confession, part 2

To confess is to admit the truth -- not just the truth about ourselves, but also the truth about God. My last post tended toward the former, so here is its counterpart: a confession of God's goodness.

God is so good! In the midst of a hard waiting stage, he has provided us with unexpected blessings and encouragement.

The blessings God has given us in this season have come mostly in the form of beautiful new friends. Over the past couple of weeks the boys and I have met and become fast friends with another adoptive family who lives just 2 miles from us in the same little neighborhood. They have 4 sweet little girls who get along great with our boys, and they are also adopting through YWAM Ethiopia. The number of things we have in common is, as Liane our social worker would say, "off the charts!" We have already made such a deep connection in sharing this journey together and we thank God for putting them in our lives at the perfect time! Looking forward to dinner plans with them this weekend so our whole families (dads included) can finally hang out.

Another amazing connection we made recently is with an Ethiopian family at our preschool. I got to know this sweet single mother of 3 girls while we both sat in the preschool hallway waiting to pick up our kids. Though she barely knew me, when she learned we were adopting from Ethiopia she immediately "adopted" us -- inviting us over for dinner, sharing Amharic words with us, offering to help us with childcare, and teaching us about Ethiopian culture. I took the boys to her home last week and we enjoyed homemade injera, and a half-dozen other delicious Ethiopian dishes whose names I've forgotten. I experienced my first traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, and she even showed me how to roast the beans myself (though I think it will be awhile until I am daring enough to try it at home!). Her 14 year-old daughter promised that if we adopt a girl, she will teach me how to do her hair -- a huge relief because I will be totally clueless. I was blown away by their hospitality and willingness to share themselves and their culture with us.

How good is our God? He knew we would need these blessings as we wait. Before we could even ask, God provided us with abundantly more than we could ever expect. That is who he is - the God who blesses, the God who provides, the God who lavishes good gifts on his beloved children.

And so I confess today: GOD IS GOOD.