A probable date and prayer requests

I spoke with one of our attorneys tonight. He went to court today and the court official to our judge said that she had requested the 3rd week of May for our hearing. The judge will need to approve and confirm the date and time. Our attorney will go back on Monday in hopes that the judge will have confirmed it. It is Semana Santa (Holy Week) which in Guatemala means everything shuts down, so if she hasn't confirmed the date by then it will be the following week. Don't you wish the the good ol' USA put that much emphasis on the resurrection of Christ. To most folks here it means new outfits and the Easter bunny. Pray for confirmation of a date so we can arrange our travel.

Next, there will be a COTA committee reviewing Cintia's stateside care this week. They will confirm whether Cintia can stay/return through the COTA program. In case you are wondering, if they say no we will NOT be coming home with Cintia. It would not be possible to get a visa without a letter from COTA which they must fax to the Embassy themselves. No, we won't JUST leave her there. We will stay with her if the judge will grant us custody of Cintia or make it possible for us to get custody of her. We would also stay and appeal should she say no. We would then find a house quickly with one of us (probably me) returning to get the rest of the kids and minimal "stuff" we would need to assume life in Guatemala (like clothing and documents). We would then be assuming a new life in a third world country....but hey....home is where your heart is and if we have our kids....we are home.

Please pray for mercy and common sense. Most of you (including myself) would consider this a no-brainer. It is obvious that this is unnecessary and completely not in Cintia's best interest. However, if there is one thing I have learned in my life, it is that nothing good comes easy. Doing the right thing is much harder than doing nothing at all. Where God seeks to move mountains, Satan comes along and places obstacles to scare the rest of us away. Guess what? We're not scared! We may be a little ticked off (if I am being honest) but not scared. We have peace that God's will has been, is being, and will continue to be done in spite of those obstacles or new ones that are sure to come. We just don't want to be the ones standing in His way and pity anyone who is.

My life verse is something God revealed to me through His Word to enable me to do all He asks of me. It has helped me through many tough situations in my life. It is amazing to see how much it applies to the trials we are now facing. Check this out: Hebrews 12:1-3 .....Let us run with perseverence this race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him, who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

The opposition we face cannot compare to what He faced. What opposition did He face? Read for yourself! Are we to think we won't have oppostion from sinful men unless we lack faith? The epitemy of faith faced opposition from sinful men, yet He endured the cross when He could have been in paradise at a blink of His eye. So we will run our race...with perseverence. We will hold onto our faith; we will not grow weary (or try as hard as we can not to) nor lose heart.

Blessings!
April