March Forth!

One of my favorite things about blogging is when we get a comment from someone who's been reading for a while but had yet to make contact. One day last week, I got a comment that made me laugh out loud in pure joy. Here's what it said:

I have been praying for you and thinking of you often-and i haven't even met you! so it is possible to have a relationship w/ people you haven't met :) but i always think of your court date as a command "March FORTH!", with confidence in God leading the way on this journey. just wanted to share that with you!!

This is from the amazing knitter Jody in Virginia, and her comment led to an amazing breadcrumb moment for me. On the flight down to Burbank yesterday afternoon, I was reading the weekend section of The Oregonian and saw an article about a marching band performing Tuesday at the Chrystal Ballroom. I did a double-take and almost laughed out loud again in pure joy as I saw what the name of this "surrealist high energy big band ensemble" is: March Fourth.
You can listen to them here.
(for any of you just joining this twisty tale of our adoption, March 4th is the date for our appeal in the adoption of Abenezer, the child Gladney has matched us with. Everything has been building to this point...though we're trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility of further delays too).

I made it down to Los Angeles Saturday in time for us to go to the evening service at the church we attend here, and it was such a good thing to visit with old faithful friends there. I could hardly make it through one of the songs they sang, a new one by Tommy Walker, the worship leader. Its title, "Hallelujah, We Will Sing," is simple enough, but the words are about my favorite theme in church music: the promise of heaven and the glory found there.

When I was in high school, my pastor told me that I had an "overdeveloped sense of justice." I suppose it's true. I have a hard time letting go of things that seem unfair, which is why the Sermon on the Mount and songs or books about heaven speak to me so deeply: one day it's all gonna be made right. I can let go.

A cried all the way through the beginning of the song:

...He'll judge and make things right.
Turn all the dark to light.
When He splits the eastern sky
With heaven wings I'll fly
And I will say goodbye
To these tears I've cried.
Around his thrown of grace
We'll see Him face to face
With those who've gone before (this line especially gets me)
We'll be apart no more...

So since I couldn't sing anyway through all my tears and ugly-crying-face, I whipped out my camera and took a video of the chorus, which you can see by clicking here. I needed this song and this moment.

We're waiting for Tuesday morning. I have a strange peace. This can only be God. Thank you thank you thank you a thousand times for all your continued prayers. We're trying to prepare ourselves for every possibility. I know God is good. That fact is my "constant" (you Lost fans will get that reference...sorry for the foray into dorkiness).

Speaking of...I'll leave you with a few seconds of our afternoon today at Venice Beach. Ted has never been able to resist the funk.