Monday, June 23, 2014

Mangoes

Hello!

It's mango season in the Dominican Republic. Mangoes come in all different colours and sizes and our family (except for one picky eater) loves them! Our boys also love to play under the mango tree in front of our building. Here are some pictures:
Lots of mangoes
(the bottom one is from the tree by our house)
A little mango tree we saw on our vacation
A mango the size of a pineapple
"I can get it!"
"I want to fill my truck up with mangoes."
Boys and trucks under the mango tree
 Do you like mangoes? What's your favourite way to eat them? Fresh? Frozen? In fruit salad or a smoothie? Mango crisp, anyone? I like them all!

Marcie Cooper



Friday, June 13, 2014

Waiting

Waiting.

Sometimes it's hard to wait. It's hard for my kids to wait for birthdays, vacations and visits from grandparents. They can't wait for a trip to Canada. We wait for mail to come every two weeks and for missionaries to come back from being away. And we've been waiting to adopt a baby from China for a very long time. I first wrote about it on here in 2012. In 2013, I thought it would still be over a year of waiting but now, in 2014, it might still be another year. We wait for news from China that comes every few weeks or couple of months. It seems like forever in between. I check an adoption forum and Facebook group more often than I'd like to admit. I calculate the days in between referrals and average the amount of files processed to guess when we might get a call. Then I start to question if we're really supposed to be in this process after over seven YEARS of waiting and more to go. But every time I question it, something significant happens. Take this week, for example. I felt like I was waiting for a lot of things. I was waiting for replies to several e-mails and to hear about an appointment I was trying to book for our time in Canada. I was waiting for news from other missionaries and waiting to find out if we were approved for an adoption grant we had applied for. I was distracted and kept checking the computer every time I walked past it. I started to wonder if we were really supposed to keep going with our adoption. Then, last night, I went to prayer meeting at church. I debated whether or not to put our adoption on the list of prayer requests. I heard another lady share about her daughter getting into a private bilingual high school that cost way more than her family could afford. She was praying for scholarships. A humble mom was trusting that if God wanted her daughter to go there, He would provide the finances to make it possible. I added our adoption to the list and prayed that God would, once again, provide for our needs and make it clear that we were to continue. 

Today, I got a lot of e-mails. I got my appointment booked and heard from our missionary friends. But the most exciting e-mail was from ABBA Canada telling us that we're receiving a grant to help with our adoption agency expenses. It was an answer to prayer for us and for family and friends praying with us. Our wait for a baby (or toddler?) from China will continue but we trust that it is God's plan for our family and that His timing is perfect. Thanks so much for praying for us. 

Marcie Cooper 

But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; 
They shall mount up with wings like eagles, 
They shall run and not be weary, 
They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31