Slowly But Surely....

Slowly but surely, we are making headway. God is so good. I'll tell you what I mean.

We got Hayleigh on Thursday, so we've had her about 2 and a half days now. Tonight, Saturday night, is her third night here. Stan worded it really well when he was on the phone with a friend tonight. He said something to the effect of: "It is a privilege and a challenge. It's like a complete emptying of myself. I'm learning the real meaning of love." In the last few days we have done our best to: play hard; hug a lot; give lots of affirmation for good choices; provide consistent, predictable boundaries; and to love with wide open hearts. We have introduced her, in bits and pieces, to God, to Jesus, told her over and over about His love for her. Tonight at bedtime we read the story of the prodigal son and talked about how God loves us all the time, even when we make wrong choices, how He waits for us tell Him we're sorry and He's so happy when we ask Him to forgive us.....we had a really good conversation about God and His rules and how He asks us to follow them because He loves us and wants to keep us safe....and how the rules Stan and I make for her are because we love her and want her to be safe. We've definitely had some obedience issues in the last few days, but this afternoon we made it for probably 4 hours without any major disobedience. Progress!!! Praise God. I think that, slowly but surely, she is becoming more secure here, feeling more safe, more loved and cared for. Consistent (but compassionate) boundaries breed security, and we're already starting to see that paying off a little bit. I believe things will continue to get better.

For those of you who pray for us, here are a few specific prayer requests:
-We are asking God for wisdom and discernment as we parent Hayleigh. We want to see through her actions into what's really going on in her heart.
-Pray that Jesus will be the healer of her heart, even now while her feelings of grief and loss are so intense.
-Pray she'll encounter God's love for her in ways that she can understand, and that she'll understand her need for Jesus to be her Savior and her Lord.
-The current situations of her various family members (birth mom, father, grandparents, etc) are all very messy, to put it mildly. Pray for supernaturally quick resolution to her case so that she can have permanancy QUICKLY, wherever that may be.
-Here's an interesting delima we're facing: Hayleigh adores Stan (and has a blast with him!) from the moment she wakes up, until it's time to get ready for bed. At that point, she suddenly doesn't want to be around him, doesn't want him to be in her room while we read stories and pray, will hide her head in the pillows and refuse to talk to us if he comes into the room. :( It's very sad. I've asked her why she doesn't want him in her room and can't get a clear answer from her. Tonight she said she didn't know. I have a few guesses as to why but nothing for certain. We really need wisdom on this one because it's important that she learn to really trust BOTH of us, not just me. Please ask God to give us insight into what is behind this.

Okay, that's it for now. Thanks so much to all of you who are praying - we need it now more than ever. Love y'all!