finish line. In many ways, it was a spiritual experience for me.

• Pray for my extended family as they surely grieve with us.

My dad came in town for an impromptu visit with Emmy last weekend. My brother had planned to be in town this weekend, so he was able to see her as well. My mom came in town Sunday night and kept Emmy for me while I taught a class Monday morning. My husband's family lives in town and have all seen Emmy within the last few days. When my mom journeyed home yesterday, so called to tell me how much better she was feeling about Emmy. The time she had to play with her, hold her, and pray over her, really gave her a sense of peace that things were all going to turn out fine. As I reflect on all of this, I'm completely overwhelmed at the Lord's care and concern for our grief.

• Pray for the Lord's strength to help me be at peace for Emmy's sake on Monday.
• Pray for the lawyers and case workers who are working together to make this the best transition possible.
• Pray for time to pack and collect memories to send with Emmy.

Well, this brings me to the most important update we have. Without divulging all of the details, let me just say that Emmy's lawyers and our agency case workers have really gone to bat for us and for Emmy. As of Friday, the plan was that we would have a Family Team Meeting sometime this week, possibly a couple of overnight visits for Emmy at her grandparents' house, and that Emmy wouldn't go to live with them until those things had been done. We were so pleased with this transition plan. Since then, we've spoken with Emmy's CASA, and Emmy's CASA called and got a very different story from Emmy's grandfather. We are anxious to see what will transpire at the Family Team Meeting, because the outcome could be quite different than anyone has anticipated - due to a terrible lack of communication from Emmy's case worker. Please continue to pray that the truth will prevail and that Emmy's best interest will be protected throughout this chaotic process.

• Pray that we will find ways to make an eternal impact in Emmy's life over these next few days.

We've bought Emmy a Jesus Storybook Bible to send with her as well as this big girl English Standard Version Bible. Then, because it was free from the store, we went ahead and picked up this What's In the Bible DVD from Phil Vischer. (If you haven't seen these, they are so fun. Wish I could watch Emmy watch them one day when she's old enough!) We're hoping to have a going away party for her soon, but if that doesn't happen, we still have big plans for this Bible we'd like to send home with her. We'd like for everyone who knows or has been praying for Emmy to highlight scripture verses that they'd like Emmy to stumble upon as she is (we pray) reading her Bible as a young child/teenager/adult. If you'd like to participate, you can comment on the blog or e-mail me with a passage or passages that you'd like for me to highlight. I'll be so happy to highlight them for you. Otherwise, feel free to come by sometime or stop me if you see me around and highlight it yourself. I am so excited about how the Lord could use this to impact Emmy's future in our absence.

So...as you can see, the Lord has shown such care for us and for Emmy these past few days. I know that so much of this is thanks to prayer support like we have never seen before. Thank you for loving Emmy. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for lifting us up!

Emmy should return any moment now from her first overnight visit with her grandparents. She left yesterday at 1:30pm. I just got a call from the transporter and heard Emmy screaming in the background. My heart is just breaking. I cannot wait to hold that girl. Please pray that we'll have a nice, easy night and that Emmy will once again feel safe and secure. Pray, also, that her grandparents will have clarity in the direction they'd like to go.

No Family Team Meeting on the books yet. I'll let you know when that is scheduled. I'll keep everyone updated as often as I can, although it is getting rather tricky these days. To God be the glory...great things He has done!